“What’s the point in me talking about it? We’ve been over a year since we had one… what’s the point of getting irate about it,” questioned Nigel Pearson when asked about his feelings surrounding what looked like a foul on Nahki Wells in Bristol City’s 0-0 draw with Watford.
This has become a theme for the Robins over the last year, with Pearson’s side last earning a spot-kick in a 3-2 defeat to Coventry last season, Chris Martin the man to convert after Callum O’Dowda was fouled by Ian Maatsen.
Saturday saw two appeals from Wells, who was first subject to a high boot from Dan Gosling, before going to ground after Watford captain William Troost-Ekong had hold of his shirt, only for referee David Webb to wave both away.
Every football fan will feel their team is unfairly treated by officials, but the statistics show the Ashton Gate faithful can feel especially poorly treated, they sit bottom of the penalty charts of any of the 108 teams that have played in the Championship or any of Europe’s top five leagues.
The natural assumption would be that City don’t get into the area enough to get the opportunity to win penalties, but they are well above the average of touches inside the box and have made 1,226 inside the opposition area for their one penalty. For every other side they average a spot-kick every 200 touches or less.
Bizarrely, City are still being fouled more often, 11.1 times per 90 minutes, than they are fouling the opposition 10 times per match, so the issue only appears to be in the box. What makes the whole situation even more bewildering for both Pearson and the fans is how many clear opportunities officials have had to award the Robins penalties.
The City boss admitted earlier this season that he had received an apology from the PGMOL after the loss to Hull City on the opening day, with the referee’s governing body admitting the Tigers’ penalty shouldn’t have been awarded, while Rob Atkinson was twice fouled in the area, although referee Dean Whitestone thought otherwise.
“At least they can be reasonable enough to give some sort of explanation but I’m afraid when it happens all the time… the integrity of the sport is being compromised,” explained Pearson back in August.
“They’re consistently poor. I’ll probably get in trouble again for saying what I think but somebody has to say it – I’m sick to death about people like me who have jobs that are in jeopardy.
“It’s alright if we play badly every week, I can take losing my job because of that… but, for me, it’s just a worry for the game.”
Pearson has faced mounting pressure as his side sit 18th in the Championship having not won in five games and with the World Cup break looming, City and their owners have plenty of food for thought over the coming weeks.
