I’m not one to boo City, but that was so embarrassing

EVERY fan who pays money has a right to their opinion and vent their frustrations. I am not someone who boos a performance and on Saturday I was uncomfortable at hearing sections of the Ashton Gate crowd chanting “this is embarrassing” but I don’t disagree with the sentiment and, as I say, everyone has the right to voice their feelings.

It was embarrassing! we played against the bottom side, who, for the last 30 minutes, were down to 10 men, and we never really looked like getting a win.

After the game, Nigel Pearson said how Peterborough were poor technically and that we were poor personality-wise. The Posh have had a tough season and did lack quality but in the first half were, for me, the better of the two sides and could easily have taken the lead. They hit the post and wasted a number of good opportunities. I agree with Pearson that personalitywise we were poor, but not being able to pass and control the ball are technical things and we were poor at both of these.

Like with the jeering at the end, fans rightly have their own opinion on the manager. There are those that will point out the squad is not blessed with enough quality and have too many players on high wages who are going through the motions. With huge debt and limited options, Pearson needs to reshape the squad and sometimes you have to take a step backwards to move forward. I wouldn’t disagree with that, but on the flip side, surely it is down to the manager and his coaching team to motivate and get the best out of what he has at his disposal. The likes of Ryan Lowe at Preston, Chris Wilder at Middlesbrough and, in particular, Steve Cooper at Nottingham Forest have all done that. On paper do sides like Luton Town, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End, Blackpool etc have better players than us? The game isn’t played on paper and that is where management, motivation and coaching come in. For the last 20 minutes, Pearson pretty much stayed sat in the dugout, leaving Curtis Fleming to shout out the instructions from the sidelines. Pearson said he would change the players, if they don’t want to change, Again, I don’t disagree with him. We are a club that have gone backwards on the field and I honestly think we need to hear more from the owner and the chairman.