Who’d have thought the pitch at Dundee’s Dens Park could heap such tension on Rangers’ title tussle with Celtic?
Heading into the international break Rangers’ fixture with Dundee was postponed due to the state of the surface at the Scottish Premiership side’s stadium.
That forced a dynamic shift at the top of the Scottish Premiership which played out in the 3-3 draw between Rangers and Celtic.
Whilst Rangers could’ve gone top by two points by beating Dundee heading into the fixture, the postponement meant it was Celtic who visited Ibrox as league leaders.
Now, Rangers’ game in hand with Dundee remains under threat less than 24 hours before kick off and it’s a situation which has stunned Philippe Clement.
Philippe Clement fumes at Dundee surface
The Rangers manager has taken aim at Dundee for their pitch and claims that the situation paints the whole of Scottish football in a bad light.
The straight-to-the-point Belgian talks a fair and balanced game but he has been clear about his discontent over Dundee’s pitch wreaking havoc with his preparations.
It’s a situation which remains live and Philippe Clement shows Dundee up as a two-bit operation in frustrated comments.
“It’s a crazy situation,” said Clement. “To go in a top league that you don’t know the day before – and we’re going to travel now in half an hour or in one hour – but we’re going to travel there and we’re going to stay there in a hotel and you don’t know yet if the game is on tomorrow or not.
“So that’s a really weird situation. OK it can happen in extreme circumstances and I don’t think in the last few years in all the top leagues it ever happened.
“But now when it’s raining in Scotland there is every time a problem and it’s not that in Scotland normally it’s a lot of sunny days so it’s a bad situation for the league and for Dundee themselves also.”
When asked about concerns over player safety, Clement said: “I don’t know because I haven’t seen the pitch, I haven’t been on the pitch.
“It was clear when the moment we were there last time that it was dangerous for players, for both teams, and it was not playable.
“So I will see if its another situation now and at the end I’m not the one who decides, it’s the referee who decides this.”
Clement was asked to expand on hoping for an early solution, responding: “Of course, I want the decision today because you want to prepare games.
“But the clubs and the federation are on speaking terms about that. Of course you want, not only for us because you want to prepare games, if it’s not possible you want to see what’s the alternative and then you need to find an alternative elsewhere because we don’t have much time any more, there’s a split next week in the league. So that’s also clear.
“You want an alternative and then to play as fast as possible but you need to prepare also. So I think these things give a really bad image to the league and it needs to be solved in the future that this is not possible any more.”
When asked if he would be comfortable playing in a neutral ground, Clement responded: “Yes, I think in these circumstances it can be a logical choice.”
Rangers wait pitch inspection
So what’s the situation with Dundee’s pitch as things stand ahead of the game with Rangers?
Well, Dundee managing director John Nelms has been out claiming that he has “confidence” the game will go ahead.
That’s despite the Met Office forecasting strong rain in that part of the country.
At the same time, the American director also believes that the match be rearranged even further to next week, meaning it would be played after Rangers’ weekend trip to Ross County.
That would still give both clubs the chance to play before the Scottish Premiership needs to split.
With Dundee travelling to Aberdeen at the weekend, it could give this surface ample time to rest.
For now, the match is still up in the air with a pitch inspection set to take place at 11am to determine if the match will go ahead.
Rangers could have to wait to reclaim top spot in the Scottish Premiership as a result.
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