Surprised at this comment.agreenwood wrote:I think our general approach to ground improvements has been bizarre.
No doubt cheaper and less disruptive than undertaking large-scale redevelopment, but it seems short-termist and akin to putting lipstick on a pig.
I can't really see anything to object to in this move. It will cost buttons, and it enables us to increase capacity easily and cost effectively, without disruption, as you say. The other recent initiative has seen us build a new facility for disabled supporters with an excellent view of the pitch, again without disruption. This will presumably increase the capacity of the ground a little bit, and given that we rarely hit the existing capacity last season, there's no real case that we need to redevelop the ground for the purpose of further capacity increases.
Realistically, therefore, he only logical reason for rebuilding stands that are in good nick (I'm not aware that there's any reason to believe they aren't capable of standing for plenty of years to come) is to increase corporate capacity. The logical place to put this would be the Bob Lord Stand, so i can't see why anyone would object to minor improvements to the Cricket Field End.
In any event, given the possibility that Safe Standing might come in quite soon, I'd say it makes most sense to wait and see how that develops before we commit to building any new structures.