Town’s 45-year wait for a win at Bramall Lane goes on after a fiery encounter last Saturday.

But it wasn’t the football that was the main talking point from the game – it was the performance of referee David Coote.

Ask any football fan across the country what frustrates them the most about refereeing and I’m certain they would say a lack of consistency.

Last weekend Mr Coote dished out nine yellow cards, the majority of them being totally unnecessary.

I can guarantee that this weekend at the County Ground, we will see some of the same type of incidents will go unpunished.

Football has advanced on and off the pitch and it’s played at a much higher speed than ever before.

Despite this, refereeing hasn’t kept up with the times.

It now seems the officials are trying to do their jobs with one arm tied behind their back.

In other sports, the use of technology is nothing out of the ordinary. Rugby uses the video ref to confirm if a try has been scored. In tennis and cricket the use of hawkeye is now the norm.

The fact that the most popular game in the world is behind the times in helping the officials is embarrassing.

In some areas, like goal line technology, the game has finally moved on, but in others it still lives in the dark ages.

With the technology now available, our sport is too important to be left in the hands of a few guys on the pitch.

They need the benefits we get to enjoy on the sofa at home, when we can watch two or three replays.

Some in the game say this shouldn’t be introduced because this technology can’t be used at every ground in the country, due to cost, practicality etc.

I’ve never understood this argument. In cricket, hawkeye isn’t used at every level of the game, but it’s still rightly implemented at the highest level.

Even if a video ref can only be used in the Premier League and not in the Football League, that would be a move in the right direction.

The sooner our beloved game catches up with the 21st century the better.