Nottingham Forest are never far away from refereeing drama, with Anthony Taylor’s name often cropping up in the controversy.
Most recently, Taylor bizarrely overturned Nikola Milenkovic’s goal against Southampton, adjudging Chris Wood to be in an offside position.
Such is the distrust, Forest fans waved a bank card at Taylor whilst he was checking the Milenkovic mistake on the VAR screen in a hilarious display that perhaps disguised how serious the issues between Forest and the faith in the officiating is getting.
Even Evangelos Marinakis ranted about VAR this season showing his lack of faith in the system that he hopes will not cost his side’s chances of qualifying for European football this season.
The decision to rule out Milenkovic’s goal was a VAR error according to new findings by the Key Match Incidents panel, doing no favours for the reputation of Taylor or VAR at the City Ground, evident by how Forest fans have reacted to the news on social media.
Nottingham Forest fans react as another Anthony Taylor error is confirmed
Luckily, Milenkovic’s goal being wrongly disallowed didn’t cost Forest any points as the game finished 3-2 against Southampton, but this hasn’t stopped Forest fans from taking to X to voice their disappointment at the officiating and Taylor himself.
One Forest fan said: “We’d be fuming if we didn’t win this match. That’s outrageous. I’m so cross that it could have cost us three points.” While another sarcastically added: “Remember who was on field ref that day? You guessed it, Anthony Taylor our favourite.”
Another Forest fan said: “Another apology coming for incompetent referees”, with another saying: “It was clear at the time. VAR sticking its nose in to try to find a reason to disallow a goal. Absolutely ruining the game.”
One Forest fan pointed out: “Isn’t that twice this season the panel have proved a decision was wrong against us, and they both involved Anthony Taylor?”, with another saying: “I know the PGMOL deny any bias but does this not show that Anthony Taylor should be nowhere near a Forest game.”
The Key Match Incidents panel have ruled in Nottingham Forest’s favour before
Not that it’ll bring any comfort to Nuno Espirito Santo or Forest fans, but this is actually the second time that the Key Match Incidents have sided with Forest on VAR issues.
Forest fans were enraged with VAR against Everton in the game which spawned Forest’s infamous VAR statement that brought the memorable quote: “VAR is a Luton fan”.
In a report by ESPN, it was revealed that: “The panel did unanimously vote that [Ashley] Young should have been penalised for a spot-kick in the second half [vs Everton] for bringing down Callum Hudson-Odoi inside the area.”
Flynn Downes could’ve been sent off for Southampton against Forest in what was another potential blunder by Taylor and VAR in a Forest game, a topic that Espirito Santo must be sick of hearing about.
This should be a season of pure celebration for Forest fans given their remarkable performances on the pitch, but concerns over officiating continue to threaten to dampen spirits at the City Ground.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
