Blaming plastic pitch is excuse for failure – Holt

LIVINGSTON manager Gary Holt claims an excuse culture is behind calls for artificial pitches to be banned in Scotland’s top flight.

PFA Scotland says every Ladbrokes Premiership player outside of Hamilton, Livi and Kilmarnock – the three clubs with plastic surfaces – has signed a petition demanding they are scrapped.

But when asked about the petition, Holt said: “It’s an excuse.

“People look for excuses all the time when things are not going their way. If I win or lose home or away I never blame the pitch.

“Fifa has declared you can use them so who’s to say we can’t use them? I hear people moaning on radio phone-ins, blogs and forums that there’s not enough grassroots pitches, there’s not enough astros for kids, the grass pitches are a disgrace.

“We can’t have it both ways – you can’t ask for councils and communities and the SFA to put in plastic pitches for kids to play on yet they can’t play on them when it gets to professional level.”

On chairman Liam Craig’s claim that inconsistency of the surfaces was having a major impact, Holt said: “There’s a goal at either end, play the game.

“We don’t moan when we go to nine places that have grass pitches.

“We don’t moan when grass pitches are too hard.”

Craig claimed the pitches had a “negative impact” on bodies and argued it was unfair on players to miss out on bonuses if they are taken out of the team on artificial pitches or miss a subsequent game because of recovery issues.

“Well, they must have too much money if they can go to a manager and say ‘I can’t play on it’,” Holt said.

Ethan Robson has a groin problem.