In the season of spreading festive cheer, Ashton Gate was as hostile as it has been for a long time by 5pm on Monday afternoon.
In the wake of the defeat against Stoke last time out, Bristol City and Nigel Pearson needed a result against a side who had turned their fortunes around after making a managerial change two months ago.
Perhaps that was a small contributing influence to the atmosphere inside a toxic stadium, amongst other greater factors of course, as chants against the manager echoed from a section of fans following the 2-0 loss.
City needed a fast start to the game and they nearly had it through Tommy Conway when his effort was saved well by the keeper's legs. Minutes later, West Brom went up the other end through Matt Phillips who latched onto a simple pass between Andi Weimann and Zak Vyner and buried it beyond Max O'Leary.
The boos started to ring around BS3. The tone for the rest of the game was set.
Barring a 10/15 minute spell towards the end of the first half, that should have been a catalyst to get City on the front foot in the second period but the pressure never arrived. Instead, it was the visitors who continued to look more likely, finally rewarded when Brandon Thomas-Asante superbly lobbed O'Leary from distance.
There was no hope of a comeback from then out, even with the double substitution of Sam Bell and Antoine Semenyo. City never looked as though they were going to threaten and it leaves them two points adrift of the bottom three and a daunting trip to Millwall on the horizon.
Here's the verdict on a damning afternoon for Pearson.
Any way back for Nigel Pearson?
Nigel Pearson has been around the block as a manager. Receiving criticism from quarters of the stadium is nothing new to him but receiving it from City supporters to that extent in a home game certainly is.
There was no hiding from it. Audible chants of "We want Pearson out" and "you don't know what you're doing" echoed around the stadium as fans filtered towards the exits with 10 minutes left to play. You can't blame them, City didn't look as though they were going to get themselves back into the contest.
Pearson sat in the post-match interview room at the end of the game with what would have been a mixture of emotions. Pressure, frustration, disappointment, anger and arguably defeated with West Brom by far the better side on the evening.
From his experience as manager, he'll know that once the fans start letting their feelings known, it's a long way back - if at all. Up until the Stoke loss, Pearson on the whole had universal support from City supporters.
But following a run of three wins in 17 games in all competitions, patience has worn thin. It's not just the results, it's the tactical decisions and post-match comments that add another layer of anger on top of already high emotions.
Pearson says he is not bothered by the criticism. That in part is probably true but it's only human nature to feel hurt when comments are directed at you, aimed at the job you're doing.
He says he would rather receive the flak rather than the players, who were on the receiving end of a few boos when they applauded some of the supporters at the full-time whistle.
The club pulled the trigger on both Lee Johnson and Dean Holden immediately after the full-time when they lost their jobs at City and on that reason alone, it seems as though Pearson may have at least until the Millwall match to try and turn things around.
However, it's the worse place to go when you need a result. In 11 matches at the New Den this season, they've won seven and lost just two. With three sides below them before the relegation spot, it's highly unlikely City will fall into that bottom three on Thursday evening but surely there are only so many defeats that can be tolerated.
The confidence...
It became a small topic of conversation in the post-match interview when Pearson was reflecting on the reaction of the supporters and how his players can generate a response from the chants.
As Pearson pointed out, the younger crop of players would never have experienced playing in an environment like that before. Tommy Conway, for example, had never played in a Boxing Day fixture before today.
That would have been an eye-opener, even for the likes of Alex Scott and Cam Pring - players who have come through the ranks under Pearson. City have their fair share of experienced heads, Matty James, Nahki Wells and Kal Naismith are among those who would have seen it all before.
They'll know they need to turn up at Millwall but with the reliance on City's young players given the make-up of the squad, Pearson needs them more than ever to ignore the negativity and focus on their football.
After the game, when Pearson was asked whether there was a danger their confidence could have diminished, he bluntly responded: "Yea, it could do. It could do."
He would further add: "Our young players have really only experienced the positive aspects of football so far. What it does, is it creates a situation where it will test very much the resolve of who's onside and who's not. Simple as that."
This is will be a big test of their character, in particular, and one that they will benefit from in the long run as their experience in these situations increases. It's part and parcel of football but Pearson will have to use all of his know-how to pick them up quickly because it's a massive seven days of football coming up.
The formation
It was a brave, brave call to keep Andy King at the back given the importance of the fixture and following the fallout from the Rob Atkinson scenario last week. Especially as he was tasked with going up against the strong and pacey Daryl Dike in the West Brom attack.
In fairness to King, he actually had a faultless game and some smart defensive work to prevent Dike from getting good contact on his cross proved to be his final involvement in the 50th minute when he came off injured, in replace of Atkinson. That was met by loud ironic cheers as he made his way onto the field.
Given the way City finished the first half, there was an expectancy that they were going to come out with similar intensity and put pressure on the West Brom backline. That didn't materialise as the visitors frustrated Pearson's side by sitting deeper, not allowing the midfield with the time and space to turn out and get up the pitch.
It was crying out for a change of formation, for Pearson to have gone four at the back and bring Weimann into a No10 role where he could look to find space and give the comfortable West Brom midfield something to think about.
The substitutions were strange following the first enforced one. George Tanner and Mark Sykes came on for Weimann and Joe Williams leaving a back three of Tanner, Vyner and Atkinson. Kal Naismith was pushed into a midfielder role with Sykes taking the position at right wing-back.
Four minutes later and West Brom had their second and Pearson responded in the 80th minute by throwing the kitchen sink at West Brom. He introduced both Antoine Semenyo and Sam Bell for Nahki Wells and Alex Scott - who had a really disappointing game by his standards.
It was the midfield battle where the game was lost - West Brom's players marshalled by the superb Okay Yokuslu were totally dominant in all areas. It was too easy for them for long periods and they needed something else to think about.
It was clear the formation suited the visitors, they knew how to set up and their game management was spot on. Pearson credited them afterwards and when asked about his thoughts on the lack of chances in the second half, he responded: "We finished the first half very well and they dominated in the second half. Because they adopted a defensive sort of shape where they were going to be deep to play those balls in behind. It was difficult for us to break them down."
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
