Steve Cooper and Jason Tindall were summoned to the referee's office at half-time of Newcastle United's 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest because there had been 'too much complaining'.
There were 13 fouls in the first half, alone, during Friday night's fiery clash at the City Ground and Forest felt Andre Ayew had been brought down in the build-up to Alexander Isak's equaliser just before half-time. Both benches were not exactly shy when it came to contesting such decisions and referee Paul Tierney called Forest boss Cooper and Newcastle assistant Tindall into his office at the break.
However, there was so much at stake for both clubs, at opposite ends of the table, and the second half was just as ferocious and hotly contested, with Elliot Anderson controversially having a goal ruled out midway through the second half. Jonjo Shelvey, with tongue firmly in cheek, even went as far as to call his former side 'whingebags' on a night Isak ultimately won the game for the visitors with a 93rd-minute penalty.
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While Cooper did not want to 'get into' Shelvey's comments, the Forest boss did confirm what Tierney said to him and Tindall at the break.
"He just wanted us to speak to our teams and just to settle down," the Forest manager told reporters. "He felt there was probably too much complaining going on. Pretty standard stuff, really.
"The overriding feeling at the moment is disappointment because of the result and how we haven't covered ourselves in glory in terms of the build-up to the goals. That's what I'm annoyed with and annoyed with ourselves - not the opponent's moaning or the referee's decisions. Maybe those things contributed but we're in a situation where we just have to focus on ourselves."
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