Referee Keith Stroud has come under fire for a poor performance in the East Midlands Derby between Derby County and Nottingham Forest.
In a tight game that finished 0-0 between Derby County and Nottingham Forest, it was referee Keith Stroud’s performance that stood out more than any of the players.
After 18 minutes, Forest defender took Tendayi Darikwa took down Derby Coubty’s Tom Lawrence inside the box with a wild swinging leg, hitting Lawrence around his waist after the Welshman had knocked the ball away.
However, Stroud waved away the penalty claims.
Later on, Derby’s defensive duo Jayden Bogle and Fikayo Tomori both put in reckless challenges that could’ve seen The Rams go down to nine men. Young full-back Bogle went up in the air with Forest’s Ben Osborn, and clattered him in the back of the head with his elbow.
Tomori flew in with a reckless two-footed challenge, off the ground. However, he cleanly took the ball and made no contact with the Forest man. It comes under the category of “I’ve seen them given.”
After the game, Derby manager Frank Lampard had his say on some of Stroud’s decisions:
“The most staunch Nottingham Forest fan in the far side of the ground could see that was a penalty,” Lampard told the Derby Telegraph.
“The easy penalty to give is when the striker gets a touch, clearly, and the defender follows through, clearly, and catches him around the waist, clearly.
“The referee is on his own in thinking that was not a penalty. It was an absolute penalty – a game-changer because although it was a fair result in general play, that’s a goal to win us the game.
“Everybody knew (it was a penalty). The other officials knew. The Forest bench knew. I’d be saying the same if it was the other way.
“It’s not a grey area, it’s not a VAR decision. I wouldn’t even refer that to VAR.”
“We spoke at half-time and he stuck to his guns, really.
“It would be a benefit for referees to explain to a degree contentious decisions.
“I’m with referees, it’s a tough, fast game. They are human, they cant be everywhere, see every tiny touch but this was the opposite. As soon as it happened I thought it was a penalty for us. So that’s the difficult one to take.”
Lampard then went on to discuss the incident between Bogle and Osborn, insisting he didn’t see the clash between the two.
“I didn’t see the contact.
“I thought it was a yellow, at first, he went through the back of him. Are we talking about an elbow? I genuinely did not see that one.
“If it is the case, it is another one (decision) that was wrong. I am not sure how clear it was.”
“It was a close game, a typical derby. Sometimes it can go that way and it negates some of the quality elements of the game.
“I think both teams gave everything.”
