Nottingham

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo faced the media before Sunday’s home Premier League game with Manchester City.

Here are the headlines:

• Nuno was asked about whether referees are relying on VAR too much in their decision making: "I can speak and tell my opinion and try to be honest. The general feeling in football is referees are not taking their own decisions so this is affecting a lot. They are not taking their decisions and waiting for the VAR to intervene and it is not helping the situation. Referees are the authority on the pitch and then VAR should help. What we want is to move forward."

• He continued: "My personal feeling is about referees not taking decisions on the pitch. They were doing it before so they should do it again and then comes VAR, not the other way around. The other way around is a huge mistake for the game. When it came, I supported it but maybe, one day not much ahead of us, we will say football was better before VAR because it’s been a mess."

• He said Forest's stance on not being awarded three penalties against Everton las week is not a personal issue with the VAR Stuart Attwell: "We don’t want things to go much further and it becomes personal or abusive to the referees. Try to understand us and put yourself in our skin. We don’t want things to go much further - we want to keep things on the game and on the issues we can control. But it’s so many things. It’s not just the recent games. It goes on and on and on and on. That’s why we feel so much anger."

• On his feelings following that game: "I still can’t quite believe it. How the decisions went against us. It’s very clear - the three penalties. It has a big impact as it eventually means points, it means frustration and disappointment. It feels like it’s always against us."

• However, he has not heard the audio recording from the game of the officials: "I have not. I don’t know, it didn’t listen to it so I don’t know the situation with the audio."

• Finally, Taiwo Awoniyi is slowly recovering from a thigh injury but remains a doubt while Willy Boly is still out for the hosts.

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Listen to full commentary of Nottingham Forest v Manchester City from 16:30 BST on Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

There is so much going on here.

First of all, regarding the first statement, if Forest had put out their second statement, their Monday statement, on Sunday at full-time, I do not think there would be quite as much furore.

I do not think they would have been asked for their views by the FA, as they have been. They have been "asked for their observations" - that is the phrase isn't it - which has the potential of leading to a charge.

So I think the language around the first tweet was not good. I think pretty much everybody is unanimous about the timing of and the language in that first tweet.

The clarification the next day was important. Whether or not it is going to save them, we will have to wait and see. I think it would have been less of an issue if that second statement had come out as the original one.

Regarding Stuart Atwell being a Luton fan - OK, he might be.

I think what Forest have been getting at, particularly in the second statement where they clarified it, is that he should have been taken away from this potential situation. I think that's OK.

If the governing body then decides they are going to leave him in there, then that is up to them. But I think it OK for a club to flag it up as a potential or perceived risk to both the person and the league itself.

It was not about calling the integrity of the referee in question into question. It was more a case of highlighting that just in case something happens, you might want to protect this guy, because otherwise he could be accused of it.

There is a subtle difference between those two things. I don't think in the first statement that difference was clear. It probably is made clearer in the second statement.

But then, even if he is a Luton fan and the governing body has decided to leave him in that situation, what has he done? He is a Luton fan. Has he rang Luton Town and said: 'Look guys, I'm a fan, what result would you like on Sunday?' - the answer to that is no.

Among the Luton fanbase, they would have had lots of different opinions about what result they wanted.

However, if a video assistant referee is going to be there then they should be there to protect the integrity of the game and not let egregious errors keep on happening. Surely that has to happen - VAR has to evolve.

I still think it is incompetence rather than conspiracy - but my word there has been a lot of it this season.

Listen to more of Colin Fray's thoughts on the Shut Up and Show More Football podcast

I would be very disappointed with the decisions against Everton not going Nottingham Forest's way.

They have been very vocal about the situation but they have got to understand you cannot necessarily go public with your emotion.

You have to be quite balanced with any criticism that goes onto a public platform because you know what punishment will come your way.

The club has just gone full blast with it like I have never seen before, questioning the integrity of the officials.

It's very, very strange. I think you can see that the club has got certain strange decisions in it but this has gone to a whole new level.

