We should keep talking about them because they are the future. Not just for our club but most other clubs. There is currently no logical or reasonable reason for them to be banned - at least for the best of them to be banned. I would be surprised if football is not exclusively played on artificial pitches at some point in its future.
I'm surprised the artificial pitch manufacturers don't challenge the ban seeing as FIFA approves them!
Twickenham for example cost £1.5m for the Desso pitch there, Wembley was pushing £2m because of the mess made. We're in a position closer to the one at Twickenham, where the whole thing needs digging out, including 30 year old drainage, and we would probably want to install undersoil heating while we're at it.
We should keep talking about them because they are the future. Not just for our club but most other clubs. There is currently no logical or reasonable reason for them to be banned - at least for the best of them to be banned. I would be surprised if football is not exclusively played on artificial pitches at some point in its future.
Whilst I agree it will probably eventually happen It has absolutely nothing to do with the state of our pitch and the options to fix it. As I said, the clubs were given the option of allowing artificial surfaces only last year and pretty much every one of them in the top 3 divisions said no so it's not gonna happen for a long time yet. I can't see it being ideal to leave the pitch as is until we can lay 12G in 10 or 20 years time.
Twickenham for example cost £1.5m for the Desso pitch there, Wembley was pushing £2m because of the mess made. We're in a position closer to the one at Twickenham, where the whole thing needs digging out, including 30 year old drainage, and we would probably want to install undersoil heating while we're at it.
I think QPR paid about £1.5m in the summer. Desso, drainage and undersoil heating. We paid £20000 just to skim the surface and top dress it.
There is clearly a major problem in the soil with the drainage, as while the budget may have been cut, I'm sure we still spend vastly more than teams in L1 and L2 who have better pitches.
Which means they are using the money for there pitch better
Given we are hardly a cultured passing side, the bad pitch is probably helping us not hindering us but as plenty have said above, it is an embarrassment, makes for a poor spectacle and hardly encourages the occasional fan.
even the scum up the road have got under soil heating and decent drainage.We need a decent pitch or this pitch could see us back in div 1.
Not sure we could seriously blame relegation on the pitch
The pitch had been fairly decent up to Boxing Day but our home wasn't. We have taken 4 points with the pitch being poor. Last Season we went on a good run towards the end of the season when the pitch was poor. Perhaps it suits us ?
even the scum up the road have got under soil heating and decent drainage.We need a decent pitch or this pitch could see us back in div 1.
Not sure we could seriously blame relegation on the pitch
The pitch had been fairly decent up to Boxing Day but our home wasn't. We have taken 4 points with the pitch being poor. Last Season we went on a good run towards the end of the season when the pitch was poor. Perhaps it suits us ?
it is a valid point - Wednesday are at best a physical agricultural side so no advantage there but it could even things up against better sides.
I presume the problem with the pitch is the drainage underneath, and that's not something that can be sorted mid season, especially not in winter.
I find it hard to believe that our current pitch budget is that much lower than we spent during the 90s, in the same division, but presume it's a cumulative problem, where major work is now required, rather than the usual replant the grass every summer work.
The Valley is also a different stadium, higher then it was, less sun and wind would get to it with the corners closed on the area closest to the Thames for example. All adds up to make the situation harder for Paddy and his team
You'd expect an issue like the state of the pitch to be the subject of a detailed explanation by the club as it is such an obvious problem for a second season.
Has this happened? I haven't seen it, but I don't read everything the club puts out so I'm prepared to be corrected.
Paddy hasn't suddenly become an incompetent groundsman; the weather isn't consistently worse in SE7 than at every other ground in the country. Clearly there may be particular issues with the topography, but these are not new.
This problem Is something so serious that in any normal football club it would be the subject of boardroom intervention, so I'd ask again - who at the most senior level is going to take responsibility for sorting it out, in the short term and at the end of the season?
It's such a fundamental matter that at any other club the local press would be asking the questions. It directly affects the entertainment value on offer to supporters, the tactics and team selection, and our chances of staying up.
If there isn't an answer and the club continues to remain silent then you can see why we are where we are with it and have to assume they don't want to explain because they have something to hide.
But the sad thing with your post is you get people calling for Paddy's head. Like a particular one above who questioned the fact that our groundsman was an ex player was the reason why people aren't slagging him.
