NIGEL Pearson reacted furiously to the penalty that helped Nottingham Forest secure a point, with the Leicester manager launching a verbal attack on referee Anthony Taylor and on sections of the media who claimed the spot-kick was valid.
Taylor pointed to the spot when Zak Whitbread had appeared to cleanly win the ball in a sliding challenge, after Billy Sharp had turned smartly on the edge of the box and Simon Cox converted to secure a 2-2 draw for the Reds.
Pearson was incensed when the penalty was given – and further outraged when he heard members of the Sky Sports punditry team, who were covering the game live, had insisted the referee had made the right call.
Pearson in particular labelled Peter Beagrie 'clueless', saying: "He is an overpaid punter, he is clueless. It was never a penalty, we were robbed of two points. That is life.
"If you are not going to get those decisions right… my god. I am under scrutiny, the players are as well – it about time referees were held accountable for their decisions.
"On top of that we have to listen to these people in the (Sky) studio talking absolute drivel about what they think they have seen. They are totally out of touch with football, these people.
"It has never been a penalty. It was a good challenge. Yes, we should have won the game, but we haven't. We have to take it on the chin.
"Was it a risk for him to challenge from behind? I suppose it depends on whether he gets the ball – but he got the ball.
"Are we not allowed to challenge any more? The referee was in a good position and he got it wrong."
Pearson felt Leicester had been the better side and should have collected three points.
"We deserved to have won the game, there were plenty of positives. We conceded a goal through not tracking runners, which was disappointing. But we responded well, we played good football and we deserved to win the game," he said.
"I don't think they were particularly threatening. But the key decisions had a big influence on the outcome. I am really annoyed about how we dropped two points. But it was out of our hands."
