Neil Warnock’s joke isn’t funny any more, as one punchline too many leaves the ‘Serial Referee Hater’ bereft of a smile, as well as any respect.

Stiliyan Petrov rose high to nod home Stuart Downing’s corner and level a cracking FA Cup tie between crisis-club Crystal Palace of the Championship, and high-flying Aston Villa of the Premier League.

And what punishment does Palace manager, Neil Warnock, see as fitting for the man responsible for Petrov’s goal?

“It’s a disgrace. He should be banned for weeks.”

Ok, so the defender should have been tighter and at least have challenged for the header, but to ban him for weeks is surely a little harsh.

Only Neil Warnock was not referring to his defender. He was in fact calling the referee ‘a disgrace’. Why? For failing to award a goal kick instead of a corner in the lead up to Aston Villa’s second goal.

I have never been Neil Warnock’s biggest fan. I can acknowledge the fact that over the past few years he has probably had some poor decisions go against him (Palace’s goal that never was at the start of the season being the biggest). I have also named several managers in my past columns that are a little too quick to blame the officials when their team suffer defeat. Mr Warnock, however, beats them all hands down.

He has almost turned the art of blaming the referee into his very own form of stand-up comedy. The post-match interviewer will feed the question ‘So did the ref cost you the game today?’ and so begins his series of verbal attacks (or punchlines).

The television pundits lap it up and laugh along with Neil because he ‘speaks his mind’ and is ‘passionate’, and it all plays into his little game that sees him as a sort of clown prince of football managers, and he seems to enjoy and revel in his role of the Serial Referee Hater.

I’m afraid I am not laughing along with him because he is precisely the sort of man who is responsible for the ever-decreasing numbers of referees in this country.

Sunday league games go without referees because there is still not enough respect for officials at all levels of the game. Of course, there are times when a referee’s decision might cost your team a game, such as a dubious penalty, or a goal disallowed for no apparent reason. It is frustrating, and I can even understand managers and players having a small grumble about it in the interview after the game.

But let’s go back to the decision to award Aston Villa the corner from which they scored. In fast motion, first time round I could not see clearly who the ball came off last, and I very much doubt Neil Warnock did either. It was only on the slow-motion replay that I saw the ball had touched a Villa player last and it should in fact have been a goal kick. It was a mistake yes, but it’s not as if the referee headed the ball into the net for Martin O’Neill’s men. Had Crystal Palace defended the corner properly the decision would not have mattered. So for Neil Warnock to have the temerity to say the referee should be banned for weeks is unfair and he should now be the one facing a ban.

What I would like to see happen is the FA sit Mr Warnock down in front of their ‘Respect’ campaign advert, the one where Ray Winstone berates a referee for so long he decides to throw down his whistle and walk off the pitch.

Or even better, when Neil Warnock next calls the referee a ‘disgrace’, the interviewer should pluck up some courage and ask him if he has ever tried refereeing a match. Then I might be laughing.