Nottingham Forest refereeing consultant Mark Clattenburg is set to resign following the club’s statement accusing VAR Stuart Attwell of being a Luton Town fan, says Gary Neville.
Forest have accused Attwell, the VAR for their controversial 2-0 defeat at Everton, of being a Luton fan after a series of appeals for Forest sanctions were rejected.
Forest were ruled out three times by match referee Anthony Taylor with on-field decisions approved by Attwell in the VAR hub.
After the match, Forest posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.
“We warned the PGMOL that the VAR was a Luton fan before the match but they did not change it. Our patience was tested on several occasions. The NFFC will now consider their options.”
Former Premier League referee Clattenburg works as a consultant for Forest and was at Goodison Park for the match.
“Mark Clattenberg must resign this evening,” Neville said.
“If he saw these words come out that question the integrity of a referee and claim that someone is a cheat for supporting another club, then he supports what is being said. He would lose all credibility with the referees of the game. He should step down this evening and distance himself from this statement.
“This statement sounds like that of a petulant child. It’s embarrassing.
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Jamie Carragher has slammed Nottingham Forest’s social media post after being denied three potential penalties against relegation rivals Everton in their 2-0 defeat.
“But they seize defeat after victory. They might say: ‘why should we sit here and take abuse and say nothing’. You can potentially walk out at the end of the game – and the manager is a great bearer. speak at the end of the match, your captain too – and say that we do not accept the quality of the decisions that go against us, and that would have a real impact.
“You could if you wanted, and I’m not a fan, but the club’s written statements when it comes to talking about referees, I don’t think that’s a line you should cross. I think that managers can say: ‘It’s a shocking decision today, a shameful decision’. You would have a small fine and the club could cover it for you because you made a deal with the president to defend yourself. and put a marker on all these things past.
“Today and over the last few weeks the way Nottingham Forest are behaving lacks class and they are a class club. When I was young they acted in a way where it seemed like the values and principles were really at the forefront of everything they did through the manager they had at the time.
“Today was a horrible day for Nottingham Forest. Maybe horrible because of the decisions they made, but horrible for the way they reacted to the situation. Mentioning the VAR official as being a fan of Luton and somehow infer that had an impact on the decision making process and that suggests to me as a fan thinking “did he fool us”, that you are in truly dangerous territory.
“And when they say ‘explore all options’, I had a problem with Liverpool saying after the offside at Tottenham, what do you mean by that?
“It’s become a theme going forward that clubs now think they can ‘explore options’. What are they going to do, move on? Replay the match? Ask for points in return? That’s never going to happen.
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Nuno Espirito Santo says he has seen footage of the three penalty decisions that were not awarded at Nottingham Forest in their 2-0 defeat to Everton and struggles to understand why none were awarded.
“Unless you can somehow prove that there was absolute wrongdoing, which there isn’t in that sense, it’s just nonsense.
“I’m disappointed for the Nottingham Forest players and supporters, but I’m also disappointed in Nottingham Forest for the way they acted. It’s a horrible tweet they put out and they will regret it as a footballer. club.
“Someone is causing this cultural behavior in the way they handle these bad decisions and that’s not the right way to do it.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Everton’s win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Carra: FA must go after Forest
Jamie Carragher from Sky Sports:
“The FA needs to go after Forest and put an end to this. There was stuff with Liverpool at Tottenham and Arsenal at Newcastle. It feels like it’s building with Clattenburg at Forest. It’s like a tactic to pressure the officials one way or another We saw Clattenburg in the stands.
“This shouldn’t stop Anthony Taylor and Stuart Attwell from having a bad day, but this behavior needs to be eradicated, like asking for apologies, exploring all options. There are no options. There needs to be a very big sanction against Forest.
