Pearson: I’ve no problem with fans venting their fury
NIGEL Pearson insists he has “no problem” with fans venting their fury at him or the team after being verbally targeted following Bristol City’s 2-0 defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday night.
Pearson walked towards the tunnel at Oakwell following the defeat and stopped to face two travelling Robins fans who made it abundantly clear what they thought of the performance in Yorkshire as City fell to their 19th reverse of the campaign.
The manager faced the two fans at a short distance for a brief couple of seconds to hear their grievances and then headed down the tunnel to the changing room before discussing it post-match.
It’s the first time such an incident has occurred with Pearson in charge, as the 58-year-old has largely enjoyed the trust and faith of the fanbase despite a largely poor record since he took charge last February but patience appears to be increasingly wearing thin.
More than 200 supporters had made the trip to Oakwell, four days after another lengthy away day at Blackburn which had been City’s first away win since October 2.
“I didn’t chat with them because they were very, very angry and showing their frustration that they spend a lot of money following us, and I fully accept that,” Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol. “There is no place to hide, if fans have an opinion which is critical - they pay their money, they ‘re allowed to say what they think.
“It remains a big frustration for all of us. It’s an emotional game and that’s why people react in the way that they do and I have absolutely no problem with that.”
A lot went wrong for the Robins, who lost Alex Scott, Joe Williams and Antoine Semenyo to injury over the course of the 90 minutes while their abject defending from set-pieces was thrust back into view.
City have now conceded 13 goals from corners and free-kicks, according to Opta, with only Reading
(20) possessing a worse record. That accounts for 19 per cent of all goals conceded by Pearson’s team. For reference, they allowed 23 last season, representing 33 per cent.
It’s especially pertinent because this was an area of the team that Pearson had prioritised in terms of fixing and certainly at the start of the season this looked to be the case, only for the Robins to have regressed. City host West Brom at Ashton Gate on Saturday before the international break. Their following fixture is a trip to secondplaced Bournemouth on April 2.