Sport
Angry and repulsive , Fans not happy with what happened today
Rangers have hit out at the manner of the late decision to call off their game at Dundee on Sunday, saying they were left “angered” by a lack of communication.
Philippe Clement’s side had been due to play at midday on Sunday, but following two pitch inspections earlier in the day, the game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch by match referee Don Robertson.
The latest call-off marks Dundee’s third home postponement in the Scottish Premiership this season, after games against Aberdeen and St Johnstone were also called off around Christmas.
The postponement means Celtic will end the weekend top of the table, following their 3-1 win over St Johnstone on Saturday.
In a strongly-worded statement on their website, Rangers claimed they had not been informed of any potential issues with the playing surface at Dens Park until Sunday morning, and questioned why they had not been raised sooner.
“Rangers, on behalf of our supporters, are extremely disappointed and angered with the late call-off of today’s match,” they wrote.
Match official Robertson told Sky Sports the main concern involved an area in front of one of the dugouts, which had been treated with sand but was still too waterlogged to be deemed safe.
“I was aware Dundee and the ground staff were working very hard on that specific area of the pitch as well as others causing them concern,” he said.
“But unfortunately, what they’ve been able to do hasn’t been enough to make the area safe for the players and that’s the primary consideration in these matters. I know they’ve got a lot of sand, tried to remove some of the water, but it wasn’t safe at 10.15am so unfortunately it’s been postponed.
“We’re guided by the home club in this situation. They will have first sight of the pitch, they arrived this morning and saw areas of concern and contacted the league and the Scottish FA.
“A local official came to do a primary pitch inspection, but it was agreed between the clubs and the SPFL that they would wait until 10.15am to conduct the final inspection of the pitch.”
The postponement means Celtic will end the weekend top of the table, following their 3-1 win over St Johnstone on Saturday.
In a strongly-worded statement on their website, Rangers claimed they had not been informed of any potential issues with the playing surface at Dens Park until Sunday morning, and questioned why they had not been raised sooner.
“Rangers, on behalf of our supporters, are extremely disappointed and angered with the late call-off of today’s match,” they wrote.
“The first team have prepared as normal for the match, and it was not until this morning that any concerns over the playing surface were raised.
“It is not understood why the home club did not raise those concerns in a more timely manner, given the reoccurring issues they have had with their playing surface at earlier points in the season.
“The Rangers team and thousands of our supporters had already arrived at the stadium by the time a decision was reached.
“This is the only match in the entire UK senior leagues to be postponed this weekend, and given it was to be shown on Sky Sports nationwide, reflects poorly on our game.”
Clement: It’s a crazy situation
Rangers manager Philippe Clement told Sky Sports:
“I’m very, very, very disappointed in many ways. We didn’t know anything that there was a problem, nobody contacted us, not yesterday evening, not overnight or this morning. Our kit man was here early and he told us there was the problem.
