It wasn't quite fight night under the City Ground lights on Wednesday, but there was certainly a brief ruck at the end of Nottingham Forest's Carabao Cup win over Wolves.
A game with a surprisingly niggly undercurrent boiled over after the Reds won a penalty shootout to secure a semi-final against Manchester United following a contest which could have gone either way. Once again Forest came out on top in a shootout in from of the away fans, just as they had done against Sheffield United in the play-off semi-finals.
There was no pitch invasion this time but there were flash points on the pitch as players from both sides jostled. Morgan Gibbs-White was front and centre fighting out of the red corner against his former club and Adama Traore was sporting the gold and black as his main opponent.
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It looked like no punches were thrown in reality, with coaches attempting to act as peacemakers and at this time we don't know what sparked the melee, although Gibbs-White is getting flak from those of a Wanderers persuasion.
For some, he threw his toys out the pram when after Matheus Cunha put his fingers in his ears after scoring his penalty, just as Gibbs-White had done.
Gibbs-White then celebrated in front of the Wolves fans after Dean Henderson saved Joe Hodge's final penalty, an action seen as either an incendiary action or showing a lack of respect to the club who brought him through. There are times when players cross a line during celebrations such as Nathan Tyson waving a corner flag in front of Derby fans. This was not one of those.
Bear in mind he had taken dog's abuse throughout the game from a fanbase which never really took to him. His girlfriend Britney De Villiers appears to have deleted her Twitter account in the last 48 hours having previously received a flurry of negative tweets from fans.
If a player wants to give a bit back, so what? What he did was at the low end of the scale of responses. Players seem to be placed on a pedestal where they just have to take abuse in games and on social media and can't react. They have to be role models off the pitch and saints on it. Why?
Maybe Gibbs-White has a bit of a chip on his shoulder over his time at Molineux before his summer move to Forest, but the notion he is some kind of wrong 'un with a bad attitude is surely nonsense. The question of whether Wolves ever saw the best of him as a player is a different matter, as is the question of whether Forest overpaid for him at an initial fee of £25million.
So far the evidence is leaning towards both parties getting a decent deal. He had a strong game once again against his old club, but maybe he needs to work on his penalty taking as that one could have been saved.
Was Gibbs-White right to react? Have your say in the comments section below
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