[The Moonster]

Nowhereman, on 28 January 2012 - 17:32, said:

If Forfar, Stenhousemuir, Alloa, Montrose and Airdrie can find a way to get them then it should be possible for other 2nd and 3rd division clubs

I may be getting this wrong here and will happily be corrected but I'm sure I've been told that getting one of these pitches installed costs around £200,000. If we don't have the council backing us (which we know we don't) then we've got to raise that cash on our own. If we raised anything like that amount I would rather see it put into the first team and youth football, not a plastic pitch to save a couple of postponements.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Nowhereman, on 28 January 2012 - 10:28, said:

Plastic pitches all round is the only answer

Don't have too many plastic pitches on the continent, where it gets much colder than here. And what about all the career threatening knee injuries which strangely enough occur on plastic pitches?

[the auld son]

revendarkness, on 28 January 2012 - 17:47, said:

I say all local councils step up cause they could use them to when teams not using make some good money off them

Our council have no money as it is all allegedly given in brown envelopes to certain contractors to fill in the Leven and cause more flooding with council rubbish

This post has been edited by the auld son: 28 January 2012 - 22:13

[ravogd]

I can't speak for the other clubs that have already done it but our funding is coming from a £300,000 award from cash back from criminals to be shared between Forfar Athletic and Forfar Farmington (a hugely successful women's team) to install this type of pitch. How clubs go about getting these vast grants is unclear but youth football seems to be the reasons they are issuing them.

[ravogd]

Aberdeen Cowden, on 28 January 2012 - 19:50, said:

Don't have too many plastic pitches on the continent, where it gets much colder than here. And what about all the career threatening knee injuries which strangely enough occur on plastic pitches?

Absolute rubbish. Almost every "big" club in Europe has these pitches for training and they are all over Scandanavia and Russia. The bs that gets spouted about injuries is totally unfounded. YES on the early generation pitches (like Dunfermline had) this was the case but go check out UEFA's independently carried research and you'll see it is no longer true. I don't recall seeing huge amounts of complaints from Airdrie, Montrose, Alloa etc about their players having more injuries than any other team.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

ravogd, on 28 January 2012 - 22:55, said:

Absolute rubbish. Almost every "big" club in Europe has these pitches for training and they are all over Scandanavia and Russia. The bs that gets spouted about injuries is totally unfounded. YES on the early generation pitches (like Dunfermline had) this was the case but go check out UEFA's independently carried research and you'll see it is no longer true. I don't recall seeing huge amounts of complaints from Airdrie, Montrose, Alloa etc about their players having more injuries than any other team.

Training slightly different from playing games. Which "big" clubs play league games on these pitches?
I have also witnessed one of Cowden's best young players suffering such an injury on one of these pitches. Alloa too often have players suffering from knee injuries, coincidence?
I'm aware that Forfar are going down this route and probably Cowden too if we survive. But when you see a youngster with such a promising career suffering such an injury it does raise some concerns.

an extract from one article states -

Players found it difficult to keep their footing and get turned. I am a traditionalist and I believe football should be played on grass.
"Michel PlatiniMichel François Platini (born June 21, 1955) is a French former football manager and midfielder, and current president of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) the Uefa President, has said the same thing and I agree with him"

But hey what would he know.

[terracingtam]

The arguements about about grass against synthetic and whether or not more injuries occur will no doubt go on, depending on whether you are backward or forward thinking person, but the reasoning behind Clubs making this move in todays climate is purely financial. I am sure that most "football people" would prefer to retain grass pitches, but given the opportunity with finance that clubs like Forfar have been given, the choice is a complete no-brainer. A business, which a football club is, cannot continue to survive on having a facility which is used only once a fortnight and prone to the vagaries of our weather.

[The Moonster]

Aberdeen Cowden, on 29 January 2012 - 00:10, said:

Training slightly different from playing games. Which "big" clubs play league games on these pitches?
I have also witnessed one of Cowden's best young players suffering such an injury on one of these pitches. Alloa too often have players suffering from knee injuries, coincidence?
I'm aware that Forfar are going down this route and probably Cowden too if we survive. But when you see a youngster with such a promising career suffering such an injury it does raise some concerns.

an extract from one article states -

Players found it difficult to keep their footing and get turned. I am a traditionalist and I believe football should be played on grass.
"Michel PlatiniMichel François Platini (born June 21, 1955) is a French former football manager and midfielder, and current president of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) the Uefa President, has said the same thing and I agree with him"

But hey what would he know.

