Thomas Frank has revealed that Brentford were 'a little bit more active' towards the fourth official during his side's 2-1 defeat in response to Newcastle United assistant Jason Tindall always being in his 'ear'.
It falls to Tindall, who stands on the touchline, to communicate with the fourth official on Newcastle's behalf so that Magpies boss Eddie Howe can focus purely on the game. Remarkably, in recognition of that, Brentford's coaching staff changed their usual approach on Saturday to ensure they got their points across to fourth official Stephen Martin at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It was an afternoon where Brentford were awarded two penalties. Referee Chris Kavanagh did not require any assistance for the first after Sven Botman wiped out Kevin Schade inside the box only for Toney to uncharacteristically miss the penalty in the 29th minute. VAR intervened for the second just before half-time when Alexander Isak was harshly adjudged to have fouled Rico Henry with a high boot when clearing a corner and, this time, Toney made no mistake to send his side 1-0 up at the break.
