Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson has said he has the backing of his peers after the FA charged him over his row with a fan during the 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool earlier this month.
Pearson -- whose side have not won in 10 league matches -- had a confrontation with a disgruntled fan after the setback left the Foxes stuck at the bottom of the table.
The 51-year-old manager later said he would not say sorry, adding: "If people were offended by what happened then in some ways that is regrettable, but there's no need for me to apologise to someone of that ilk."
And speaking to the Daily Telegraph after the FA had announced its decision to charge him, Pearson -- who guided the Foxes into the Premier League with a club record points haul last season -- argued that he had been "protecting his players."
He said: "When I speak to other managers, they have empathy for my situation. They've been there. They understand what it is like.''
Pearson prefers to watch games from the stand -- where the confrontation at the Liverpool game took place - rather than taking his place in the dugout or technical area.
#INSERT type:image caption:Pearson has said he believes football 'is just a conduit for people's anger. 'END#
He said he believed technical areas had "become a stage," adding: "There's an expectation to behave a certain way, and I've been criticised for being up in the stand.
"One journalist said to me: 'I was listening to a phone-in on the way back from the QPR game and one of your fans said it was a disgrace you being in the stands, it shows that you're lacking passion'.
"I'll do what I think is right for the team. If I felt me being visible to the players would help them, I'd be there."
Pearson said he felt the row at the Liverpool game has "only really got legs because somebody videoed it," adding: "It's like selfies. Everyone wants a selfie now."
The Leicester boss backed Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has been the target of increasing fan criticism this season and was abused by Gunners supporters as he boarded a train after the recent defeat at Stoke.
"I don't know how that can happen," he said. "That's appalling for someone who has fundamentally changed the club and won a trophy last season. I find it bemusing that people's tolerance is so short-lived.
"It's society. Football is just a conduit for people's anger."
The FA has given Pearson until 6pm on Dec. 16 to respond to the charge, and could face a two-game touchline ban.