Mark Clattenburg has resigned from his role as a refereeing consultant with Nottingham Forest, saying his presence had become a "hindrance" to the club.

Retired Premier League referee Clattenburg – who oversaw the 2016 Champions League final and the showpiece game at Euro 2016 – began the role in February.

The appointment was roundly criticised but Forest – who have seen a number of debatable decisions go against them this season – said it would aid their understanding of the decision-making process and improve dialogue with refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

However, Clattenburg has continued to attract criticism for taking on the role, which intensified when Forest reacted to a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton by accusing Stuart Attwell – who was on VAR duty – of being a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town.

That came after Forest had seen three penalty appeals knocked back at Goodison Park, and Clattenburg avoided condemning Forest's statement in the aftermath of the controversy.

On Friday, Forest released a statement from Clattenburg, who defended his decision to take the job but acknowledged it had created unforeseen difficulties.

Clattenburg said: "It is now clear that the existence and performance of these consultancy services has caused unintended friction between Nottingham Forest and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hindrance than help.

"It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits.

"Such reactions and outcomes were not expected and are regrettable, as it is my sincere belief that there is a place for and value in such a role in the modern game."

Former England bowler Stuart Broad has criticised Nottingham Forest’s response to the VAR controversy at Sunday’s Premier League match against Everton as “slightly too emotional”.

Broad, the second-highest England Test wicket-taker, was made a CBE for services to cricket during a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, and is a long-time fan of the football club.

Following Forest’s 2-0 loss at Everton, the club risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to three rejected penalty appeals.

In a statement on Sunday, the club said there had been “three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept”, adding: “We warned the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game, but they didn’t change him.”

On Tuesday, it was announced that the club would be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to the three penalty claims.

When asked about his thoughts on the VAR incident, Broad said: “Obviously, there’s been some natural frustration from everyone at Nottingham Forest: owners, players, manager fans, supporters, my friendship group are frustrated.

“I think it’s not just from the weekend, I think the frustration is built over the season, to be honest, from the decisions that the club have had.

“I think the statement straight after the game was probably quite emotional and maybe slightly misaligned with how the club would normally operate.”

Referring to the club’s statement on X, formerly Twitter, in which they claimed VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan”, Broad said: “Personally, I think that’s got nothing to do with the decision-making. I think it was just poor decision-making.

He continued: “I don’t mind the club showing emotion and passion because ultimately, that’s what sport’s about, but I think some of the words were slightly too emotional.”

Broad, 37, announced he was retiring from cricket during the fifth Ashes Test last summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion.

He hit a six off his final ball and took the final wicket as England won the match to level the series, although Australia retained the urn.

He came second in the public vote for the BBC’s 2023 Sports Personality of the Year in December and has been focusing on fatherhood and television punditry.

After the ceremony he said retirement had been “scary” but that he wanted to continue to “stay connected” to the sport.

When asked what was next, Broad said: “I want to stay in the game.

“It’s a great hobby of mine, it’s probably something I know the most about in the world, in my world, so I want to be able to share that feedback, whether that’s coaching, whether that’s punditry and commentary that I enjoy.

“But stay connected to the game, you know, I love it.”

Nottingham Forest will be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to three penalty claims in their match against Everton last Sunday.

Forest called on Monday for the audio between Stuart Attwell and on-field official Anthony Taylor to be released publicly.

Sources close to referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.

The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken on whether this audio would also feature in the next edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, which will air next Tuesday evening.

The audio related to a wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham earlier this season was released publicly, but in that instance there had been a serious communication error so the matter was treated differently.

Forest have been contacted by PA regarding the offer to release the audio.

The club have risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to the three rejected penalty appeals.

The club said in a statement on Sunday they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan” but that PGMOL did not change the appointment.

The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement, adding it was “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.

The league said it was investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules, with regulations B.15 and B.16 governing the requirement on clubs and their officials to behave with utmost good faith.

Forest went on to release a further statement on Monday evening calling for the rules around referees’ allegiances to be updated to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”.

Referees do already declare allegiances and will not be assigned that team’s matches, or certain other fixtures such as those involving direct local rivals of that club. For instance, Michael Oliver has spoken in the past about he cannot referee Newcastle games because he is a fan.

Other factors that determine appointments include which teams an official’s immediate family members support, as well as performance and the number of times they have officiated a particular team’s matches.

