‘The sewers’ - National media react to controversial Nottingham Forest statement

Nottingham Forest have come in for fierce criticism following their 45-word social media statement about refereeing decisions following Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Everton.

Mark Clattenburg may also face some added heat after coming out to brand the three non-penalty decisions as “a joke” and “a hat-trick of howlers”. The Football Association has now opened an investigation into Forest’s social media statement.

A number of analysts have slammed Forest for their actions, with Jamie Carragher stating the club sounded like “a fan in the pub” given the tone of the tweet. National media titles have also waded in on the debate, with some scathing in their assessments.

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‘Took them to the sewers’

Ian Herbert, Daily Mail

“Forest’s preposterous and disgraceful outburst — ‘like a fan in a pub, embarrassing’, as Jamie Carragher observed — took them into the sewers of the game, flying in the face of the professionalism we would expect of any club.

“The directive from those at the top of Forest that a tweet be sent, stating they had warned that VAR official Stuart Attwell was ‘a Luton fan’, comes a month after owner Evangelos Marinakas brought the club into disrepute by tearing down the tunnel after referee Paul Tierney following a late defeat by Liverpool.

“Football rages and seethes against perceived injustice every day, but Sunday was unprecedented. Who the hell do these people think they are?”

‘Statement reflected mood of staff’

Paul Taylor, The Athletic

“While X, formerly Twitter, might not be the most appropriate of places for a Premier League club to let off steam about match officials, the post was a reflection of the mood among the Forest hierarchy, the coaching staff and the players (and the club had initially planned to put it out at half-time, when it was only 1-0).

“This is not the first injustice Forest have felt and among those running the club the anger is palpable — so much so the instruction to send the tweet came right from the top…

“It is true PGMOL could have saved itself a problem by not appointing an official with an affiliation to one of the two clubs’ relegation rivals to this game.

“But if we are at the stage where a match official supporting a team in close proximity to the competing sides in the table must now be taken into account when deciding if they are assigned to a fixture, we will be stepping into a minefield.”

‘Bizarre behaviour’

Henry Winter, the Times, on X

“Immature, irresponsible tweet. There are more grown-up ways to address a concern than this. Bizarre behaviour which simply undermines any sympathy for Forest over the decisions.”

‘I can’t believe bias claims’

John Cross, the Mirror, on X

“Are we seriously suggesting that even if the VAR supports another club he’s not professional enough to make decisions? Yes, one was wrong. But out of bias? I can’t believe that. Trouble is the lines get blurred when TV turns pundits into fans. Stop it.”

‘Clattenburg must resign’

Gary Neville, Sky Sports

“Mark Clattenberg must resign tonight. 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.

“Today and over the last few weeks, the way Nottingham Forest are behaving lacks class and that's a class club. When I was growing up, they acted in a way where you felt like values and principles were really at the forefront of everything they did through the manager they had at the time.

“Someone is driving this cultural behaviour in the way in which they're handling these poor decisions and it's not the right way to do it.”