[TheWorthinGer]

...what's the problem?

My eldest daughter's ex fitted them for a living and very kindly got me enough to put some down in one corner of my garden - 8mx4m of 4g or 5g. It's got the proper underlay and sand base, although I had to infill with sand as a m2 of rubber crumb wasn't sitting doing nothing.

Anyway, my boy loves it. It drains really well, it's always the same length, it's soft to land on etc.So why does our team - who have access to artificial pitches - seem to have such a problem with them? I just don't get it.

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Note white line by fence - comes on the roll. You can see where I had to join the bits together.

[Trusevich]

Not really sure why we seem to have a problem with artificial pitches. Is it all in their head? Is it all in our head? Do we actually have a problem?

The zippier surface means that passes have to be direct to feet, any mis-direction on the pass is amplified by the lack of friction on the ball as it travels which could be a problem if our players are rubbish at passing the ball, or are told to play the ball into space in behind full-backs etc. Maybe we as a team don't know how to play on astroturf?

What worries me more about the QotS game is not the pitch, it's whether our lads have the bravery, intelligence and movement to combat their intensive pressing game. I suspect not, and we'll resort to long-ball tactics and play right into their hands.

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Edit: TWG - that patch looks ideal for an outdoor subutteo pitch.

[TheWorthinGer]

It's amazing stuff. You have to get real close to see it isn't grass. And with a few dead leaves on it Its indistinguishable from a real lawn.

[Trusevich]

All the benefits and none of the disadvantages? No weeds, daisies, dockens, moss, moles, mowing or trimming. No need to water when it's dry, or spike when it's wet.

Looks like a fine litter tray for the neighbours' cats though, especially if there's sand involved . . .

[TheWorthinGer]

Put a load of garlic granules in with the sand to deter cats.

And I own a 50 Pound staffie!

[Trusevich]

Suspect the dog will be a stronger deterrent than the garlic.

[TheWorthinGer]

He doesn't like cats in his garden.

[St Charles Owl]

Do Rangers have an all weather surface at their training ground?? If yes, then there really is no excuse for not being able to adapt to it, if not the coaches should be getting the players some time on one somewhere for training sessions.

[TheWorthinGer]

As far as I'm aware we have a full size (or very near) indoor artificial pitch.

[El Car]

McCall said they trained on it for this purpose last time we visited QotS and we got grubbed anyway, so we're not going to bother this time.