City question integrity of EFL’s decision to let Newport switch
South African back returns from facial injury for Exeter’s derby clash with Bath
EXETER City manager Matt Taylor joked he may seek the permission of rivals Plymouth Argyle to use their state-of-the-art pitch, after Newport County were successful in being allowed to play their next two League Two fixtures away from Rodney Parade.
The Welsh outfit have had longstanding issues with their playing surface, dating back several seasons, as they share it with rugby union teams Dragons and Newport RFC. The ground is owned by the Welsh Rugby Union, who rent it out to County, but with three teams sharing, it doesn’t take long before the pitch deteriorates, especially in wet and wintry weather.
When Exeter played there only a few weeks ago, it only just passed a pitch inspection, but Newport’s results have suffered drastically as the pitch has deteriorated. In fact, it was a contributing factor in their inability to break down the ninemen of City, who defended a 1-0 lead until the 88th minute before the Exiles managed an equaliser.
The state of the pitch has been a contributing factor to their slide down the table as they have won only one of their last seven home games, scoring only five goals in the process.
That is in stark contrast to their first seven home league games, with six wins and a draw helping County storm to the top of the League Two table.
Things have got so bad for Newport that it led to the club asking the EFL to move games away from Rodney Parade, which they granted at a board meeting on Thursday afternoon.
“We are going to do the same – if people are going to start doing that, then we will do the same,” Taylor said, “You can’t do that!
“I don’t care what the state of their pitch is, but maybe we will go and ask Torquay or Plymouth to see if we can play on their pitch, or a non-league ground where there is no one playing and they have a better surface than ourselves.”
City have had pitch issues of their own this season and have longed for a state-of-the art hybrid pitch, such as the fibre-elastic surface installed at Plymouth’s Home Park. Such pitches cost upwards of half a million pounds, though, money that the Grecians do not have.
“I understand why Newport are doing it, I really do,” Taylor added. “I have to be respectful in terms of where they were at the start of the season and the style of football they have played, but I am not sure that can be allowed to happen.
“We have said time and time again you have to keep the league as fair as it possibly can be and to change two thirds of the way through the season, I’m not sure that can happen. But it’s down to the EFL, the FA or whoever it may be to decide that.
“It just goes to show you the pressure it has put Newport under since their pitch has deteriorated. Those winter months are the ones you dread as a manager because you never know what you are going to get in relation to a surface.
“People will be sick and tired of me talking about it but it is clear that it affects other teams, not only ourselves. Peterborough have had issues with their pitch as well, but they also have the best players in League One, so that helps a little bit!”
The EFL’s decision is unlikely to go down well within the rest of the division, certainly those clubs vying with Newport for promotion, with sporting integrity called into question, as the Exiles will now ‘host’ Bradford City and Leyton Orient at the Cardiff City Stadium, which boasts an almost perfect playing surface.
The situation will then be reviewed, according to an EFL spokesman, but the idea is to allow Rodney Parade time to recover. However, questions need to be asked as to whether that is possible with the Dragons due to host Ulster during this ‘recovery’ time.
Newport are not alone in having pitch problems, so what of other clubs? Will they also be allowed to request permission to stage games elsewhere on better footballing surfaces? And what is the benchmark for a poor pitch? How bad does it have to be for the EFL to grant permission to play elsewhere mid-season?
This decision sets a very dangerous precedence for teams struggling on a certain surface to now be able to move elsewhere.
“Everyone starts the season with the understanding of what’s coming, in terms of things like your pitch, investment on your pitch, teams playing rugby on it and so on and so forth,” Taylor added. “We can’t do anything about it, but it’s incredible. People could use this to their own advantage.”
VERSATILE forward Jannes Kirsten is in contention to make his Exeter Chiefs return after more than two months out with a facial injury.
The South African, who can play at lock or on the flank, has been sidelined since the Chiefs’ 28-20 Boxing Day win over Gloucester Rugby at Sandy Park with a fractured eye socket, but is now back and available for selection heading to Bath Rugby tomorrow in Round 12 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Kirsten has played 35 games for Exeter since signing for the club at the start of the 2019/20 season from the Bulls, including a start in the Gallagher Premiership final win over Wasps.
Kirsten’s return comes as a welcome boost to second place Chiefs following news star winger Jack
Nowell’s return has been delayed after he suffered a hamstring injury in training, having recovered from the surgery on his toe which has kept him out since October.
Baxter said “Jannes Kirsten is back in the mix this week which is obviously really good.
“Unfortunately Jack has had another issue as he has got back into full training so I think it is going to be a little while before we see Jack.
“At this stage it is a bit early for me to give you the full extent of the injury.
“We kind of held him back for a week to give him a couple of weeks of full training and unfortunately later on in the second week it was just one of those things he pulled up with another injury and now we are going to have to wait a little while longer to get him back to full fitness.”
However elsewhere in the squad the news is better with flanker Jacques Vermeulen coming through his first outing of the season successfully after surgery on his shoulder back in October.
Looking ahead to Bath, Baxter said: “We are looking pretty good. It was good for Jacques Vermeluen to get through some minutes last week, that gets him on the pathway to being up and running again.
“I thought Jacques looked really good against Sale considering how much time he has had out. He looked relatively match fit although we did take him off as he started to flag a little bit.
“We are expecting an improvement from him over the coming weeks which will be great for us and strengthens our options in the back five of the scrum, as does having Jannes back now.
“We are starting to pad out that area a bit for us which is important and it is good to have some competition there and be able to have some rotation
“We are getting a little closer with Alex Cuthbert and Olly Woodburn, they are getting closer.
“Obviously we have got the Scottish lads back, both Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are available, Tomas Francis [from Wales] is available, so we are looking okay.”
Discussing the situation in the back three, Baxter explained Woodburn and Cuthbert will both likely return in Round 13 at home against Harlequins.
He said: “Olly Woodburn has been dealing with a dead leg he picked up and it is just one of those that has taken a little while to clear.
“He is in full training now, this week might be a little bit early, but certainly from next week and onwards, the same with Alex Cuthbert and his hamstring. He is getting there and is back in full training now and if loads properly and has no reoccurrence he might be available next week.”