v Millwall (h) - Saturday 19th February

[RevidgeBlue]

6 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Unfortunately, our wonderful owners wouldn't sanction the cash for the upgrade to the pitch.  The playing surface is not something they seem to think is all that important.  Not the first time that money hasn't been forthcoming for the pitch.  Fair enough, it's their money and if they don't want to spend it on the pitch it's their choice but let's not blame Waggot for something that is not his fault.  

Seems strange that they (according to Waggott) won't sanction a relatively small investment of c £2.5m in the pitch when amongst other things they're prepared to inject £30m into the Club to cover losses during a pandemic and forgo fees for Lenihan/Nyambe/Rothwell etc.......

But then I supposse you can believe every word Waggott says.

Just ask Andy Cole.

[OldEwoodBlue]

6 minutes ago, Gav said:

Clearing snow wasn't the problem, stop making things up. 

After clearing the snow it simply needed the standing water clearing. A bit more work and lots of available manpower.

Stop tripping over yourself, defending the indefensible Gav.

Edited February 19, 2022 by OldEwoodBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

7 minutes ago, Gav said:

Clearing snow wasn't the problem, stop making things up. 

In that condition, it's not fit to play is it?

[chaddyrovers]

6 minutes ago, speedies gonna get ya. said:

Chaddy, I like you are very disappointed it wasn't on and we can question if the ref was over cautious. However, how anyone can suggest the pitch doesn't have drainage issues is ridiculous. Stevie Wondee can see its a major issue. PNE probably shouldn't have gone ahead and 30 mins more rain and Huddersfield match would have been in danger. 

 

The pitch was playable today if given the PNE and Huddersfield games were played in worst weather conditions. The ref make the wrong call. It was sun shining not long after. 

[Parsonblue]

9 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Seems strange that they (according to Waggott) won't sanction a relatively small investment of c £2.5m in the pitch when amongst other things they're prepared to inject £30m into the Club to cover losses during a pandemic and forgo fees for Lenihan/Nyambe/Rothwell etc.......

But then I supposse you can believe every word Waggott says.

Just ask Andy Cole.

I believe what I hear from a number of people who actually know rather than those who just guess.

[roversfan99]

10 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Thats all I wanted to know. 

 

Why would Benson lie to people? another conspiracy? 

I seen the pitch with and without snow on it. 

What drainage issues? the Ground staff said the pitch was fit to play? are they lying also? 

Given that you weren't at the ground, I witness everything going on. The pitch was fit to play on, the players and managers from both teams wanted to play it, and the sun was shining for ages the game should have played. The only people who didn't want it played with the referee and his assistants.  

I never said that he did. I am sure that the players wanted to play, what I said was that even if they didn't fancy it, the goalkeeping coach wouldn't start blabbing to the fans about that fact! Whether a set of professional footballers who have trained in preparation for a game of football wanted to play or not is irrelevant as to whether the pitch was fit enough to allow them to do that.

It was mentioned that there was standing water on the pitch once the snow was cleared! It clearly couldn't drain the water as quickly as was required to make it playable for 3 o clock.

There is only one conspiracy here, and it is the one that the referee chose to cancel todays game as a means of gathering attention upon himself. Surely if he wanted attention, he would have played the game even in adverse conditions and would have made the actual bloody game about him in front of thousands of people by making decisions to the contrary of logic.

You was at the ground yes. I presume to be able to say without a hint of doubt that the pitch was fit to play, that you went onto the pitch, dropped a ball onto the pitch on the various areas, checked to see if the ball could bounce and move freely etc? Or no, you just got there nice and early and saw the snow being cleared and a couple of keepers doing some catching practice and thought, well I want the game to go ahead and I can see a green pitch and a sun in the sky, game on, surely?!

4 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Seems strange that they (according to Waggott) won't sanction a relatively small investment of c £2.5m in the pitch when amongst other things they're prepared to inject £30m into the Club to cover losses during a pandemic and forgo fees for Lenihan/Nyambe/Rothwell etc.......

But then I supposse you can believe every word Waggott says.

Just ask Andy Cole.

