When the boos echoed around Ashton Gate among a chorus of "we want Pearson out" following the Boxing Day defeat to West Brom, it felt like a long road back for the Bristol City manager.
The storm had been brewing in BS3. Prior to that City were on a stretch of three wins in 16 including an embarrassing cup exit to Lincoln City, Andy King was preferred to Rob Atkinson in defence and the home faithful had seen just one victory in the previous nine matches.
Then in the aftermath of the Baggies defeat, Pearson threatened to fight fire with fire which went down rather acrimoniously in some quarters by declaring: "Maybe it might be a good thing for us to play away from home. It was a game where we really needed the fans to get behind us.”
