Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has called out referees' chief Mike Riley and says nothing will change while he is in charge in the wake of the Bluebirds' defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.
The Cardiff manager was left incensed after his side had nothing to show for their efforts against Maurizio Sarri's men who scored two late goals - the first of which should have been chalked off - to dent the Bluebirds' survival hopes.
A number of other decisions went against Cardiff - notably two penalty shouts and a controversial yellow-card incident involving Antonio Rudiger and Kenneth Zohore when the latter was through on goal in the second half.
Warnock had plenty to say about the man in the middle on Sunday, Craig Pawson, and his assistants, but he reserved particular criticism for Riley. Former Premier League ref Riley currently serves as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, and has held the role for almost a decade.
Warnock said to talkSPORT: "Mike Riley, he's in charge of the referees, and as a referee he was like a robot. He had no feelings, he didn't know anything about the game, he knew the laws, and like Bill Shankly used to say, you know the law but you don't know the game.
"Craig Pawson's a good ref, I think he's one of the best referees, but for whatever reason he doesn't see the decisions, or he is not coached to see what is and what is not a foul, because he's stood in good positions."
After the match, Warnock was seen staring down the officials in the centre of the pitch while he had several verbal altercations with the fourth official during the contest.
And the Yorkshireman believes referees in the top flight will continue to make mistakes until Riley leaves his post.
"Have you ever managed a football team under pressure in a situation like this, had a decision that so blatantly obviously could cost you everything? The answer is no. Anybody can say you shouldn't be doing this, he should calm down," added Warnock.
"You almost begin to feel is it me? Is it payback time for all the years I've shouted at officials.
"Have you all got together and said 'Hey, let's get him out of this place'.
"I just don't think they're educated enough at the top level. I don't think things will change until Riley goes which is very unlikely because he's rooted so far in."
