Ever since I became a fully qualified referee, my views on their performances have drastically changed. Whereas before, I would slate every referee that wasn't 100% spot on with his decision making, recently I have held back, knowing how hard it is to referee football matches, and so I hadn't actually been saying anything negative about referees. After all, the better team should be able of winning a game regardless of the referee's performance, so, with that in mind, I would think about the referees tough job, and come to the conclusion that it was Palace who simply hadn't been good enough on the day to beat the opposition. Until yesterday.

In the Palace versus Sheffield United match at Brammall Lane yesterday, live on Sky Sports, I can quite confidently say that Anthony Taylor had the refereeing performance that I have ever seen in football, be it on the parks on a Sunday morning, or in the Premier League on a Saturday afternoon. And this isn't with my Palace tinted glasses on either, because he wasn't just poor for us. He was poor for Sheffield United as well. Ask anybody who watched the game and they will agree with me. Believe me, I would be just as outraged had we won the game.

Taylor has already issued 55 yellow cards and 7 reds.

The first penalty was very soft. Don Goodman said that the referee "has been conned", and that may be the case. From the angle the referee was at though, and judging by the flight of the ball and the direction in which Neil Danns was running, I would say that Danns went down under the challenge of Calve. That's not to say it was a penalty, I would never have given it, but Danns was going for the ball, so obviously couldn't have kept his balance as well as if he had been stationary.

Following that, the referee awarded a penalty to United, despite the fact that Nathaniel Clyne won the ball, and Claude Davis was booked, before Owen Garvan was sent off for foul and abusive language, something which I am sure would not have been punished in the Premier League. Then, with 5 minutes to go, United scored an offside goal, which was not spotted by the referee or his assistant, and Taylor then awarded another penalty to United. Granted, it was a trip, but I wonder whether it would have been awarded by Howard Webb, in my opinion the best referee in the world, for example. Another sending off in the dying seconds capped off his performance, but that red card was probably deserved.

He has refereed several games in the Premier League, but his references have not been glowing. During the game between Fulham and Blackburn earlier this season, he missed a handball outside the box by Mark Schwarzer, and was criticised by both managers, and Blackburn put in an official complaint to the Premier League.

These fast-tracked referees simply aren't of good enough quality to referee in the Football or Premier Leagues. Perhaps a good idea would be for the fast-tracked referees to spend a season or two running the lines as Assistant Referee or 4th Official, while watching more experienced, and more qualified, professionals control the game in the middle. Certainly, a far more cautious approach will be needed if the fast-tracked officials are to avoid becoming synonymous with making high-profile blunders.