'Worryingly, only five of the 20 Premier League clubs have taken up the offer of a training-ground visit by an elite referee.'

That's one line from Henry Winter's piece in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that is indeed worrying. It certainly makes one wonder about the identity of the five clubs who have taken up the offer of a visit from the very people who often decide their players' fates.

Would those five clubs include Everton? If so, Tim Cahill really has no excuse for his petulant refusal to go and collect his deserved yellow card that seemingly led to its upgrade to a red card in the Merseyside derby.

Presumably the visiting referee explains to the Premier League players what is likely to lead to a booking, what level of dissent is likely to lead to another and, more importantly, delivers these messages in an informal environment designed to bridge the gap between officials and players.

Taken cynically, the clubs could see it as an opportunity to appear keen, to forge relationships with those who make the decisions, to cosy up to the men who could decide whether that mis-timed lunge leads to a yellow or a red card.

If you were a referee, who would you be more likely to send off? A player who's shared a joke with you (or one of your colleagues) on a training ground a few weeks previously or a player from a club who wouldn't give up a morning's training session to hear your advice. Keith Hackett will of course say that no club will get preferential treatment but - as he will also remind you in the wake of an error - referees are only human.

Surely this is just common sense. Winter also points out that not every Premier League manager turns up in person for the new pre-match briefings between referees, captains and managers, instead sending assistants or coaches. The referee does not have the option of sending his fourth official because he is too busy having a cup of tea, so why should the manager?

It's all very well the club captains trotting out before the start of the season to endorse the Respect campaign, but if the clubs are not willing to do everything they can to improve relations - and that might mean a massive three hours listening to Mike Riley - how can they complain that they don't understand the decisions of referees?

There will always be mistakes - with Manchester United's penalty against Bolton a case in point - but there could be fewer misunderstandings and miscommunications if clubs committed to something other than a PR jamboree when it comes to referee respect.

Sarah Winterburn