Nottingham Forest boss calls for Premier League rule change ahead of Newcastle United trip

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo calls for Premier League rule change ahead of Newcastle United trip.

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has called for VAR to intervene on second yellow cards after Willy Boly's red card against Bournemouth.

Referee Robert Jones shows a second yellow card to Willy Boly of Nottingham Forest, resulting in a red card, during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)placeholder image
Referee Robert Jones shows a second yellow card to Willy Boly of Nottingham Forest, resulting in a red card, during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Forest was left incensed when Boly was dismissed for a second caution in the 23rd minute for what appeared a clean challenge on Cherries defender Adam Smith.

The Red lost 3-2 in Nuno's first game in charge. Boly will serve his one-match suspension for the trip to Newcastle United on Boxing Day.

Referee Robert Jones shows a second yellow card to Willy Boly of Nottingham Forest, resulting in a red card, during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)placeholder image
Referee Robert Jones shows a second yellow card to Willy Boly of Nottingham Forest, resulting in a red card, during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images

"It's a frustration of knowing the approach of the referees is a bad one, and the law says because it's two yellows you can't reverse the decision," Nuno said. "That's something they have to look at, because it doesn't make sense.

"First of all, it's the approach of the referee, that's bad. Boly's first yellow is fair, but it's then a follow-through with the boot under the foot of the Bournemouth player - the approach should be more cautious, wait a little bit with the help of VAR, hold the decision and they will tell you.

"I think we, as Forest and our fans, especially our fans, deserve better decisions. They come here to see football and suddenly they see something that really changes the game, and the frustration is huge. We are all upset with this."

Nuno revealed he went into the referee's dressing room to see referee Robert Jones but decided against bringing up the decision.

He added: "I asked our analyst to put the image of the red card, and I saw it over and over again to try to understand because I respect the job of the referees a lot. I saw it over and over, as many times as I saw it, I could understand it, what he saw. It was bad.

"I spoke to [Rob Jones] but what can I do? I respect them, I try to support them, but it's a mistake, a huge mistake. At the end of the game, I hadn't seen it - I went and shook his hand, he's a referee I know. But when you see it, you get so much frustration. I didn't talk about it with him."

Follow us
© 2026 Iconic Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice