By Mark Heys
March 13 2007

Former Bolton Wanderers manager Bruce Rioch surprisingly quit his role as manager of Danish title chasers OB Odense yesterday..... Rioch, who guided Bolton to two promotions in three years during his time at Burnden Park, has returned to the United Kingdom for family reasons thus ending his two year reign in Denmark.

Speaking of his departure from the Scandanavian club Rioch felt it was the right time to make a return home where he has managed the likes of Torquay United, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Wigan Athletic and Norwich City over the last twenty five years.

"During the winter break, I considered my future at OB, I realised that being away from my family, due to working in another country, was too big a burden to take, so I decided not to extend my contract." said Rioch in a statement issued yesterday

"I miss my family and home in England so much that it is hard to focus on my job at OB and therefore I have decided to return home."

The departure of the former Scottish international from Odense has been met with dismay with club director Kim Brink describing the timing of Rioch's departure as strange as the club are currently in the title race alongside the likes of FC Copenhagen, FC Midtjylland and Aalborg.

"We are very surprised by the decision Bruce Rioch has made, We understand that he needs time with his family, but I have to confess that he has made the decision at strange timing which has put us in a very tricky situation." said Brink regarding yesterday's events.

Rioch was not the only ex-Wanderers manager to find himself out of work yesterday as Roy McFarland was releived of his duties at Chesterfield after nearly four years at the helm.