Yahoo News Angry Nottingham Forest in 'destroying Premier League' blast
Nottingham Forest are said angry at what they claim is poor refereeing after contentious decisions in each of their last two games
The Reds were furious last season over a number of VAR decisions that went against them, culminating with their questioning the integrity of “Luton fan” official Stuart Attwell during a fiery 2-0 defeat at Everton.
And according to The Telegraph, they are increasingly frustrated with referees again this term and have now warned that poor officiating is “destroying the Premier League, damaging clubs and failing fans”.
Forest’s unbeaten run in the top-flight this season was ended on Saturday after a contentious penalty handed Fulham a 1-0 victory at the City Ground. The club’s mood was further darkened when VAR then twice ruled against them in penalty incidents involving first Anthony Elanga and then Taiwo Awoniyi.
READ MORE: Referee 'convinced' Nuno Espirito Santo wrong in latest Nottingham Forest row
READ MORE: Supercomputer predicts best season in decades as Nottingham Forest close in on Manchester United
The Telegraph’s John Percy reported: “Evangelos Marinakis, the club’s owner, was at the City Ground on Saturday and is understood to be angered after Forest’s latest brush with referees.”
He then cited a “senior Forest source” who said: “The standard of refereeing is destroying the status of the Premier League and damaging its clubs. There appears to be no consistency of decision-making from VAR.
“There still isn’t sufficient transparency in the VAR process. It’s the fans who suffer too. VAR was intended to improve the game for clubs and supporters alike, but it’s failing them at the moment.”
Percy described the comments as a “clear message to Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL)” - the group that oversees elite match officials.
READ MORE: Match of the Day pundits take on Nuno Espirito Santo with 'don't want that in Premier League' view
READ MORE: What Nuno did after defeat summed up Nottingham Forest frustrations as Gibbs-White sorely missed
The latest row comes a week after Morgan Gibbs-White was dismissed for a second yellow card in the 2-2 draw at Brighton - a decision later questioned by the Premier League’s own Key Match Incidents Panel.
The Gibbs-White dismissal also prompted a red card for Reds boss Nuno Espirito Santo after he disputed the decision, and he was vindicated when the Key Match Incidents Panel later said the incident had been “below the threshold for a second caution”.
Saturday’s game was refereed by Josh Smith with John Brooks the VAR official, and Nuno later said: “When we come to the game, we don’t think about the referee, we just want to compete and play the game and hope the referee gets things right.”
