Nottingham Forest have accused Stuart Attwell, the VAR for their contentious 2-0 defeat at Everton, of being a Luton Town fan after a series of appeals for penalties by Forest were turned down.
Forest had penalty appeals waved away on three separate occasions by match referee Anthony Taylor with the on-field decisions endorsed by Attwell in the VAR hub.
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Nottingham Forest were denied three penalties during their important clash with Everton as Ashley Young was accused of kicking Giovanni Reyna, committing a handball in the box and fouling Callum Hudson-Odoi.
After the game, 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 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 post on X: ‘Our patience has been tested”
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher – who felt that both of Forest’s first-half penalty appeals should have been awarded – described the statement as “embarrassing” while Gary Neville branded it “horrendous.
The defeat at Goodison Park leaves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side one point better off than 18th-placed Luton with four games remaining.
‘It’s like a fan down the pub’ | Carra and Neville slam Forest’s statement
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Jamie Carragher has slammed Nottingham Forest’s social media post after they were denied three penalties against relegation rivals Everton during their 2-0 defeat
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher:
“It tells you where we are with the PL and the clubs now. [Stuart] Attwell and [Anthony]Taylor have had an awful day today, and they should be criticised, but what I’ve just read there is like a fan in a pub. That is embarrassing from Nottingham Forest.
“Rubbish: the VAR is a Luton fan? You can’t get involved in that. You have to show class as a football club. That is nonsense.”
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville:
“I just want to comment on that Nottingham Forest statement. It is horrendous statement by that football club. It lets the proud history of that club down, and the inferred cheating, suggesting the official is a Luton Town fan, is absolutely ridiculous.”
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