Howard Webb: Nottingham Forest would likely have had penalty if referee went to monitor in 2-0 defeat at Everton

Nottingham Forest had three separate penalty appeals dismissed by referee Anthony Taylor during their 2-0 loss at Everton, with the on-field decisions endorsed by VAR Stuart Attwell; Watch Match Officials Mic’d Up tonight on Sky Sports Premier League at 7pm

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Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, PGMOL chief Howard Webb analyses the three controversial penalty incidents from Everton vs Nottingham Forest

PGMOL chief Howard Webb says Nottingham Forest would likely have been awarded one penalty in their controversial 2-0 defeat at Everton.

Forest had three separate penalty appeals dismissed by referee Anthony Taylor during the match with the on-field decisions endorsed by VAR Stuart Attwell.

However, speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, which airs tonight on Sky Sports Premier League at 7pm, Webb said Ashley Young’s tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi should have seen referee Taylor sent to the pitchside monitor.

“We would have preferred an intervention on this situation for the referee to go to the screen to make a judgement for himself in this situation and probably would have come out with a different outcome if that would have happened.”

• Mark Clattenburg doubles down on Stuart Attwell being a ‘Luton fan’
• Ref Watch: ‘Yes, no, maybe’ for Forest appeals – agree with Dermot?
• ‘Allegiance forms’ and how PGMOL selects officials
• Live Premier League table | Watch free Premier League highlights

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Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher gives his opinion on all three of Nottingham Forest’s penalty appeals against Everton

On the other two incidents, Webb said: “The first two we felt were really subjective calls. The first one involved some contact from Ashley Young on Gio Reyna. There was contact, the referee saw that. We didn’t feel it was impactful enough to penalise…this was one where there was minimal contact.

“The second one was a handball penalty situation. The ball hits Ashley Young’s arm, he’s moving as he tries to close a cross down from short distance and the referee deemed that the arm was in a natural position and the VAR check completed that. We thought that both of those situations were in line with our expectations.”

Forest released a statement afterwards accusing Attwell of being a Luton fan, saying they had “warned” the PGMOL before the match over the issue and said the club would “consider its options”.

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Former Premier League referee Mike Dean says that Nottingham Forest’s statement suggesting that Stuart Attwell is a Luton Town fan was ‘astounding’ and questions why they hadn’t complained about being refereed by him earlier in the season

The club then made a formal request to the PGMOL for the VAR audio to be released publicly while The Football Association announced it had “formally requested observations” from Forest, boss Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg following their comments.

The Premier League said it would also be investigating the matter, having been “extremely disappointed” to read Forest’s post-match comments, adding that it is “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.

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Following Nottingham Forest’s suggestion that VAR Stuart Attwell is a Luton fan, Sky Sports News’ senior reporter Rob Dorsett explains how the PGMOL appoints officials to matches

Forest responded by calling for the PGMOL to “amend its rule on allegiances to account for contextual rivalries in the league table, not just local rivalries”.

Former Premier League referee Clattenburg, who works as a consultant for Forest, labelled the penalty decisions as “a joke” in his column in the Daily Mail and repeated Forest’s assertion that “a Luton fan such as Attwell” should not have been involved in the game.

Analysis: ‘Webb accepts officials got one wrong’

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Rob Dorsett dissects the controversial decision not to award Nottingham Forest a penalty in three incidents against Everton

Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett:

“In the first two incidents we don’t hear the audio from the match officials or see them. The first incident was Ashley Young and his challenge on Giovanni Reyna. Howard Webb explains as far as he is concerned, yes there was contact, but there wasn’t sufficient contact to warrant a penalty.

“They are satisfied that one was not a penalty, that the PGMOL officials followed the procedures correctly and they came to the right decision.

“They felt the same for the second penalty claim for Nottingham Forest, which was a handball involving Ashley Young when Callum Hudson Odoi plays it against Ashley Young and it hits him on the arm.

“Again Howard Webb says he felt Ashley Young’s arms were in a natural position. That’s subjective and I think Forest fans might have a different view on that potentially. But also he points out that he was very close to the ball – I think we can agree on that one – and as such didn’t have time to react. He was satisfied that the procedure was followed correctly and it was not a penalty.

“By the way, there is something called the Key Match Incidents Panel, which analyses every big incident in every game, every week. Now this hasn’t been made public, but my understanding is that the panel – which is made up of former players and former managers and coaches – agrees with the PGMOL here that neither of those two incidents should have been a penalty.

“But the third incident, Howard Webb accepts they got wrong. They feel Anthony Taylor made a mistake by saying he thought Ashley Young had played the ball. And the bigger mistake was Stuart Attwell in not overturning it and accepting that the referee hadn’t seen it correctly and that Ashley Young hadn’t actually made contact with the ball, and at the very least asked him to go to the big screen.

“So that’s Howard Webb, the head of English referees, pretty much admitting that his guys got it wrong.”

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