Nottingham Forest have formally lodged a complaint with PGMOL, claiming that Everton’s James Tarkowski should have been sent off for a shoulder barge from behind on Dan Doe that left the Forest winger on the floor.
The off-the-ball collision occurred in the 11th minute of Saturday’s match at Hill Dickinson Stadium, but Forest managers believe the outcome could have been much different had Tarkowski been red. At this point the score was 1-0, but Forest lost 0-3.
The incident was not witnessed by referee Chris Kavanagh, but VAR James Bell decided not to intervene.
Bell felt that the challenge met the criteria for violent conduct and did not deserve a red card. VAR does not work in cases where a yellow card could be an appropriate sanction.
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Forest manager Sean Dyche said he was “surprised” Tarkouksi was not sent off.
The former Everton manager said: ‘Another day I was surprised that a big turkey could do that, but he did it.
“It’s not even a yellow card. If you look at it, it’s not something to be shoved around. Now players can get a yellow or a red just for head-to-hand contact, but it’s not just that.”
Dyche: Complaints were made for game improvement
After the complaint was registered, Dyche spoke exclusively to Sky Sports News about why he and Nottingham Forest felt it was right to lodge a protest.
“It was about the club,” he said. “By the way, Turkey is a great guy, so I warned him. That’s not who he is, so it has nothing to do with the individuals involved. To make the game better, sometimes you have to say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not right.’
“As I said before, I’ve seen people touch hair on their face and they fall and roll and get sent off. People bring their hands to people’s faces and if they can’t touch it, they get sent off.
“But apparently you’re allowed to hit someone in the back – it was a fair amount for me to suggest – and I didn’t think, ‘How did I get away with that?’ and didn’t even look at me. If anything, I thought it was confusing.”
“It has nothing to do with the officials or the club, but it won’t be good for the game if we continue to do nothing… Sometimes we just have to stand up for ourselves.”
When asked what he expected from the complaint, Dyche added: “Just get better and don’t let it happen again.
“Theoretically, you can imagine that if it was considered a yellow card incident, the players would think, ‘Well, let’s just go then.’ If you get frustrated at some point, you can just barge in on someone and it’s okay because it’s a yellow card incident. But that can’t be right, can it?”
Dermot and Bothroyd disagree over warning to Tarkowski
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Ref Watch panel discusses Tarkowski vs. Ndoye matchup
The incident was discussed on Sky Sports News’ Refwatch on Monday, with former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher and former Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd divided on the decision.
“When I watched the game, it didn’t really hit home for me,” Gallagher said.
“When the referee saw it, it was a yellow card. I never thought it was a red card.”
But Bothroyd insisted: “I think it’s a red card because the ball hasn’t gone to him yet, he’s gone behind him, he’s got a shoulder check on his back or higher up.”
“That’s offensive. He doesn’t need to do that. I don’t know why he did that.
“In the end it’s a red card… you can see the way his head is thrown back.”
