Following Birmingham City’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough, Chris Davies claims the club is continuously ‘contesting’ refereeing decisions it’shouldn’t be contesting’.
His team came from behind to lead 2-1 thanks to Liam Millar’s first goal in Royal Blue and an own goal from ex-Blues loanee Riley McGree, but James Beadle was unable to gather an 88th-minute free-kick, and Adilson Malanda stabbed home to salvage a point in a game the hosts should have won.
Referee David Webb was embroiled in his fair share of drama at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, and both teams felt aggrieved as a result. Blues manager Davies was quick to express his displeasure with the scenario, believing his squad has been treated unfairly on multiple times this season.
“I believe I need a few weeks to think about this. I’m incredibly biassed towards Birmingham City, and I’m aware of it, but I’m not sure if there’s ever been a game where we felt like we had a referee that was kind to us.
“Every game, we appear to be contesting stuff we shouldn’t be. There have been a few instances like that, and you wonder, ‘How on earth are we not getting a foul there?’, or ‘How on Earth is it possible?
“I know it’s a tough job. I’ve been coaching for years, and you sometimes act as a referee during training. It’s a miserable (job) because you can never do it perfect; they’re always complaining.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful because I know it’s a very hard job, and they’re professionals – but I would question it (their decisions) a bit.”
Blues were on track for three points following their second-half comeback and should be encouraged by their overall performance.
Borough are no pushovers, having begun the day in third position, and Blues played well in the first half despite being a goal behind at halftime. They turned the game around in the second half and could have won at home for the first time this season if Beadle had collected Seb Berhalter’s free kick late on.
“I thought we did well overall in the game. I thought it was a little cruel to go in 1-0 down at halftime.
“We played some better football than we have in any of our home games in terms of patience and adding a few more moments to control and switch the play, which was extremely satisfying because we’ve been working on it, and we didn’t lose our threat or set pieces.
“In the first half, they gained some control, and (they) are a very difficult team to play against due to their fluidity and threat.” My advice to the players at halftime was, ‘It appears that everything is going wrong because you’re 1-0 down, but it’s not.’
“We got after them, and the audience erupted. Fantastic 20 minutes – one of the best 20 minute (spells) I’ve ever experienced here in terms of atmosphere and energy. We scored a good goal from pressuring, had a good set piece, and looked like a great force.
“I think we sort of drop towards the end and (an 88th-minute equaliser) is a sickening way to drop points.”
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