Cup win could help solve Fir Park pitch problems

Feb 18 2009 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

MOTHERWELL go into tomorrow night’s (Thursday) Homecoming Scottish Cup replay hoping to land a cash windfall that will enable them to finally sort out the much maligned Fir Park pitch in the summer.

Last week the Lanarkshire club were given a suspended £20,000 fine for the postponement of their game with Hearts in December.

The Steelmen’s undersoil heating system failed to work properly before the SPL clash resulting in the game being called off, much to the embarrassment of Motherwell officials.

The suspended fine will become payable if the Lanarkshire club fail to make improvements to their heating facility before the start of the new season. On top of that, £175,000 needs to be spent on the main stand.

And Motherwell gaffer Mark McGhee has admitted that his first priority this summer will be to sort out the state of Fir Park before he turns his attention to player recruitment.

“If we get through this live televised game then have another televised match against Celtic you’re talking about the best part of £200,000 we hadn’t budgeted for,” McGhee said.

“However we still have a black hole in the work we have to do with the stand and can’t go in to another season with the pitch the way it is.

“We patched up the heating system but it hasn’t done the required job so we’ll have to do it completely and properly and that costs over £200,000.”

He continued: “Maybe the TV money could pay for that.

“There are places for the cash to be used before it gets to me. The pitch is my number one priority in the summer and the team will benefit.”

The under foot conditions could hamper Motherwell’s chances of getting back into Europe for the second season in a row.

The Fir Parkers have done superbly to go on a run of nine games unbeaten, following a narrow 1-0 victory over Hamilton at the weekend, which has propelled them to within touching distance of the top six.

This form sets them up nicely for their visit to St Mirren Park tomorrow night before SPL champions Celtic are the visitors to Fir Park on Sunday.

Stephen Hughes’ second half strike cancelled out Andy Dorman’s early opener in the first tie against St Mirren.

With the replay being played in Paisley, the Buddies will go into the match as favourites.

Nevertheless the new pitch at St Mirren should actually be an advantage to Motherwell who like to get the ball down and play – something they will be unable to do at home for the remainder of this campaign.

Defender Mark Reynolds admitted: “We hate using the pitch as an excuse because both teams have to play on it but even when five-yard passes become an impossible task to control it gets frustrating.

“However, going to St Mirren and playing on a pitch when the ball runs true will be great for our style of football.”

Teammate David Clarkson agreed with Reynolds saying: “We are used to getting the ball down and passing it and it is hard to do it on that pitch. Hopefully it will be fixed in the summer.

“St Mirren’s stadium is brand new and so the surface will be better and we can go there and pass it around the way we are used to doing.”

Meanwhile Mark McGhee admits that he has yet to decide what system to deploy against St Mirren – whether to adopt a three-pronged attack or play with two forwards and four in midfield.

He said: “The shape was better (against St Mirren) when we went to two but a few weeks ago we beat Dundee United 4-0 with three up front.

“Some weeks it works, some it doesn’t.”