Bartley’s regret as Livvy lose turf war
Livingston midfielder Marvin Bartley entered the perennial debate on the pros and cons of synthetic surfaces on saturday, although perhaps not in the manner his employers might have expected.
the 33-year-old believes that the 4g pitch at Rugby Park played a significant part in Livvy’s defeat and confessed that he would rather play on grass. However, he added the caveat that the West Lothian club should be allowed to keep their own artificial turf, conceding that it gives them an advantage over their opponents.
Results would tend to back that up. Last season only Celtic, Rangers and Kilmarnock won more home games than gary Holt’s side, who have, conversely, won only two of their 24 away games since returning to the top flight last year.
Bartley’s honest admission that keeping off the grass confers a sporting advantage will, however, provide more ammunition for the critics of artificial pitches in the seemingly never-ending turf wars.
‘it was weird because there’s a lot of talk about plastic pitches but ours — compared to Kilmarnock’s — is totally different,’ insisted Bartley. ‘it started out there playing very slick and then, 20 minutes into the first half, it just dried out completely.
‘those were difficult conditions to play in, and that’s me speaking as someone who trains on astroturf every day. Most players would say they’d rather play on grass, but i love it on our home pitch because it gives us an advantage. However, i felt that we were at a massive disadvantage here.
‘it went from feeling like you’re playing on oil to suddenly playing on sand — it was really strange. Hamilton’s pitch is more similar to ours but this was completely different.
‘i think they paid a bit more for theirs, so maybe it’s like when people go for hair transplants — we got the cheap one and i think they got the expensive one, so it’s a bit different!’
Whatever the reason, Livingston offered nothing in Ayrshire for the best part of an hour, during which time Kilmarnock could easily have been out of sight.
the hosts opened the scoring with a perfectly controlled half-volley from club captain gary Dicker after Chris Burke’s free-kick had been allowed to travel 30 yards to the irishman.
Killie’s second contained an element of fortune, with Rory McKenzie’s effort taking a deflection off full-back nicky Devlin on its way behind Matija sarkic.
‘it was definitely going in anyway,’ claimed the midfielder. ‘i needed that, even if it was a deflection. i’ve needed a goal and it’s nice when you get a little help like that. We did make life hard for ourselves, though.
‘At 2-0, we should have held on to the ball better and closed the game out but getting the three points was the main thing.
‘i wouldn’t say that not scoring was getting on my nerves, but even though you’re playing well, when you’re not adding goals... that’s what people look at so it was nice to finally get one.
‘Hopefully, i’ll start adding to that now. We’ve won four of our last five league games, which is some going. We seem to know how to win games now, which wasn’t the case before. We weren’t great against Livingston but we ground out the victory.’
Livvy substitute Lee Miller pulled one back during a late rally which saw Laurentiu Branescu deny Bartley with a fine save and he also struck the woodwork but Killie deserved all three points.
now the combative Bartley is preparing to go up close and personal with the travelling support when Hearts visit the tony Macaroni Arena on saturday.
‘i’ll be getting abused but listen, i enjoy that — i’ll take it in my stride,’ said the former Hibs man. ‘i get a similar reception from my mum, so it’s fine!
‘i enjoy it and if it takes a bit of attention off the rest of the team, i’ll happily take it on.
‘i just go out and play my game and, while i can’t ignore the comments, i find them a bit funny.
‘With my position and the way i play, i’m always going to get stick. i’m maybe a bit too physical at times — as i discovered today when the referee was telling me off — but it’s my style of play and i wouldn’t change it for anybody.
‘i love it here. i just wanted to play football because i’m coming towards the end of my career and this move was vitally important for me to be regularly involved.
‘i’ve started every league game so far, so i feel like i made the right decision in coming to the club. it’s a new project for me, although it’s a different project to being at Hibs where the target is to be in the top three.
‘At Livingston, we just want to get more than the 44 points we got last season and stay in the Premiership.
‘it’s given me another spark and the old body is holding up all right at the moment.’