Nottingham Forest took the lead 1-0 in the 19th minute of the Premier League match played in Brentford on Saturday. The euphoria that greeted Ivan Toney’s return following an eight-month ban for breaching Premier League gambling rules was beginning to dissipate. The thought was that Brentford, who had no difference between them and the team, was one place above them in the points table and had a serious relegation problem, and Toney might not leave the team.
It’s enough to save them. Mikkel Damsgaard was then brought down by Orel Mangala just outside the penalty area.
Forest’s US goalkeeper Matt Turner built his wall. Toney adjusted the ball’s position a few inches to the right. Then, while referee Darren England was fussing around the wall, Toney moved the wall a little further, this time grabbing a handful of the referee’s disappearing foam and moving it too. How far did he go in total? Maybe eighteen inches? Maybe two feet maximum. It was enough. Toney walked up and managed to arc the ball between the edge of the wall and Callum Hudson-Odoi relatively easily (although it looked easy once the free-kicks went in), defending against runs on the outside edge of the wall to bring the ball to him. Back to Turner’s goal on the left.
Brentford found the equalizer and went on to win 3-2. After this, Forest realized there was only one side to blame: England and their team, who allowed Toney to move the ball before taking the free kick. Forest announced they would be writing to the governing body PGMOL (Professional Match Officials Limited).
To protest the officiating of Premier League matches.
It will not change the result. The goal will still count. England and its team will not face sanctions. Just as it should be. When the game is over, it’s over. Players often, as part of their ritual, move the ball before taking the free kick and also make sure the ball sits cleanly on the grass. Perhaps what Toney did was move the ball a little further than was acceptable from its original position, and his trickery in moving the foam suggested he knew as much. But players are always pushing the limits. It is the duty of Forest players to be alert to this.
Forest’s claim to have the moral high ground is frankly pathetic. The free kick was awarded only because Mangala cynically tripped a player running into the penalty area; He knew exactly what he was doing and made sure to keep the office on the right side of the line to avoid punishment. Later in the game, when Neal Maupay scored the winning goal, Forest assistant coach Rui Pedro Silva objected, saying the striker had handled the ball with his arm and received a yellow card. It hadn’t hit the arm and the replay showed that very clearly. Forest fans on the opposite side reacted angrily after watching the first inconclusive replay on the big screen and probably thinking Silva had seen something inappropriate.
This is not to ascribe cynical motive to Silva’s actions, nor to suggest that he was being grossly irresponsible, deliberately whipping up the away support. If he saw the replay and couldn’t accept the obvious, then he’s probably too emotional to sit on the bench during games. If he hadn’t seen a repeat, maybe it would be useful to check this sort of thing in the future before he makes a fool of himself.
This is what makes the letter to PGMOL so insidious. This accomplishes nothing useful beyond shifting responsibility for discordant performance and poor outcome to the authorities. And this doesn’t just apply to Forest. This applies to all clubs seriously announcing that they will write to PGMOL, which has become an epidemic lately, perhaps an unintended consequence of the illusion of perfection created by VAR. Given such a failure in the process, perhaps Liverpool had a point after Luis Díaz’s mistakenly disallowed goal away to Tottenham this season, but even then it seemed like unnecessary theatre. Other examples appear to be a calculated ploy against the grassroots; an attempt to create a feeling that a club has been wronged in a unique way.
Conspiracy theories are popular because they are so comforting: it’s not our fault; What could we do if the world was against us? Referees’ reputation becomes collateral damage.
Forest did not lose on Saturday as Toney moved the free-kick inches to the right. They lost because Brentford were better than them, because they couldn’t handle Toney’s moves, because they struggled in the corners, because Ryan Yates was crowded in midfield and because Turner and his wall clearly failed to spot an obvious ruse. If they were to be relegated, the most likely reason would be a points deduction for breaches of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Blaming the referee is refusing to take responsibility. Childish but also dangerous.