Yahoo News Nottingham Forest's angry statement branded 'pathetic' and 'justified' as fans wade in
Nottingham Forest’s furious statement over Premier League officiating has captured the interest of the footballing world, with responses ranging from “embarrassing” to “justified”.
After seeing three strong penalty claims waved away in their 2-0 defeat to relegation rivals Everton, Forest reacted with a strongly-worded response. They said they had spoken to referees body PGMOL over the alleged Luton allegiance of VAR Stuart Atwell and that they would “consider their options” following the decisions.
It is not the first time the club has reacted angrily to refereeing decisions, but it is their strongest response yet. And it’s generated a range of responses.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher berates Nottingham Forest over 'embarrassing' response to Everton calls
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While fans of Forest and across the country have labelled it “embarrassing”, there has been some support for the club, with their stance praise for calling out poor decisions and trying to raise officiating standards. Here are some responses on X, formerly Twitter.
@foxy219: “No one likes us, we know that. But quit the moaning. Concentrate on getting results rather than relying on getting a decision that we haven’t been given all season.”
@rebekkarnold: “You know what fair play, people calling this embarrassing clearly don’t understand the impact poor officiating can have on a club’s outcome, especially if they get relegated from the Premier League, everyone is sick of it.”
@MikeWood77: “It’s not pathetic at all. It’s completely justified. Three stonewall penalty decisions denied. Forest have been awarded one penalty all season.”
@BigBearKentlaar: “Some people are calling this embarrassing, but, why? Game after game, thousands of us complain about a decision in every single Premier League game. PGMOL are aware of how strong social media voices can be, now a club have used it to pretty much call them out for their mistakes. It’s about time it’s happened & I hope Forest get at least a clear message from the FA/PGMOL.”
@MattDaviesAdams: “As pathetically embarrassing as today’s performance. A clown show masquerading as a football club.”
@Forest_Review: “Never been one to jump on an officials back. But this is spot on from the Club. Especially having seen the decisions back.”
@NFFC_EPL: “YES. Don’t stand for it. Would they have a Liverpool fan do VAR for a City game in a title run in? No.”
@afcjxmes: “As embarrassing as this seems I hope fans can get behind the overall message. The officiating in the ‘biggest league in the world’ isn’t held to high enough standards. Something needs to change.”
@BankzyNFFC: “A lot of uproar about this, but we’ve been done over by officials all season. We’ve filed complaints multiple times and nothing changed. The club has every right to be livid.”
@Shamsdale: “I’m all for this, to be honest. The clubs need to wake up and realize they don’t have to tolerate constant refereeing incompetence. With an independent regulator looming over the financial side of the game already, this is the time to apply pressure on the PGMOL.”
