Nottingham Forest have done well to stay out of the spotlight when it comes to VAR during the 2024/25 campaign.
Last season things turned into a fiasco. After seeing three penalty appeals denied in a 2-0 defeat at Everton, Evangelos Marinakis decided to post an unsavoury message to the PGMOL via the club’s official social media channels.
That incident saw Forest fined a whopping £750,000 and with that in mind, it’s perhaps no surprise that the club have decided to keep their powder considerably dryer this season with the powers that be watching their every move.
Yesterday, Forest were beaten 4-3 by Newcastle at St James’ Park. Peter Bankes the VAR on the day left Forest infuriated when he awarded a penalty for handball against Ola Aina which gave the Magpies a chance to go 3-1 ahead.
The decision was probably correct but it’s the inconsistencies once again that annoy fans. Bankes was the same referee who denied Forest a near-identical penalty when the Reds played Wolves in early January at Molineux.
Peter Bankes missed another huge call on VAR in Newcastle vs Forest
This felt like another decision that Newcastle might have been given had it been at the other end. As a corner was swung in Murillo met it and headed wide and on first viewing, it looked like he should have done better.
On the glance of a replay, however, it clearly showed that the reason Murillo powered wide was because Sandro Tonali – unwilling to wait until the final whistle – was keen to swap shirts with the Brazilian defender and after being told no, was pulling from the back of the defender!
In the modern game, these aren’t always given, however, the directive from next season is that this type of incident is very much going to be clamped down on so you can guarantee that something akin to this incident from next season will very much be looked at down in Stockley Park.
Forest can count themselves unlucky vs Newcastle
There were some poor performances against Newcastle, that does have to be said. However, on another day it perhaps finishes in a very high-scoring draw and Forest get back on the bus with something to show for their efforts.
One thing that does have to be said is that the 11-minute spell in which Forest conceded four times simply isn’t acceptable. Nuno Espirito Santo will be scratching his head over that with the team showcasing everything that they’ve not been guilty of this season.
There is work to be done from a Forest perspective but unlike most weeks in the Premier League, Forest do at least have a midweek game to look forward to after this defeat and that is something to look forward to for the Reds.
Something tells us that Bankes might not be overseeing Forest games for the remainder of the season once this one gets placed in front of the PGMOL by the Reds at some point in the next couple of days.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
