Mark Clattenburg, a former Premier League official, has joined Nottingham Forest as their referees’ analyst. After retiring from officiating in 2017, Clattenburg most recently served as the lead referee on the BBC television series Gladiators. He will now provide consulting services to Nuno Espirito Santo’s team. Alongside the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, the Mail Sport columnist was in the director’s box at the City Ground for Forest’s match against West Ham on Saturday.
With the intention of strengthening their bonds and understanding after making some contentious officiating choices this season, Forest hired Clattenburg. Last week, Clattenburg said in his Mail Sport column that Forest’s 3-2 loss to Newcastle should have resulted in a penalty. Goalie Martin Dubravka took down Taiwo Awoniyi in the box, but referee Anthony Taylor decided not to give a penalty. Although the official was not sent to the monitor, VAR reviewed the decision. Clattenburg linked the incident to an earlier instance in the season when Liverpool forward Diogo Jota was given a penalty for what he considered to be a less serious tackle.
“Dubravka’s raised right arm made it impossible for Awoniyi to stay upright, so he had a stronger case than Jota, but Forest received nothing,” Clattenburg stated. “VAR” Tony Harrington is culpable since he did not provide his colleague the opportunity to fix his mistake.
It makes sense that Forest supporters are wondering why the top clubs in the Premier League are subject to one set of rules while others are not.