PGMOL takes all of that into account and endeavours to make the best appointments possible when allocating six officials to each Premier League fixture from a pool of 70 to 75, while also fulfilling Championship refereeing appointments.

Ultimately, it has confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of its officials.

No club is believed to have ever questioned the process in the manner Forest have since the birth of the Premier League 32 years ago, and nor have the club raised any concerns in relation to the previous occasions when Attwell has been the VAR at their matches this season.

English officials are clearly well thought of by UEFA, with eight included in the list for Euro 2024 this summer.

Taylor will lead one of two English referee teams at Euro 2024, with Oliver leading the other. Attwell and David Coote have been named as VARs.

Three Forest staff – manager Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg – have been asked by the FA for observations on the comments they made about the officiating at Goodison Park.

Stuart Attwell will be one of the VARs at this summer’s European Championship in Germany, with Anthony Taylor among the on-field referees.

The news comes two days on from the pair being on duty for Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 loss at Everton, after which the officiating was attacked in a social media post from the visitors that referenced Attwell being “a Luton fan”.

The post said there had been “three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept”, adding: “We warned the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game, but they didn’t change him.”

On Monday, Forest said they had submitted a formal request to PGMOL for audio of discussions between Attwell and Taylor in relation to the three incidents to be made public.

They also called on PGMOL to change its rules on officials’ allegiances “to account for contextual rivalries in the league table’, not just local rivalries”.

Three Forest members of staff – boss Nuno Espirito Santo, referee analyst Mark Clattenburg and full-back Neco Williams – have been asked by the Football Association for their observations following comments they made after the match at Goodison Park, while the Premier League is examining the club’s social media post.

As well as Taylor, with assistants Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, Michael Oliver will be the other English on-field referee at the Euros, assisted by Stuart Burt and Dan Cook, UEFA said on Tuesday. The other English VAR alongside Attwell will be David Coote.

Jurgen Klopp accused Brentford of "stretching the rules" after Liverpool fell to a shock 3-1 defeat against the Bees on Monday.

An Ibrahima Konate own goal and a Yoane Wissa header put Liverpool two goals down before half-time, as Klopp's side struggled to cope with Brentford's set-piece deliveries.

Liverpool made three changes at the break – including Virgil van Dijk coming off – and the alterations looked to have given the Reds hope when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled a goal back on his 100th Premier League appearance for the club.

However, Bryan Mbeumo put the game to bed when he muscled Konate off the ball before lashing home late on to give Brentford their first win over Liverpool since 1938.

Klopp was frustrated after a game in which he perceived Brentford to have bent the rules, while he criticised referee Stuart Attwell's failure to take action over their behaviour during set-pieces.

"I'm not sure you can really control it all the time because each corner is a massive threat," Klopp told Sky Sports. "They stretch the rules in these moments with full body contact.

"There was only one offensive foul on a set-piece tonight which was whistled and that was against us, which is really funny. Holding is holding, and pushing is pushing.

"It was more the game they wanted than the one we wanted. They could dictate it because of how it got whistled.

"The two corners they scored with, one was offside and the other one, of course we don't behave perfectly, but they stretch rules. They are really pushing, they are really holding. That's obviously what you can do.

"The third goal I can really not respect. The ref thought it wasn't a foul and then VAR hides behind the phrase 'clear and obvious'. The referee has to explain that, if anybody could ask him.

"There's a reason why they are so successful with offensive set-pieces and still concede a lot of defensive goals around set-pieces, because there you cannot do the same stuff because in your own box, it would be a penalty."

While Klopp was angered by the officiating, he did not excuse his team from criticism, saying: "We have to point at ourselves. In the end, you don't lose a game if you do everything right. We did, for sure, not everything right.

"We are very critical of ourselves, and rightly so tonight. There were moments where we could have changed the game."

Darwin Nunez missed a golden opportunity to give Liverpool an early lead, rounding David Raya only to be denied by Ben Mee's goal-line block. No player has missed more big chances in the Premier League this season than Nunez's 15.

Klopp lamented his side's wastefulness in front of goal, adding: "We concede the first goal when we should already be 2-0 up, with super chances from Darwin and from Kostas [Tsimikas]. Darwin Nunez doesn't expect Ben Mee sliding there.

"In the next situation, they play a ball behind the line and we are not there, that's a massive point for criticism."