Celtic captain Scott Brown has labeled St Johnstone’s pitch as “terrible”, and even expects better playing conditions on the plastic Livingston turf tonight.
The Hoops had to grind out a 1-0 win in Perth on Sunday to progress to the Scottish Cup semi-finals. However, the game itself was turned into a battle due to the conditions on the pitch.
McDiarmid Park was all cut up with plenty of muddy patches showing on the turf. The ball didn’t move as well as the players would’ve liked, and it almost played a factor in forcing Celtic into playing an extra game had the tie gone to a replay.
Brown played the full 90 minutes in that one, and speaking in the Scottish Sun, he’s had a pop as he insisted that he expects Livingston’s astroturf pitch to roll better.
“The pitch at St Johnstone was terrible. At least the ball will roll a wee bit better at Livingston. It’s always hard going on to astro but we just have to make sure we start the game better than we did last time.
“We’ve found it hard going there before. They will be physical and direct, they are in your face and don’t give you a second on the ball.
“It’s up to us to play around that and try to create chances and score goals. I think the last game there we were a bit unlucky with Ryan Christie getting sent off. It was always going to be difficult after that but we could have played a lot better, even with ten men.”
Brown has never been a fan of plastic pitches
It shows how bad St Johnstone’s pitch must’ve been to play on if Brown is making this remark. After all, the Celtic captain has never been a fan of plastic pitches.
Back in 2017, the captain had a real pop at them and stated they had no place at the top level (The Scotsman). Therefore, goodness knows how difficult it was to play 90 minutes on Sunday.
One of the main criticisms of plastic turfs is that the ball sticks too easily. Yet, Brown expects the ball to roll even better at the Tony Macaroni Arena than it did on Sunday at McDiarmid. That’s a telling remark, and something St Johnstone will have to sort out between now and the end of the season.
Tonight’s game won’t be easy either. Celtic have largely struggled to create in our two trips to Livingston since their promotion. Ryan Christie’s early red card didn’t help in the last game there, but even so, we were far too slow in moving the ball.
Livingston have also won their last seven straight home matches and are unbeaten in eight. Only Rangers have managed to come to the Tony Macaroni and take three points since September. So it proves that Gary Holt’s side are no mugs ahead of tonight’s game.
Here’s hoping the pitch doesn’t prove to be too much of a factor.
What are your views on astroturf pitches? Is there any place for them in Scottish football? Let us know in the discussion forum below.
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