Frank: Brentford goalkeeper coach injured by Forest groundsman
Manu Sotelo (left) was involved in an altercation with a member of Nottingham Forest's ground staff
Written by Training Ground Guru — November 6, 2022
BRENTFORD Head Coach Thomas Frank says his goalkeeper coach was injured by one of Nottingham Forest's groundstaff during an altercation ahead of their 2-2 draw in the Premier League yesterday.
The incident occurred when Forest’s groundsman attempted to move Brentford staff and players - including keeper coach Manu Sotelo - out of the penalty area, where they were doing warm-up drills before the match.
Premier League rule K.23.4 states that “the goalmouth area shall be used by goalkeepers... for crossing practice (for not more than 20 minutes) or for the completion of a ‘pattern of play’ drill (for not more than 10 minutes).”
According to Forest, this period of time had been exceeded. As you can see from the video below, an altercation then ensured which resulted in Sotelo - who was goalkeeper coach at the City Ground in 2018/19 - momentarily falling to the ground.
Bees assistant Brian Riemer, first-team coach Justin Cochrane and Head of Performance Chris Haslam then got involved and attempted to calm the situation.
After the match Frank said: “In all my time in football - and especially all the time in the Premier League - I have never, ever, seen groundsmen walking around in the middle of our warm-up doing things.
Tensions seemed to boil over between Brentford's players and some of the Nottingham Forest ground staff before today's kick-off. ???? pic.twitter.com/QQDP59uWSN
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 5, 2022
“I don’t know if that is a coincidence. I don’t know, but it surprised me very very much. I have a bit of a temper so I am not an angel all of the time and I try to be the best version but my goalkeeping coach is the most down to earth guy, there must be something really pissed him off.
"I just hope like everyone is looking into it. There must be cameras."
When asked if Sotelo had been invited, he said: “Yeah, he got a mark. Something gave him a mark and I have even got a picture.”
The Football Association are awaiting a report from Referee Andre Marriner before deciding whether to look into the matter further. Sotelo joined the Bees in August 2020. He was a coach at several clubs in his homeland before joining Aitor Karanka at Nottingham Forest in 2018/19. He worked for Al Ahli in Doha ahead of his move to Brentford.
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