Still waiting for postponement explanation!

[ajw65]

After all the bad feeling and trying to second guess the reasons for the EARLY postponement of Saturdays fixture, the least i would have expected was an early Monday morning explanation on the official website as to why the decision was made so early! I may be wrong , but i'm pretty sure that if the decision had been left till Sat am, the game would have been on! Does anybody else feel the same?

[jimsleftfoot]

After all the bad feeling and trying to second guess the reasons for the EARLY postponement of Saturdays fixture, the least i would have expected was an early Monday morning explanation on the official website as to why the decision was made so early! I may be wrong , but i'm pretty sure that if the decision had been left till Sat am, the game would have been on! Does anybody else feel the same?

 

Weren't Swindon travelling down the night before.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

After all the bad feeling and trying to second guess the reasons for the EARLY postponement of Saturdays fixture, the least i would have expected was an early Monday morning explanation on the official website as to why the decision was made so early! I may be wrong , but i'm pretty sure that if the decision had been left till Sat am, the game would have been on! Does anybody else feel the same?

 

 

Absolutely. The game should have been played, no question. The fact that I think we were the only game in the top four divisions to be postponed for a frozen pitch pretty much proves we were far to premature in making that call.

[Hometownclub]

Weren't Swindon travelling down the night before.

That should have made no difference IMO, the game should have been given every chance to go ahead and a Saturday am inspection would have seen the game on.

[razza699]

That should have made no difference IMO, the game should have been given every chance to go ahead and a Saturday am inspection would have seen the game on.

yep it was a steady 5-7 degrees for a good 48 hours it would have easily been playable

[HarryBosch]

After all the bad feeling and trying to second guess the reasons for the EARLY postponement of Saturdays fixture, the least i would have expected was an early Monday morning explanation on the official website as to why the decision was made so early!

 

to what end?

[daznathe]

is it true that if it was off and they had travelled, we would then have had to contribute to their costs? if it is then theres your answer.

[bluehobbit]

is it true that if it was off and they had travelled, we would then have had to contribute to their costs? if it is then theres your answer.

 

 

They were setting off at 1pm friday afternoon if the game hadnt been played we would have had to pay thier costs

 

Correct decision to call it off

[super_blue]

After all the bad feeling and trying to second guess the reasons for the EARLY postponement of Saturdays fixture, the least i would have expected was an early Monday morning explanation on the official website as to why the decision was made so early! I may be wrong , but i'm pretty sure that if the decision had been left till Sat am, the game would have been on! Does anybody else feel the same?

 

 

Here is the reason posted last Friday!

 

 

http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/NewsU...2241222,00.html

[Zorrro]

It's a bloody outrage! I'm writing to my local MP/ombudsman.

[Lookers_Carl]

 

I find it amazing how many supporters seem to think their qualified groundsman after a postponed game, and who seriously think Latics did not want the game to be played

[oldhamains]

 

I find it amazing how many supporters seem to think their qualified groundsman after a postponed game, and who seriously think Latics did not want the game to be played

Its the 27 hours early with high temperatures during those 27 hours people have a problem with!

[mattsgrandad]

There's a saying ....'A poor workman blames his tools'.

 

Lesson for Latics ...... A fork'n'spade aint enough.

 

Whatever happened to straw coverings, hot air blowers and the like - the weather at BP hasn't really changed that much in the 50 years that I've been attending - but the way we deal with it has.

[garcon]

And you know enough about ground frost and the condition of the pitch on Friday to say for sure that 27 hours would have been long enough?

 

I am sure if the game had been against a local side another inspection would have been possible on Saturday morning, but it was only fair to Swindon to call it off when they did after an expert assessment concluded a sufficient thaw was unlikely.

 

You'd have been a bit pissed off if we were at Swindon away and you didn't find out til lunchtime that the game was off when it could have been postponed earlier.

[PlayItLivo]

I heard there was frost on the pitch.

[ajw65]

to what end?

To what end - what? I am merely asking the question why the decision was taken so early! If the pitch inspection was Sat am, the game would probably have been on. If it is because we have to pay some of Swindons costs if it gets postponed after they have travelled, then fine - but should somebody be telling us that was the reason!

[garcon]

Using skills of english comprehension, I inferred from the official site article linked to in this thread that the decision was taken so early so as to prevent Swindon embarking on a wasted journey. Surely whether we would have incurred any of their travel costs is irrelevant?

