Time to break down the wall of silence

Tottenham's winning goal against Fulham on Saturday was steeped in controversy from the moment it left Tom Huddlestone's right foot, but the problem was exacerbated by Mike Dean's somewhat cowardly low-key exit from Craven Cottage. Dean's refusal to clarify the thinking behind his decision seems to have riled Fulham manager Mark Hughes more than the decision itself, and it's hard to disagree when you think about the level of media intrusion now suffered by the game's managers.

New rules have come into force this season supposedly compelling Premier League managers to provide post-match interviews to the media. If they refuse, their club will be fined. If they refuse again, the fine will increase with every non-appearance. The thinking behind this is that since the broadcaster has exclusive rights to the sporting event, this should also include a certain level of post match analysis, but why should that stop with the manager?

Often a wrong decision made by the man in black can have more influence on the eventual outcome of a fixture than any substitution or tactical instruction, so why shouldn't they be held to account? It's always awful to see a side that's about to cause a massive footballbetting upset lose out because of a mistake, just look at Blackpool this weekend.

No one is suggesting that teams should be able to lodge an appeal, or even that referees should never make any mistakes, but the game of football belongs to the fans, and they deserve an explanation, especially when an error makes the difference between celebrating a valuable away point, and a long, depressing trek back up the M1 on a Saturday evening, sometimes with their football bets ruined.

The bottom line is that referees are only answerable to the Premier League and of course they won't step into a shooting gallery of their own volition. But until those in charge allow us to see referees as fallible humans like the rest of us, we will continue to be outraged whenever they make mistakes, even those not picked up by pundits until they have had access to several slow-motion replays from fourteen different angles. All it takes is that human touch - and never is a man more human than when he puts his hands up to apologise.