Swindon Town Match Thread - Page 5

cashman · 10-12-2017, 13:11

Please explain LordD, how no-one at the club knew there was a possibility of a second inspection? complete non-sense imho. the ref does not report to the sweeper up surely. Monkey Hanger should know as he is a match official. Also this kind of thing has been going on for many years and the club have done nothing at all to help rectify this.

AccyMad · 10-12-2017, 13:49

I find it very hard to believe that no-one at the club was aware that there'd be a further inspection after the first one, indeed the twitter feed said that the ref would be staying at the ground to keep an eye on the conditions so unless the ref kept his intentions to himself then is it a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing?
There should be contingency plans in place for this kind of scenario, after all it's not exactly unusual for us to have this kind of weather at this time of year, so that everyone in the chain of command knows what to do & when to do it.
Yesterday was an embarrassment - let's hope lessons were learnt from it to stop something similar occurring again

cashman · 10-12-2017, 13:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by AccyMad

I find it very hard to believe that no-one at the club was aware that there'd be a further inspection after the first one, indeed the twitter feed said that the ref would be staying at the ground to keep an eye on the conditions so unless the ref kept his intentions to himself then is it a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing?
There should be contingency plans in place for this kind of scenario, after all it's not exactly unusual for us to have this kind of weather at this time of year, so that everyone in the chain of command knows what to do & when to do it.
Yesterday was an embarrassment - let's hope lessons were learnt from it to stop something similar occurring again

The only lesson that may be learnt Di, is if Andy Holt makes em learn it imho.

Lord Didsbury · 10-12-2017, 16:33

Cashy, my post said "Andy Holt clearly believes he didn't know blah blah .....IF no one at the club knew etc etc then the club is blameless"

I didn't think I needed to say "but if Andy Holt has it wrong or someone at the club did know then they are not blameless".

It's entirely down to communication but more importantly, as far as I can tell, no rules or process as to how these things are handled. That should be something agreed at a higher level than the club. I.e., clear rules for when and how inspections take place, and clear rules for how communication to clubs and fans should be handled.

Without some sort of protocol in place I wouldn't be surprised one way or another how events yesterday unfolded.

Lord Didsbury · 10-12-2017, 16:37

And a further example.... what communication medium should be used? A club website seems inadequate and outdated to me. Twitter is far more reliable, more instant and inclusive....but no doubt others would disagree.
The main thing is that there are clearly understood channels?

cashman · 10-12-2017, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Didsbury

Cashy, my post said "Andy Holt clearly believes he didn't know blah blah .....IF no one at the club knew etc etc then the club is blameless"

I didn't think I needed to say "but if Andy Holt has it wrong or someone at the club did know then they are not blameless".

It's entirely down to communication but more importantly, as far as I can tell, no rules or process as to how these things are handled. That should be something agreed at a higher level than the club. I.e., clear rules for when and how inspections take place, and clear rules for how communication to clubs and fans should be handled.

Without some sort of protocol in place I wouldn't be surprised one way or another how events yesterday unfolded.

I can easy believe Andy knew nothing about a second inspection, Those that did told no-one it seems,which seems par for the coarse I dont think for a min he has it wrong,yeh also said under soil heating is a non starter due to the expense, which i imagine everyone more or less is aware of that fact,this has never been about things like that, its about no communication to fans, as i said before, has been going on for donkeys years, long before Andy was involved, fans are treated like they dont exist.its the people responsible for this that need sorting out imho.

monkey hanger · 11-12-2017, 10:46

[QUOTE=cashman;1205596, its about no communication to fans, as i said before, has been going on for donkeys years, long before Andy was involved, fans are treated like they dont exist.its the people responsible for this that need sorting out imho.[/QUOTE]

and quickly too. sometimes the club cannot do anything about it with a very late call off like the burton game a few years ago but last saturday was another matter. as for the refs 1030 inspection its not all about how the pitch actually looks then, you have to take future weather between then and 5 pm into consideration. a pitch that is bone hard at say 9am with a strong warmish sun on it will be fine a couple of hours later. the same with wet conditions. if the pitch is borderline at say 9am but the forecast is for more rain then you call it off. i,ve always gone by if in doubt call it off. save teams and fans travelling. done pitch inspections for north west counties and eastern counties leagues in the past.

Lord Didsbury · 11-12-2017, 15:01

By the tone of Andy's tweets looks like he readily admits the club's part in the postponement fiasco.... So, Cashy looks like you have it right.

cashman · 11-12-2017, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Didsbury

By the tone of Andy's tweets looks like he readily admits the club's part in the postponement fiasco.... So, Cashy looks like you have it right.

Seems to me hes been on to the club LordD, and got summat done according to the fishy. if thats the case well done A.H., but he shouldn't have had to this, should have been sorted years ago.

AccyMad · 11-12-2017, 19:03

Hmmm, stable doors & bolting horses spring to mind but better late than never - let's just hope some good comes out of the embarrassment of Saturday & if it happens again the club will have got their act together in regard to communication with the fans

Lord Stiffupperlip · 12-12-2017, 16:12

The money Andy has spent over two seasons to improve pitch drainage has cured the old problems of waterlogging.
Unfortunately, the frozen pitch will always remain our Achilles heel until the whole pitch can be protected.
I'm not sure if our existing covers can achieve this at present?
If not, surely the revenue lost from any postponement would make them a priceless investment.

Chewbacca · 12-12-2017, 21:06

If you cover the pitch overnight you never know what it is like until you take them off the next day, and you don't want to take them off too early if it is still freezing.

Portable heaters don't always work either, and you don't get much change from £1m for under soil heating at the lower end of the market.

If it get very cold there is little that can be done that is effective and affordable. Maybe a massive electric blanket could work

mab · 12-12-2017, 23:13

Why cant the drains under the pitch be tapped in to at different points around the pitch and blow heaters used to circulate hot air through the system!! Would this work??

Lord Stiffupperlip · 12-12-2017, 23:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

If you cover the pitch overnight you never know what it is like until you take them off the next day, and you don't want to take them off too early if it is still freezing.

True enough, but modern covers with any thermal quality will usually protect the pitch against frost down to -3 or -4 degrees C.
Do nothing, and you only need -1 degree below freezing to result in almost certain postponement.
It's a shame the club can't make use of the massive amounts of methane gas being generated, almost on our doorstep, at the Whinney Hill landfill site!

monkey hanger · 13-12-2017, 09:21

[QUOTE=Lord Stiffupperlip;1205647]True enough, but modern covers with any thermal quality will usually protect the pitch against frost down to -3 or -4 degrees C.
Do nothing, and you only need -1 degree below freezing to result in almost certain postponement.

do nothing is not an option but its all about money being spent on only a handful of occasions during a season. must admit though the covers you mention would have made more sense to purchase than a scoreboard where you know the score and your watch tells you how long we have to hold onto our one goal lead. lost match day revenue will probably more than the club receives for scoreboard advertising.