Gary Neville to miss next Nottingham Forest match after 'mafia' jibe following controversy in Everton defeat

Gary Neville to miss next Nottingham Forest match after 'mafia' jibe following controversy in Everton defeat

WATCH NOW: Sports round-up with Gary Neville set to miss next Nottingham Forest match

Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 25/04/2024

- 09:56

Updated: 25/04/2024

- 10:57

The Sky Sports presenter has angered the club with his comments

Gary Neville is set to miss Nottingham Forest's match with Manchester City on Sunday after accusing the fallen giants of acting like a 'mafia gang'.

Forest released a strong statement on Sunday after their 2-0 defeat to Everton, accusing VAR Stuart Attwell of being a Luton Town fan.


Neville then hit back at the club and said they were acting 'like a mafia gang', saying: "It’s like a mafia-gang statement.

"I mean, honestly, what the hell are they playing at?

Gary Neville Nottingham Forest

Gary Neville has confirmed he won't be at the City Ground for Nottingham Forest's clash with Man City on Sunday

GETTY

"It’s like a petulant child, it’s embarrassing.

"And some of those things they’re saying in there, the suggestion of some sort of inferring of cheating because there’s an official in VAR in Stockley Park who’s a Luton fan is a scandal, and they will pay for that."

It has since been reported that Forest could sue Neville for his comments.

The Daily Mail claimed on Wednesday that Forest's legal team were 'drafting a letter to Sky' amid their unhappiness with the comments of the former Manchester United star.

And Neville, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, has now revealed he won't be at the City Ground on Sunday because he's on a different match instead.

He read a tweet from a Forest fan that read: "'I'm just asking whether you're at the Nottingham Forest and Man City game. I'm asking for 27,000 friends.'"

And Neville replied by saying: "I rang Sky up and said I need the north London derby on Sunday!

"No, I am at the north London derby, by the way."

After the debacle against Everton, Neville called for Nottingham Forest refereeing consultant Mark Clattenburg to resign from his role.

And the former United star has doubled down on his stance by comparing Clattenburg to a 'Navy Seal'.

"You've got Clattenburg almost like a Navy Seal in the director's box crawling along to the CEO (whispering)," he said.

"The reason I asked him to resign was because if he actually saw that Luton tweet that went out, he actually has to distance himself from it or he's part of it.

"If he's part of that, I'm like "wow".

"The second part of it is it's football, right. If you're the leader of that football club, since Mark Clattenburg came in, in the last 10 games they've won one match.

"In the 10 games before, they won four.

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Mark Clattenburg

Gary Neville has doubled down on his stance that Mark Clattenburg should leave Nottingham Forest after controversy in Everton defeat

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"You never give football players or employees a get-out excuse ever.

"He's given them an excuse to not win. Now that might sound crazy, but when you put that negativity in, Neco Williams, he's probably a really good player, he's coming out on Sunday and he's talking about referees.

"They're all consumed about referees, and they've given themselves an excuse, everyone's against us.

"It's not working for them this strategy of the way in which it's going.

"What they need to do is switch their mentality completely and forget about referees.

Stuart Attwell

Nottingham Forest claim Stuart Attwell is a Luton Town fan

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"Get Clattenburg out the director's box so the camera stops going on him and concentrate on football, because they're going to go down if they're not careful."

Clattenburg reportedly called PGMOL prior to the clash with Everton to express concerns over Attwell being on VAR duty.

Forest believe his version of events, though PGMOL insist nothing of the sort happened.

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