Now, Forest have Manchester City coming up. I think they have the players to stay up, but it all depends on whether Luton or Burnley pick up wins.

With the form they are in, and with the level of uncertainty about the place, I do not expect Forest to get a huge amount of results between now and the end of the season.

You would say they are favourites to stay up - that is for certain - but having that points deduction could cost them.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward

Image source, Getty Images

Former Premier League manager Neil Warnock has tipped Nottingham Forest to survive.

With four games to go, the Reds are 17th, one point above Luton Town and three better than Burnley.

However, it will not be easy for Nuno Espirito Santo's side who host champions Manchester City on Sunday (16:30 BST).

"Obviously at the moment I would say [Nottingham] Forest will stay up," Warnock said on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"However, their run-in is not straightforward."

Forest have endured a difficult week, criticising the Premier League officials for not awarding them any of three strong penalty claims during defeat at Everton last Sunday.

Warnock had little sympathy for their complaints, referencing incidents in the 2022 Championship play-off final where Forest beat one of his many former clubs to reach the Premier League.

"What a cheek they have complaining about VAR when Jon Moss did not give Huddersfield two penalties in the Wembley final," he said. "I did not hear a single Forest fan complaining!"

More from Warnock on the fight to avoid relegation from 2'20'00 on BBC Sounds

Former Nottingham Forest striker Michail Antonio feels sympathy for the Reds after their controversial defeat to Everton on Sunday.

The defeat at Goodison Park left the Reds just one point above the relegation zone, and allowed Everton to increase their lead over Forest to four points. That has now been extended to seven points after the Toffees' victory over Liverpool on Wednesday.

Forest were publicly critical of the Premier League's choice of video assistant referee for the game at Everton and, after being denied three penalties, said they were "considering their options" in the aftermath of the defeat.

"That referee should not be on VAR for that game." Antonio told the Footballer's Football Podcast. "This is the business end of the season - no one in the bottom three should be refereeing any games with any of them teams.

"They've had bad decisions all season, but I think it's got worse since they employed Mark Clattenburg. I honestly feel like referees don't want to give them decisions because they've done that. All three could easily have been a penalty."

Antonio admitted that Nottingham Forest are still "close to his heart" after playing at the City Ground from 2015-16.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley has shared his experiences of legendary manager Brian Clough with the Sacked In The Morning podcast.

Crossley recalled a story about Clough engaging with former striker David Currie.

"We were a little bit late for training and the car park was full and he parked his car in the spot where the manager actually parks his car," said Crossley.

"And I'm thinking to myself, 'Shall I tell him?' And being a good team-mate, I thought, 'No, no, I'll let him find out the hard way as well. Let's see what happens.'

"Anyway, we eventually end up going training that morning and the gaffer turns up and we're doing our stretches and things. Archie Gemmill was our coach at the time and the gaffer comes over and he shouts, 'Arch, Arch, bring them in, bring them in'. And then he goes, 'Whose is that car in my car park?'

"So, David Currie puts his hand up, bearing in mind he's played about four games in the first team and he's got dragged off against QPR. And the gaffer goes to him, 'What's your name, son?' He said, 'My name's David Currie'.

"He went, 'Where's 'David Currie from?' He said, 'You've signed me from Barnsley'. And he goes, 'Barnsley?' And then he points at me and he goes, 'That's where the imbecile's from'.

"And then he said to David Currie, he says, 'Have you bought a house in the Nottingham area yet?' He said, 'no, boss, I haven't. But I'm looking'.

"He said, 'Let me stop you there, son. Don't bother'.

"That was more or less the end of David Currie."

Currie played eight times for Forest, scoring once.

Listen to more Forest anecdotes on the full Sacked in the Morning podcast here

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett says VAR is "undermining match officials".

The protocols around VAR have been in the spotlight after Nottingham Forest had three penalty appeals turned down at Everton on Sunday.

"It ought to be working much better," Hackett told The Football News Show.

"The whole system needs to be more transparent."

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