Nottingham Forest upset by decisions made at Old Trafford

Nottingham Forest's Welsh manager Steve Cooper reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford in Manchester, northwest England, on August 26, 2023. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)

Nottingham Forest are considering whether to lodge an official complaint with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) over the performance of the officials in their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, as reported by the Telegraph.

There is never a shortage of drama at Old Trafford whether it’s on or off the pitch. This weekend it seems to be a matter of Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper leaving the Theatre of Dreams feeling irked by some of the decisions made by officials.

Manchester United forced a comeback after trailing by two goals after three minutes of play. Forest were reduced to 10 men and conceded a penalty before going behind in the match.

Forest captain Joe Worrall was shown a straight red card for what referee Stuart Attwell deemed a last-man foul on Bruno Fernandes. Forest will question the decision based on the presence of Willy Boly.

And, if you listened to former Arsenal defender turned pundit Martin Keown on Match of the Day last night, you would have heard his rant about the penalty United were awarded in the second half.

That was when the drama unfolded further after Danilo fouled Marcus Rashford inside the box. That was before Fernandes stood up to convert his penalty, making it 3-2 and securing the win for his side.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Cooper made his feelings known without elaborating on them (via BBC): “In games like this you need things to be how they should. I am not going to talk too much as I don’t want to get into trouble but I was surprised how quickly the decisions were made.

“You just bite your tongue in terms of what [you] really feel but of course they are defining moments.”

Although VAR looked at both incidents and sided with Attwell’s on-pitch judgements, Forest are set to decide in the coming hours whether to go directly to PGMOL.

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1 Comment

  1. Ahhm; I can’t say I am surprised by all this football snowflakiness; the Premier League brought all this, Juvenile Whinging by Adults no less, upon themselves!! How??

    First, by bringing on VAR!! By doing this, the Premiership made the Entirely Unachievable attempt at Perfection The Enemy Of Excellence!! Our referees can achieve excellence without VAR!! As a matter of fact, they were 90% Excellent (Not Perfect, by any means, But Excellent) before VAR!! The one in ten, who were either incompetant or biased, were easily manageable. Then, VAR was implemented. So now the “adult” juvenile managers are expecting that every VAR decision should go THEIR way!!

    Second; once the referee’s association took the decision to apologize for a supposed Bad Call (whether factual or not); that opened up a Pandora’s Box Of Complaints!!

    So now these complaining managers want the league and referee association to apologize to them when a VAR decision goes against them, anytime they think that it shouldn’t have.

    Such juvenile loser managers will think that their complaining will help him keep the jobs they are fixing to lose anyway!!

    Scrap VAR!! It Does Not Work Any Way!! It Is Still Manned By Humans Who Make Errors And Have Biases!! It Is Far Better To Back The Referees Decisions On The Pitch and tell the Whinging Snowflake Managers To Suck It Up And Take The Decision, Right And/Or Wrong, Like A Man Not A Whining Juvenile!!

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