Rangers manager Philippe Clement has queried the standard of the Dens Park pitch after Dundee suffered a fourth home postponement of the season, and the second within two hours of kick-off.

Thousands of supporters were already en route to the midday kick-off, which was due to be televised lived by Sky Sports, when news finally arrived that it had been called off by referee Don Robertson.

Clement wondered why the fixture was the only game in Scotland to fall foul of the weather. There is now a serious issue over when the match can be rescheduled with Celtic and Rangers neck and neck at the top of the Premiership and the league split due to take place on the weekend of the 13/14 April.

Rangers manager Phillipe Clement inspects the Dens Park pitch (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

One possibility is 2/3 April, which is the midweek before the third Old Firm league clash of the season. An alternative is the following midweek, although it could not be shown live by Sky Sports due to European midweek matches. Rangers’ own European exit last week could be viewed as a blessing in disguise as far as the SPFL are concerned.

Asked if there were any positives from the postponement, with Rangers having endured an exacting Europa League Last-16 second-leg tie against Benfica just three days earlier, Clement was adamant that it was disappointing on all counts.

“No, it’s only negatives today,” he said. “We were ready for this game and have very important weeks to come to play final games before the top six. It’s going to be difficult now to put this game in between. And it’s a disadvantage if you have a midweek game and the other team has one week of preparation.

“So I don’t see any positives from this. We have internationals going away now and we cannot train today. Normally I always find something positive in every situation but today I cannot stay anything positive.”

Doubts about the game going ahead had emerged before 9am when Dundee issued a statement to say that a pitch inspection would be held at 9.15am after discussions with the SPFL and following heavy overnight rain in the area. Over 12 millimetres of rain fell when just 6mm had been forecast.

A local referee was unable to reach a decision and so it was decided to wait until Robertson, the match referee, had arrived at the stadium. “We will update one the final decision has been made,” said the statement. The update confirmed the game was off at just before 10.30am and with the Rangers team having already arrived at Dens Park.

The last time Rangers were at the stadium they had arrived late due to roadworks with the game in November kicking-off 45 minutes late. There was a further delay due to pyrotechnic smoke from the away end. On both occasions the Rangers squad stayed overnight in St Andrews on the eve of the game. Clement complained about the lack of communication from Dundee.

“We weren’t warned about it – not Saturday evening, during the night,” he said. “I hear now that people started to work on the pitch at 5am in the morning.

“So, in that way they did their best. But we were only told there was an issue because our kitman was at the stadium early, at around 9.15am. He warned us about the situation and for me that’s a really strange thing.

“This will be the only pitch in all the leagues in Scotland (this weekend) where a game was postponed,” he added. “That tells me that it has nothing to do with the weather.

“Yes, it rained, but it rained all over Scotland and there were pitches in other lower leagues where they could play football. There, the ball was bouncing. But here, the ball was not bouncing. So clearly there is something wrong. It is clearly in the rules that if the ball doesn’t bounce you cannot play a game of football.”

There is some disquiet at the SPFL’s reluctance to engage with a suggestion to delay kick-off in the hope the pitch dried out. Sky Sports were reportedly open to this proposal and the pitch had improved by 1pm on a dry day in Dundee. Unusually, due to it being FA Cup quarter-final weekend in England, there was no Premier League game scheduled to be shown and so the broadcaster could have accommodated a later kick-off.

Referee Robertson stressed that this was not his area of concern. “I think there was maybe some chat on that between the league and the clubs, but certainly not for the officials,” he said. “We make a decision at the time, and if the league or the clubs want to come up with another plan or delay or whatever, that is a decision for them to make, not for us. The only consideration for me was the safety of the players. When I inspected the pitch there, it was quite clear that it wasn’t in a playable condition.

“The ball wasn’t bouncing, and there were a couple of areas of concern in front of the dugout and in the top penalty area. The ground staff have done a lot of work to be fair to them, but the ball is not bouncing at all in some of those areas, it wasn’t rolling, the conditions underfoot were dangerous for the players. So, it’s quite simple decision after that.”

The Dens Park pitch, once reckoned to be among the finest surfaces in Scotland, has suffered from years of neglect with the club now planning a move to a new stadium on the outskirts of the city. A change in ground staff also occurred earlier this year. Long-time father and son team Brian Robertson and Brian Robertson Junior were stood down in January. They have since parted ways with the club.

Dundee have subcontracted maintenance of the pitch to a turf care firm based near Glasgow and have also received support from Burnley ground staff, a club with whom they now have a strategic partnership.

But managing director John Nelms stressed that nothing more could be done in this instance. “The groundsmen have been out here since 5am and we ran out of time,” he said. “We just ran out of time. If we had a 3pm kick-off, the pitch would be playable.”

Rangers postponement: 'Only negatives' reaction, fixture headache, why no delayed kick-off, what the referee said

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