It’s now time to get pitch perfect inScottishgame

THE SPFL are looking to cash in on Steven Gerrard’s arrival at Rangers due to the upsurge in interest following his Ibrox appointment.

Light Blues chairman Dave King hailed Liverpool legend Gerrard as Scottish football’s biggest signing for a generation.

The fact the former midfield hero will go up against his old Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers at Celtic makes for a fascinating story.

And throw in the work being done by the likes of Derek McInnes at Aberdeen, Neil Lennon at Hibs and Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock revival and it’s one of the most exciting times for Scottish football.

It’s why SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster hopes to secure a muchimproved TV deal when the current contract expires at the end of next season.

Doncaster is in negotiations over a new deal that would replace the £18.95m-per-season agreement with Sky Sports and BT Sport.

But if the Rodgers v Gerrard dugout duel is going to be box office then the results of the PFA Scotland pitch survey this week must have been met with a collective sigh by Doncaster and his team at Hampden.

If the eyes of the football world are on Scottish football and Gerrard in his early days then what will those tuning in for the first time make of the state of the surfaces?

Gerrard could roll up at New Douglas Park or Rugby Park for his first taste of competitive domestic action – two of the three worst out of 42 clubs in Scotland.

PFA Scotland conducted the biggest ever survey in world football with players given apps to rate the grounds they played on.

It didn’t show topflight clubs in a good light and it comes at the worst possible time with Players’ Union boss Fraser Wishart firing out a warning to clubs to get their act together.

As a product, Scottish football has never been more attractive. But these survey results show the surfaces are more suited to the amateur game.

The fact the best three venues came from clubs who will kick off next season in the bottom tier – Stirling, Peterhead and Queen’s Park – doesn’t reflect well on the top flight where only three clubs made it into the top 10.

Hoops boss Rodgers

What will those tuning in for first time make of state of our surfaces?

found himself in the middle of a turf war at the end of last season when he branded the Tynecastle pitch “an embarrassment” after Craig Levein allowed the grass to grow to a length the Irishman was unhappy with.

Rodgers, to be fair, was critical of the Parkhead surface before the club backed him with a new £1.5million super-pitch that will be ready this summer.

With Livingston installing a new artificial surface, a quarter of Premiership pitches will be plastic next season.

If Doncaster does get that improved broadcast deal maybe some of the cash should be set aside to improve the state of the pitches. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT