Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo hopes the appointment of Mark Clattenburg will help him to understand why his side are not getting the rub of the green with VAR decisions.
Clattenburg has joined Forest as a ‘referee analyst’ and was in the stands as Nuno’s side secured a timely and important 2-0 victory over West Ham United.
It was a win that might have been more comfortable had Forest been awarded a penalty in the 81st minute, when Neco Williams had his heel stamped on by Maxwel Cornet.
Referee Tom Bramall did not appear to spot that there was contact – but Nuno felt that VAR should have intervened, having reviewed the incident for at least two minutes.
It was the second time in two Premier League games that Forest felt they were on the wrong end of refereeing controversy, with replays suggesting they should have had a penalty in the 3-2 defeat against Newcastle United last weekend, when goalkeeper Martin Dubravka brought down Taiwo Awoniyi.
Forest did not make an official complaint in the aftermath of that, but have contacted the PGMOL on three previous occasions this season.
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The first was in August when Forest saw Joe Worrall red carded and a soft penalty awarded against them in a 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford in August. They also asked for an explanation – and received an apology – after Willy Boly had wrongly been red carded in a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth just before Christmas.
In January, Forest raised questions over the conduct of Brentford forward Ivan Toney, after he was allowed to move the ball – and the marker foam – prior to taking a free-kick from which he scored.
All of which has been a factor in the appointment of former Premier League and FIFA referee Clattenburg, who has more recently been the head of refereeing in Greek football.
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“I have not seen him yet. But what I expect is that somebody so expert and so good, will give us a clear view and a clear opinion on what is happening,” said Nuno. “I think everyone in this room is asking that. For me, I am asking myself why. I can accept that the referee did not see it.
“But when we have VAR, when it is so obvious, what I expect from Mark is that he will be able to say ‘this is why that was obvious’.
“We should have had a penalty, yes. When something is so obvious, I cannot say anything else other than the truth. For me it is a penalty. Perhaps the referee did not see it. But if he has not seen it, VAR has to interfere and do something.
“They took two minutes to check it. After you have seen it, you ask yourself ‘why?’. Today the result was different. But that was not the case last week (against Newcastle), when the outcome was different.”
The controversial moment failed to prevent Forest from securing a vital three points, following their first clean sheet in 14 games. Goals from Awoniyi and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has now scored three times in his last three Premier League matches, also helped seal the win.
West Ham were reduced to 10 men in the 71st minute as Kalvin Phillips collected his second yellow card, but Forest would have won by a bigger margin if not for some big saves from Alphonse Areola.
“We played a good game. We were disciplined and aggressive. The boys worked really hard,” said Nuno. “We had good combinations and created chances.”
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