Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has been left blasting Rangers’ rivals for using plastic pitches in the Scottish top flight and has urged that changes are made for the club’s trips away from Ibrox.
The Light Blues are one of many teams who use grass pitches in the Premiership but the likes of Livingston and Kilmarnock use artificial surfaces.
Having seen Jamie Murphy suffer a season-ending injury earlier in the season on a plastic pitch, Gerrard has admitted that he is urging for changes despite understanding why teams choose to use them.
He told the Scottish Sun: “I agree with the majority of the players (on plastic pitches) in terms of trying to get them out of the game at elite levels.
“I didn’t like playing on them, I think they are dangerous. I believe the game would be in a better place if there was no plastic pitches. I think the people that won’t agree to take them out of the game have to think about the players and players safety. We have had to adapt our player selection and recovery around plastic pitches.
“I respect the financial positions of clubs, but I believe that the people that run this league should do more to make sure the games are played on grass.Every other elite league plays on grass so why shouldn’t Scotland. Whether it be TV, the PFA, the SFA or bigger clubs trying to support others I would be all for that as I think at the top-level we should be on grass.”
Opinion
Plastic pitches have proven to be something of a hazard for players and having suffered at the hands – or should that be blades of ‘grass’ – of the artificial surfaces you can understand why Gerrard is not happy at having to play on them every so often in Scotland’s top flight. However, not every club is as fortunate as the Gers to have a fantastic stadium and facilities like Ibrox and the money that is brought in at Scottish clubs is not even comparable with their English counterparts. Financially it is significantly cheaper for a club to run without having to tend the grass – but do the cons outweigh the pros? You just have to look at the fact that all 92 teams from the Premier League down to League 2 are actually banned from using the artificial turf to see that it is not in the players’ best interests. Considering that Celtic and Rangers have both been playing in front of the cameras in the Europa League this season, the Scottish top flight needs to follow suit – or risk being dubbed a mickey mouse division.