Absolutely laughable now. Simply you are refusing to believe Waggott when he has specifically said (whilst trying to defend them too, tough time in India bla bla bla) that they wouldn't cover the cost.

Inject money in to the club to cover losses, they have no choice if they want to keep their business other than offsetting expenses that are higher than income.

If he had made such a specific lie, surely they would sack him. These people seemingly were insistent that our manager couldn't have the autonomy to buy and sell players as he sees fit such is their stubbornness/pride. Just accept for once that they are to blame here, they cut corners, they didn't provide funding, now the pitch can't handle adverse weather.

[darrenrover]

4 hours ago, toogs said:

Doh

No "doh"!

The decision to postpone was a complete nonsense by the referee and NOBODY saw the snow coming!

The pitch was perfectly playable and at 3.30pm Scott Wharton shook his head in disbelief and told me the pitch would take a long stud......go figure!

Ridiculous decision!.....

 

[arbitro]

12 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Seems strange that they (according to Waggott) won't sanction a relatively small investment of c £2.5m in the pitch when amongst other things they're prepared to inject £30m into the Club to cover losses during a pandemic and forgo fees for Lenihan/Nyambe/Rothwell etc.......

But then I supposse you can believe every word Waggott says.

Just ask Andy Cole.

It's strange to me that these wonderful owners wouldn't pay for a new pitch particularly as it wouldn't impact P&S in any way and they have thrown milions away. Mowbray has said for some time that we need a new pitch and when Waggott went public it was on the cards we would get one. That is from someone senior within the club. They pulled the plug, these owners you are so determined to defend despite their ruining our club.

As for Waggott telling lies who said "We will absolutely respect the legacy of Jack Walker"? Probably the biggest lie of the century.

[Miller11]

 

Ref checking the bounce and doing his inspection just before calling it off. Make of it what you will, could only upload a short file

[roversfan99]

Just now, Miller11 said:

 

FullSizeRender.MOV 7.24 MB · 0 downloads  

Ref checking the bounce and doing his inspection just before calling it off. Make of it what you will, could only upload a short file

Seems unfit to play.

[darrenrover]

7 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Seems unfit to play.

Bollocks. In what way is the pitch unfit?

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I never said that he did. I am sure that the players wanted to play, what I said was that even if they didn't fancy it, the goalkeeping coach wouldn't start blabbing to the fans about that fact! Whether a set of professional footballers who have trained in preparation for a game of football wanted to play or not is irrelevant as to whether the pitch was fit enough to allow them to do that.

It was mentioned that there was standing water on the pitch once the snow was cleared! It clearly couldn't drain the water as quickly as was required to make it playable for 3 o clock.

There is only one conspiracy here, and it is the one that the referee chose to cancel todays game as a means of gathering attention upon himself. Surely if he wanted attention, he would have played the game even in adverse conditions and would have made the actual bloody game about him in front of thousands of people by making decisions to the contrary of logic.

You was at the ground yes. I presume to be able to say without a hint of doubt that the pitch was fit to play, that you went onto the pitch, dropped a ball onto the pitch on the various areas, checked to see if the ball could bounce and move freely etc? Or no, you just got there nice and early and saw the snow being cleared and a couple of keepers doing some catching practice and thought, well I want the game to go ahead and I can see a green pitch and a sun in the sky, game on, surely?!

The ground staff said it was playable. The pitch look nothing like the Pitches against PNE and Huddersfield which was in worst weather conditions than today. Mowbray, Rowett, Rovers and Millwall players wanted to play. Commentators on Radio Lancs were surprised the game was cancelled as Kevin Gallagher he played on worst pitches. 

Everyone said it was playable apart from the Ref. 

There is a video posted in the Facebook group TheRovers page which show the state of the pitch given that Rovers keeper did a work out in the Penalty area and also show the ball not stopping on the surface.. Maybe take a look at that as further evidence that the game should have played. 

The ref was centre of attention cos of the decision he made today on a playable pitch. Ive seen worst pitches played on at Ewood Park over the last 30 years. Blimey, the Football world has gone crazy cancelling games for the state of the pitch was in today. the game should have played today. No excuses for having the game called off today. 

