MARK CLATTENBURG has his back at Gary Neville and accused him of hypocrisy after the pundit spoke out about his new job.
The former Premier League referee has been hired as Nottingham Forest’s new referee analyst.
As part of his role Clattenburg will watch Forest matches and advise the club on whether decisions were correct, if it was a subjective decision or not, and how to handle their grievances.
He will also been in contact with PGMOL chief Howard Webb, but it is a move Neville has described as “a step too far”.
Clattenburg has dismissed his concerns and suggested he is being hypocritical since Sky Sports – Neville’s employer – also lean on former refs for their expertise.
Clattenburg told The Times: “I am disappointed that Gary Neville has come out with what he said.
“His employer, Sky Sports, employs ex-referees to help fans and viewers understand the Laws of the Game, and Nottingham Forest are just doing the same.”
Neville expressed disappointment in both Clattenburg and the club, accusng Forest of haing a “woe is me attitude”.
The former Manchester United star feels Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have taken things a step to far by becoming the first Prem club to hire a referee’s analyst.
He said: “What is Mark Clattenburg doing? I’ve worked with Mark. What are you doing? You’re being employed to go and tell a football club how referees are making mistakes or what mistakes they’re making. A fan in the crowd could go and tell you what a referee is thinking.
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“I’m disappointed with Nottingham Forest. It’s as if, look at all of this, woe me. I get it, some teams feel as though they’ve been hard done to, some teams feel they’ve had bad decisions against them. That happens sometimes during a season and I would have hated it.
“But to employ an ex-referee to tell you why you’re having decisions against you. For me, I think it’s a step too far.”
