JOHN Coventry says he wants someone to explain the referees decision making process after what he described as a trend of “arrogance” among senior officials.

East Thurrock United were beaten 5-1 at Hampton & Richmond Borough in the National League South on Saturday, with captain and talisman Sam Higgins sent off for two yellow card offences.

And while Coventry had no complaints about the result, he said the level of communication between the referee and his assistant referees needs re-evaluating.

“It sounds like sour grapes but I do struggle with the consistency from referees every week these days,” said the East Thurrock chief.

“Every week an assistant referee will run up the line, I will ask him a question about a decision and he will say ‘that is how I saw it’. When I ask why it wasn’t given he says he cannot give decisions unless the referee looks at him and asks for his opinion.

“I don’t agree with the way they are directed. I pay three officials to attend home matches and I expect them to cover all the decisions that need making.

“There is an arrogance about referees as they are higher qualified than their officials.

“I made a mistake with my team selection on Saturday and my players made mistakes on the pitch but an official never seems to make a mistake.

“I want someone to explain to me why the three officials cannot work as a team.

“I don’t defend players when they are out of order but I understood Sam Higgins’ position on Saturday. He got nothing all game and of course he was frustrated. He was given a second yellow card for kicking the ball back towards their goalkeeper after a corner that should have been awarded to us was given to Hampton.

“Something has to be done and I would like to know how many other teams are struggling with this sort of thing.”

Rocks will now be without top-scorer Higgins for Saturday’s FA Trophy first round tie against Aldershot Town, which Coventry has labelled “one of our biggest matches of the season”.

And he admits he is looking to make changes to his team after the heavy reverse, labelling his team as “weak”.

“Hampton are a good side and they played to their strengths,” he said. “They were very strong and although we weren’t awful like we were at Bath City, we were weak at key moments.

“We were bullied and it does rear its head from time to time. The way to resolve that is to replace players and it is something that needs doing. I don’t need to make a massive overhaul but there are areas that will be improved.”