Liam Manning has slammed the “terrible” Hillsborough pitch following Bristol City’s draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday evening, insisting it was “not at the level”.
The Robins stretched their winless run away from Ashton Gate to seven matches as they played out a 2-2 draw with the Owls, twice coming from behind to salvage a point in South Yorkshire.
Danny Rohl’s side took the lead with just over 15 minutes played as Djeidi Gassama found the bottom corner following a cutback from Yan Valery. City did hit back early in the second half as Nahki Wells headed home his sixth Championship goal of the season, but Di-Shon Bernard immediately restored the Owls’ advantage just two minutes later.
The Reds were much better having gone from behind a second time in the game and Ross McCrorie ensured they wouldn’t be heading home empty-handed as he headed home with just a matter of minutes left to play. Although Manning was happy with his side’s response, particularly following his triple change midway through the second half, he was less than pleased with the state of the playing surface at Hillsborough.
“I’m always going to be biased on my lads,” explained the City head coach. “I thought the changes we made raised the intensity. I thought we pressed really well, we were a bit more aggressive in duels and ultimately, I thought we passed the ball with real quality on what’s a terrible pitch to be fair.
“I thought the lads showed some real bravery to be able to do that. [The pitch] is not at the level.”
The pitch wasn’t the only point of contention in South Yorkshire on Wednesday evening, with referee James Linington proving to be an unpopular figure amongst the travelling support. Having awarded Scott Twine a free-kick early in the game, the man in the middle proceeded to give very few decisions Bristol City’s way for the remainder of the contest and appeared to frustrate both sets of supporters.
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Fans watching at home and in the away end at Hillsborough felt that Wednesday’s second goal shouldn’t have counted as Twine appeared to be fouled in the build-up. However, Linington was unmoved, much to the frustration of those of a Red persuasion inside the stadium, including Manning himself who suggested the man in the middle had a “poor evening”.
“It was a free-kick for me,” admitted the 39-year-old. “I think he had a tough night the ref. Not intentionally and he was quite honest afterwards.
“The frustration comes from me, I thought what wasn’t a foul in the first 15 minutes all of a sudden 20 minutes on was a foul. That’s probably players and fans and staff, I think you set the tone early on as a referee in the first 10, 15 in how you intend to ref the game and that was probably the bit where the foul on Twiney in the first 15 minutes gets given. That’s the bit for me, I thought he had a poor evening, to be honest.”