Blutongue Debacle

[offtheball]

Gosford Council is a joke in the way it has allowed Bluetongue Stadium to become the laughing stock of Australian Sports Arenas.

Depending on who you talk to it is either poor weather or a mystery grass virus that has caused the Sahara like conditions of the surface. Strange the strip that was resurfaced down the middle of the pitch looked fine.

Clearly the council had to bite the bullet and resurface the whole ground.

For God's Sake it has only 12 games a season. Even Pluim which has hundreds of games and countless training sessions has recovered better.

Now the NRL trial, Parramatta V Roosters, scheduled for next weekend has been moved.

We are promised the surface will be great for our first ACL game. No doubt the council will have further excuses when our embarrasment spreads to Asia.

 

[serious14]

We are promised the surface will be great for our first ACL game.

I'd sincerely hope it is - I'd hate for the AFC to ask for the game to be moved in their new found spirit of professionalism and really wanting this competition to be top notch in every regard.

That, and it might stop us hoofing the ball every other pass??  You know, with actual grass to play on......

 

[Roy Law]

Its the utter lack of respect for 'Soccer' that really annoys me. Only this week in the local press the Council has blamed the fact that it was used for A League games as a contributing factor to the appalling state of the ground. The sooner the Mariners get rights to the ground the better

 

[serious14]

Its the utter lack of respect for 'Soccer' that really annoys me. Only this week in the local press the Council has blamed the fact that it was used for A League games as a contributing factor to the appalling state of the ground.

Yes, all those scrums and rucks and such really tore the ground up.......

 

[clarence]

Yeah, I heard about the surface from a friend, who was horrified at the look of the pitch when he happened to walk past there the other day. Reckoned he saw more sand on the pitch than across the road on the foreshore at low tide!

I suggested to him that they were resurfacing and preparing for the ACL rounds.

I bloody hope that's the case, cause it would be a huge embarrassment if the AFC officials took a look at the surface before the first match and told Bluetongue Stadium Management, the FFA, and the Mariners that the match would have to be moved. If that happened the Mariners and the Central Coast would have 'amateurs' stamped on their file forever by the sports media throughout Asia.

At least they are telling other codes to go away til the pitch is right and not trying to grab the $$ from everyone.

Late edit: BTW, I can see a club like Kawasaki or Pohang steadfastly refusing to agree to play on a cow paddock like we have had  -they would see it as us trying to doctor the pitch and stop their better players from playing their usual game.

If the pitch does end up uneven and very patchy (like it has been), I wouldn't be surprised if they insisted a move or the Mariners default..

 

[clarence]

Its the utter lack of respect for 'Soccer' that really annoys me. Only this week in the local press the Council has blamed the fact that it was used for A League games as a contributing factor to the appalling state of the ground. The sooner the Mariners get rights to the ground the better

Ask the local press who was regularly using the ground before the Mariners happened. Answer: NOBODY.

I suppose the local press would prefer to have the stadium sit there and rot til the NRL decides to stage a game or two every now and then, then bitch about the expenditure to the Council and the people of Gosford for having an empty stadium sit there.

 

[midfielder]

Offtheball

Excellent topic and timely as well given the ACL matches ... I have a friend who is reasonably aware of RL and their intention he claims that RL plan  to have a CC team in the 2011 or 2012 season, announced 2010, 2011 ...  The team will copy many aspects of the Mariners community model.

As others have said if we can afford buy the rights we should  while we can ... the league team will we ... further the surface is a joke for all our sakes I pray they get it right for the ACL.

 

[BrisRecky]

I don't suppose there's any point in the Marinator's lobbing into the foyer of Gosford City Council to show our displeasure at the complete lack of respect they show not only soccer...BUT the Mariners and their fan base in particular ?

 

[Jesus]

I don't suppose there's any point in the Marinator's lobbing into the foyer of Gosford City Council to show our displeasure at the complete lack of respect they show not only soccer...BUT the Mariners and their fan base in particular ?

This is not the councils problem. The council pays the contractor to do it, because in their agreement with the stadium, the stadium chooses who does it, and the council pays.

Any issues take it up with the stadium and contractor.

There is no doubt the council could do it cheaper and better if it was given the job. No other field on the coast is suffering from the problems bluey is. That new field at kincumber looks a treat. If the council can get them right very cheaply, for the same cash, 1/3 of the councils buget for fields goes to the stadium, they would have it at a higher quality easily.

 

[Jesus]

Its the utter lack of respect for 'Soccer' that really annoys me. Only this week in the local press the Council has blamed the fact that it was used for A League games as a contributing factor to the appalling state of the ground. The sooner the Mariners get rights to the ground the better

Ask the local press who was regularly using the ground before the Mariners happened. Answer: NOBODY.

I suppose the local press would prefer to have the stadium sit there and rot til the NRL decides to stage a game or two every now and then, then bitch about the expenditure to the Council and the people of Gosford for having an empty stadium sit there.

The mariners will be in the same position to hire the same contactor, hire another one, or higher the council to do it. Management of the stadium is not gosford councils.

 

[midfielder]

The responsibly is actually the Stadium Management ... IMO we as a supporters group should try and make as much noise as possible ... maybe send something off to Singo ... would be a start .......he could get things moving very quickly if he wished

 

[FFC Mariner]

The club simply doesnt have the money to deal with the pitch themselves.

However, someone in the club should have the guts to come out and comment on it.

 

[Arabmariner]

F**k contractors!

Employ a proper groundsman ffs.

