Plymouth was some of the best ball on the floor passing football ive seen from Wycombe in a long time. We have such a tendancy at home to revert to scrappy hoofball and I really hope this isnt the case come Thursday... COYB
Just had a chat with a man in the know about our Desso surface ( A former Premier League head groundsman) ) I thought to be honest that the figures quoted to replace it were pie in the sky, but he confirmed we would have to spend between £100,000 and £200,000 at least to replace it, depending on how thoroughly it was done, the £200,000 being a dig it all up and start again figure. He said that most top Premier League grounds have Desso pitches now, but, and this is the key, a great deal of money is spent at the end of each season maintaining them correctly, but is probably not the case at Wycombe. I just can't see how our pitch is going to be replaced - he said to me the big problem would be how compact the earth has become by now, something we can all see.
I would suggest that IF it is relaid then we don't bother with another desso surface. We were regularly awarded for the pitch before Wasps and the desso surface were introduced so I can't see what is wrong with good old fashioned natural grass!
I agree but this type of pitch works out at the low end £100,000. The desso material has to be disposed of in a special way and the team would have to dig down by at least six inches. There was never any thought about the end game of the pitch after the rugby apes had mullered it...they have left us with a huge bill, the parasitic b*rstards.
Bring back proper grass. We seemingly can't use the undersoil heating properly, so should just go back to basics. Jim Gardner kept an immaculate surface here, so there's no reason we can't get a nice pitch laid again and keep in in decent nick.
There's a fella in Sands that sells turf out of the back of his truck from time to time. Perhaps he can get a bulk deal?
@MBS - With regards to compaction, as far as I know the soil wouldn't be compacted below the Desso-infested topsoil, which would have to be disposed of anyway.
Hopefully this can be sorted over the off season, the pitch is clearly having a detrimental impact on how we're playing as our performances away from home have amply demonstrated.
I somehow doubt that the likes of Monkman even spent a nanosecond's thought as to how to dispose of the Desso pitch when it had gone past its useful life. I'm guessing in his management bullshit addled mind, the Pests and WWFC 'synergy' would have propelled us to Champions League glory by the time the pitch needed replacing.
Over here we regularly have 'dugnads (doognaads)' where everyone gets together to do a job. I would happily come across to help dig the top layer off even without the knowledge to fix it up again! Surely making things cheaper in this manner is part of what being a community owned club is all about?! Comments/feasability?
let's hope the pitch does force Plymouth to play hoof-ball, they were great in the first half moving it around - yet, when they were forced to lump it up to Reid, Mawson and Pierre coped easily.
@RaveyDaveyGravy : I see that our old friend trevor joined the forum on the same day as you. Don't recall having heard from him of late. We miss him. Don't we? Ah, well.
Just had a word with Jim Gardner. He's very appreciative of the kind comments about the way he maintained the pitch and says that the point about end-of-season maintenance is key. He's recovering from a hip replacement at present and will be watching tomorrow from the comfort of his armchair. I told him to be careful not to leap up when we score!
Comments
err, rather different playing surface, our concrete playground isn't easy to keep a passing game going on
Just had a chat with a man in the know about our Desso surface ( A former Premier League head groundsman) ) I thought to be honest that the figures quoted to replace it were pie in the sky, but he confirmed we would have to spend between £100,000 and £200,000 at least to replace it, depending on how thoroughly it was done, the £200,000 being a dig it all up and start again figure. He said that most top Premier League grounds have Desso pitches now, but, and this is the key, a great deal of money is spent at the end of each season maintaining them correctly, but is probably not the case at Wycombe. I just can't see how our pitch is going to be replaced - he said to me the big problem would be how compact the earth has become by now, something we can all see.
I would suggest that IF it is relaid then we don't bother with another desso surface. We were regularly awarded for the pitch before Wasps and the desso surface were introduced so I can't see what is wrong with good old fashioned natural grass!
I agree but this type of pitch works out at the low end £100,000. The desso material has to be disposed of in a special way and the team would have to dig down by at least six inches. There was never any thought about the end game of the pitch after the rugby apes had mullered it...they have left us with a huge bill, the parasitic b*rstards.
Bring back proper grass. We seemingly can't use the undersoil heating properly, so should just go back to basics. Jim Gardner kept an immaculate surface here, so there's no reason we can't get a nice pitch laid again and keep in in decent nick.
There's a fella in Sands that sells turf out of the back of his truck from time to time. Perhaps he can get a bulk deal?
@MBS - With regards to compaction, as far as I know the soil wouldn't be compacted below the Desso-infested topsoil, which would have to be disposed of anyway.
Hopefully this can be sorted over the off season, the pitch is clearly having a detrimental impact on how we're playing as our performances away from home have amply demonstrated.
I somehow doubt that the likes of Monkman even spent a nanosecond's thought as to how to dispose of the Desso pitch when it had gone past its useful life. I'm guessing in his management bullshit addled mind, the Pests and WWFC 'synergy' would have propelled us to Champions League glory by the time the pitch needed replacing.
Over here we regularly have 'dugnads (doognaads)' where everyone gets together to do a job. I would happily come across to help dig the top layer off even without the knowledge to fix it up again! Surely making things cheaper in this manner is part of what being a community owned club is all about?! Comments/feasability?
Yeah I agree, I dont see why that cant work. Unless you need particular expertise to do a bit of digging. It will save a bit of money atleast.
let's hope the pitch does force Plymouth to play hoof-ball, they were great in the first half moving it around - yet, when they were forced to lump it up to Reid, Mawson and Pierre coped easily.
@RaveyDaveyGravy : I see that our old friend trevor joined the forum on the same day as you. Don't recall having heard from him of late. We miss him. Don't we? Ah, well.
Just had a word with Jim Gardner. He's very appreciative of the kind comments about the way he maintained the pitch and says that the point about end-of-season maintenance is key. He's recovering from a hip replacement at present and will be watching tomorrow from the comfort of his armchair. I told him to be careful not to leap up when we score!
@micra Sorry what?