Forest ridiculed by pundits for 'embarrassing' claims that VAR official was a Hatters supporter

Nottingham Forest have been slammed by a number of pundits for their ‘embarrassing’ and ‘horrendous’ reaction to yesterday’s 2-0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park in which they claimed they were denied three penalties due to the VAR official being a Luton fan.

The Reds went into the game looking to move clear of the bottom three following Town’s woeful 5-1 loss on home soil to Brentford just 24 hours earlier, but suffered a 11th defeat from 17 top flight matches on the road this term to remain just one point ahead of the Hatters, goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil giving the Toffees a huge boost of their own, as Sean Dyche’s side moved five points clear of the dotted line with five games left to play.

However, the match was laden with controversy, Forest feeling they should have been awarded three spot-kicks for incidents against home defender Ashley Young, who tripped Geo Reyna when the scores were goalless and then once Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross struck his arm from close range with the Reds 1-0 down.

The most contentious of them all came in the second period though, former Watford player Young appearing to clearly catch Hudson-Odoi as he sped through on goal, only for referee Anthony Taylor to deem he got the ball, with officials in Stockley Park agreeing, not even sending him to the screen to view it for a second time. A statement from the Reds afterwards claimed though that Stuart Attwell, who was in charge of VAR, is in fact a Luton fan, something they had warned the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) about prior to kick-off.

It was been universally panned by a number of pundits, as former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: “I get the frustration, but that, what I've just read there on social media, that's like a fan in a pub. That is embarrassing from Nottingham Forest. That rubbish that VAR's a Luton fan - you can't get involved in that, you've got to show a little bit of class if you're a football club. I get it, the frustration - the officials had an awful day, terrible - but you can't get involved in that, that's nonsense."

Meanwhile, ex-Manchester United full back Gary Neville added: “It's horrendous, the statement by that football club, and it lets the proud history of that club down. The inferred cheating, as suggested by a Luton fan being a VAR official, is absolutely ridiculous."

Speaking on Match of the Day Two, another former Liverpool player, Danny Murphy said: “It’s a bizarre situation and one that’s shocked us all really. There was some poor decision making, but I think the response has been strange as I don’t see what they think they’re going to achieve from it. I don’t go along with that, I’ve always felt that our referees over the years no matter where they’re from and what the rumours were about who they supported tried to do the best job. There has been some really bad officiating this season, a lot of incompetency and today was the same.”

Meanwhile, ex-Everton and Sheffield United defender Phil Jagielka questioned if a home victory had even been the best outcome for the Hatters, adding: “I picture myself as a Luton fan and asked what the best result would have been today. I get where they’re (Forest) coming from and if he is a Luton fan then he probably shouldn’t have been on the game, but as far as the outcome of the game, it doesn’t really suit them at all, so I’m a bit bamboozled to be honest.”