[chaddyrovers]

10 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Seems unfit to play.

So you can make a judge over one short clip of a second or 2? 

people who were there in ground can't plus given the comments of the people I mention in previous post. 

 

[roversfan99]

6 minutes ago, darrenrover said:

Bollocks. In what way is the pitch unfit?

The ball barely bounced at all such was the state of the pitch having been dropped from a big height. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Not much of a bounce there.

[only2garners]

Millwall’s CEO is clearly blaming the referee - https://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/2022/february/millwall-ceo-criticises-postponement-decision/

[aletheia]

The level of discussion has been quite high over the last few weeks or so. Seems to have deteriorated again

.

Edited February 19, 2022 by aletheia

[chaddyrovers]

4 minutes ago, only2garners said:

Millwall’s CEO is clearly blaming the referee - https://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/2022/february/millwall-ceo-criticises-postponement-decision/

He is spot on with his comments. 

[Gav]

11 minutes ago, aletheia said:

The level of discussion has been quite high over the last few weeks or so. Seems to have deteriorated again

.

The debate is about an unfit pitch, what levels of discussion are you anticipating? 

[1864roverite]

2 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Don't be such a patronising arse..

We knew storm Eunice was coming in well in advance.

A combination of covers on the pitch for the last 24-36  hours, undersoil heating and a proper attempt at clearing the pitch would have seen the pitch in tip top condition for the time of year and the game in no danger of being called off.

Our efforts to get the game on were so half arsed that in conjunction with Mowbray's comments I agree with JB we weren't particularly desperate for the game to go ahead.

Unfortunately if BBD is out for any length of time as some are speculating, we won't be able to rely on the weather to bail us out every week. 

Simon

frost wasn’t going to be an issue as far as I can tell, the under soil heating is auto and is to prevent the pitch from freezing, a ground sheet is also used to prevent frost primarily not rain, especially in the amount that has poured down this last few days.

The sole issue is drainage and drainage alone. The water cannot drain if the river is high especially when it breaches the overflow from Ewood park, the water just will not fast enough to allow sufficient run off. 
 

It isn’t down to Rovers not relaying the pitch last year, it’s not down to BRFC or venkys or costs. until the Riverside is developed there is no permission to alter the river flow and channels hence why we see when there is sustained downpours the pitch is waterlogged. PNE was a prime example the water was not draining off the surface due to a high river level.

As the sun rise and temperature rose there was always going to be additional water running off and add this to a referee who took player safety as a primary the answers lies at his feet and his feet only. That is my opinion of course.

[Tom]

45 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

 

Ref checking the bounce and doing his inspection just before calling it off. Make of it what you will, could only upload a short file

If it was like that all over it’s obviously not fit to play on

But did he consult with Ben Bennington?

[Miller11]

6 minutes ago, Gav said:

The debate is about an unfit pitch, what levels of discussion are you anticipating? 

I think there is some good debate around the state of the pitch and the reasons for the cancellation.

I also think this thread is being spoiled by some rambling opinions being stated as fact over and over and over again, and people being bombarded with questions by someone who isn’t the least bit interested in any answers anyone they may have.

[Gav]

12 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I think there is some good debate around the state of the pitch and the reasons for the cancellation.

I also think this thread is being spoiled by some rambling opinions being stated as fact over and over and over again, and people being bombarded with questions by someone who isn’t the least bit interested in any answers anyone they may have.

I know only a handful of fans made it to the ground today, I wasn’t one of them, I’m happy to defer to the ones that did, they are in a much better position than I to judge.

[speedies gonna get ya.]

On 17/02/2022 at 00:03, darrenrover said:

JHC, the pitch is pristine!

The chances of the game being called off because of the pitch are ZERO!

Sorry darrenrover. Not trying to be a clever sod. I'm just intrigued where your misplaced certainty came from? We have huge issues with the pitch infrastructure.

[Darrenbot]

6 minutes ago, Gav said:

I know only a handful of fans made it to the ground today, I wasn’t one of them, I’m happy to defer to the ones that did, they are in a much better position than I to judge.

Unless they've been on the pitch they haven't got much more idea than anyone else how bad the surface was.