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Watching the Oxford city/Northampton cup match(what else to do)its not a bad game of football but the commentator has a hard on about the artificial pitch....some of the nonsense he has come out with really annoys me....ball drags not a true bounce all the usual rubbish and now he said it affected Northamptons team selection as not wanting to risk a player just back from injury because of the surface......they tried it when Arsenal played Sutton in the cup and tried to get Wenger to moan about the surface and he had none of it most clubs train indoors on 3g pitches in prem league they let you play and pass the ball easily...i think to many people hark back to QPHaas and Oldhams plastic pitches which were dreadful....and they are used by Russian sides in champions league so why the Football league are against them i do not no why...with clubs struggling for income surely it makes sense to splash out on these pitches which can be used all year round and hired out to help create income....when matches called of because they are waterlogged or frozen these come into there own and are a Godsend to smaller clubs...i hope the football league see sense and drop there rule to stop these pitches coming into the league because for me there argument does not stand up to scrutiny.....causes injuries well so do grass/muddy/frozen pitches so like i said IMO they have no argument.
If anything doesn't the ball
If anything doesn't the ball move quicker on the surface? Injuries side of things I guess they arent great to slide tackle and probably less give than grass and mud. Still, if you are a premier league player should be able to stop whingeing and deal with it!
I think the problem McB is
I think the problem McB is the quality today of the grass pitches is unbelievable when compared to the mud heaps of the past. UP was a mess by October and the baseball ground a month before! Professionals have the luxury of playing on billiard tables all year round even in training!
Couple of years back I went to see Villa V WBA a under 16 level (friends son was with WBA... now at Shrewsbury), the game was at the end of the season at the Villa training facilities... my god, even at this level they play on a perfect flat immaculate pitch!
So if the technology is there for perfect grass why bother with plastic?
luton
had one as well,i went to the game and it was a farce,was not a game of football just lob it and wait for the bounce etc
I thought we were up to 5g
I thought we were up to 5g now???
I agree with Dartford,the
I agree with Dartford,the pitches these days are well maintained,proper grass is the thing,there is enough changes about now,and its not always for the best.
Used to play
On a concrete playground at school and grass pitches (mud baths) for teams at the weekend. We adapted. And weren't being paid six figure salaries.
Also
Snow covered pitches,thick ice underneath,get on with it son....none of this poncey stuff nowadays,a cold sponge & a half time orange was the most you could look forward to...jumpers for goalposts & all that
Technology has improved a lot
The 4g pitches are an extremely good alternative to grass pitches but still not the same for me, too much bounce and the feel under foot will always be harder. My son plays for a college academy side and a few weeks back I noticed the groundsman testing different areas of the pitch to see what the bounce was like, weird contraption he was using and surprised me......this could bring on a Darren Harry moment as i probably could have of explained that in a better way.