Saturday’s fixture against Newcastle ended up not being the best for Thomas Frank and his Brentford side.
The west Londoners were holding their own at St. James’ Park before a contentious penalty decision swayed the course of the game in favour of the hosts.
Anthony Gordon was felled in the box and there was a suggestion that he’d ‘left his leg in,’ but that didn’t affect the linesman’s decision to advise the man in the middle to give the spot-kick.
Callum Wilson’s firmly struck penalty was what ultimately won the Magpies the game, but that wasn’t the only thing that Frank was raging at.
“I think with all these new rules of where they add time, if the ball boys don’t want to give the ball back I think it should be an extra minute,” he was quoted as saying by Newcastle World.
“That’s just to the ref I want to say that.”
Ball boys helping out their teams isn’t a new phenomenon of course.
Who can forget the Anfield ball boy whose quick distribution enabled Liverpool to score a goal, or the Swansea City youngster who Eden Hazard was so angry with when playing for Chelsea, decided to kick the ball out from under him.
Ultimately, Frank is just clutching at straws and trying to deflect from the fact that his side just weren’t good enough on the day to topple Eddie Howe’s side.
They remain an exciting outfit and better days will undoubtedly be ahead for the Bees, especially when Ivan Toney is able to come back into the fold.