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Quite right, and doesn't the fact that we were the only English league game to succumb to the elements tell you enough that it was too early a call. Certainly enough to question why we're missing a much needed game when we have good momentum.

 

Not a qualified groundsman, but I can smell if something ain't quite right.

[oafcprozac]

And you know enough about ground frost and the condition of the pitch on Friday to say for sure that 27 hours would have been long enough?

 

I am sure if the game had been against a local side another inspection would have been possible on Saturday morning, but it was only fair to Swindon to call it off when they did after an expert assessment concluded a sufficient thaw was unlikely.

 

You'd have been a bit pissed off if we were at Swindon away and you didn't find out til lunchtime that the game was off when it could have been postponed earlier.

 

But surely the fact that Swindon is only 2 1/2 - 3 hours away means they could in all reality have travelled up on the Saturday morning - from the three or four times I've been i'm almost certain we haven't stopped over, (in fact in 2005 - a midweek kick-off we followed the team coach down) with the team coach outside BP as we've been setting off. So if Swindon want to claim overnight expenses surely that's their problem. Perhaps the FL need to clarify or should we file a claim against Dale?

 

What rankles with me and many others (PD included who was furious at the decision after inspecting the pitch which was seemed to be perfectly playable come Saturday morning) is that the decision was premature to say the least. An 8.30am inspection on Saturday morning would have given Swindon plenty of time, but as I say if they want to stop overnight that's THEIR choice and it's mighty unfair that we have to foot a bill because they fancy a night in the hotel. AND apparently Swindon were on their Christmas piss-up in Manchester anyway this weekend, so waiting until Saturday morning should have made little difference. Unless people had good reason to force a postponement?

Edited December 13, 2010 by oafcprozac

[mattsgrandad]

To what end - what? I am merely asking the question why the decision was taken so early! If the pitch inspection was Sat am, the game would probably have been on. If it is because we have to pay some of Swindons costs if it gets postponed after they have travelled, then fine - but should somebody be telling us that was the reason!

 

Confirmed by AH - see back page of today's Chron.

[oafcprozac]

Quite right, and doesn't the fact that we were the only English league game to succumb to the elements tell you enough that it was too early a call. Certainly enough to question why we're missing a much needed game when we have good momentum.

 

Not a qualified groundsman, but I can smell if something ain't quite right.

 

Two more Jamie, Scunny and Lincoln were also called off - both in the very flat and rural east of England that is perhaps more exposed to lower temperatures than we are in the sheltered hills.

[ajw65]

Using skills of english comprehension, I inferred from the official site article linked to in this thread that the decision was taken so early so as to prevent Swindon embarking on a wasted journey. Surely whether we would have incurred any of their travel costs is irrelevant?

Why do people think we are being facetious for wanting to know why we were called off 26 or 27 hours before kick off when the forecast was for quite substantial temperature increases. Should we be worried about the Swindon team - who by the way could still have travelled after a saturday morning inspection, having a wasted overnight journey - i don't think so!

[NIKI1234]

Have we got our covers back from Dale yet? I may be wrong but Frost on the pitch due to excess water would suggest the covers were not down.

[opinions4u]

What's done is done.

 

But it's a bit smelly and doesn't seem to be fan focused.

[rudemedic]

Two more Jamie, Scunny and Lincoln were also called off - both in the very flat and rural east of England that is perhaps more exposed to lower temperatures than we are in the sheltered hills.

 

I'd agree with your point Prozac, but look at who else was away: Dale, Bury, Accrington, Port Vale (high up) and Hartlepool. I doubt 100% of them would have been on if they'd have been at home- especially considering the state of Dale's pitch when we played them.

 

Didn't we call off a game last year when we were one of the few who did- possibly Orient.

 

I think a lot of the fuss stems from the fact that the Swindon players were having their xmas night out in Manchester after the game. I bet some of the players and the majority of the backroom staff, plus the Chairmen/ Chief Exec won't have been going on that. We still would have had to pay for their travel.

 

I'd agree with your point though- why did Swindon HAVE to travel up the day before? They didn't and just because they did does that mean we should be forced to pay for their costs- it seems a bit unfair that.

 

Incidentally, if you take something out of the freezer and then put it into the fridge it takes a while for it to completely thaw- there is absolutely no guarantee that the pitch would have thawed even with the increased temperatures. Plus loads of people are saying it was x degrees at my house or the BBC says it was x degrees in Oldham, the BBC's temperature thing isn't in Oldham and it doesn't matter what the temperature is at your house what matters is the temperature at BP- especially underneath the main stand shadow.