‘ANGRY’ FOREST CHIEFS PUSHED FOR ‘HALF-TIME STATEMENT’ BUT ‘BACKLASH FEARS’ CAUSED ‘INTERVENTION’

According to reports, Nottingham Forest’s chiefs initially “wanted to put out a statement at half-time” to criticise match officials of the Everton game.

Forest were beaten 2-0 by relegation rivals Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon. Following this result, the Toffees are five points clear of the bottom three with a game in hand.

As for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, they remain in a perilous position as they are just one point ahead of 18th-placed Luton Town and three clear of Burnley.

The visitors felt hard done to as three shouts for a penalty were denied by on-field referee Anthony Taylor and VAR Stuart Attwell.

Earlier this year, Forest made the controversial decision to appoint ex-Premier League official Mark Clattenburg as their referee analyst and they posted a remarkable statement on social media after their loss to Everton.

Accusing VAR official Attwell of being biased, they said: ‘Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.

‘We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.

‘NFFC will now consider its options.’

Clattenburg doubled down…

Clattenburg later doubled down via his column for The Daily Mail: ‘One of these errors would have been bad enough. Three was a joke, and that is why Nottingham Forest were left feeling victimised after another defeat in which zero big decisions went their way.

‘In a season where they have had to endure some egregious refereeing, this trip to Everton was as grim a game as they have encountered since returning to the Premier League.’

A fresh report from Sky Sports claims ‘senior Forest executives were so angry with the match officials at Goodison Park that they wanted to put out a statement at half-time criticising their performance and questioning their impartiality’.

The report adds: ‘Forest’s media chief was seen to intervene and persuade them not to do so, for fear it could be a distraction in the second half, and lead to a backlash from the football authorities.

‘Forest are currently being investigated by the FA and the Premier League for a statement that was put out shortly after the final whistle in the 2-0 defeat to Everton, in which they criticised the PGMOL and questioned the integrity of the VAR Stuart Attwell.

‘The club remain adamant that they were denied three clear penalties, and have since demanded the PGMOL release the audio from the match officials during the incidents.

‘Sources close to refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.’

2024-04-23T18:57:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd