' PAUL TROLLOPE FRUSTRATED / BUT SURELY ? '

' PAUL TROLLOPE FRUSTRATED / BUT SURELY ? '

Cardiff City should of checked all this out in their important Pre-Season arrangements? ?



Cardiff City boss Paul Trollope reveals 'frustration' at heavily disrupted start to pre-season tour of Germany

Thursday 21st July 2016

BY MATTHEW SOUTHCOMBE

The Bluebirds saw the plans thrown into chaos when they were greeted with an unplayable pitch for the opening game of their pre-season tour



Paul Trollope has opened up on a 'frustrating' start to Cardiff City's pre-season tour of Germany.

The first game of the trip against RW Ahlen was scheduled to kick off at 6:45pm (local time) at the Wersestadion, but actually ended up taking place closer to 8pm at the Bluebirds' training base.

Upon arrival at the game's original venue, it became clear that the pitch was in an unplayable state due to a number of divots that were littered around the surface.

"There was a huge injury risk to both teams and there was a lot of holes on the pitch, which neither team were aware of until we got there," said Trollope.

Cardiff City pulled the plug on the game amid safety concerns over the pitchCardiff City pulled the plug on the game amid safety concerns over the pitch



"It's really frustrating. We'd had a good day's preparation for it and we were very much looking forward to the game."

The match was initially abandoned due to safety concerns regarding the pitch but within 20 minutes things were back on.

Both sets of players - Cardiff on their team bus and Ahlen in their cars - dashed back to Harsewinkel, where the Bluebirds are staying, to play out the match on the training pitch.

But things refused to run smoothly as the impending darkness and lack of floodlights caused one problem, with a thunderstorm causing another.

In the end, the Bluebirds salvaged a 45-minute workout from a hugely disrupted evening as the referee called off the match at half time due to the inclement weather and dying light.


Trollope added: "Luckily we managed to persuade them to come back to the training camp and we managed to squeeze 45 minutes in before the dark and the thunder came.

"In the end, it was probably half the exercise we wanted, a little bit frustrating because it was quite an inconvenience and you want everything to run smoothly.

"So it's not what we wanted, but more minutes under some of the players' belts and it worked out to be a half decent exercise in the end."

The new boss will be hoping things run a bit more smoothly when the Bluebirds face VFL Osnabruck and FC St. Pauli in two one-hour matches at the Osnabruck tournament on Saturday.

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how can a stadium like this have such a bad pitch

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How is this Matthew reporting? What a pointless and stupid story.

Firstly it's pre season it's hardly anything to throw toys out of the pram for, imagine being that petty.

And how can you turn it into our fault? It's nothing to do with us?

Secondly we organise something months before and it's down the to the team to be sorting the pitch out and have it ready to play on.

Annis, how do people get these jobs when they report stuff like this?

How is this Matthew reporting? What a pointless and stupid story.

Firstly it's pre season it's hardly anything to throw toys out of the pram for, imagine being that petty.

And how can you turn it into our fault? It's nothing to do with us?

Secondly we organise something months before and it's down the to the team to be sorting the pitch out and have it ready to play on.

Annis, how do people get these jobs when they report stuff like this?

seems the host stadium grounds man is crap

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

quite agree!

who is responsible for the quality of match preparation pre-season? That's the club officials. No background checks given to the quality of pitches is not acceptable at a professional football club. No excuses, Poor show

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

quite agree!

Deluded, it's embarrassing this club can't arrange a decent pre-season game. Club sympathisers for utter incompetence need to wake up

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

quite agree!

Deluded, it's embarrassing this club can't arrange a decent pre-season game. Club sympathisers for utter incompetence need to wake up

Come off it, it's not the clubs fault in anyway. Stop talking nonsense.

Thought this was a professional club. I would have thought it quite possible that a club like Splott Albion or Heath Hornets might turn up for a pre season friendly and find that their pitch is not playable, but I would have thought a Championship club might ask a few questions about the state of pitches due to be used before going on a foreign tour. Will be interesting to see how many other clubs of this stature have their games called off due to unplayable pitches. None I suspect.

Thought this was a professional club. I would have thought it quite possible that a club like Splott Albion or Heath Hornets might turn up for a pre season friendly and find that their pitch is not playable, but I would have thought a Championship club might ask a few questions about the state of pitches due to be used before going on a foreign tour. Will be interesting to see how many other clubs of this stature have their games called off due to unplayable pitches. None I suspect.

while other clubs play on progressively better surfaces than years gone by. Cardiff seem intent on going back to the 70's both at home, and now it seems away

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

Spot on.

Another embarrassing episode in recent CCFC history.

How is it embarrassing for us? You must be joking?

No he's not!!! City involved so must be their fault? ??

Shit happens, it's not ideal but hardly embarrassing. If anything it's embarrassing for the home club..

Spot on.

Hang on a minute! who's got the reputation to uphold? Apparently we want to be a Premier League club

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

Good answer, and I got some kind of reasonable excuse

I fear another court case pending lol, the circus continues

too many on here are far too ready to slag our club off at the first opportunity without any actual knowledge beyond a press report.

that for me is the most embarrassing thing.

The sorts of things I would classify as embarrassing or worth slagging the club off for - turning red, selling Tosh, deluding ourselves about Sam even now...this does us no credit.

too many on here are far too ready to slag our club off at the first opportunity without any actual knowledge beyond a press report.

that for me is the most embarrassing thing.

The sorts of things I would classify as embarrassing or worth slagging the club off for - turning red, selling Tosh, deluding ourselves about Sam even now...this does us no credit.

How much do you give the club season after season of you're hard earned money? You can't just simply accept the club is cutting corners on pre-season. Not enough of the fans' cash is going into making sure the club is best prepared for new season. Without the fans the club can't survive. Hold them accountable and get yourself a better deal

Lastly, if I didn't have a platform to share views with other fans and just accepted whatever the club does, well that is the day I quit this forum.

too many on here are far too ready to slag our club off at the first opportunity without any actual knowledge beyond a press report.

that for me is the most embarrassing thing.

The sorts of things I would classify as embarrassing or worth slagging the club off for - turning red, selling Tosh, deluding ourselves about Sam even now...this does us no credit.

How much do you give the club season after season of you're hard earned money? You can't just simply accept the club is cutting corners on pre-season. Not enough of the fans' cash is going into making sure the club is best prepared for new season. Without the fans the club can't survive. Hold them accountable and get yourself a better deal

Lastly, if I didn't have a platform to share views with other fans and just accepted whatever the club does, well that is the day I quit this forum.

I think you are getting a bit carried away chief - what on earth does it count how much I spend with the club? If it helps you my family have been supporting the City since BEFORE we joined the Football League. I'm not sure why that is relevant to what I said, but hopefully it helps you.

And when you say "not enough cash is going into making sure the club is best prepared" - what facts do you have to support this statement?

too many on here are far too ready to slag our club off at the first opportunity without any actual knowledge beyond a press report.

that for me is the most embarrassing thing.

The sorts of things I would classify as embarrassing or worth slagging the club off for - turning red, selling Tosh, deluding ourselves about Sam even now...this does us no credit.

How much do you give the club season after season of you're hard earned money? You can't just simply accept the club is cutting corners on pre-season. Not enough of the fans' cash is going into making sure the club is best prepared for new season. Without the fans the club can't survive. Hold them accountable and get yourself a better deal

Lastly, if I didn't have a platform to share views with other fans and just accepted whatever the club does, well that is the day I quit this forum.

I think you are getting a bit carried away chief - what on earth does it count how much I spend with the club? If it helps you my family have been supporting the City since BEFORE we joined the Football League. I'm not sure why that is relevant to what I said, but hopefully it helps you.

And when you say "not enough cash is going into making sure the club is best prepared" - what facts do you have to support this statement?

All I meant is that the club's revenue comes from fans as well as TV/Sponsorship. If you pay into the club, the least you should expect is for them being able to arrange a football match on tour.

That's my view, the club is doing the pre-season on the cheap. What facts? - unplayable pitches, postponed match

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

Good answer, and I got some kind of reasonable excuse

It's not an excuse, it's fact. The club did a reccy on all 3 venues and were happy with all 3. The pitch has not been looked after properly. There were other options to play the games at different venues (and I believe the club looked at a few options), however this was the best venue in terms of distance from the base and the pitch was absolutely fine when it was looked at!

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

Good answer, and I got some kind of reasonable excuse

It's not an excuse, it's fact. The club did a reccy on all 3 venues and were happy with all 3. The pitch has not been looked after properly. There were other options to play the games at different venues (and I believe the club looked at a few options), however this was the best venue in terms of distance from the base and the pitch was absolutely fine when it was looked at!

