Red-carded Reid is fined for vile rant at official
STEVEN REID escaped with a £5,000 fine and two-game touchline ban, despite the Nottingham Forest coach’s extraordinary foul-mouthed outburst at a referee.
Incredibly, Reid denied an FA misconduct charge, despite two witnesses backing up referee Paul Tierney, who said he was called a “c***” three times after Liverpool’s controversial late win at the City Ground on March 2.
An independent commission into the case was told Reid said: “It’s the same every week, you c***. I worked with you a f***ing lot every f***ing week last season. It’s the same every f***ing week you c***.” Forest were fined £75,000 for the fury which surrounded Darwin Nunez’s winner in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
But the size of the fines and punishment is certain to upset the refereeing fraternity as they want more respect for match officials.
Forest have appointed Mark Clattenburg as a referee analyst, but the former Premier League official defended club owner Evangelos Marinakis for his behaviour afterwards, when he went on to the pitch.
The three-man commission were told it was the fourth time Forest have faced a sanction for surrounding a match official in the past 18 months, while being fined seven times for other rule breaches.
But they still decided on a small fine for Reid, who admitted using “abusive and insulting” language before he was sent off but denied doing so after receiving the red card. He was found guilty.
The commission could have fined Forest £250,000 but set the sanction at £75,000.
Tierney had stopped the game before the goal after Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate went down with a head injury, but the ball was wrongly dropped for Liverpool rather than Forest.
Marinakis even chased Tierney down the tunnel after the final whistle. Fellow officials Richard-West and Scott Ledger backed Tierney’s statement.
The referee told the panel: “Following the final whistle I was surrounded by members of Nottingham Forest’s substitutes and backroom staff on the field of play.
“One of those who approached me was Steven Reid, who was not on the teamsheet.
“He asked me about a decision and I said to him that I will speak to him inside and not outside on the field.
“He then said, ‘It’s the same every week, you c***’. I showed him the red card and then he said, ‘I worked with you a f***ing lot every f***ing week last season. It’s the same every f***ing week you c***’. He then continued to use the word ***k and called me a ***t on at least one more occasion.”