Dale chief hits back over Pochettino’s pitch slur
ROCHDALE chief executive Russ Green has hit back at critics slating the club over the state of the Crown Oil Arena pitch.
Dale’s 1-0 win in the FA Cup fourth round against Millwall on Tuesday has been largely overlooked at national level, with most of the focus on the poor pitch.
Commentators have suggested the surface could prove a danger to the Premier League superstars of Tottenham, Dale’s fifth round opponents, with Spurs chief Mauricio Pochettino adding his concerns.
“I think the FA need to assess how the pitch is and then to take a decision about if it’s good for the FA Cup, good for the players, good for the teams to play in this type of pitch, in that condition I think it does not help football,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s not a pitch in a condition to play football.”
But Green defended his club and said their efforts to get the game on deserved praise rather than criticism. “It seems every report since Tuesday has been about our pitch! Not one has said Rochdale have done well to get through,” said Green. “It’s not easy - we get gates of three-and-a-half thousand and we have the weather to contend with as well, so everything has conspired against us. “But our groundstaff worked for 48 hours to get that game on, they slept in the changing rooms on Monday night to get that game on. A lot of people were saying we wouldn’t get the tie played, but we’ve not had many pats on the back to say well done.” Green was particularly annoyed by the implication Rochdale would be happy to play the televised fifth round clash on a poor pitch to improve their own chances of winning. “If you watch Rochdale play the game, it is not conducive to our style of football,” he said. “We’d love a new pitch and if it is financially viable, we would do it. It is something we are considering. “It’s not only the FA Cup tie that we care about, it’s League One. We want League One status. The cup Russ Green tie is a bonus, but our bread and butter is League One.
“I know the pitch is not the best, but has anybody considered the weather we’ve had over the last 12 months? Has anybody considered that we had 289 days out of 364 of rain? We have had to suffer exceptional circumstances with the weather.”
And Green said it was an insult to suggest Spurs players were any different to Rochdale and other League One professionals.
“I don’t care if it’s a Tottenham player or a Millwall player, they are still professional footballers, Deli Alli or Steve Morison, they are still professional players.
“We have a duty of care and so does the referee. We treat everybody the same.
“Why, just because a Tottenham player is coming to play on the pitch, would we be any different? Rochdale players have had to play on it and they are worth more to me than Tottenham players.
“Has anybody spoken to Tim Robinson (referee on Tuesday)? He approached me at the end of the game and said he couldn’t believe the surface had stood up to the game the way it did.
“There was no fear of injuries, the referee wouldn’t have played the game had he thought it a risk to players.”
“We did not endanger anybody’s careers, nor would we.”