‘Awful’… Nottingham Forest fans all furious at one man after Crystal Palace draw

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The main takeaway from Nottingham Forest’s draw with Crystal Palace will be its impact on the Champions League race, but another aspect of the clash infuriated Reds fans.

Former boss Steve Cooper backed Forest’s Champions League chances after the point took them within two of Chelsea and Newcastle United, who face off against each other on Sunday.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	NewcastleNewcastle	35	19	6	10	66	45	21	63
5	ChelseaChelsea	35	18	9	8	62	41	21	63
6	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	35	18	7	10	54	42	12	61
7	Aston VillaAston Villa	35	17	9	9	55	49	6	60
8	B’mouthBournemouth	35	14	11	10	55	42	13	53

Another positive of the night was Ibrahim Sangare’s display against Palace, as the Forest squad looked in a better place to compete for the top five than they did against Brentford.

However, one slight concern was that Forest picked up eight yellow cards on Monday, which led to Reds fans turning their attention to the performance of referee Andy Madley.

Nottingham Forest fans criticise Andy Madley

Madley refereed Forest against Arsenal, but has very little other experience with the club, with the Arsenal clash his first time refereeing at the City Ground.

Away from home this time, Forest fans weren’t best pleased with his showing and made it clear through their comments on social media.

One Forest fan said: “I’ve never seen a ref ruin a game of football more in my life,” while another added: “Andy Madley is Crystal Palace’s Man of the Match.”

Another fan said: “Andy Madley has lost the plot here,” with one more adding: “It’s amazing how quickly Andy Madley loses control of a game.”

One more added: “Andy Madley is having a shocker”, while another said: “It was not a dirty game, either, Andy Madley did not do well.”

If Nuno Espirito Santo was frustrated with some of these calls, he’s in the right company, as ex-Forest boss Steve Cooper also had his issues with Madley.

Steve Cooper was once critical of Andy Madley

Cooper looks set to return to management as a host of Championship clubs eye a fresh start for next season, but it was in his previous role with Leicester City where the former Forest man had some choice words for Madley.

After a loss to Chelsea at home in November, the game that would see Cooper sacked by Leicester, he spoke to TNT Sports about Madley’s performance.

Cooper said: “We’ve had some terrible luck with this referee this year, and that’s continued into today.

“[…] The big moment on the first penalty against Stephy [Mavididi] is obviously, I dont want to say too much but it’s clear what’s happened there. Even the second one, he’s given offside and you can see how onside he is so yeah that was the story of the official’s game.”

It’s fair to say that everyone at the City Ground will be hoping to avoid Madley as the Premier League reaches it’s dramatic climax.