Gary Neville believes the reaction to the referee error which preceded Liverpool’s winner against Nottingham Forest at the weekend is “pushing the boundaries”.
The Premier League match at the City Ground on Saturday saw a play-stoppage so that Ibrahima Konate could get treatment for a head injury. Paul Tierney, the matchday official, gave the ball back to Liverpool in injury time.
Since Forest was in control when play ended, they ought to have been the ones to take possession following an uncontested drop-ball.
After that event, over two minutes went by before Darwin Nunez gave Liverpool the lead with a nudge in the 99th minute, sparking celebration among the visitors and indignation among Forest.
Tierney’s performance has drawn criticism from former Premier League referees Mike Dean and Mark Clattenburg, who serves as a referee commentator for Forest. Dean described Tierney’s error as a massive one.
“I watched Mike Dean’s interview earlier today, and he called it a’monumental error,'” mentioned Gary Neville, a former Manchester United defender who is now a commentator. “The guy from Nottingham Forest is undoubtedly in possession, but the goal was scored a minute and fifty [seconds] later. In football, two minutes is an absolute age.
“The notion that it constituted a ‘monumental error’… I get that it was an error and a source of annoyance, but I feel like we’re overanalyzing what was, in my opinion, a routine mistake.
“You see them quite regularly in a season.”
NEVILLE HITS OUT AT OVER-THE-TOP REACTIONS
At the time, supporters voiced their disapproval, and Evangelos Marinakis, the club chairman, even went on the ground to protest the decision to return the ball to Liverpool.
While acknowledging that Tierney made a mistake, the former Manchester United right defender said that the response as a whole has been excessive.
“The owner on the pitch and the Mark Clattenburg nonsense, I can’t buy into,” Neville stated.
“I believe that some of the actions teams are doing are going too far and fostering animosity and resentment towards referees.
“I think that’s a mistake. It’s merely an error. It’s possible that Liverpool would not have scored in any case.
“We have to exercise some moderation right now. Not as horrible as when we started dating, in my opinion.”
What is the purpose of the constant radio mentions of Clattenburg? A rerun of the game? Clubs don’t seem to understand that incorrect decisions might occasionally be made against you.
The premise for this season is that, rather than simply believing that “you’re going to get a shocker against you at some point,” there almost needs to be retaliation or payback, more action. That’s how football works.
“I didn’t even consider that choice to be shocking. It wasn’t shocking; it was horrible.”
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