Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann under-fire after angrily launching bottle into the crowd during weekend defeat… and hitting a fan in the face

JULIAN NAGELSMANN has come under fire for angrily throwing a bottle into the stands during a match and it hit a spectator in the face.

The Hoffenheim boss, listed as a potential replacement for Slaven Bilic at West Ham, threw the bottle after seeing his side go without a win for a fourth-straight game.

Nagelsmann, 30, was so livid at his side's 3-1 loss at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, he viciously hurled the bottle it into the crowd.

In video footage, the boss is then seen signalling to someone in the public – seemingly to apologise as he realises what he just did.

The camera then moves to a fan holding the same plastic water bottle which the manager had just thrown.

He then rubs the side of his head as the woman seated next to him realises to her great surprise that he just got hit with the bottle.

The Hoffenheim fan was struck in the side of the head by the bottle

A young man seated on the other side of the man then takes the bottle out of his hands and throws it back towards the pitch.

After the match, Nagelsmann went up to find the victim and to apologise, shaking the man's hand and giving him a hug.

The victim, only identified as 61-year-old Hans-Peter R, said he was not angry at the manager beloved Hoffenheim.

He said: "It is all OK, nothing has happened. Emotions are part of the game, such a thing can happen."

Hans-Peter R added that he "thinks highly of Mr Nagelsmann" and he is "very mature in his way".

The Hoffenheim fan said that he did not see the bottle coming at all and that it was however a slight shock.

Hans-Peter R said: "I was looking in another direction. I thought: 'What is that?'

"The bottle first hit the wall and then brushed past my cheek and ear. It was still two thirds full."

Nagelsmann himself said after the match that it was a "stupid, dim-witted action which should not have happened and will never happen again."

He said: "I wanted to throw the bottle against the wall behind me, but the neck of the bottle stuck to my sweater."

According to local media, Nagelsmann will likely get an official warning from the German football association DFB as he has an unblemished reputation and has not got into trouble before.

In 2010, former Mainz and Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel got a £2,600 fine from the DFB when he threw a bottle into the crowd during a cup match away at Alemannia Aachen.

Nagelsmann, who is considered one of Germany's biggest coaching talents after leading the club into the top four last season, is rumoured to replace Bilic at West Ham.

Incidentally, Tuchel is also allegedly on the West Ham shortlist to replace the Croatian manager.