Rangers: SPFL and Dundee blamed over Dens Park ‘shambles’ after second late postponement
Dundee and the SPFL are to blame for the “shambles” that has seen Rangers’ clash at Dens Park postponed again, according to Tam McManus.
The pundit reacted via Twitter on 10 April after the rearranged fixture was called off by Don Robertson due to an unplayable pitch following heavy rain during the day.
The official had deemed the pitch acceptable at 11.30am, but by 3.30pm and his final inspection the situation had changed significantly, which McManus claimed was always going to be the case.
The former Hibs striker wrote: “This is a shambles to be fair and it is on Dundee & SPFL. Game was never going to be on with the weather forecast should have been called off this morning at the latest.”
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In light of the fact that this game was only due to played on a Wednesday night because the original 17 March slot saw a last-minute postponement for the exact same reason, and Dundee’s weekend loss to Motherwell only went ahead following multiple pitch inspections, it is a weak outcome for the same thing to happen again.
There must be contingency plans to avoid this sort of mess if it is foreseeable, which the weather forecast and the recent context meant it was.
It had been reported that moving the game 24 hours, or even to a neutral venue, were possible options ahead of the game, with even a switch to Ibrox mentioned, but none have come about as the second reschedule has seen the game slotted in next week after the final pre-split fixtures at the weekend.
Whether the league will be better prepared for the possibility of the same issue arising a third time remains to be seen, as it is going to cause even greater fixture difficulties otherwise.
Dundee secretary Eric Drysdale has insisted nothing more could be done to avoid the postponement and that investment is being secured to do the necessary work on the pitch over the summer, but it has clearly come too late to avoid growing problems right now.
After the previous postponement it seems the attitude was to simply hope for the best with the new date, and that hasn’t worked out.
In other Rangers news, a Light Blues contract offer has gone down badly amid an attempt to poach a player from Ibrox.
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