Out of curiosity, how did the boy do his knee in? In my view, players are just as likely to suffer career ending injuries from a tackle. Also would like to hear from Alloa fans to confirm whether or not they've always got players out with knee injuries due to the pitch.

We've had a couple of players not play on these pitches citing the reasons you've given, but I have my doubts about the truth behind it.

That article you've quoted also says nothing about injuries, just that two folk have found it difficult to keep their footing.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

The Moonster, on 29 January 2012 - 14:48, said:

Out of curiosity, how did the boy do his knee in? In my view, players are just as likely to suffer career ending injuries from a tackle. Also would like to hear from Alloa fans to confirm whether or not they've always got players out with knee injuries due to the pitch.

We've had a couple of players not play on these pitches citing the reasons you've given, but I have my doubts about the truth behind it.

That article you've quoted also says nothing about injuries, just that two folk have found it difficult to keep their footing.

Think he was turning. He was being tackled but it was not a bad tackle.
I too have had several knee operations (different sport involved) and have asked two different surgeons about football related knee injuries. Both indicated that knee injuries have increased in recent years but also stated that it might be due to the footwear that many of the players were using. Either way pitch or footwear there seems to be a problem for some players. Maybe someone should have a closer look at the boots being used.
As regards the Alloa players I don't think anyone from Alloa will blame the pitch.
I appreciate the financial argument and the survival of my own club will probably mean going the synthetic route but at what cost?

[Fudge]

Not many local councils have £500,000 lying about at the moment

[Sweet Pete]

Fudge, on 29 January 2012 - 16:28, said:

Not many local councils have £500,000 lying about at the moment

They'd have plenty if they'd stop doing property deals with gangsters. Understandably, all the councillors get their money in cash.

[berwick-the-unbeatable]

Didn't want to start a new thread because i'm a proper diddy fan supporter and i'm lost and that, but we've signed Stephen Tulloch on loan from Forfar. Any good?

[SNOOL]

Tulls is a very good solid left back. Sorry to see him go out on loan. He won't let you down.

[Bogs_Dollox]

berwick-the- unbeatable, on 01 February 2012 - 17:43, said:

Didn't want to start a new thread because i'm a proper diddy fan supporter and i'm lost and that, but we've signed Stephen Tulloch on loan from Forfar. Any good?

He would be my first choice left back at the club! He must be out on loan to gain fitness as he has been out injured

[berwick-the-unbeatable]

Bit suprised he's a left back, suggests Yano doesn't really rate Thommo or Deland. That said, seems like a good capture, so happy enough

[Bogs_Dollox]

He can play left mid too

[ravogd]

Bogs_Dollox, on 01 February 2012 - 18:07, said:

He would be my first choice left back at the club! He must be out on loan to gain fitness as he has been out injured

That would depend on the length of the loan. 1 month then it's to gain fitness. Till the end of the season it's to save on wages. He can also play centre half. I'm disappointed he's away. A very underrated player by a lot of fans. He will be excellent in the third division.

[ravogd]

Just seen it's till the 3rd March. It's fitness. Good. WIll be good to have him back match fit in a months time

[berwick-the-unbeatable]

Bogs_Dollox, on 01 February 2012 - 18:14, said:

He can play left mid too

Unlikely he'll feature there as we play 4-3-3, but the centre back suggestion may not be far off. Still imagine he'll slot in at left back ahead of Thommo, as Yano doesn't seem to fancy him much.

[Cresto11]

Never seen Tulls play left mid, His best position by far is left centre back where he is usually very solid. The last game he played was stenhousemuir away where he played at left back and was very poor.

Hopefully he plays some games and gets his fitness up as i think he still has something to offer.

[Bogs_Dollox]

When he first came to the club he was a winger

[ravogd]

Cresto11, on 01 February 2012 - 22:33, said:

Never seen Tulls play left mid, His best position by far is left centre back where he is usually very solid. The last game he played was stenhousemuir away where he played at left back and was very poor.

Hopefully he plays some games and gets his fitness up as i think he still has something to offer.

He was a left sided mid-fielder at Raith Rovers and during Dick's first season in charge he played left wing on a few occasions.