Nottingham Forest have appointed Mark Clattenburg as a referee analyst; the 48-year-old will be available for advice should Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo want to consult him on specific issues; Gary Neville has criticised Clattenburg's appointment, labelling it a "step too far"
Tuesday 20 February 2024 06:16, UK
Mark Clattenburg will not be used to coach Nottingham Forest’s players and prepare them better to avoid negative refereeing decisions after he was appointed as a referee analyst at the Premier League club.
The former Premier League official will be available for advice should Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo or any of his coaching staff want to consult him on specific issues.
Clattenburg's substantive new role as a refereeing consultant - the first of its kind at a Premier League club - will be to advise the Forest board, and act as an expert conduit between the club and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), should there be any refereeing issues between now and the end of the season.
The 48-year-old refereed 291 Premier League matches across 13 seasons before leaving in 2017 to take up a role within the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
Now, Clattenburg - who has had a long, sometimes tempestuous relationship with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis - has been appointed to help club officials better interpret decisions that have gone against the team, and advise them on when they have a legitimate grievance.
Marinakis, who also owns Olympiakos, got to know Clattenburg well when he became referees' chief for the Greece football federation in 2020. It is understood the two men had some heated disagreements but their relationship developed into one of mutual respect.
Forest have been in regular contact with PGMOL this season, in connection with a number of issues.
They wrote to referees' chief Howard Webb last month to complain that VAR had not intervened when Ivan Toney moved the ball - and the referee's vanishing spray - before scoring direct from a free-kick around the Forest wall.
On a separate occasion, Webb apologised to Forest in December, when he admitted that Willy Boly had been mistakenly sent off against Bournemouth.
And Sky Sports News has been told Forest are equally furious that they were not awarded a penalty in their 2-0 home win over West Ham on Saturday, when Maxwel Cornet made contact with Neco Williams' heel - an incident which Dermot Gallagher said on Ref Watch was a clear penalty, in his view.
Clattenburg was at the game and is expected to attend every Forest match going forward in the director's box. He will not, however, be granted any special dispensation from PGMOL, who communicate on a weekly basis with club secretaries and other officials at all Premier League clubs.
Saturday's decision against West Ham did not ultimately cost Forest but the club hierarchy are adamant they want every base covered, and expert refereeing advice 'on-tap' as they reach the business end of the season.
Forest will find out later this week the date for their independent commission hearing into their alleged breach of Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Forest currently sit five points above the drop zone, and a significant points deduction could lead them into even deeper relegation trouble.
Clattenburg says he is "disappointed" in comments from Sky Sports' Gary Neville criticising his appointment at Forest.
The ex-Manchester United defender said on The Gary Neville Podcast that Forest's appointment of Clattenburg to advise them on refereeing matters was a "step too far".
Neville said: "You're being employed to go and tell a football club how referees are making mistakes or what mistakes they're making. A fan in the crowd could go and tell you what a referee is thinking.
"I'm disappointed with Nottingham Forest. It's as if, look at all of this, woe is me. I get it, some teams feel as though they've been hard done to, some teams feel they've had bad decisions against them. That happens sometimes during a season and I would have hated it.
"But to employ an ex-referee to tell you why you're having decisions against you. For me, I think it's a step too far.
"This is not an attack on Nottingham Forest fans because some of them will probably think it's embarrassing.
"They won't like the decisions against them, but I'm sure they won't sit there and think that's a really good move by the club."
Clattenburg, who is currently enjoying a Saturday primetime television slot on Gladiators, responded in The Times: "I am disappointed that Gary Neville has come out with what he said.
"His employer, Sky Sports, employs ex-referees to help fans and viewers understand the laws of the game, and Nottingham Forest are just doing the same."
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports News:
"I don't see what he's going to do, to be honest. They have obviously got some role for him.
"It's like Saturday's decision with Morgan Gibbs-White; if he feels that's a penalty and he tells the players it's a penalty, what can that achieve? Most of the players will think it's a penalty already, so they don't need him to confirm it.
"Unless he's going to talk to them about how they discipline themselves on the field and avoid yellow cards for technical things and suchlike, I don't really see what else he can do.
"Howard Webb has been very transparent. The clubs have his number, he speaks to them regularly. It may well be that it's an avenue (for him to be a go-between between the clubs and the PGMOL)."
You can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, in-depth features and videos from our dedicated WhatsApp channel!
