Nuno Espirito Santo blasted over ‘unacceptable’ actions on West Ham touchline vs Nottingham Forest
Nuno Espirito Santo lost his cool on the touchline as West Ham’s struggles continued against Nottingham Forest.
West Ham were beaten 2-1 by Forest at the London Stadium on Tuesday evening, a result that leaves them seven points adrift of safety in the Premier League.
Murillo’s own goal put the Hammers into an early lead, and Crysencio Summerville thought he’d doubled the advantage only for VAR to rule it out for offside.
Nicolas Dominguez levelled the game for Sean Dyche’s side moments later, before Morgan Gibbs-White’s late penalty left Nuno’s future in immediate doubt.
Nuno Espirito Santo rages at referee
With the scores level at 1-1, Summerville burst towards goal in an attempt to create something for West Ham.
Under pressure from Elliott Anderson, the winger hit the deck just outside the box, but referee Tony Harrington waved the appeals away.
As play was allowed to continue, Nuno made his feelings clear on the side of the pitch and was booked by Harrington for his protests.
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett believes that the referee made the correct decision and that Nuno’s reaction was unacceptable.
Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, former FIFA referee Hackett said: “The West Ham United player attempted to deceive the referee by going to ground, with the referee allowing play to continue.
“It was the correct decision by the referee not to award a free-kick to West Ham.
“This brought about an unacceptable animated protest by the West Ham manager, who was yellow carded.”
Premier League table makes for bleak West Ham reading
Nuno was under huge sack pressure coming into the game against Nottingham Forest, and after yet another defeat, he must surely lose his job.
The Portuguese boss has overseen 16 Premier League matches since he took over at the London Stadium, with West Ham picking up just two wins in that time.
The Hammers are now seven points behind Nottingham Forest and their chances of survival are growing slimmer by the week.
| Position | Team | Games | Points |
| 17 | Nottingham Forest | 21 | 21 |
| 18 | West Ham | 21 | 14 |
| 19 | Burnley | 20 | 12 |
| 20 | Wolves | 20 | 6 |
They may well go down anyway, but the West Ham hierarchy have to try one more throw of the dice and replace Nuno immediately.
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