Let’s face it – Celtic’s Premiership clash against Hamilton wasn’t much of a spectacle. And there’s one key reason for that – the artificial surface at New Douglas Park.
Despite starting so energetically and scoring after just four minutes, Neil Lennon’s men soon struggled on the slow, bobbly synthetic surface in Lanarkshire and ended up stuttering to victory in a match where they would have fancied scoring a few goals.
The second-half of the fixture was a complete non-event with Celtic’s sloppiness in possession only bettered by Hamilton’s lack of ambition to get an equaliser.
New Hoops recruit Mohamed Elyounoussi, who bagged an assist in James Forrest’s early goal, summed up the occasion, and the pitch, perfectly.
He said: “It was a tough game and the pitch wasn’t the best and a bit dry but we came here for three points and that’s what we got.” (Daily Echo)
It was a case of Celtic baring the Saturday lunchtime kick-off rather than being able to excel in it at all. That’s a shame – especially when the game was the only weekend top-flight match broadcast around the world.
The Premiership must say not to artificial pitches
The time has come for the league’s power brokers to take a stand and say “enough is enough.” The Premiership’s three artificial sides – Hamilton, Livingston and Kilmarnock – will argue that having such a surface benefits them financially to a large extent. But they have to be forced into a decision: are you a professional football club or a community club?
If they choose the latter then the lower leagues should be able to take them in. But we can’t afford to keep televising matches on these surfaces worldwide.
This isn’t even a pro-Celtic feeling. Our likely title rivals Rangers will have to play on the same three pitches throughout the season. They may even struggle more than us. This comes down to a wider problem: the image Scottish football portrays to fans.
Surely it is time for Celtic, and the league’s other top teams, to make a point and demand these pitches are gone from next season. We could even help to contribute to the laying of new grass surfaces at the aforementioned grounds. It would all be worth it in the long run to avoid us seeing more games like Saturday’s one.
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