DAVID Flitcroft has outlined his ideas for interaction between managers and match officials as the standard of refereeing in League Two continues to provoke debate.

The Town manager was unimpressed by Scott Duncan’s award of the match-winning penalty in his side’s 1-0 defeat at Notts County last Tuesday, while the performance of whistler John Brooks in Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over Stevenage at the County Ground caused bewilderment, mirth and anger in equal measure among the home support.

Brooks infuriated many of the 6,022 spectators with a succession of free kick awards and bookings, leading the Swindon boss to declare that he had “made a very easy game to referee look difficult.’’

Flitcroft spoke to Brooks in the aftermath of the contest, but is of the opinion that the lines of communication need to be much more defined for the benefit of players, managers and the officials themselves.

“I think the communication lines are not there. I don’t think that we all have enough confidences or communications with referees. At times, they’re on a different page,’’ said the Town boss.

Flitcroft reckoned a lack of understanding of coaching methods contributed to Duncan’s spot-kick decision at County and added: “Maybe in time they (referees) will have to be at a certain coaching level to understand that. They’ll have to do a referees’ qualification and then some football qualifications.

“I try and go in after a game and talk to referees, but more of a ‘how can we improve?’.

“It would be nice, because that’s the only time you get with referees, that you could have the assessor there (and) have some video work on. There’s enough investment in the game to go into a manager’s room or an analyst’s room afterwards.’’ The Town manager rejected the notion that such post-match get-togethers would just result in managers venting their spleen at officials, saying: “People say you’re (too) emotional after a game. I disagree.

“You should be in control after a football match and we’ve got to rectify that problem and evaluate that problem in real time then. That’s something I’ve asked the (Football) Association could they do.

“It’s really important we improve all aspects of football and of refereeing and it’s something I’m a big advocate for because once you’ve lost that moment you don’t get it back.

“You’ve got a good moment there to try and come up with solutions 30 minutes after a game. You’ve got an assessor who could mediate and I think you would find answers.

“If managers went in there with the wrong attitude and in the wrong learning environment then give them a two-strike rule, where they are not allowed to go and have that debate or forum for improvement.

“It’s something I’ve spoken about. I’m not too sure if it will get implemented but I do believe we could make improvements to that part of it and it’s something I love to see.’’