Rangers: Michael Beale makes new SPFL admission live on Sky Sports after Dundee announcement
Former Rangers manager Michael Beale has urged the SPFL to improve the standard of pitches after the Gers’ clash with Dundee was postponed for a second time.
Philippe Clement’s side were due to make the trip to Dens Park on Wednesday (10 April) after the original tie was called off because the pitch was unplayable, but the same issue arose again ahead of kick-off.
While Beale admitted he felt sorry for Tony Docherty and his staff, he believes that Scottish football has a clear “problem” when it comes to ensuring that playing conditions are even across all of the division’s grounds.
Speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Special (10 April, 19:25) he said: “They’re in the middle of two away games and this game now going back and being put in the fixture calendar for next Wednesday is right before the semi-final as well.
“So you can understand why they’re aggrieved for sure. I feel a little bit for the Dundee players and staff as well, Tony Docherty are having a really good season and there is a different story behind the top six here as well.
“The split of the league is supposed to be done after this weekend and everyone has to play five more games, there’s ticket sales, TV all of that which needs to be organised and for all of that to be put on hold keeps the whole league waiting.
“I think the SPFL need to improve to the standards around the playing facilities in Scotland, some of the pitches when you go away from home, I’m not sure it’s looked at enough. Some of the grass is kept a little bit long, but there has got to be a general standard across the league.
“Certainly, people have been complaining about that pitch at Dundee from the first month of the season so clearly, there’s a problem there.”
When will Rangers clash with Dundee be rearranged after postponement?
It isn’t often that Rangers supporters will agree with anything that comes out of Beale’s mouth given his terrible tenure at Ibrox, but he is right to suggest that the SPFL and Dundee have an issue when it comes to the Dens Park pitch.
Essentially, Dundee’s poor playing field quality will see the entire top tier of Scottish football put on hold following the weekend’s fixtures as the split cannot officially take place until after all games in the original calendar have been played.
It isn’t the end of the world, but it is unacceptable in a league that claims to be as high a level as the Scottish Premiership. None of Europe’s other top leagues see games called off in April because of waterlogged pitches.
Hopefully, Beale and the Gers’ complaints won’t have fallen on deaf ears and the SPFL will try and do something to solve this issue sooner rather than later as it has put the breaks on what was an exciting title race in Glasgow.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have been tipped to approach Brighton to extend Abdallah Sima’s loan switch
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