Referees' assessors must be more 'diligent' and 'stricter' says Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor

While the eyes of the football planet have been on some debatable calls in Qatar, ones involving his own side before the international hiatus have long since been forgotten about back on English soil, if not among the Millers contingent.

Ahead of the break, Taylor was withering in his criticism of key decisions going against his side in several games, most notably against Burnley, Norwich and Coventry.

For Taylor, more technology is not necessarily the answer. For the refereeing fraternity to police themselves better and effectively ‘mark their homework’ with a far more critical eye would be a start.

Taylor, whose side return to action at home to Bristol City on Saturday, said: "I'm against that (technology). I would implore the officials to have better training and a better and stricter review process. They can't keep making the same mistakes.

“As much as I've spoken about the added-on time at Burnley, I feel it's justified. I feel I’ve an intelligent argument. That referee might turn to me and have an equally intelligent one, but I'm pretty sure he won't.

"I would ask the assessors to be diligent and stricter in how they judge referees as opposed to emotional managers doing it.

"I honestly don't think they listen to managers. They don't really want the feedback we give them. I think it goes into the ether and disappears. Assessors have to be more honest than they are.

"If you police yourselves better, you get better. That happens in any job. I'm pretty straight in terms of speaking to other managers. They have the same gripes as I do, at all levels. Officials seem to be getting worse as opposed to getting better."

Being a small Championship club will always have its disadvantages. The fact that small clubs come up on the wrong side of more contentious calls from officials is another cross to bear in his view.

Representations have been made to the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Board) and EFL, but the Millers chief admits he does not know how much good it does.

He continued: “That's what we are doing but we feel we are banging our heads against a brick wall. We have to be so, so careful because we can moan too much or expose too much and it flips full circle and they are against us anyway because we have exposed their weaknesses. I have not got all the solutions or answers.

“As much as I am saying it, every Rotherham fan and every Rotherham player feels the same way. I just want a fair game and a fair opportunity for this group of players. That is the one thing I am fighting for.

"Sometimes I will lose my rag, but that is only off the back of their bad decisions. If it happens too often, we are the ones who are caught and who miss out.

"We have to find a way of being whiter and white and believing we are two goals better than the opposition, 10 minutes better instead of five minutes. What else can we do, there are not many avenues we can continue to go down."