Fans vent their fury

TOUGH TIMES: Athletic manager Dave Penney watches events unfold at Boundary Park on Saturday.

Penney under fire after latest defeat
ATHLETIC fans called for the head of manager Dave Penney as the recent revival was shattered at Boundary Park.

Brighton ended the home side’s four-match unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory — leaving Athletic only three points clear of the relegation zone with 10 matches left in the season.

Anti-Penney chants have been heard at recent matches and Athletic captain Sean Gregan (pictured below) appealed for fans to support the players in his programme notes ahead of the Brighton game, commenting:

“I know things have not gone to plan this season, I also know that some fans are planning to air their displeasure at today’s game.

“You have the right to air your views, you pay your money and you want your say. . . all I ask is this . . . please save your comments until half-time or full-time.”

Gregan’s appeal held some weight with sections of the home support drowning out songs directed against the manager with boos during the match.

But as frustrations grew late on in a seventh home loss of the season — in which Athletic scored an own goal through Jon Worthington and missed with a Pawel Abbott penalty — the calls for Penney to go from within a frustrated crowd of 4,059 grew louder.

After the game, the Athletic manager was tied up for a full hour before appearing at the post-match press conference where he bemoaned missed chances to score during the game.

Athletic now have a break before their next two matches which see Brentford (Tuesday, March 30) and Gillingham (Saturday, April 3) arrive at Boundary Park.

And the importance of picking up maximum points in both of those fixtures is made obvious when examining the other games Athletic face in April.

Tough midweek trips to Huddersfield Town, MK Dons and Southampton lie in wait and the two games in May also appear tricky, with a long trip to Yeovil followed by the last-day visit of promotion-chasing Charlton Athletic to Boundary Park.

Dale Stephens (hip and groin) and Jim Goodwin (thigh strain) are both expected to be fit for the Brentford match after missing out against Brighton.

Stephens failed to come through a fitness test on the eve of the game.