And keep everybody and everything i.e. motorbikes etc, except football players off the pitch.

It's really not that f**kin hard to look after a bit of grass properly.

 

[Jesus]

The club simply doesnt have the money to deal with the pitch themselves.

However, someone in the club should have the guts to come out and comment on it.

The club obviously feel they have the money to do it as they are negotiating for management rights to the stadium.

Hasnt lawrie said a few times the pitch is a disgrace. As well as every visiting coach

 

[Arabmariner]

The club simply doesnt have the money to deal with the pitch themselves.

I don't think that's an excuse GP.

England and Scotland is full of lower league clubs,some of whom only draw a few hundred spectators each week, and yet they can employ the right staff to maintain a decent pitch.

I'm pretty sure the same can be said in plenty other football friendly parts of the world.

 

[dibo]

Isn't the problem that there is a grass virus? That means that resurfacing may well be the only option (though I know fark all about horticulture). If that is the only option, when do you do it? Do we punt our club's big stage AFC CL matches off to the SFS, Parramatta or worse, Newcastle? Otherwise the place doesn't actually have a really long break until June.

Blaming council is easy, but as has been said it's the stadium managers that have staff employed to keep it in some sort of nick. Whoever has been paid to paint the surface green is presumably the person whose job it is to otherwise look after it. I can't imagine possible universes where the club hasn't made their views known in pretty frank terms to the stadium managers, but this doesn't mean the problem can be fixed instantly, particularly if resurfacing is the only cure.

 

[Jesus]

Isn't the problem that there is a grass virus? That means that resurfacing may well be the only option (though I know fark all about horticulture). If that is the only option, when do you do it? Do we punt our club's big stage AFC CL matches off to the SFS, Parramatta or worse, Newcastle? Otherwise the place doesn't actually have a really long break until June.

Blaming council is easy, but as has been said it's the stadium managers that have staff employed to keep it in some sort of nick. Whoever has been paid to paint the surface green is presumably the person whose job it is to otherwise look after it. I can't imagine possible universes where the club hasn't made their views known in pretty frank terms to the stadium managers, but this doesn't mean the problem can be fixed instantly, particularly if resurfacing is the only cure.

The stadium said in the paper that the problem they had was that when we had the month without games, they relayed the turf, but they had unseasonably cold nights and the grass did not grow and take hold.

There is time for them now to relay, but if that was the problem, then i am not sure the nights are going to be warm enough to make any difference. Though they probably have a winter grass to change to

 

[offtheball]

Isn't the problem that there is a grass virus? That means that resurfacing may well be the only option (though I know fark all about horticulture). If that is the only option, when do you do it? Do we punt our club's big stage AFC CL matches off to the SFS, Parramatta or worse, Newcastle? Otherwise the place doesn't actually have a really long break until June.

Blaming council is easy, but as has been said it's the stadium managers that have staff employed to keep it in some sort of nick. Whoever has been paid to paint the surface green is presumably the person whose job it is to otherwise look after it. I can't imagine possible universes where the club hasn't made their views known in pretty frank terms to the stadium managers, but this doesn't mean the problem can be fixed instantly, particularly if resurfacing is the only cure.

They resurfaced the strip down the middle of the pitch just before new year I think. They should have done the whole pitch then. They took the cheap option.

Why would council sub contract the ground maintenance? Surely they have the staff to do a better, cheaper job.

 

[scottmac]

Isn't the problem that there is a grass virus? That means that resurfacing may well be the only option (though I know fark all about horticulture). If that is the only option, when do you do it? Do we punt our club's big stage AFC CL matches off to the SFS, Parramatta or worse, Newcastle? Otherwise the place doesn't actually have a really long break until June.

Blaming council is easy, but as has been said it's the stadium managers that have staff employed to keep it in some sort of nick. Whoever has been paid to paint the surface green is presumably the person whose job it is to otherwise look after it. I can't imagine possible universes where the club hasn't made their views known in pretty frank terms to the stadium managers, but this doesn't mean the problem can be fixed instantly, particularly if resurfacing is the only cure.

They resurfaced the stip down the middle of the pitch just before new year I think. They should have don the whole pitch then. They took the cheap option.

Why would council sub contract the ground maintenance? Surely they have the staff to do a better, cheaper job.

Are we all talking about Gosford City Council doing a better job than someone? I swear i thought i would never hear that. Things must have changed since i moved to Sydney.

the minute that the virus was found the whole ground should have been re-turfed. Can't help thinking that someone from the council would have made THAT decision. And as for time, Suncorp stadium was re-turfed in less than 4 days after a concert, so it can be done.

 

[Jesus]

Isn't the problem that there is a grass virus? That means that resurfacing may well be the only option (though I know fark all about horticulture). If that is the only option, when do you do it? Do we punt our club's big stage AFC CL matches off to the SFS, Parramatta or worse, Newcastle? Otherwise the place doesn't actually have a really long break until June.

Blaming council is easy, but as has been said it's the stadium managers that have staff employed to keep it in some sort of nick. Whoever has been paid to paint the surface green is presumably the person whose job it is to otherwise look after it. I can't imagine possible universes where the club hasn't made their views known in pretty frank terms to the stadium managers, but this doesn't mean the problem can be fixed instantly, particularly if resurfacing is the only cure.

They resurfaced the stip down the middle of the pitch just before new year I think. They should have don the whole pitch then. They took the cheap option.

Why would council sub contract the ground maintenance? Surely they have the staff to do a better, cheaper job.

Council doesnt. They have the people to do it, but the stadium sub contracts it out.