Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson has considered retiring from football because be believes the standard of refereeing is so low it’s compromising the integrity of the sport and putting manager’s under unnecessary and unfair pressure.
City beat Luton Town 2-0 at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night but were forced to play the final 23 minutes with 10 men after referee Leigh Doughty sent Mark Sykes off for a rash challenge on former Robins midfielder Luke Freeman.
Pearson had no complaints over the decision to dismiss Sykes but felt Freeman should have followed after he got to his feet and barged into the back of the Irish midfielder with his chest, forcing him to the floor.
Freeman escaped with just a yellow but that incident occurred just moments after Rob Atkinson was denied a penalty after dribbling into the penalty area and catching the leg of a Luton defender.
It’s the third such game this season where City have been hampered by questionable decisions after Hull City and Wigan, and in the case of the former game, Pearson revealed the PGMOL wrote to the club on Saturday to inform them the Tigers penalty shouldn’t have been given and the Robins were unfairly denied two spot-kicks of their own.
“In the modern game, I’ve got no complaints about Sykesy but what I do have a complaint about is the way their player wasn’t dealt with in the same way,” Pearson told Sky Sports News. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I thought about it last year, and I’ve thought about it again this year and that is basically to pack up being involved in the sport.
“And that is not because how shallow the modern game is and how some of the aspects of the modern game irritate me but the standard of officiating, as far as I’m concerned, is at an all-time low.”
Pearson risks incurring another fine from the FA having been punished for his outspoken comments about referee Andy Davies in the wake of their defeat to QPR last December in which he branded the officials, “parks standard”.
The City boss claims his pockets are “empty” because he keeps speaking his mind about the treatment of his side at the hands of the officials.
Sykes’ red and Luton’s one-man advantage put City under pressure in the final quarter of the game having been dominant prior to his exit and, once again, threatened to have a negative impact on proceedings as had been the case in the 2-1 defeat at Hull and 1-1 draw at Wigan which had left Pearson and his team under growing pressure..
“After the first game at Hull, only this week, we had a reply from the authorities to say their first goal wasn’t a penalty and we should have had two,” Pearson added.
“Which is fair enough, at least they can be reasonable enough to give some sort of explanation but I’m afraid when it happens all the time, we’ve had it again today - Rob Atkinson was fouled and we didn’t get it - so as far as I’m concerned the integrity of the sport is being compromised.
“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.”
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