Former Manchester United player Gary Neville criticised the way Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest reacted and accused Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Stuart Attwell of being a Luton fan following their 2-0 defeat against Everton.
During the game against Everton, they were denied a series of penalty calls. Nottingham made three appeals for a penalty on three different occasions and on-field referee Anthony Taylor turned down the calls which were backed by VAR Atwell.
After the defeat, Nottingham Forest are just one point clear of Luton who are in the relegation zone in the 18th spot.
In the aftermath of the game on Sunday, Nottingham Forest took to X to express their dissatisfaction over the decision and wrote, “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.”
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
Neville lambasted the way Nottingham Forest reacted to the referee’s decision and said as quoted from Sky Sports, “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.”
“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 added.
Neville went on to state that Nottingham will regret the tweet that they put out after the game in which they claimed that Atwell was a Luton fan.
“I’m disappointed for Nottingham Forest’s players and fans, but I’m also disappointed in Nottingham Forest for the way in which they’ve acted. It’s a horrendous tweet they’ve put out there and they’ll regret that as a football club,” Neville stated.
Coming to the match, goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil sealed a 2-0 win for Everton. The win helped Everton take the 16th position with 30 points, while Nottingham sit in 17th with 26 points just one point away from the relegation zone.
