Costly shambolic

[Returnofrros]

And finally.

We have AHH no doubt been in changing rooms in amateur fitba where it's "lads ref doesnae like back chat" " lads watch playing offside ref cannae run " and various other chat.

If you were in charge of very to call an inspection or not and knew the ref had previous ......why take the chance of not calling an inspection.

You would have to be 110 % pitch was going to be declared playable.

Save yourself a lot of grandstanding outside club shop later on and having deflectors on (Capt James T Kirk).

[Dodbroon]

Much more reasoned, hope you sent resignation letter to the happy clappers club in a timely fashion.

😂

[eric_sinclair]

Seems to have been faults by a few yesterday,if forecast was to get better why not delay till 3.30?

[noahrab]

Seems to have been faults by a few yesterday,if forecast was to get better why not delay till 3.30?

Stop it with the common sense posts.

Its AHHH DFC and John Nelms fault.

Please refrain from posting things that others will be up in arms about.

3,2,1

[Returnofrros]

Stop it with the common sense posts.

Its AHHH DFC and John Nelms fault.

Please refrain from posting things that others will be up in arms about.

3,2,1

Correct 😎

[Returnofrros]

Seems to have been faults by a few yesterday,if forecast was to get better why not delay till 3.30?

Maybe they sent an e mail. 😄

[Returnofrros]

Oh dear.

Covers down in goalmouth before ref arrived........that looks to me that there indeed was concerns from ground staff.

Move along, nothing to see here.

[Deeranged]

Partly referee to blame, assuming it's normal to consult both clubs which I don't think it is, but mostly the club for allowing what used to be an excellent pitch to turn into a swamp at that end.

No blame on the groundsmen like some on another forum are trying to suggest.

[islaydarkblue]

Point #1. The club genuinely thought the ground was playable and easily playable to the extent that they felt a pitch inspection was not required at all. The weather forecast was for the rain to be off by late morning and this turned out to be wrong (as our weather forecasting has been much recently). The rain although not particularly heavy by that time, unlike overnight, came at a bad time when the largely useless covers came off. Personally with the record of our pitch, the uncertainty of the weather and the large travelling support I reckon we should have had an earlier inspection. However I also reckon an earlier inspection would have given the game the go ahead and similarly another referee may well have come to another decision than made by David Munro.

Point#2. No pitch can be totally weather proof. Even the best pitches can become waterlogged with enough rain in a short enough period. Spurs' new pitch with the best state of the art drainage almost had a game postponed last season after a downpour but the game went ahead in way worse conditions underfoot than there was at Dens yesterday. In saying that I wholeheartedly agree our pitch needs upgrading because even if the new stadium does materialise, and I still have my doubts, we will be at Dens for a couple more seasons.

Point#3. I seriously doubt if sanctions will be raised or brought against the club especially after a marginal decision like yesterday's however with our record this season any/many more postponements could bring that on. It is generally accepted that rainfall is higher than normal especially in this area of late so again sanctions would be unjust as well as unlikely. I also accept the point made by others on the Dark Blues site that making a song and dance about it and committing the cardinal sin of criticising a referee in public could result in (petulant) sanctions more likely from the SFA than the SPFL though.

What is the point of having covers for both goalmouths if they are useless.
The Directors Box has waterproof covers to keep the seats clean and dry. Therefore it should not be too difficult for Nelms to purchase waterproof covers for both goalmouths if he is not prepared to spend meaningful funds to get the drainage of the Dens Park pitch sorted once and for all.
Relaying the pitch each close season is in my opinion just papering over the cracks and not resolving the drainage problem.
You will possibly remember that the first league game of this season against Motherwell was just about cancelled due to a couple of heavy rain showers two hours before the 3pm kickoff which caused puddles to form at the Bob Shankly end of the pitch.
Scottish referees are employed by the SFA who in turn are ultimately financed by the Scottish Football Clubs with their referees being well paid considering they are employed by the SFA on a part time basis.
Ian Maxwell is the Chief Executive of the SFA and he should be explaining to both the Dundee and Aberdeen supporters why his employee David Munro did not stick to the laid down rules for trying to ensure that all SPFL games are played on the day to avoid postponements.

[Dodbroon]

What is the point of having covers for both goalmouths if they are useless.
The Directors Box has waterproof covers to keep the seats clean and dry. Therefore it should not be too difficult for Nelms to purchase waterproof covers for both goalmouths if he is not prepared to spend meaningful funds to get the drainage of the Dens Park pitch sorted once and for all.
Relaying the pitch each close season is in my opinion just papering over the cracks and not resolving the drainage problem.
You will possibly remember that the first league game of this season against Motherwell was just about cancelled due to a couple of heavy rain showers two hours before the 3pm kickoff which caused puddles to form at the Bob Shankly end of the pitch.
Scottish referees are employed by the SFA who in turn are ultimately financed by the Scottish Football Clubs with their referees being well paid considering they are employed by the SFA on a part time basis.
Ian Maxwell is the Chief Executive of the SFA and he should be explaining to both the Dundee and Aberdeen supporters why his employee David Munro did not stick to the laid down rules for trying to ensure that all SPFL games are played on the day to avoid postponements.

Maybe I was a bit harsh saying the covers were largely useless but they can only help up to an extent. We already have covers in use and BOTH goalmouths were covered just as they are in most grounds as a form of protection in wet weather and light frosts. Water seeps down slopes and under covers and in addition to this is is difficult to get the water off covers without it getting on to the park. It has been well documented and discussed on various forums of the limited use of covers in wet weather. You would need a seamless cover the size of the whole park and a means of removing the water falling on it. I know of no club that has such a facility. I believe the drainage was looked at in the closed season when the pitch was re-laid in the summer however this has demonstrably failed. The problem at the Shankly/Dens Road corner has been solved by the installation of a new drain that works however this is tempered by the fact that that corner is now no worse than the rest of the park. Had that drain been in place there would have been no problem at the Motherwell game.

I am in full agreement with your final two paragraphs regarding referees.