The pitch

[The Dude 20,026]

1 minute ago, trueblueal said:

The astro isn't a distance away. It's literally attached to the outer edge of the playing area. There is no distance. That's the issue. 

Have those couple inches made a massive difference? 

[Hadron Collider 30,765]

4 minutes ago, trueblueal said:

No because that's the surface the game is played on for 90 mins.  Much as you are denying it we'd be made to look like amateurs if a high profile player done an ankle on that in competition and everyone was aware of the issue on the friendly.  It's just too close. You only need working eyes in your head to see it's an issue 

What if no neck forrest got hurt on it? Imagine the outcry. 

[TMB 14,167]

I remember reading something years ago (and I don’t know if there’s any substance to it) that our ground has quite a hard surface. Or it might have been the training ground.  But I remember it being blamed for a lot of our injuries.

[trueblueal 2,117]

Just now, The Dude said:

Have those couple inches made a massive difference? 

Yes, there's no room now to put a foot off the pitch in regular play which happens frequently. It's so close and at different heights that a full back or winger will be wary. I'd be interested to know what Tav or Borna thought of running down that line vs having 6 inches of grass as a buffer. If you stand on the line the outside edge of your foot is lower than the inside edge. Do that often enough and you will turn your ankle 

[trueblueal 2,117]

5 minutes ago, The Dude said:

If its so much of an issue why are we five years down the line and the worst thing thats happened is someone rolled their ankle? 

Statistically, since it has been installed a player is more likely to be hit by an object thrown by a fan than get injured on that wee bit of astro. 

We aren't five years down the line, that's your assessment. We are 2 games down the line. It's never been white line then astro with nothing between

[siddiqi_drinker 14,635]

17 minutes ago, gmcf said:

MarzM posted a clip on pg 1 of the thread . It does look like the join . 

He was trembling before he reached the non-playing surface but the injury was likely exacerbated not so much by the change in surface but by the height difference - surely the astro could be raised to the same level as the playing surface.

[The Dude 20,026]

Just now, trueblueal said:

Yes, there's no room now to put a foot off the pitch in regular play which happens frequently. It's so close and at different heights that a full back or winger will be wary. I'd be interested to know what Tav or Borna thought of running down that line vs having 6 inches of grass as a buffer. If you stand on the line the outside edge of your foot is lower than the inside edge. Do that often enough and you will turn your ankle 

There isnt a difference in the height along the touchline. 

[The Dude 20,026]

1 minute ago, trueblueal said:

We aren't five years down the line, that's your assessment. We are 2 games down the line. It's never been white line then astro with nothing between

There's a few inches difference at best between 2014 and today. 

[trueblueal 2,117]

1 minute ago, The Dude said:

There's a few inches difference at best between 2014 and today. 

Which makes a difference. I'm sure you'll have played football enough to know that while the ball is in play along the touchline a player might have a foot over or on the line and be running at full pelt. Those few inches of grass mean the player isn't changing surface. And there appears to be a height difference or a gap in the join at that part of the pitch exacerbating the issue. It certainly doesn't look seemless 

[AlbertzLoyalRSC 18,055]

1 hour ago, BookWorm said:

There is nothing wrong with it if you are careful.

[Inigo 32,526]

19 minutes ago, The Dude said:

You dont need to have video hoardings six feet from the pitch, you dont need to elevate the pitch level above track level. 

There are always avoidable risks. But given how little the risk actually translates into an actual injury (and the limited severity of it) means its far less of a risk than you think. 

There's reasonable logic behind those things and a reasonable balance between safety and necessity. There's no good reason to gave a surface change inches from the pitch. How many of us if we were making a pitch would do that? Would you?

If it's easy to avoid then even if it's a small risk, you don't do it. Common sense says that.

