MX23RW : Wednesday, January 15 14:11:59| >> :120:72901:72901:

No seeds of doubt in McIntyre's mind about the right playing surface

No seeds of doubt in McIntyre's mind about the right playing surface
© Reuters
Jim says Premiership teams should not face pitch battle.

Dundee manager Jim McIntyre claims there is enough revenue in the top flight to insist on grass pitches.

PFA Scotland has delivered a petition to the Scottish Professional Football League – signed by every player from the nine clubs with grass pitches – calling for artificial surfaces to be banned in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

McIntyre's biggest complaint about the pitches is their inconsistency as he backed the calls ahead of Saturday's trip to face Livingston on their plastic surface at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

McIntyre, who managed Queen of the South for just over a year on an artificial pitch, said:  "It's a different surface. I found it fine but I don't think it should be allowed at the top level.

"I can understand clubs at lower levels putting that in because obviously the revenue it brings, you can rent it out and (it) gives you extra money. But I think at the top level there's enough revenue for grass pitches.

"My big gripe about plastic pitches is they are all different. Kilmarnock's is totally different to Livingston's. Having been to Falkirk several times and Queen of the South this year, they are all completely different.

"If it's going to be allowed it should be the same spec everywhere."

McIntyre accepts there are no conclusive studies showing artificial pitches cause more injuries but he believes anecdotal evidence should be taken into account.

"People ask you whether you are going to train on a plastic pitch leading up to playing on it," he said.

"I wouldn't train on it the whole week because my players aren't used to training on it the whole week, and I know there's a difference to how their bodies feel on a grass pitch.

"At Queen of the South we had to monitor our training times, because it's harder on the body.

"I wasn't a fan of it as a player and I'm still not a fan of it, but I can understand why clubs at a lower level have them."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport Staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '677095c5-2468-48cc-88f5-ddf97282bd87');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'No seeds of doubt in McIntyre\u2019s mind about the right playing surface'});

ID:350366: cacheID:350366:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4373:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jim McIntyre pictured in March 2016
Read Next:
Dundee boss McIntyre has called for consistency
>
Read more about Jim McIntyre Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic23193164115360
2RangersRangers22135441182344
3Dundee UnitedDundee Utd2310763124737
4Aberdeen2210573230235
5Motherwell2394102837-931
6Hibernian237883436-229
7Dundee2376103741-427
8St Mirren2383122738-1127
9Kilmarnock2367102537-1225
10Ross County2367102342-1925
11Hearts2366112531-624
12St Johnstone2343162547-2215


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!