Latest Nottingham Forest news: PGMOL chief Howard Webb evaluates occurrences in the Reds’ defeat at Goodison Park.
According to the VAR audio, one of Nottingham Forest’s penalty claims in their disputed defeat to Everton was dismissed as “mutual engagement”.
The Reds were furious after three penalty claims were knocked down during their 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park last month. Ashley Young’s challenges on Gio Reyna and Callum Hudson-Odoi, as well as a handball call against the Everton defender, were all waved aside by referee Anthony Taylor.
Stuart Attwell, VAR, did not instruct Taylor to go to his monitor and evaluate the instances. In an angry statement issued after the game, Forest stated that they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board that Attwell “is a Luton fan” prior to the game, but “they didn’t change him”.
The audio of the third encounter, between Young and Hudson-Odoi, shows Taylor’s assessment of how the former played the ball. VAR referees Attwell and Simon Long felt there was insufficient contact to overturn the verdict and did not request a pitchside review.
The following is a transcript of what was discussed during Match Officials Mic’d Up with PGMOL chief Howard Webb.
AR2 (assistant referee 2) says, “Now.”
AR1 (assistant referee 1) says, “Good. “Only Chris Wood, play on.”
THE VAR: “APP (Attacking Possession Phase), possible offside, possible pen.”
Example: “Plays the ball, plays the ball, plays the ball.”
VAR, which stands for VAR: “Checking possible penalty, standby.”
Again: “Looks like he plays the ball.”
VAR (as the review is played): “OK, so please go carefully. Because it just appears in the shot.”
VAR (reviewing the incident): “Okay, so they get together. There is mutual involvement between them prior to the ball being played, but it is more of a tussle. Longy (Simon Long AVAR): What I’m seeing here is no obvious action from the defense.
“Tayls (Anthony Taylor) confirm the on-field decision to play on. The check has been completed. Both players are tussling for the ball. They play the ball in the same space, so there is some typical contact.”
Referee: “Thank you.”
Webb admitted Forest should have been awarded a penalty kick for that particular occasion. He explained, “I understand why we would have preferred an intervention in this scenario. The referee dismisses the penalty appeal. The VAR examines it and asks himself, ‘Was the non-award clearly and blatantly wrong?’ He concludes that it was not.
“You hear him describe two players battling for the ball. He does not see a clear action by Young that he believes is worthy of assistance, one that crosses the line of being extremely clear. But we would have liked an intervention that allowed the referee to go to the screen and make his own decision in this case, and we believe the outcome would have been different if that had occurred.”
Webb commented on the first two events, saying, “We felt the first two were really subjective calls. The first involved some contact from Ashley Young with Gio Reyna. There was contact. The referee observed it but did not believe it was significant enough to penalize.
“We’ve set a high standard for penalising contact all around the field, including the penalty area. This is what the game has asked us to accomplish.
“Not every single contact constitutes a foul, and there was one where there was very little contact, which is consistent with other cases we’ve waived off this season. The VAR correctly checked that one.
“The second one involved a handball penalty situation. Ashley Young is implicated yet again. The ball struck his arm. He’s moving as he tries to close a shot down from a short distance, and the referee determined that the arm was in a normal position, therefore the VAR check was also completed – understandable in this subjective zone of handball. So we thought both of those events were consistent with our expectations.”
The day following the game, Forest submitted a formal request that the entire VAR audio be made public. According to a statement, “Nottingham Forest has submitted a formal request to the PGMOL to release into the public domain the audio recordings between officials from yesterday’s play versus Everton at Goodison Park. The club has asked that this be shared for three major match incidents: Ashley Young’s challenge on Giovanni Reyna (24th minute), Ashley Young’s handball (44th minute), and Ashley Young’s challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi (56th minute). We strongly believe that the audio and transcript should be made available to the whole football community and supporters in order to ensure the integrity of our sport.
