Former Everton defender Phil Jagielka has voiced his confusion around Nottingham Forest’s statement, which claimed VAR official Stuart Attwell was a “Luton fan”, following their 2-0 defeat to Everton.
“I’m trying to picture myself as a Luton fan and ask what the best outcome would have been for me,” Jagielka told Match of the Day 2.
“They have still got everything to play for, so it was technically in their own hands if Everton lost [and Nottingham Forest won]. So I get where they [Forest] are coming from, because if he is a Luton fan then he probably shouldn’t have been on the game.
“But, as far as the outcome of the game goes, it doesn’t really suit Luton at all – so I’m a bit bamboozled to be honest.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy added: “Well my understanding is that the officials, when they start the job in the Premier League, put their team down if they support a team and they are kept away from those.
“I might be wrong, but I think that is right.”
He also discussed Gio Reyna’s penalty appeal: “I think the discontent from Forest on that one [Reyna’s penalty appeal] is because we have seen so many given for that.
“I actually don’t think it is [a penalty]. I have said this and been consistent all throughout the season, even when they have been given, but if you plant your foot after you have been kicked then it is not enough to send you down.
“So I actually think they got that one right, even though I understand their disappointment because others have been given for the same thing.”
Lastly, Murphy gave his opinion on Forest’s third penalty appeal: “It is a penalty. It is a stonewall penalty because he gets to the ball first and Ashley Young brings him down.
“What is key for me is the referee indicates that Ashley Young gets the ball. When he verbalises that to VAR, all they have to do is watch the replays and tell him that he didn’t get the ball and you are going to have to either give a penalty or look at it yourself.
“How that didn’t happen is beyond my comprehension, because I saw his hand movements say that he has got the ball. He didn’t get the ball, we can see that clearly, so why did VAR then not say to him that he got it wrong?”
