v Millwall (h) - Saturday 19th February

[Mercer]

  On 19/02/2022 at 18:26, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm sure I remember the Club making a mid morning request for the fans to come down and clear the snow covered pitch in the old 3rd division days mid 70.s and the game going ahead.

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I do recall something similar as well.

IMO, today was shambolic for a club with PL aspirations.

To me, smacks of the club being totally unprepared for any snow today - it was forecast yesterday.

As a minimum, I think the undersoil heating should have been switched on yesterday which as Revidge Blue has said would have helped prevent the build up of snow on the pitch.

Might be wrong here but whilst Bolton had something like 40 folk out on their pitch we seem to have had, based on photos I've seen and feedback I've had, between 4 to 10 people trying to clear.  The club could either have roped all the Academy youngsters in or asked for volunteers (and they would have been knocked over in the rush).

The pitch has been an issue for some while and Waggott and Mowbray must take responsibility for not driving this through with the Venkys - after all, we are often told the club only needs to ask.........  

A sad and embarrassing day for Rovers.  Waggott and Mowbray call the shots and, IMO, yet again have been found wanting.  We are right down there with the likes of Harrogate, Salford and Fleetwood - what an indictment.

[den]

Has it been determined WHY it was called off?

If it was because of water logging? Really? - it didn’t look waterlogged from what I’ve seen. Was there any standing water? Plus there was no rain between the two inspections so why the change of mind if that was the cause?

It couldn’t have been because of snow. That was cleared before KO.

That only leaves a hard pitch, in which case was the under soil heating working and being used?

 

[Upside Down]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:15, Mercer said:

I do recall something similar as well.

IMO, today was shambolic for a club with PL aspirations.

To me, smacks of the club being totally unprepared for any snow today - it was forecast yesterday.

As a minimum, I think the undersoil heating should have been switched on yesterday which as Revidge Blue has said would have helped prevent the build up of snow on the pitch.

Might be wrong here but whilst Bolton had something like 40 folk out on their pitch we seem to have had, based on photos I've seen and feedback I've had, between 4 to 10 people trying to clear.  The club could either have roped all the Academy youngsters in or asked for volunteers (and they would have been knocked over in the rush).

The pitch has been an issue for some while and Waggott and Mowbray must take responsibility for not driving this through with the Venkys - after all, we are often told the club only needs to ask.........  

A sad and embarrassing day for Rovers.  Waggott and Mowbray call the shots and, IMO, yet again have been found wanting.  We are right down there with the likes of Harrogate, Salford and Fleetwood - what an indictment.

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The state of the pitch and the ground in general tell the real tale of just how much investment has been put into the club over the last eleven years. 

[martonrover]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:31, den said:

Has it been determined WHY it was called off?

If it was because of water logging? Really? - it didn’t look waterlogged from what I’ve seen. Was there any standing water? Plus there was no rain between the two inspections so why the change of mind if that was the cause?

It couldn’t have been because of snow. That was cleared before KO.

That only leaves a hard pitch, in which case was the under soil heating working and being used?

 

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The ground wasn’t frozen prior to the snow falling, so I doubt that a frozen pitch was the problem.

Probably water logging, (in some areas),  from snow that had melted before it had been cleared.

[bluebruce]

  On 19/02/2022 at 21:31, Gav said:

We’ve had quotes from minutes of a club meeting posted, centred around the pitch, has that filled a gap? 

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That wasn't in the post in which you said 'let me fill you in on the gaps'.

[den]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:37, martonrover said:

The ground wasn’t frozen prior to the snow falling, so I doubt that a frozen pitch was the problem.

Probably water logging, (in some areas),  from snow that had melted before it had been cleared.

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It waterlogged between 12:30 and 2:15 when it didn’t rain and the snow was swept off?

Im not doubting YOU Martonrover btw, but either the ref or rovers neglect of the pitch was to blame here. This wasn’t caused primarily because of the weather. It could have been prevented in my view. Maybe both parties should shoulder the blame, but it’s not good enough.

[bluebruce]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:31, Gav said:

Just to dispel the misinformation above, 4-10 people clearing the pitch? As we all know, clearing the pitch was never the issue, undersoil heating doesn’t melt snow, why do posters make this crap up?

 

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I count 7....which would be 4-10.

[martonrover]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:46, den said:

It waterlogged between 12:30 and 2:15 when it didn’t rain and the snow was swept off?

Im not doubting YOU Martonrover btw, but either the ref or rovers neglect of the pitch was to blame here. This wasn’t caused primarily because of the weather. It could have been prevented in my view. Maybe both parties should shoulder the blame, but it’s not good enough.

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Agreed, and , as previously stated, we’ve only heard one side of the story, (the club’s).

My bet is that the club were complacent about shifting the snow quickly, and that a rapid thaw caused the problem.

Certainly, in the surrounding area the melted snow had become a large volume of surface water.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

We’ve nearly had as many pages on a non event as we sometimes do on an actual game. Give it up lads, in tomorrow’s paper it’ll tell you the match was postponed.

[Mercer]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:31, Gav said:

Just to dispel the misinformation above, 4-10 people clearing the pitch? As we all know, clearing the pitch was never the issue, undersoil heating doesn’t melt snow, why do posters make this crap up?

 

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Come on Gav, you can do better than this.

Firstly, unless I'm mistaken, the number of people clearing snow is less than ten.

