Following his first match in charge of Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo voiced a call for a rule change after a contentious red card for Willy Boly marred their 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.
The 32-year-old Boly received his marching orders in the 23rd minute, receiving two yellow cards, the second of which was issued by referee Rob Jones despite the defender seemingly cleanly winning the ball in a challenge with Adam Smith.
The match took a heartbreaking turn for Forest as Dominic Solanke completed a hat-trick, securing a last-gasp winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Expressing his frustration, Nuno, who recently took over from the dismissed Steve Cooper, criticized the current rules that prevent VAR from intervening to downgrade a yellow card.
He said: “Very bad decision. A decision that totally changed the game.
“It is more the frustration of knowing the approach of the referee is a bad one and the law says you cannot reverse the decision because it is two yellow cards.
“It is something they have to look at because it doesn’t make sense.
“First of all, the approach of the referee is bad. Boly has a first yellow card, which is fair, but then for the second the foot of Boly is under the foot of the Bournemouth player so the approach [from the referee] should be more cautious.
“Wait a little bit for the help of an assistant or the help of VAR, hold your decision and they will tell you. But after that he cannot reverse the decision.
“Our fans deserve better decisions. They come here to see football and suddenly they see something that really changes the game.
“I saw it over and over and over again to try and understand because I respect the referee. I know it is a tough job.
“I have seen it many times and I cannot understand it, It was bad. It is a mistake, a huge mistake.”