Just been watching Cov v Norwich til this started and thought their pitch was bad. Ours looks worse if anything. Incessant rain ain't helping, along wi the sprinklers!
Looking dodgy "again"?? Surely you mean it STILL looks dodgy but what do you expect to have happened to it in the 6 days since we last saw it
I bet our ground staff can't bloody wait for the season to end. Half the usual time to sort it between seasons, games played on it twice as quickly to make up for lost time and a bad winter of lowest temp for 11 years, lots of rain and plenty of snow.
I'm going to be controversial and say that the club has to forgo a player in the summer and invest in a totally new playing surface. Stripping the top surface off and a layer of soil and seed ,will not create a good strong surface. We have been doing it for a few seasons now. I remarked to my wife today, that Mapplewell Park,s pitch looked better than Oakwell.
I think it’s all part of the Val’s coaching plan, wherever there’s still grass they’re not working hard enough.
I'll never understand the need to water a pitch that is already sodden. Seen it time after time at Oakwell. Is it just routine I.e water pitch 10 minutes before kick off or does it actually serve any purpose?
Probably because even though it's wet originally it's more puddingy hence watering with sprinklers makes it slicker and the ball move faster. Happens in horse racing too as Orsenkart will probably testify. Wet ground can be very tacky and holding and make it harder for horses to get through. Dangers there though as there could be false ground in parts
I think usually in these agreements the tenant is responsible. Eg. The ground staff will be employed by the club, not by the company that owns the stadium.
Think the pitch helps how we play. I think, for example, Chelsea would have had an easier job if we'd played on a pristine surface.