Nuno Espirito Santo, whose first game as manager of Nottingham Forest was overshadowed by Willy Boly’s dubious red card in the team’s dramatic 3-2 loss to Bournemouth, has called for a regulation reform.
Referee Rob Jones dismissed Boly’s second yellow card in the 23rd minute, even though the defender had clearly won the ball in a tackle with Adam Smith.
Dominic Solanke went on to complete a hat-trick and break the hearts of the Forest faithful by heading home the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Nuno, who took over for the dismissed Steve Cooper earlier in the week, is demanding changes to the rules that prohibit VAR from stepping in to lessen a yellow card.
Nuno Espirito Santo“Very bad decision,” Nuno said. “A decision that totally changed the game.”
“It is more the frustration of knowing the approach of the referee is a bad one and the law says you cannot reverse the decision because it is two yellow cards. It is something they have to look at because it doesn’t make sense.”
“First of all, the approach of the referee is bad. Boly has a first yellow card, which is fair, but then for the second the foot of Boly is under the foot of the Bournemouth player so the approach (from the referee) should be more cautious.”
“Our fans deserve better decisions. They come here to see football and suddenly they see something which really changes the game. I saw it over and over and over again to try and understand because I respect the referee.”
“I know it is a tough job. I have seen it many times and I cannot understand it, I cannot understand it. It was bad. It is a mistake, a huge mistake.”
The ten-man Forest took the lead through Anthony Elanga, but the Cherries took the lead with two goals from Solanke in the following seven minutes.
Before Dominic Solanke’s final header, Chris Wood’s header seemed to have made Nuno’s debut worthy of a point.
Andoni Iraola was given a booking for flashing an imaginary card following the Boly incident. He will thus not be allowed to watch the Boxing Day encounter against Fulham from the sidelines. In the previous six games, Iraola has guided his club to five victories.
The Spaniard, who has already committed two offenses, feels unfairly treated.
“This is big mistake for me because when the incident happened I asked for a yellow,” he said.
“I thought nobody saw me but you have the fourth official. I think it is too harsh, it was instinctive and I will not be able to be in the dugout. All the yellows are for the same reason. Sometimes we are still players, I know I need to improve but I think it is too harsh because I will not be able to be in the dugout against Fulham and that is a big frustration.”
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