Latest Nottingham Forest news: A paper examines VAR errors from the 2023/24 Premier League season and their influence on the Reds.
A new analysis reveals how Nottingham Forest can feel vindicated for their VAR grievances from the previous season.
The Reds believed they were on the wrong end of a series of terrible decisions during the season. That sense of injustice culminated in a furious tweet from the club’s official account following last month’s 2-0 loss to Everton.
However, a summary of the 31 VAR faults recorded by the independent Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel demonstrates that Forest was justified in feeling unfairly treated. They were one of the teams most affected by VAR blunders in 2023/24, along with Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion, with all three making four mistakes.
According to the list released by ESPN, the Reds were denied three penalties against Newcastle United, West Ham United, and Everton. In March’s 1-0 loss to Brighton, they also missed a red card for their opponents.
The Premier League’s KMI panel examines every important decision made in each game. Forest will claim that a number of other calls went against them, but only four were listed on the KMI panel’s official list of errors.
The first decision deemed incorrect by the KMI panel came in February’s 3-2 defeat to the Magpies at the City Ground. According to the report, the Reds should have been awarded a penalty kick for Martin Dubravka’s challenge on Taiwo Awoniyi with the score at 2-2.
A week later, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-0 victory over the Hammers. The panel concluded Maxwel Cornet’s tackle on Neco Williams in the 81st minute, when the score was 1-0, should have resulted in a penalty.
The following month, Forest lost 1-0 against Brighton. Jakub Moder was not sent off for a challenge on Williams in the 67th minute, which was an incorrect official judgment.
The confrontation at Goodison Park was extremely contentious. The Reds claimed they should have received three penalties, but the KMI panel determined there was only one wrong decision: Ashley Young’s challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 55th minute, when the score was 1-0.
On the other hand, the list shows that Forest benefitted from two VAR errors. According to reports, Burnley’s Lyle Foster had a goal wrongfully disallowed in the 76th minute of the 1-1 draw at the City Ground due to deliberate handball by Sander Berge. In October’s 1-1 draw with Brentford, the tribunal ruled that the visitors should have been awarded a penalty for Reds goalkeeper Matt Turner’s foul on Yoane Wissa.
Any instances not on the official list indicate that the panel determined whether they were correct or not a clear and evident error. According to ESPN, Forest were involved in three incidences that the KMI panel assessed to be refereeing errors but not sufficiently “clear and obvious” to warrant a VAR intervention.
