Poor pitches are holding back young Scots talent

Brendan’s pain in the grass

BRENDAN RODGERS reckons talented Scottish youngsters are getting bogged down on the nation’s dodgy pitches.

And the Celtic boss insists the standard of surfaces in the top flight has to be improved to attract top-class players.

Rodgers admitted it’s a struggle for his side to produce slick football on some of the pitches. But he wants to see improvement for everyone in the game north of the border.

The Northern Irishman, set to take charge of his 100th game for the Hoops against Hibs today, ordered Celtic Park’s surface to be ripped up last summer.

The new pitch won’t be completed until next term but Rodgers said: “I think it’s just a standard that needs to be set.

“I’m sure still up here there will be coaches who are happy for the pitch to be long, they’re happy for it to be cut up because of the team they’re playing against.

“But that’s a dated mentality and then they wonder why young players don’t have quality.

“I’ve seen a lot of young Scottish footballers since I’ve been up here and they’ve always got to be sure of their first touch.

“They have to take a touch. Why? Because the pitches are poor.

“They don’t learn to play quickly, it’s difficult for them to play one touch because they’re always fighting with the ball.

“It’s a greater conversation in terms of wanting to best you can possibly be.”

Rodgers demanded a new surface at Celtic Park and club chiefs coughed up £1.5million for a new Desso hybrid pitch which will be ready for next term.

The first part was laid last summer with the finishing touches to be added at the end of this season. Rodgers admitted the current pitch is not at the levels he would like.

But the new one will see the standard raised to match the surfaces in the English Premier League.

He said: “It won’t be how I want it until the summer. It was a two-phase approach as we had to get in below and put the grass bit on top of it. Then the Desso is put in this summer. Hopefully that will see a faster and a better game more consistently.

“Thankfully the club backed us on that last year. Because the timeline is so tight, ideally you do it in one season, you do it in a six-week block.

“So they had to do the first part then the second part gets put down in the summer. Hopefully that’s it for a good period.”