Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville expect the FA to come down hard on Nottingham Forest after they released a statement criticising VAR and Stuart Attwell following their 2-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had three huge penalty shouts waved away by referee Anthony Taylor at Goodison Park, prompting a furious statement from the Tricky Trees at full-time.
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.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 21, 2024
The Midlands club recently employed former official Mark Clattenburg as a consultant to provide clarity and communication with those operating the new technology but he labelled the decisions not to award Forest a penalty as “a joke” and suggested that the club were left feeling “victimised.”
After recording their 18th loss of the season against Everton, Forest remain just one point above the relegation zone and four behind Sean Dyche’s men in 16th place.
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But Sky Sports pundits Neville and Carragher had no sympathy for the two-time European Cup winners, with the former suggesting Clattenburg should resign from his role.
“Mark Clattenberg must resign tonight,” said Neville on Sunday.
“If he saw those words go out in which question the integrity of a referee and claims someone is a cheat for supporting another club, then he’s supporting what is being said.
“He would lose all credibility with referees in the game. He should stand down tonight and distance himself from that statement.
“The statement is like a petulant child. It’s embarrassing.
“Today has been a horrendous day for Nottingham Forest. Possibly horrendous because of the decisions that they’ve had, but horrendous for how they’ve reacted to the situation.
“To mention the VAR official as being a Luton fan and inferring in some way that’s had an impact on the decision-making process and suggesting to me as a fan, thinking ‘has he cheated us’, you’re into really dangerous territory.”
“He must resign from his job at Nottingham Forest” ❌
Gary Neville says Mark Clattenburg has to stand down tonight 😮 pic.twitter.com/VF2z4snn9s
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 21, 2024
Former Liverpool man Carragher agreed with his old rival and believes the FA should come down hard on Forest to prevent a similar situation happening again.
He said: “The FA need to come down hard on Forest and stamp this out. There’s been 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 put pressure on officials in some way. We saw Clattenburg in the stands.
“This shouldn’t get away from Anthony Taylor and Stuart Attwell having a bad day but this behaviour needs stamping out, like asking for an apology, exploring all options.
“There are no options. There needs to be a really big sanction on Forest.”
