Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo and Mark Clattenburg held talks with referees’ chief Howard Webb over their gripes with officials before Paul Tierney’s clanger in Liverpool defeat
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Howard Webb has held talks with Nottingham Forest amid the club’s dissatisfaction over decisions they believe have unfairly gone against them this season.
Referee chief Webb is said to have met Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo and Mark Clattenburg, the former Premier League official who now works as an adviser to Forest, in recent days.
Mail Sport understands the meeting took place before Forest’s home defeat to Liverpool last Saturday, when owner Evangelos Marinakis confronted officials in the tunnel in the ninth minute of stoppage time after Darwin Nunez’s winner.
The meeting was originally planned to give PGMOL representatives the opportunity to introduce themselves to Nuno and his staff, as is the case for all new managers.
Referee Paul Tierney was the target of his ire and the Lancashire official will not take charge of a Premier League match this weekend, instead working in the VAR room for Arsenal’s meeting with Brentford on Saturday.
Mark Clattenburg (L) with referee Howard Webb (R) during Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup match against Manchester United last month
Referee Paul Tierney angered Forest officials by allowing Liverpool’s controversial winner to stand on Saturday
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time at the City Ground
Yet Forest’s grievances predate Nuno’s arrival at Forest, with his predecessor Steve Cooper also left infuriated by certain refereeing calls.
Early in Nuno’s reign, Forest lost 3–2 at Brentford, with Bees striker Ivan Toney not penalized for moving the ball before scoring from a free-kick.
Their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on 28 February also featured a controversial offside.
Last Saturday, Tierney stopped playing due to a head injury to Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate, while Forest were in attack.
Instead of restarting with an unchallenged drop ball in Forest’s favour, Tierney handed the ball back to Liverpool, who scored almost two minutes later.
Forest squandered chances to clear before Nunez scored but claim the decision changed the pattern of the match.
After the match, Clattenburg said: ‘The owner is quite upset because he has invested a lot of money in the football club and he wants to see results. He believes that a new decision has gone to the detriment of the club. We will engage with the PGMOL and the Premier League and discuss the appropriate course of action in the near future.”
