Saturday had a familiar feel to it.

The seething anger you feel as you watch a referee seemingly cost your team a result with a baffling performance, then saunter off the pitch without a care in the world.

If Saturday’s feelings were familiar, it’s because the kind of displays shown by David Rock happen all too often.

But in directing all the anger at Rock, I can’t help but feel it’s an exercise in futility for two reasons.

The first is close to home. Yes you can blame him for the penalty given against Perry Ng – he somehow missed the touch Ng got on the ball.

But would we be having this discussion had it been at the other end had the Alex had won because of it?

Second, in blaming Rock for his performance, I feel we risk missing the bigger issue here – refereeing in the EFL is still in the dark ages.

Why is it that officials in the EFL are still part time, with exactly the same set-up as it is in the lower levels of the non-leagues?

Even when the teams they officiate over are full time? Why is there no accountability to fans, no explanation of decisions in a post match interview? Or even access to match reports?

Why is it that after every bad refereeing performance, no matter what level, there isn’t a greater call for more transparency?

Football has changed dramatically in the last 10-20 years. Yet refereeing is the same way it always has been, or so it seems.

David Artell might have been being flippant, but in saying Rock would return to his job as an architect or a maths teacher, he made a valid point. This isn’t a livelihood for a referee. This isn’t his career on the line, unlike the players he shares the pitch with.

Where are the stakes for him when he can slip back into his day job and carry on like nothing has happened?

Clubs should unite to demand a greater set of standards for officials to be held to.

Why is there no push for full-time officials in the EFL? It seems clubs go for the short-term satisfaction of having their grievances heard and then move on, leaving officials free to repeat mistakes.

Unless there is a dramatic change in how referees are trained, monitored and assessed, then we can expect plenty more David Rock’s at Gresty Road.