Manager Philippe Clement has expressed his dissatisfaction with the quality of the Dens Park field after Dundee experienced their third home postponement of the season, with the second occurring only two hours before kickoff.
When word eventually leaked out that referee Don Robertson had canceled the midday kickoff, thousands of fans had already made their way to the event, which was scheduled to be live on Sky Sports.
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Clement questioned why the match was the only one in Scotland to be canceled due to bad weather. Since Celtic and Rangers are tied for first position in the Premiership and the league split is slated for the weekend of April 13–14, there is currently a significant question regarding when the game can be rescheduled.
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The midweek before the third Old Firm league match of the season, on April 2–3, is one possibility. The next midweek is an option, albeit Sky Sports was unable to air it live due to European midweek fixtures. From the SPFL’s perspective, Rangers’ own European exit last week may have been a gift in disguise.
When asked if there were any advantages to the postponement—Rangers had recently finished a tough Europa League Last-16 second-leg match against Benfica three days prior—Clement insisted that it was totally upsetting.
“No, there are only bad things today,” he remarked. “We came into the game prepared, and we have some crucial weeks ahead of us when we play our last games before the top six. It will now be challenging to place this game in between. Additionally, it is disadvantageous if the opposing side gets one week to prepare for your midweek match.
Therefore, I don’t see any advantages to this. We are unable to train today since international students are leaving. Normally, I can always find the good in any circumstance, but now I am unable to remain cheerful.
Before 9 a.m., there were questions over whether the game would actually take place. Dundee had announced in a statement that a pitch inspection would take place at 9.15 a.m., following negotiations with the SPFL and significant rain that had fallen overnight. Even though just 6 mm of rain was predicted, over 12 millimeters of rain occurred.
It was decided to wait until Robertson, the match referee, arrived at the stadium when the local referee was unable to make a judgment. The message said, “Once the final decision has been made, we will update.” The Rangers squad had already arrived at Dens Park when the update indicated that the game had been canceled at shortly before 10.30am.
Road construction caused Rangers to arrive late the last time they were at the stadium, with the November game starting 45 minutes later than scheduled. Smoke from pyrotechnics at the far end caused another delay. The Rangers team spent the night before the game in St Andrews on both occasions. Clement took issue with Dundee’s lack of communication.
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“It wasn’t disclosed to us—not on a Saturday night, at night,” he claimed. “I’ve heard that work on the pitch began around five in the morning.
Thus, they gave it their all in that regard. However, our kitman arrived at the stadium early, at 9.15am, and that’s how we learned there was a problem. He alerted us to the problem, which strikes me as being incredibly odd.
“This weekend, this will be the only pitch in all the Scottish leagues where a game has been postponed,” he continued. That indicates to me that the weather is unrelated to it.
Sure, it rained, but it did so throughout Scotland, and there were football fields in other lower divisions where the players could play. The ball was bouncing there. The ball wasn’t bouncing here, though. Thus, it is obvious that something is off. The rules make it quite clear that you cannot play football if the ball does not bounce.
There is some displeased with the SPFL’s unwillingness to discuss a proposal to postpone kickoff in the hopes that the field will dry off. According to reports, Sky Sports was amenable to this suggestion, and by 1pm on a dry day in Dundee, the pitch had improved. Unusually, there was no Premier League game scheduled to be telecast because it was England’s FA Cup quarterfinal weekend. As a result, the broadcaster might have accommodated a later kickoff time.
Referee Robertson made it clear that he had no concerns about this. “I believe there may have been some discussion about that between the clubs and the league, but it was definitely not for the officials,” he stated. We make a decision at that moment, and the league and the clubs are free to decide to change course, postpone, or do anything else; we are not in charge of it. The players’ safety was the only thing I had in mind. It was evident to me when I surveyed the pitch there that it was not in a playing state.
“There were a few areas of concern in front of the dugout and in the upper penalty area, and the ball wasn’t bouncing.” Although the ground crew has worked very hard to treat them fairly, in certain locations the ball is not rolling or bouncing at all, and the playing conditions are hazardous for the players. After that, making a decision is fairly easy.
The Dens Park field, which was formerly regarded as one of the best in Scotland, has been neglected for many years, and the team is currently preparing to relocate to a new stadium outside of the city. An other change in ground workers happened earlier this year. In January, longtime father-son duo Brian and Brian Robertson Junior were removed from their positions. Since then, they have broken up with the club.
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Dundee has outsourced pitch maintenance to a turf care company located close to Glasgow, and they have also benefited from assistance from Burnley grounds personnel, a team with whom they have formed a strategic alliance.
However, John Nelms, managing director, emphasized that in this particular case, nothing more could be done. He remarked, “We ran out of time, the groundsmen have been out here since 5am.” “Time simply ran out for us. We could play on the pitch if we started at 3 p.m.
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