Gary Neville says he "can't buy into" the actions of Nottingham Forest after an incorrect decision in the latter stages of their defeat at home to Liverpool on Saturday.
The decision in question came in injury time when referee Paul Tierney awarded Liverpool a drop ball deep in their half even though Forest were in possession of the ball as he blew the whistle. Liverpool would go up the other end and score a 99th minute winner through Darwin Nunez.
This led to messy scenes post match with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis going onto the field and assistant manager Steven Reid being shown a red card.
Outrage inevitably ensued online and former Premier League referee and current Nottingham Forest 'referee analyst' Mark Clattenburg went onto 5live radio to vent his frustrations and said they will take the decision to PGMOL.
The next day on Super Sunday before the Manchester derby, former referee turned pundit Mike Dean called the decision a "monumental error", language Gary Neville felt was unwarranted.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean says Paul Tierney made a "monumental error" in the build-up to Liverpool's winning goal at Nottingham Forest ❌pic.twitter.com/4ZLdDSfTT3
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 3, 2024
Gary Neville Calls Out Forest Behaviour In Aftermath Of Liverpool Game
On his podcast after Super Sunday former Manchester United captain Gary Neville voiced his concern with the reaction around the decision to give Liverpool the ball in the match.
I saw his (Mike Dean) interview he did earlier today where he called it a monumental error and I watched it and there's no doubt that the Nottingham Forest player was in possession and there's no doubt Nottingham Forest should've gotten the ball back.
But the goal came a minute and fifty after. I mean two minutes in football is an absolute age.
I get the fact that it was a mistake, there's frustration but I get the feeling now that we're seeing what I would say is a run of the mill error, something you might see regularly in a season, being described as a massive, massive thing.
The owner on the side of the pitch and the Clattenburg nonsense, I can't have that. I can't buy into it at all.
With violence against referees becoming a more and more regular, Gary Neville feels that the actions from the likes of Marinakis and Clattenburg does nothing to calm the storm around referees making mistakes.
I feel that we are pushing the boundaries, we're inciting more anger and hate towards referees. I do feel genuinely at one point that it'll become quite dangerous, I know we've seen referees attacked in these last two or three years.
Clattenburg's all over the radio and they're going "Well, we don't know if we're going to make an official mistake yet." What do they want? Do they want a replay of the match? Teams just don't seem to accept that they might get a bad decision against them.
It was a bad decision, but it wasn't a shocker.
Gary Neville is right in saying the discussion around referees has gotten excessive now, but there's no signs of it dying down any time soon.
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