POOR Mark Clattenburg.

Even if wanting go and see a mundane bloke sing poor pop songs is apparently a serious misdemeanor, then being removed from this weekend’s referee list for poor musical taste is still a harsh punishment.

You might also have thought having to talk to Neil Warnock on the phone was a punishment, not a crime.

One thing the latest chapter in Clattenburg’s future tell-all autobiography did give us was an insight into the personality inside the black uniform, something we rarely get a view of.

Here is what I know about the high-profile referees in this country: Howard Webb is scary and used to arrest people, Phil Dowd is a dessert fan and Clattenburg likes middle of the road singer-songwriters.

Why is my knowledge of referees so sparse? A combination of poor research and a lack of opportunity to find out more.

Referees are not human, they are men who turn up at professional football grounds, do their job and speak to no one. They are then either hammered or occasionally praised by pretty much everyone else, whilst remaining entirely silent.

More than once this season, Town boss Mark Cooper has asked for referees to be more accountable for their decisions and it is a reasonable point.

Everyone else in football is required to explain themselves, except the men who deal with discipline on and off the pitch.

It is that sort of unaccountability from the footballing authorities which left Swindon fans in the dark as to why their team had been fined more than Leyton Orient for their part in the ‘mass confrontation’ at Brisbane Road.

It is not fair that people who make such big decisions are not required to explain why publicly.

If a referee came out at the end of the game and offered the press a chance to question a key decision, it would benefit everyone.

Even if they did not agree with it, those who questioned the call could understand why it was made - the wall between referees and the public would break down and perhaps those of us in the press box would have another interesting angle to explore.

To me it seems a no-brainer. To those in charge of the men in black it does not.

Instead referees will continue to receive threats on social media, while everyone else is left stewing in enraged ignorance.