Birmingham City boss criticises refereeing decisions after Middlesbrough draw

Chris Davies has expressed his frustration with Birmingham City’s tendency to contest refereeing decisions they “shouldn’t be contesting” following their dramatic 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough.

After coming from behind to take a 2-1 lead with Liam Millar’s first goal in Royal Blue and an own goal from former Blues loanee Riley McGree, Birmingham were left disappointed when James Beadle failed to gather an 88th-minute free-kick, allowing Boro defender Adilson Malanda to equalise.

Referee David Webb found himself at the centre of controversy at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, with both teams feeling aggrieved after the match. Blues manager Davies did not hold back in expressing his discontent and believes his side has been unfairly treated on several occasions this season.

“I think I need a few weeks to think about this. I’m extremely biased when it comes to Birmingham City and I’m aware of that, but I’m not sure if in any game, it’s felt like we’ve had a referee that’s (been) kind to us.

“Every game, we seem to be contesting things that we shouldn’t be contesting. There’s been a few now like that, and you think ‘How on earth are we not getting a foul there?’, or ‘How on earth is that happening?’

“I know it’s a really hard job. I’ve coached for years and you kind of referee in training when you coach sometimes. It’s horrible because you can never get it right. I don’t want to be disrespectful because I know it’s a very hard job and they’re professionals.”

Despite the late equaliser, Blues were on track for three points following their impressive second-half performance and can take encouragement from their display overall.

Middlesbrough, who began the day in third place, proved to be a tough opponent. Birmingham played positively in the first half, despite trailing at the break, and turned the game around in the second half, coming close to securing their first home victory of the season had Beadle managed to collect Seb Berhalter’s free-kick.

“I think in the game itself, I was pretty pleased with our performance overall. I thought it was a little bit harsh to be going in one-nil down at half-time.

“We played some better football than we’ve played in any of the home games in terms of patience and adding a little bit more of moments to control and switch the play, which was really pleasing because we’ve been working on that, and we didn’t lose our threat or set pieces.

“First half, they got a bit of control at times and (Boro) are a very difficult team to play against with the fluidity and the threat that they have. My message at half-time to the players was ‘It seems like everything’s going wrong because you’re one-nil down, but it’s absolutely not.’

“We got after them, the crowd was up. Fantastic 20 minutes – one of the best 20 minute (spells) I can remember here in terms of atmosphere and energy. We scored a good goal from pressing, a good set piece and we looked a real force.

“I think we sort of dropped towards the end and that (the 88th-minute equaliser) is a sickening way to drop two points.” Source: Blues Focus