Latest Nottingham Forest news as the repercussions from the Reds’ angry tweet continues ahead of their clash with Manchester City.
Nottingham Forest’s head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, is sure that their recent controversy over refereeing decisions would not affect their performance in the remaining games.
The Reds have four matches left to secure Premier League safety, beginning with Sunday’s home game against reigning champions Manchester City. However, the build-up to this weekend’s game has been overshadowed by Forest’s furious reaction to their 2-0 setback at Everton.
The club has been in the spotlight for their irate tweet at full-time after three penalty appeals were turned down at Goodison Park. Their statement effectively questioned VAR Stuart Attwell’s credibility, as Forest claimed to have “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board that he “is a Luton fan” before to the game.
However, Nuno has stated that any criticism of officials is not personal. And he is confident that referees will not be affected by the controversy or any preconceived notions about the Reds when they monitor their games.
“They are professional. “They should be immune,” Nuno explained. “I understand it is difficult, but try to be immune to all of this and do their own jobs. Come to the match and prepare, focus, and do their responsibilities well.
“Our team will enter matches hoping for the best. Our communication and message is clear: forget about everything and concentrate on what lies ahead of you. Our spirit is one of goodwill. We go to play football. What occurs next should be the responsibility of other people.”
Nuno defended the club’s right to express itself on social media, conceding that emotions may run high following games. He asserted, however, that Attwell was never intended to be targeted.
“It was never our intention as a club, for sure, to overcome the limits,” he said. “There is a limit to everything, and getting abusive is not the point, and it should end.
“But, at the same time, please understand that after a football game in which we are fighting for our lives and you see so many things and then you see it again and you start putting all those things together, how can you control yourself and say, ‘OK, nothing has happened?'” But we don’t want to go beyond the limitations; that’s incorrect.
“The only change is that the VAR now has a name. There were previous games with errors in which we did not know the name of VAR. But it’s not personal.
“It is up to the VAR, as well as the referees and PGMOL, to accept responsibility for their errors, which influence a lot of things and a lot of people, particularly the fans. Fans should be respected; they travel long distances to see and then witness it. They have phones, and they see replays; how can you regulate that? Don’t blame the statement; instead, blame the mistake.
