Notts County player Barry Cotter sparks a brawl and gets chased by opponents after ‘one of the worst tackles ever seen in a friendly’.
Cotter was sent off with a straight red card for a reckless tackle on a Kaiserslautern winger during a pre-season friendly in Germany.
Notts already 3-0 down within the first ten minutes of the game, and struggled even more after Cotter’s dismissal just before half time and conceded a fourth goal towards the end of the second, resulting in a 4-0 loss to the Bundesliga 2 side.
The brutal challenge saw tempers flaring, footage has now emerged of Barry Cotter’s sending off, have a watch below…
Flipping heck…
This tackle by Notts County’s Barry Cotter is one of the worst you’ll ever see in a FRIENDLY match 😅🤣
pic.twitter.com/iBVQujNrsS— Ryan Dilks (@RyanDilks1) July 13, 2025
Martin Paterson wasn’t prepared to accept any excuses for this afternoon’s 4-0 defeat against FC Kaiserslautern.
We found ourselves 3-0 down inside 10 minutes against the 2. Bundesliga outfit – and the Head Coach was hugely disappointed with what he saw.
He said: “It’s important for me to be really transparent and honest. The start we made to the game was unacceptable and verging on unprofessional.
“I don’t say that to beat the players with a stick – but we had a fantastic set of supporters behind us today, creating a jovial atmosphere having spent a lot of money to be here, only to see us be out of the game within the first 10 minutes.
“Some might say ‘it’s pre-season, it happens’, and talk about the quality of the opposition, but I can’t accept that. We’re Notts County – we come to compete and get results, whoever we’re playing against and whatever stage of the season it is.
“In the first 10 minutes of any game, the plan is to play forward and get in the opposition’s half – but today we started by conceding three goals. It hurts me and it should hurt the team.”
Our task was made even harder by the loss of Barry Cotter to a straight red card – and a resolute performance thereafter was diminished by the concession of a fourth goal from a corner in the second half.
Paterson continued: “When we settled, and started doing the right things, we got something of a foothold in the game.
“I’m aware that we didn’t cause enough problems in an attacking sense, but we managed to make it more of an even contest – although Kaiserslautern did have more threatening moments.
“After Barry’s sending off it became a defence v attack exercise, where I was trying to help us stay in the game and spring a press which would allow us to work the ball forward.
“While we struggled to do that, we defended incredibly hard – so to then concede at a set-play was, again, massively disappointing.
“I want to make sure we don’t think it’s OK to play nice football and lose. There are certain things we have to do if we’re to play the way we want to. It’s not just a gimme that opposition teams are going to give us the ball, allow us to be really expansive and to play through them.
“We’ve got some really good players – but right now, there are certain basics that we don’t do.
“We need to earn the right first – and I know that comes across as very old school, and maybe that all I want to see is people running around and tackling. While that’s not the case, it’s a very big part of being successful.”
The squad will recuperate back at their Darmstadt base this evening before getting back to work in the morning.
Paterson added: “We’ll debrief the match thoroughly tomorrow and the players will know what I expect of them.
“I’ll ask more from them, and myself. We’re in it together – I’m the Head Coach and it lands on me.
“I’m really clear on the things we need to improve and I’m very positive about how we can address them, but we need to get to work straightaway.”
On Cotter’s red card, Paterson said: “Barry’s a competitor – but he’s also someone who can get too wrapped up in frustration.
“I felt it too – Kaiserslautern were probably getting the shade of the decisions – but at the end of the day it’s just another excuse.
“In life things don’t always go your way – but we have to compete against that in the correct manner and stay calm in challenging moments.”
