Today's predictions v Sutton

[Amber SUFC]

Just got home! Oh well, let's hope the pitch is ok for the rearranged game

[HenneysKnee]

Hope the 120+ Sutton fans got home safely

[Lightflood]

The ' Frost ' covers are rolled out, gallons of water accumulate on them.The covers are rolled off from the middle of the pitch and the water runs in torrents into the exact area they are trying to protect and from where the drainage problems are. Look at pictures posted, including the one a couple of years ago when Mike Pike stood in, a lake by the popular side ! So would they have any value being placed out to collect water because that's all they would do. I'm not sure they are designed to keep water off a pitch. But hey ho it's another opportunity to knock the club.

[Wintergreen]

The club need knocking mate; for all the guff we have to listen to it's still extremely amateurish. They knew about this problem last week 'Before the Guiseley game' apparently so the carefully thought out solution was to do nothing it would seem.

Deploying the frost covers would have meant keeping water off the pitch, and an opportunity to remove it with mops and buckets if need be or alternatively (with us being owned by a 'multi millionaire' and all) something like this which for £700 can remove 60 litres of water per minute.

water removal.jpg (16.1 KiB) Viewed 4007 times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22YWpxf1ewU

[Middleton Nick]

I've used one of the above on a bowling green. They are good but it is hard graft and the sponge doesn't last that long. However, it could be the difference between game off or game on.

[Pedro]

The club need knocking mate; for all the guff we have to listen to it's still extremely amateurish. They knew about this problem last week 'Before the Guiseley game' apparently so the carefully thought out solution was to do nothing it would seem.

Deploying the frost covers would have meant keeping water off the pitch, and an opportunity to remove it with mops and buckets if need be or alternatively (with us being owned by a 'multi millionaire' and all) something like this which for £700 can remove 60 litres of water per minute.

water removal.jpg






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22YWpxf1ewU

Well said .I feel sorry for away supporters traveling so far but then we are quite happy to let them stand at the Holker Street end with no cover when it rains or snows.

[mickmike wilson]

As the club paid for the squad & staff to stay over on Friday night that 700 quid for one of those machines would have paid for itself if that game would have gone ahead after using it, Penny Pinching seems to be a theme and usually costs you far more in the long run.

[Jonty]

Think it's unfair to say that the club did nothing and are penny pinching. The club have spent a lot on the pitch and the groundsman works extremely hard to give us the best surface we can have. The pitch was playable at 9am then caught out by really heavy rain- one of those things. If there are underlying issues caused by the old speedway then they will need to put the right drainage in.

Just carry on knocking the club.

[geobarrovian]

Aye, I think the club have got much better in recent times in getting games on when previously they would have been called off and that is emphasised by the fact that we didn't lose any home games in the recent cold snap and is testament to the work Gareth has done on the pitch. Also, the Blackpool game being called off shows how bad the weather was and I assume they don't have issues with decomissioned speedway tracks. There's not much you can do about weather like that and we've had games called off before and we will again in the future but I am certain that they are not as frequent as they might have been previously.

[Bingo]

Years ago it was very rare to have games called off I think we went a number of years, I remember games being off all over the country and Barrows being on

Clearly something has been disturbed in recent years, the water table must be high if two hours (I was in Barrow all morning and it was only heavy for a short period of time) of rain means the pitch is flooded / as soon as it was called off it stopped raining maybe by 3 it would have been playable

I agree we've invested a lot in the pitch

[Hadrian]

The water in the clay pit behind the popular side has been at a higher than usual level through much of the autumn so Bingo's theory may be correct.

[Pedro]

Aye, I think the club have got much better in recent times in getting games on when previously they would have been called off and that is emphasised by the fact that we didn't lose any home games in the recent cold snap and is testament to the work Gareth has done on the pitch. Also, the Blackpool game being called off shows how bad the weather was and I assume they don't have issues with decomissioned speedway tracks. There's not much you can do about weather like that and we've had games called off before and we will again in the future but I am certain that they are not as frequent as they might have been previously.

Well said we have alot in common with Blackpool

[whitty1969]

Aye, I think the club have got much better in recent times in getting games on when previously they would have been called off and that is emphasised by the fact that we didn't lose any home games in the recent cold snap and is testament to the work Gareth has done on the pitch. Also, the Blackpool game being called off shows how bad the weather was and I assume they don't have issues with decomissioned speedway tracks. There's not much you can do about weather like that and we've had games called off before and we will again in the future but I am certain that they are not as frequent as they might have been previously.

Well said we have alot in common with Blackpool

Your right for once Pedro.
Both towns are by the sea and got a good soaking Saturday. Both groundsmen did their best to clear the water but no joy.

[Suffolk Blue]

Having been to Bloomfield Road a couple of time last season I can attest that the quality of our playing surface is superior to theirs which appears to have been transported from somewhere close to the Central Pier and probably has had donkeys grazing on it. Pitch is therefore very heavy and despite having four comparatively magnificent stands around it looks to be a bit short on drainage.

Pedro is however clearly not alluding to the pitch but to the character of the owners (or perhaps the thousands of stay away supporters). Shame on you Pedro. Many people on the Fylde would consider members of the Kray family a better comparison with Blackpool's owners. They are also probably as responsible indirectly for the recent rise of AFC Fylde as anybody else. Cheap shot.

[Jim]

Years ago it was very rare to have games called off I think we went a number of years, I remember games being off all over the country and Barrows being on

Clearly something has been disturbed in recent years, the water table must be high if two hours (I was in Barrow all morning and it was only heavy for a short period of time) of rain means the pitch is flooded / as soon as it was called off it stopped raining maybe by 3 it would have been playable

I agree we've invested a lot in the pitch

Also refs are a lot less tolerant than they used to be. I can remember a Christmas game against Gateshead on a waterlogged pitch when we won 4-1 or 5-1 (did Doc get a hat trick or is my memory dodgy?). It was more like water polo but we played.