A referee welfare charity fears Mark Clattenburg could be used as a “puppet” by Nottingham Forest.
Former Premier League official Clattenburg is working as a referee analyst for Forest on a consultancy basis, and spoke out at the weekend after Paul Tierney’s dropped-ball error in the home defeat to Liverpool.
Martin Cassidy, the chief executive of Ref Support, believes referee analysts at clubs could in principle be a positive move, and hugely admires Clattenburg, who has now also found fame with a new audience as a referee on the reboot of the television programme Gladiators.
However, he fears such appointments could become “a partisan tool to justify ref abuse”.
“I genuinely fear that Clatts may be used like a puppet to give illegitimate behaviour credibility and by proxy justify ref abuse,” Cassidy told the PA news agency.
“I feel more clubs should call upon referees’ experience to explain law, etc, at every level of football.
“Football is a sport where the majority of those who play it don’t know the laws of the game they play. This is particularly relevant at pro level, which has always been a concern of mine, so I welcome such a role.
“The worry for me is if this role is then used as a partisan tool to justify ref abuse, and if the referee (analyst) has the freedom to say the referee was correct and the players were wrong.
“There is no doubt that Clattenburg has huge credibility in this field and is someone I hugely admire, but the question that needs to be asked is: Has Clattenburg got the freedom to question publicly the behaviour of Forest as a club for their unacceptable response to this incident?
“Would anyone be expected to believe that Clatts has a free rein to say that, or would it be fair to presume that he must deliver the message that the club wants him to deliver, whether the club’s opinion is right or wrong? Only time will tell.”
Clattenburg is believed to be the only referee analyst working with an English club that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is aware of.
Forest have been contacted for a response to Cassidy’s comments.
Tierney failed to award a dropped ball to Forest in an attacking position after stopping play for a head injury to Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate.
Forest did regain possession after Tierney’s error but conceded a 99th-minute goal which cost them a valuable point in the race for Premier League survival.
Tierney will not referee a match this weekend but will be the VAR for Arsenal’s match against Brentford on Saturday evening. Sources close to PGMOL insist Tierney has not been dropped, and say he regularly alternates between being a referee and a VAR.
Clattenburg told BBC Radio 5 Live after last Saturday’s match: “(Forest) should have had the ball back. If the referee stops the game, he has to give the ball back to the team in possession. That was Forest.
“When (the ball was) given to the keeper, with Liverpool scoring afterwards, you can see why (Forest) are aggrieved.
“I haven’t spoken to the referee – I’ll leave that to the club. I went to go into the referee’s dressing room (after the game) but he (Tierney) wouldn’t allow it.”
PGMOL is understood to be unaware of any further contact from the club over the incident beyond Clattenburg’s comments. Forest have not commented on whether there has been further contact.
Premier League clubs agree in principle to new spending cap
Premier League clubs have voted in favour of the competition potentially creating a spending cap, according to widespread reports.
The Premier League will now work on the studies and legal analysis required to possibly introduce a cap model from the start of the 2025-26 season onwards.
This would replace the current Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), under which Everton and Nottingham Forest have both been deducted points this season, while Leicester City have been charged with a breach.
At a meeting on Monday, 16 clubs voted in favour of the Premier League performing the required analysis. The model will then be presented to club's at the annual general meeting in June, for another vote.
According to reports, Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voted against the introduction of a spending cap, which would be tied to a multiple of whatever the lowest-earning side receives via the league's centralised broadcast and commercial deals. Chelsea were said to have abstained.
The cap would form part of the Premier League's "squad cost" rules, which will eventually replace the PSR.
While Everton have secured their safety despite suffering two points deductions worth eight points, Nottingham Forest remain in a relegation battle having been docked four points.
Forest will soon find out the result of their appeal, while Everton were set to have their appeal against the second of their deductions heard in the coming weeks.
Leicester, who have been promoted from the Championship, could face a points deduction next season, having been charged with a breach of the Premier League's regulations during the 2022-23 campaign.
Chelsea, meanwhile, seemingly got around the rules due to their ownership selling two Stamford Bridge hotels to another company within their group.
'We need tactics, but also luck' – Tuchel says Bayern up against Madrid 'aura'
Thomas Tuchel has warned his Bayern Munich team they will not only be facing Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, but also going up against Los Blancos' European "aura".
While Tuchel will leave the Allianz Arena having suffered the ignominy of overseeing Bayern's first failure to win the Bundesliga title since 2012, he could yet bring Europe's top prize to Bavaria.
Bayern reached the last four with a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Arsenal, but they face a daunting task against the team that eliminated holders Manchester City in the last round.
Bayern are winless in their last seven games against Madrid, losing six and drawing one, and Los Blancos have won on their last three trips to the Allianz Arena – the longest winning streak ever recorded by a visiting team at Bayern in European Cup/Champions League history.
Coming up against Madrid in a competition they regard as their own, Tuchel believes, presents an additional challenge.
"When you're playing against Real Madrid, you're also up against the aura and the legend that surrounds them," Tuchel said at Monday's pre-match press conference.
"Obviously we need tactics, but also some luck. You can achieve a lot with tactics. The approach is the car, and the players drive it.
"We need to find a good balance and moments where we have solutions. The players also need freedom to bring it to life.
"But obviously we also need some luck in the game. We need to coax out that luck a bit as well."
Bayern versus Madrid is already the most played fixture in European Cup/Champions League history, taking place 26 times with 24 of those coming in the knockout stages.
Tuchel believes the tie would have been a fitting final, adding: "The semi-final already feels a bit like the final. My approach is to line up like a final.
"We won't approach it with the background that there's still a game to play. We want to play the game in isolation. We have the freedom, we'll put everything in tomorrow and then we'll see."
'I know my worth and I will show it' – Antony vows to silence Man Utd critics
Manchester United winger Antony has pledged to silence his critics after ending his long wait for a Premier League goal on Saturday, saying: "I know my worth and I will show it."
Antony has struggled since swapping Ajax for Old Trafford in an £86million ($108m) deal last year, only managing five goals and three assists in 52 Premier League appearances.
The Brazilian failed to net in his first 26 league games this season before ending his goal drought against Burnley on Saturday, though Zeki Amdouni's late penalty earned the Clarets a 1-1 draw.
Antony was also roundly criticised for taunting Coventry City's players in the aftermath of United's FA Cup semi-final win over the Sky Blues earlier this month, with the Red Devils inching through on penalties after surrendering a 3-0 lead in a 3-3 draw.
Having struggled to live up to expectations since arriving in England, he was asked by The Athletic whether his price tag had put him under additional pressure, but he says that is not the case.
"It doesn't really impact me because I know my worth," Antony said. "The money is the money and obviously everyone speaks about it, but no one would if the performances were at the top.
"It's just a way of working harder, knowing I can get better, I know my worth and I will show it. The critics are going to exist, and they make me want to work harder and prove it to myself first.
"I'm going to keep working, giving everything for the group because it's most important to have a good mentality and to be focused."
Saturday's draw officially ended United's hopes of a top-four finish, heightening speculation regarding the future of manager Erik ten Hag.
While Antony accepts United have not been good enough this season, he is hopeful they can end the campaign on a high with another FA Cup final against Manchester City to come.
"It's been a very tough year for me and the team, the results are not ones we expected," Antony added.
"I am someone who takes criticism very well and I want to work on it, and I think we all have to focus on finishing the season the best we can.
"We still have five games and we have to think game by game, get better and go into the final in the best way possible to win it."
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