Steve Cooper Frustration Continues Over Refereeing Decisions and VAR

 Steve Cooper Frustration Continues Over Refereeing Decisions and VAR

Steve Cooper Frustration Continues Over Refereeing Decisions and VAR(Image-Getty)

Nottingham Forest's manager, Steve Cooper, expressed frustration with the performance of match officials on Sunday, continuing a trend of criticism aimed at the referees' body, PGMOL, due to a string of controversial decisions.

Following a VAR error that led to Liverpool having a goal wrongly disallowed in their 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook were replaced for their next games. PGMOL acknowledged the error, calling it a "significant error," while Liverpool stated that "sporting integrity has been undermined" by the VAR mistake.

Amid heightened scrutiny of officials on Sunday, Steve Cooper took issue with the decision to send off Moussa Niakhate during Nottingham Forest's 1-1 draw with Brentford. Cooper remarked, "With it being the only Premier League game of the day, the PGMOL needed a real clean day, and unfortunately, they have got the opposite. We all want referees to be at the right level and help them, but they have to help themselves. The last thing they needed was talking points about refereeing decisions."

Brentford's manager, Thomas Frank, also voiced his dissatisfaction, particularly with VAR's lack of support for his team's penalty claims. He highlighted an incident in the second half where Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner went unpunished for a challenge on forward Yoane Wissa. Frank commented, "The two handballs, some managers would claim them as penalties, I won't, but I would really hate it if they were given against me. The Wissa one is a clear penalty though. You can't go through the man, so unfortunately, that's a mistake from VAR."