Bristol City supporters deliver home truths to Nigel Pearson as he walks off after Barnsley loss

Bristol City supporters delivered some straight opinions to manager Nigel Pearson as he walked off the pitch at Oakwell on Tuesday evening, after his side had lost 2-0 to Barnsley.

A disappointing performance against the third-from-bottom Tykes led to plenty of irate comments on social media following the game, and also at the stadium from the away end.

Two Robins fans even caught the attention of the manager who left the pitch at the end of the game, and stood steely faced, listening to the comments thrown his way.

See the video below of the views hurled Pearson’s way after the game.

The 58-year-old manager was asked about the exchange following the match and, perhaps all the better for some cooling-off time, Pearson came down on the side of the supporters, agreeing that what they had witnessed was unacceptable.

“As I came off there were some fellas there letting me know exactly what they thought,” explained Pearson of the post-match incident.

“And I can’t disagree with them. They follow us in big numbers and spend a lot of money in supporting us.

“We should give them a better performance than that,” he added.

A 380-mile round trip for the visiting supporters was ruined by two soft goals conceded from corners as the home side made it just one loss in their last six matches, with Reading two points away and safety certainly a realistic aim for the South Yorkshire side.

And it means that Bristol City were unable to build on any momentum gained from the late win at Blackburn Rovers on the weekend.

Indeed, City have still not yet managed to win two league games in succession this season. Although injuries have been fewer than in the last campaign, and the Robins are scoring more goals and creating good chances, fans remain infuriated about the inability to defend, with only two Championship sides conceding more goals.

The West Country outfit are likely safe from the drop for this year and can almost think about building for next season.

But a grinding halt of winless matches in these last eight fixtures cannot be allowed to happen. If the campaign fizzles out, then many feel that next year will be a continuing struggle too, when Pearson needs to build and take the club yet further forward.

Frustrations boiled over at Barnsley and mirrored some booing and chants heard from the away section at the Hawthorns earlier this season, when City lost 3-0 to the team they face next at Ashton Gate on the weekend.

The bigger picture, of course, is that this is a three-year build and patience is needed. The home form has been corrected and there are goals in this side.

But unless things are improved at the back then Pearson will find himself under increasing pressure, with the manager having also upset the owning Lansdown family earlier this campaign with badly timed comments in the run-up to City’s flagpole Ashton Gate Eight event.

“We have good intentions but unfortunately we just don’t perform well enough at times,” said Pearson to the club media channels of his team’s 12th away loss of the league campaign.

“That remains our Achilles heel, so we’ve put in a performance that doesn’t match our intentions.

“And doesn’t match our previous performance that included a lot of grit and resilience,” said Pearson.

Those comments have sadly been repeated too often this season.

If Pearson wants to find success and remain in the West Country then he must start showing more progress, with a dreadful record of 30 losses in 54 games on his back, and more supporters there after each defeat, too.