SAM Allardyce is boycotting BBC Radio Five Live in a furious response to the "ugly" jibe by controversial commentator, Alan Green.

The unprecedented move follows Green's comments during and after Monday's Premiership draw with Liverpool, when he launched a scathing attack on Allardyce's playing style.

The stinging criticism provoked a wave of protests from Wanderers supporters, including letters to the Bolton Evening News, a selection of which were published in Thursday's edition.

Many called for Bolton supporters to boycott Green's commentaries and on Thursday night Allardyce endorsed the fans' stance by announcing he was withdrawing all co-operation from Five Live - a move he was confident would be supported by club chairman, Phil Gartside.

"I know what the public outcry has been," the manager said. "I will not be speaking to Five Live and I'm sure the chairman will back me 100 per cent."

Allardyce's action had an immediate impact. He refused to speak to Five Live's representative at Thursday's press conference then withdrew from a forum broadcast by the station in which he was due to appear with referees' supremo, Keith Hackett.

He also pulled out of a planned appearance on BBC GMR, although he is understood to have given assurances that he was confining his ban to Five Live and would continue to co-operate with all other sections of the corporation, including local radio and television. Match commentaries are not expected to be affected.

Green, regarded as the BBC's most opinionated commentator, has been critical of Wanderers in the past but his comments during his match commentary on Monday and after the game, when he hosted Five Live's Six-O-Six phone-in programme, enraged Bolton fans and infuriated club insiders.

He repeatedly described the team's playing style as "ugly" and said he would never pay to watch Wanderers play.

Allardyce was initially reluctant to discuss the ban. Of Green, who is an Anfield regular, he said: "I thought he was a Liverpool fan. The comments that he makes don't really deserve me talking about them and I wouldn't want to encourage the BBC to keep him employed. It just keeps the bubble growing.

"It's just like Sky Sports and Rodney Marsh. They only kept him on because he would say the stuff that other people didn't want to. They thought it was good but it was detrimental to the game.

"But the public outcry has been so great, that I deemed it necessary to speak to the chairman about it and probably not speak to Five Live as a result."

The Reebok boss was quick to stress, however, that he blames his fellow managers for stoking the criticism of his team's playing style, which has proved both effective and successful in establishing Wanderers as a major force in the Premiership, a team to be feared.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, who has been critical of Wanderers in the past, was the latest high profile manager to pour scorn on Allardyce's tactics when he accused Senegal striker, El-Hadji Diouf, of systematically diving to win fouls in Monday's 2-2 draw and complained about the way the Bolton defenders handled his 6ft 7ins striker, Peter Crouch.

"We accept criticism," Allardyce said, "and tend to use it as a positive to fuel our aggression and our adrenalin to continue to win football matches.

"That is the only reason we are getting criticised - because we are winning football matches we shouldn't be winning

"Unfortunately I have to point the finger at my fellow managers, who are equally as critical about me and my style and have fuelled the criticism in the media more than the media itself.

"I'm extremely disappointed with those individuals who make excuses for their own inabilities to achieve results against a club as small in resources as ours."