Secondly, clearly you are no expert groundskeeper.  You can widely read about under soil heating systems and in general, the benefits flagged are all the same - one being "Under-soil heating involves installing pipes underneath the playing surface and pumping hot water through them. Even in the worst conditions, any snow and ice is melted quickly and the pitch can then drain fairly fast".

What I've stated is not misinformation and not 'crap made up' but simply fact.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Mercer

[Gav]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:37, bluebruce said:

That wasn't in the post in which you said 'let me fill you in on the gaps'.

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  On 19/02/2022 at 22:47, bluebruce said:

I count 7....which would be 4-10.

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We had a cleared pitch, it was never an issue, read the thread, that’s the best advice I can give you.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Gav

[bluebruce]

  On 19/02/2022 at 23:23, Gav said:

 

We had a cleared pitch, it was never an issue, read the thread, that’s the best advice I can give you.

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Make cogent points, relevant to what you yourself are saying, and the people you're replying to are saying (not just referring to your replies to me, but others too). That's the best advice I can give you.

Rare I agree with Mercer, but I do - you can do better. I'm not having a go either, just your points don't track from one second to the next. I've read enough of the thread to know that.

[toogs]

  On 19/02/2022 at 18:50, darrenrover said:

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!.....

 

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I had 2 weather apps forecasting heavy snow between 10 & 12 pm on Thursday of this week. I saw it coming. 

[Songman]

I was told by a member of the groundstaff at approx 1405 that

a) Mowbray wanted the game off over concerns as to the long term damage of the pitch

b) Unsurprisingly Rowett wanted it on

c) The pitch was better than both the Preston and Hudds games and therefore well playable.

[Darwen Rover 007]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:02, Darrenbot said:

One postponed fixture started the bad run going into the new year that we're on hopefully this postponed fixture will end it and we'll go on a winning run again.

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Exactly my thoughts and hopefully will have Ben back for the game! 

[Nuttall is lost]

When is this game rescheduled for?

[tomphil]

  On 19/02/2022 at 22:31, Upside Down said:

The state of the pitch and the ground in general tell the real tale of just how much investment has been put into the club over the last eleven years. 

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200 million.

Except most of it has paid for shortfall in wages. paying off crap, debt, interest on debt and probably a nice off shore fund contribution somewhere warm.

The pitch and ground ?   Loose change props that up.

Some fans will still blame other fans though.

[AllRoverAsia]

  On 20/02/2022 at 01:02, Nuttall is lost said:

When is this game rescheduled for?

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The club are looking for a day when no rain or snow is due but as they do not appear to know what a weather forecast is its all a bit hit and miss.

Rather like our football.

[Miller11]

  On 19/02/2022 at 23:48, Songman said:

I don’t think either of those games should be used as a benchmark of acceptable pitch quality. We struggled in both games due to the surface. It cost us points against Huddersfield in my opinion.

[OldEwoodBlue]

  On 20/02/2022 at 07:28, AllRoverAsia said:

The club are looking for a day when no rain or snow is due but as they do not appear to know what a weather forecast is its all a bit hit and miss.

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They don't look at the league table... or the weather forecast.

Done as much as they can.

[Songman]

  On 20/02/2022 at 08:42, Miller11 said:

I don’t think either of those games should be used as a benchmark of acceptable pitch quality. We struggled in both games due to the surface. It cost us points against Huddersfield in my opinion.

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Oh yes I agree 100%, just reporting what I was told, totally understand TM's thoughts if true.

[ben_the_beast]

I think the game was playable yesterday. However I'm sure the pitch would have been ruined by the end. It might be a good thing for the club as we saw what a state it got into last season once it began to get ripped up. It does make our game against Sheffield United huge. If we can win there with the extra days rest then this could be a minor blessing. Anything else and one of the few winnable games of late  being cancelled, really hurts the club.

At the end of the day we need a new pitch. Simple as. Its an issue which can't continue to be ignored and fixed up on the cheap. 

[rigger]

  On 20/02/2022 at 10:37, renrag said:

 As I posted earlier I was in the ground at about 12.45. I didn’t count how many but, a team of certainly more than ten, were working like trojans clearing the pitch. They were even filling a dumper truck to take snow away. By the time we had finished our meal, the snow had been almost cleared apart from an area in the Darwen end half, about the size of a penalty area. The 2.15 inspection consisted only of bouncing a ball without seeing how it moved over the surface. Any criticism of ground staff efforts is quite simply an unwarranted insult

I realise you’re an expert on most things but, as there was was no frost warning, can you explain what the benefits would have been of switching on under soil heating at £6000 a day. After all it didn’t work at Turf Moor for the Spurs game last November

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If drainage is the problem, then the only thing switching the undersoil heating on would have done, is get the match called off earlier.

Edited February 20, 2022 by rigger

[only2garners]

  On 19/02/2022 at 23:11, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We’ve nearly had as many pages on a non event as we sometimes do on an actual game. Give it up lads, in tomorrow’s paper it’ll tell you the match was postponed.

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Today's Observer says that the game needed a pitch inspection before going ahead. Any idea what the score was?!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

  On 20/02/2022 at 12:17, only2garners said:

Today's Observer says that the game needed a pitch inspection before going ahead. Any idea what the score was?!

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I get the “ Observer “ I’ll have a look.