What's worrying is do we see another resignation due to the dire situation?
That would be chronic but who could blame him as there seem to be a few looking for someone to blame other than funding.
Funny how even in the early back to The Valley years we always had a decent pitch compared to most others, they were the days Curbs used to discuss deals in a pub whilst sharing a packet of mini cheddars with Gritty because we were that poor! I blame that dome we got that then got holes in
Paddy produced excellent pitches in the past so we know he isn't to blame.
Wouldn't that imply he was more likely to be blamed not less?
To use a random real world analogy, if someone's wife started 'working late' when they had always previously come home at the same time, would they be more or less likely to be having an affair than someone's whose wife had always worked volatile hours?
Paddy produced excellent pitches in the past so we know he isn't to blame.
Wouldn't that imply he was more likely to be blamed not less?
To use a random real world analogy, if someone's wife started 'working late' when they had always previously come home at the same time, would they be more or less likely to be having an affair than someone's whose wife had always worked volatile hours?
If everything else had remained equal then yes but they haven't have they?
To counter your analogy, if the wife's company had just been taken over or there had been numerous redundancies and cut backs, that would make the chances of an affair less likely than a wife where no other factors had changed and had just started working late.
Paddy produced excellent pitches in the past so we know he isn't to blame.
Wouldn't that imply he was more likely to be blamed not less?
To use a random real world analogy, if someone's wife started 'working late' when they had always previously come home at the same time, would they be more or less likely to be having an affair than someone's whose wife had always worked volatile hours?
If everything else had remained equal then yes but they haven't have they?
To counter your analogy, if the wife's company had just been taken over or there had been numerous redundancies and cut backs, that would make the chances of an affair less likely than a wife where no other factors had changed and had just started working late.
But then I'm comparing now with 1992-1997, when money was very tight, staff levels were low, we had portakabins for changing rooms etc and the pitch was decent back then. The lack of large stands sheltering the pitch obviously helped, but clearly there's a fundamental problem with the soil and drainage, which requires major work now. I remember a few years ago, large areas of Regent's park (where the pitches are) were completely dug up and relaid.
Paddy is 65 now, I imagine that he'll be retiring soon anyway
Comments
I'm surprised the artificial pitch manufacturers don't challenge the ban seeing as FIFA approves them!
I can't see it being ideal to leave the pitch as is until we can lay 12G in 10 or 20 years time.
Last Season we went on a good run towards the end of the season when the pitch was poor.
Perhaps it suits us ?
I find it hard to believe that our current pitch budget is that much lower than we spent during the 90s, in the same division, but presume it's a cumulative problem, where major work is now required, rather than the usual replant the grass every summer work.
Has this happened? I haven't seen it, but I don't read everything the club puts out so I'm prepared to be corrected.
Paddy hasn't suddenly become an incompetent groundsman; the weather isn't consistently worse in SE7 than at every other ground in the country. Clearly there may be particular issues with the topography, but these are not new.
This problem Is something so serious that in any normal football club it would be the subject of boardroom intervention, so I'd ask again - who at the most senior level is going to take responsibility for sorting it out, in the short term and at the end of the season?
It's such a fundamental matter that at any other club the local press would be asking the questions. It directly affects the entertainment value on offer to supporters, the tactics and team selection, and our chances of staying up.
If there isn't an answer and the club continues to remain silent then you can see why we are where we are with it and have to assume they don't want to explain because they have something to hide.
What's worrying is do we see another resignation due to the dire situation?
That would be chronic but who could blame him as there seem to be a few looking for someone to blame other than funding.
To use a random real world analogy, if someone's wife started 'working late' when they had always previously come home at the same time, would they be more or less likely to be having an affair than someone's whose wife had always worked volatile hours?
To counter your analogy, if the wife's company had just been taken over or there had been numerous redundancies and cut backs, that would make the chances of an affair less likely than a wife where no other factors had changed and had just started working late.
The lack of large stands sheltering the pitch obviously helped, but clearly there's a fundamental problem with the soil and drainage, which requires major work now. I remember a few years ago, large areas of Regent's park (where the pitches are) were completely dug up and relaid.
Paddy is 65 now, I imagine that he'll be retiring soon anyway