Following Nottingham Forest’s employment of former official Mark Clattenburg, former CEO of Everton and Aston Villa Keith Wyness maintains that all Premier League teams would have a referee advisor for decisions made.
Speaking on the latest episode of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old—who held the position of CEO at Goodison Park from 2004 to 2009, as well as a two-year stint at Villa from 2016 to 2018—explained that all elite clubs will have a representative working in a similar capacity to Clattenburg.
Last month, Nottingham Forest made the announcement that former Premier League referee Clattenburg had joined the team as an analyst.
Gary Neville questioned the choice, and The Telegraph claims that other elite referees are “bemused” by Clattenburg’s new position.
Last week, during Forest’s late 1-0 loss to Liverpool, Clattenburg was brought into action after referee Paul Tierney gave Liverpool the ball after an injury-time drop-ball situation.
Nottingham Forest backed for unusual Clattenburg appointment
Wyness drew on his experiences as chief executive to reveal that all clubs have a referee advisor to consult about fouls, mistakes and red cards.
“It’s had a lot of publicity as if it is the first time a club has done this,” Wyness told Football Insider.
“But as long as I’ve been in the game, every club’s had some sort of advisor that can consult about FA charges or bookings and red cards.
“So there’s always been the ability for clubs to have specialists to do that.
“Graham Bean, who was around for a long time, was always one of the experts behind the scenes.
“I think taking Clattenburg into a more public view and then having him speak afterward was interesting.
“If there is a clear misinterpretation of the rule then why shouldn’t the club speak out about it?
“And in Forest’s case, it is the result of four or five poor decisions.”