[frenv 2,125]

There's a couple of shots of the touchline in the latest RMTV video (skip to after the minute mark). There's a shot of Villas-Boas with a foot over both, which makes it look OK (ie. looks like just the grass length making it seem like a step up) - I was one of the ones yesterday thinking that it looked crazy during the match:

Saying that, watching it again now I'm convinced that there is a seem afterall 🙂

[TMB 14,167]

I don’t know if any of you remember Denilson, the Brazilian LW, but he would kick the ball up the line and run on the outside of the pitch.  I would love to see him try that on this  

[The Dude 20,026]

3 minutes ago, Inigo said:

There's reasonable logic behind those things and a reasonable balance between safety and necessity. There's no good reason to gave a surface change inches from the pitch. How many of us if we were making a pitch would do that? Would you?

If it's easy to avoid then even if it's a small risk, you don't do it. Common sense says that.

I probably would if the same bit was constantly churned up by players warming up during the game and the assistant refs running the line. 

[Bears r us 30,769]

3 hours ago, EverestGers said:

He stubbed his left toe on the pitch then went over after he lost his balance 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

That is what it looks like to me, it was on the pitch his left toe caught then that put him off balance and onto the edge of the astro stuff. 

 

[Inigo 32,526]

Just now, The Dude said:

I probably would if the same bit was constantly churned up by players warming up during the game and the assistant refs running the line. 

It doesn't get churned up now that we use the artificial lights. The other side survives perfectly well.

[Brubear 2,905]

2 hours ago, BookWorm said:

There is nothing wrong with it if you are careful.

Players shouldnt need to be careful when in full flight. They are concentrating on ball control and potential pass, not where to plant their feet. 

[trueblueal 2,117]

3 minutes ago, The Dude said:

I probably would if the same bit was constantly churned up by players warming up during the game and the assistant refs running the line. 

Are you stubbornly sticking to your point here or do you really mean that. Come on man, who are you kidding. Nobody with any sense would design it the way it is right now. Just because it's a Rangers fuck up doesn't mean it isn't a fuck up. A player would rather run on slightly worn grass than one foot on grass one on astro at the same time 

[SJGF5 38]

Changing from grass to the harder surface and back doesn't seem to be a problem. Yesterday was just bad luck.

 

[AlbertzLoyalRSC 18,055]

12 minutes ago, trueblueal said:

Are you stubbornly sticking to your point here or do you really mean that. Come on man, who are you kidding. Nobody with any sense would design it the way it is right now. Just because it's a Rangers fuck up doesn't mean it isn't a fuck up. A player would rather run on slightly worn grass than one foot on grass one on astro at the same time 

He just loves attention mate.

12 minutes ago, trueblueal said:

Are you stubbornly sticking to your point here or do you really mean that. Come on man, who are you kidding. Nobody with any sense would design it the way it is right now. Just because it's a Rangers fuck up doesn't mean it isn't a fuck up. A player would rather run on slightly worn grass than one foot on grass one on astro at the same time 

 

[AlbertzLoyalRSC 18,055]

I fucked that right up.

[The Dude 20,026]

16 minutes ago, trueblueal said:

Are you stubbornly sticking to your point here or do you really mean that. Come on man, who are you kidding. Nobody with any sense would design it the way it is right now. Just because it's a Rangers fuck up doesn't mean it isn't a fuck up. A player would rather run on slightly worn grass than one foot on grass one on astro at the same time 

Its not 'just Rangers' though. Youll see quire a few clubs with astro in similar areas (as well as the technical area) 

[The Dude 20,026]

24 minutes ago, Inigo said:

It doesn't get churned up now that we use the artificial lights. The other side survives perfectly well.

We only use the artificial lights on the pitch itself. The other side was a mess for years at the Copland end after the players used to do runs up there pre-match. Also gets more sunlight than the other side

[trueblueal 2,117]

1 minute ago, The Dude said:

Its not 'just Rangers' though. Youll see quire a few clubs with astro in similar areas (as well as the technical area) 

The technical area ends safely before the pitch, I'm not arguing against astro on the sidelines it's the proximity. I've never seen astro against the line of the playing surface before 

[The Dude 20,026]

2 minutes ago, trueblueal said:

The technical area ends safely before the pitch, I'm not arguing against astro on the sidelines it's the proximity. I've never seen astro against the line of the playing surface before 

Its been within a few inches for years. Its an absolutely negligible distance and is probably narrower than your foot.