Rangers have been left furious after only receiving the threat of a Dundee call-off when the Ibrox side’s kitman arrived at Dens Park.
Rangers’ early 12pm kick off clash with Dundee in the Scottish Premiership was called off an hour-and-a-half before kick-off due to a waterlogged pitch.
The pitch is a genuine disgrace to the Scottish top flight, with the surface failing to drain effectively after heavy rain, leaving patches of the pitch unplayable and causing the ball to roll rather than bounce.
Rangers “angered” at Dundee pitch postponement
Thousands of travelling Rangers fans will have been left out of pocket as a result of the late-call off, with the frustration lying in the fact the Ibrox contingent had unnecessarily made the journey.
In what was viewed as an avoidable scenario, Rangers have questioned claims work began on the park at 5am given they were not informed of the situation until closer to kick off.
“Rangers FC, on behalf of our supporters, are extremely disappointed and angered with the late call-off of today’s match with Dundee FC,” reads the Rangers statement.
“The first-team have prepared as normal for the match, and it was not until this morning that any concerns over the playing surface were raised.
“It is not understood why the home club did not raise those concerns in a more timely manner, given the reoccurring issues they have had with their playing surface at earlier points in the season.
“The Rangers team and thousands of our supporters had already arrived at the stadium by the time a decision was reached.
“This is the only match in the entire UK senior leagues to be postponed this weekend, and given it was to be shown on Sky Sports nationwide, reflects poorly on our game.”
Philippe Clement once again left lamenting pitch
Rangers weren’t the only ones left frustrated due to the situation with the pitch, Belgian manager Philippe Clement also expressing his regret after travelling to Dens Park.
Having been dragged to Dundee after Thursday’s devastating defeat to Benfica, Clement might’ve been banking on his charges to come roaring back here.
Celtic could also go into April’s Old Firm clash top of the Scottish Premiership, provided Rangers’ fixture with Dundee isn’t rescheduled before it.
Clement – who has been a public critic of the standard of some of the nation’s pitches – also spoke openly about the optics of the call-off on the national game as a whole.
“There are a few (frustrations),” said Clement. “First that we didn’t know anything so we were not warned.
“Not yesterday evening, not during the night, not this morning. So our kitman had to discover that there was a problem because he was early here. That’s already a strange situation.
“Secondly, probably this will be the only pitch in all the games in Scotland where a game will be postponed.
“So I think it’s a really bad advertisement for the league that this can happen. I understand the referee, totally he made the right decision.
“You cannot play football on this surface and I think it’s clear in the rules of football if you throw (the ball) in the air and it doesn’t bounce you cannot play a game.
“And then we don’t even speak about the safety of the players. You cannot have any stability on this field, how it is at this moment. It’s a strange thing to have this.
“I understand if its two, three weeks constant pouring rain but after one night or one evening of rain to have these circumstances that means that there was a problem already the weeks before or the months before.”
Welcome to the budget, two-bit world of Scottish football Philippe, don’t expect it to change!
