Report – Rangers begin major renovation work, could impact rest of season
Rangers have taken the decision to relay the pitch at Ibrox during the current break in Scottish Premiership action, according to the Daily Record.
The outlet claims that work has already begun on putting down a new playing surface, and that the move represents an admission from the Gers that ongoing Coronavirus pandemic will prevent matches from being played for quite some time.
Ordinarily, a pitch renovation would be done during the summer break at the end of campaign, and can take up to 10 weeks to complete.
That would mean that Steven Gerrard’s men could not host any fixtures at Ibrox until June at the earliest.
However, a club source has reportedly told the record that the work can be completed in a much shorter period of time.
A statement reads: “Rangers are carrying out essential works which will be completed within four weeks.
“There is no reasonable expectation that we will be playing football at Ibrox in the next four weeks. Clubs in England have been carrying out similar work in recent weeks.”
Is this a good move from Rangers?
Very probably, yes.
It seems optimistic to think that we could see any kind of footballing action before the beginning of June anyway at the moment, and if the Gers can use this time to address a very obvious problem then they might as well.
The playing surface at Ibrox has come in for real criticism this year, with Alan Hutton labelling it “shocking” in an interview with Football Insider.
Something needed doing about it, and if that work can be done now, why not get it completed?
The only concern will be that the work could be rushed because of the potential for the season to restart at quite short notice, and that could lead to more correctional issues further down the line.
Truth be told though, this seems like a smart move from the Gers.
In other Rangers news, ‘Tremendous’ – Ally McCoist blown away by latest Gers financial update.