Ashley Young took a brutal swipe at Nottingham Forest on Monday after the furious club condemned ‘three extremely poor’ referee decisions in the wake of Everton‘s controversial 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
Forest wrote an incendiary post on social media shortly after losing to their relegation rivals on Sunday, claiming that VAR Stuart Attwell showed bias against them because he was ‘a Luton fan’.
Only one point separates Forest and Luton with four games to go in the Premier League relegation battle, with Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side currently holding a slender advantage in 17th.
Young, who dodged three separate penalty claims during the match, posted a taunting message to X on Monday in the aftermath of Everton’s controversial win.
The Toffees defender posted an image of Justin Timberlake‘s 2002 song ‘Cry Me a River’ with the caption: ‘Old Skool Tunes For Today’. He signed off the post with two winking face emojis.
Ashley Young (left) took a brutal swipe at Nottingham Forest on Monday after the furious club condemned ‘three extremely poor’ referee decisions after their 2-0 defeat by Everton
The Everton defender shared a picture of Justin Timberlake’s 2002 song ‘Cry Me a River’
Nottingham Forest’s players complain to referee Anthony Taylor after not receiving a penalty
The club released this incendiary statement after the controversial defeat at Goodison Park
Forest’s explosive statement, which has since received widespread criticism from pundits such as Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, read: ‘Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept. We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options.’
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, who holds an advisory role at Nottingham Forest, doubled down on the club’s sentiments in his exclusive column for Mail Sport on Sunday.
The club were denied three separate penalty claims by match referee Anthony Taylor, with Young escaping punishment for challenges on Giovanni Reyna and Callum Hudson-Odoi, as well as a shout for handball.
Clattenburg said: ‘These situations were precisely why video technology was brought into the Premier League and yet, Attwell did not send Taylor to his monitor. Not once. It was a hat-trick of howlers from the refereeing team and, unfortunately for Forest, a continuation of an unjust trend that has hampered their survival fight.
‘You will have seen the statement released by the club — how the PGMOL were contacted to warn that it was not appropriate for a Luton fan such as Attwell to play such a pivotal role in a massive match that would impact the relegation race.
In the second of three incidents, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross was stopped by Young’s arm
Hudson-Odoi later burst into the box before Young wiped him out with a tackle from behind
Clattenburg doubled down on the club’s criticism in his column for Mail Sport on Sunday
‘Certainly, I would not have risked this situation if I were the head of the referees and all of this could have been avoided had the PGMOL simply made smarter appointments.
‘Referees do not make mistakes deliberately but this was mind-boggling to watch. Why Attwell did not send Taylor to his screen, only he will know.’
Everton took a huge step towards survival after winning at Goodison Park, climbing four points ahead of Nottingham Forest with a game in hand.
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