How did the club not know work was due on the stadium? Did they not ask?? were they lied to?? Or did they simply use very unprofessional agencies to facilitate the tour??? You can't shy away from facts, the club organised (or paid a company) to have this game, a game on an unplayable surface - postponed

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

Good answer, and I got some kind of reasonable excuse

It's not an excuse, it's fact. The club did a reccy on all 3 venues and were happy with all 3. The pitch has not been looked after properly. There were other options to play the games at different venues (and I believe the club looked at a few options), however this was the best venue in terms of distance from the base and the pitch was absolutely fine when it was looked at!

How did the club not know work was due on the stadium? Did they not ask?? were they lied to?? Or did they simply use very unprofessional agencies to facilitate the tour??? You can't shy away from facts, the club organised (or paid a company) to have this game, a game on an unplayable surface - postponed

Work going on a Stadium has nothing to do with the state of the pitch though. I've seen us play in may friendlies all over (Lisbon, The Algarve, Malaga, Seattle, Canada - I'm off to Germany this evening) and often the stadiums have been absolute dumps, but it's the nature of the season. You play pre-season games abroad, the normal grounds are likely to be having work done on the pitch until close to the start of the new season (same reason we have no home friendlies this year around). However each time the pitch has been fine. The ground's in Malaga and Lisbon in particular were in old derelict stadiums and the first game in Canada was played on a field on Vancouver Island somewhere!

The fault clearly lies with either whoever owns the ground, or the tour operator. Did you expect a CCFC staff member to visit the ground on a weekly basis or something?? They did what they needed too and were let down, ultimately they'll deal with that however they see fit. Some things are clearly out of the club's control.

'It's not the club's fault, they didn't know the pitch was going to be in that state.' Is that the excuse?

Start dealing with serious people when organising friendlies. Send somebody over before games take place. End of rant(s)

They did send someone over there and there was a game played on the pitch 2 weeks ago. It has since deteriorated. I've no doubt Cardiff employed a sporting agency to run the tour for them, which is generally how these things work.

The stadium and surrounding area is having a lot of work on it at the moment, the state on some of them holes I'm presuming is from machinery on the pitch!!

Good answer, and I got some kind of reasonable excuse

It's not an excuse, it's fact. The club did a reccy on all 3 venues and were happy with all 3. The pitch has not been looked after properly. There were other options to play the games at different venues (and I believe the club looked at a few options), however this was the best venue in terms of distance from the base and the pitch was absolutely fine when it was looked at!

How did the club not know work was due on the stadium? Did they not ask?? were they lied to?? Or did they simply use very unprofessional agencies to facilitate the tour??? You can't shy away from facts, the club organised (or paid a company) to have this game, a game on an unplayable surface - postponed

Work going on a Stadium has nothing to do with the state of the pitch though. I've seen us play in may friendlies all over (Lisbon, The Algarve, Malaga, Seattle, Canada - I'm off to Germany this evening) and often the stadiums have been absolute dumps, but it's the nature of the season. You play pre-season games abroad, the normal grounds are likely to be having work done on the pitch until close to the start of the new season (same reason we have no home friendlies this year around). However each time the pitch has been fine. The ground's in Malaga and Lisbon in particular were in old derelict stadiums and the first game in Canada was played on a field on Vancouver Island somewhere!

The fault clearly lies with either whoever owns the ground, or the tour operator. Did you expect a CCFC staff member to visit the ground on a weekly basis or something?? They did what they needed too and were let down, ultimately they'll deal with that however they see fit. Some things are clearly out of the club's control.

That's an impassioned defence of what some may call (well just me lol) a shambles. Ok, moving this on a bit, yes I'm sure that behind the scenes they will be livid with what happened. I am sure there will be lessons learnt & protocol to follow when next arranging tours. Perhaps it would be a good idea to send someone out for a week before the matches. EasyJet it out there and have club officials report back on any problems that arise. Make sure facilities are ready for the squad.

My viewpoint has not changed without trying to be confrontational. This tour looks like it was done on the cheap.

Your not being confrontational,but you are 100% right

Your not being confrontational,but you are 100% right

Cheers! I wish i'd get as much compassion from my wife as some fans give to the club. What a luxury!