The state of the pitch.

[Wilsdenclaret]

Southend's groundsman is available

[JarrowClaret]

Nobody has blamed the pitch for Lincoln beating us where have you read that certainly not in this thread. In fact the first comment said exactly the opposite of that. People would blame the head groundsman for the state of it as he is in charge of it and the normal paying public wouldn't have a clue what happens with it outside of match days. In reality there are no doubt mitigating circumstances that most on here aren't aware of why it isn't in pristene condition.

[JarrowClaret]

I mentioned the pitch on here last week by the way, as the Chelsea fans were calling it a cow field. By the way I don't think it is a reason personally for either, but if the state of the pitch can be the reason we took a point of Chelsea why can't it be the reason we got beat by Lincoln?

[HuncoatClaret]

Another issue is, through no fault of his own, the pitch has become very 'tight' in the top couple of inch so therefore holds moisture.

Do they frequently aerate the pitch, which is routine procedure? This would definitely benefit any compaction or as you described it " very tight in the top couple of inch"

[BillyHamilton9]

Do they frequently aerate the pitch, which is routine procedure? This would definitely benefit any compaction or as you described it " very tight in the top couple of inch"

He's more than clued up on how to maintain a Desso pitch and it's requirements.
I believe it's not a general compaction issue..it's something to do with having 40mm of thatch due to one or two previous summer renovations in its early days not cleaning it out as well as it should have been, and were now seeing signs of it. Once that's stuck inside the Desso there's no getting it out.The only answer is to dig it out, re construct and re stitch and start afresh but that may not happen until next summer. I know he's gutted about it's current state. It was arguably the best it's looked right up to Christmas but it turned after the Southampton game. On a brighter note..it's now got 6 weeks to get back to how it was.

[HuncoatClaret]

Thanks for your reply and I do sympathise with the Groundsman. Over seeding and a months rest will definitely help.

[Rodleydave]

Billy Hamilton9 and Tomh1999 know what they are talking about.
Paul Bradshaw has been nominated twice for groundsman of the year and runner up once.
The Desso is now ageing and 'tired.' They don't last forever.
Boxing Day to end of Jan damaged it massively.
There have been endless days of damp dank weather, few really dry days.
For 5 weeks the lamps weren't used because wheeling them on and off twice a week would have done yet more damage to the soggy surface.