John Brooks is appointed referee for Bournemouth vs Liverpool this weekend despite Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper calling for review of official after draw with Everton… three weeks on from his VAR blunder which cost Brighton at Crystal Palace
- Cooper was left furious with two big decisions in Forest’s draw with Everton
- But the PGMOL have placed Brooks in charge of Bournemouth vs Liverpool
- It comes three weeks after he was stood down after a major error as VAR official
John Brooks is down to referee Bournemouth vs Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend despite Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper calling for the PGMOL to review his performance after their controversial 2-2 draw with Everton.
Cooper was left furious with two major decisions at the City Ground on Sunday, expressing disbelief that Everton were not penalised for a foul just before the free-kick that led to their second goal in the draw.
He also questioned why Brooks chose not to play an advantage when Brennan Johnson was clean through on goal in the second half, leading to calls for refereeing chiefs to examine the moments in question.
According to The Telegraph, Forest have been left so incensed by his performance that they are even compiling a dossier listing other refereeing blunders that have gone against them throughout the season.
Though despite the controversy of Sunday’s game, the PGMOL are not standing Brooks down and have instead put him in charge of the Saturday lunch-time kick-off between Bournemouth and Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium.
John Brooks is down to referee Bournemouth vs Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper called for the PGMOL to review Brooks’ performance
Cooper was left incensed by Brooks’ display in their 2-2 draw at home to Everton on Sunday
Brooks was recently dropped for two matches following a high-profile error he made as the VAR official in Crystal Palace’s clash with Brighton last month, which cost the visitors a crucial goal at Selhurst Park.
On the same weekend which saw officials fail to rule out an illegitimate Brentford equaliser against Arsenal, the PGMOL were forced to come out and admit their mistakes, putting them down to ‘human error’.
A statement read: ‘PGMOL can confirm its Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.
‘Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL.’
As well as other alleged errors, Forest are also understood to be unhappy with several referee appointments throughout the campaign.
They were left stunned when Andy Madley, who is based in Huddersfield, was given their game at Fulham last month, which they lost 2-0.
Forest got the better of Huddersfield in last year’s Championship play-off final, benefitting from two controversial VAR decisions, and certain rumours suggest Madley was present as a fan.