Cronin's repeated complaints becoming artificial

Heading into Thursday nights game against Dundalk, Waterford are joint leaders of the First Division. Nobody has scored more goals than them, and nobody has conceded fewer - indeed along with Dundalk they are the only unbeaten team in the league. The majority of Waterford fans are happy with their sides start to the season and few if any have any complaints. Manager Gareth Cronin on the other hand . . . .

Cronin got a name for himself last season among local fans as someone who is very fond of making excuses and complaining about something. This year he seems to have turned his attentions to having something to say about the pitch his team has, or is expected to play on. In short he has so far found fault with every away pitch his side has had to play on.

Waterford opened their league campaign this season against local rivals Wexford Youths. Having visited Ferrycarrig twice before the start of the season for pre-season friendlies I was of the opinion that the set up that Mick Wallace had put in place was top class - and importantly the playing surface on both pitches was of a pretty high standard. Cronin however found something wrong, as he went on to tell the clubs official website - "The one thing that surprised me was the size of the pitch – it is massive and we'll have to deal with that". Obviously all pitches are not identical in size however there are certain minimum and maximum measurements that have to be adhered to. For Cronin to use this as an obstacle his side must overcome borders on the ridiculous. Waterford somehow went on to come to terms with the massive pitch and record a two one win.

For their next away trip Waterford made their way to the Midlands to face Athlone. The Blues drew nil nil and Cronin had the following to say when he spoke to extratime.ie "Anyone who was in Athlone last week will know that it was a cesspit of a pitch to play on and if you are going to complain about drawing in Athlone then I don't think you know much about football". Cronin also told Waterford-united.ie - " The conditions were awful you know, the wind was shocking and it made a bit of a lottery of the game".

An embarrassing defeat to a Kerry League representative side followed in the first round of the eircom league cup. "The Kerry game was embarrassing but if you were down there and saw the conditions and the fact that it went to penalties, then you'd know it was a nonsense game although it still hurts to lose there." To make matters worse Cronin had fielded a strong line up. Quite what he means by it being a nonsense game remains to be seen - but once again the conditions seemingly played a big part.

Thursday night sees the top of the table clash at Oriel and both sides will have intentions of bagging the three points that are on offer. However if Waterford are to win at Oriel then they will have to overcome what Cronin sees as a big disadvantage - "We are in the 21st century and we are in summer football so there is no need for artificial pitches in the eircom league. It is a definite advantage for Dundalk. They train on it all the time, the play on it all the time, there is a different bounce on the ball and the pace of the game is different. That's not to make excuses because we are more than capable of going up there and winning on Thursday night"

Although he tries to claim otherwise his comments and complaints about the artificial pitch amount to nothing but making excuses.

World Cup and European Championships qualifying games have been played on artificial surfaces - as have UEFA Cup games. Its exactly because we are in the 21st century that artificial surfaces are going to become more common and acceptable. Scientific advances have ensured the quality of these surfaces is tantamount and sometimes even better than natural grass. Some medical studies have even shown that the chances of players picking up injuries are reduced.

This will actually be the second occasion this season that Waterford have had a game on such a surface. Galway defeated them by three goals to one on the new astro turf at Blarney United last February.

What makes Cronin's diatribes all the more amusing is that the surface at the RSC is appalling. For many years it has been poor but this season surely sees it at its worst. Even the FAI have admitted that its a problem and are in fact meeting with Waterford City Council in the near future with a view to finding a solution.

Already this season two games have had to be postponed, and as detailed Cronin hasnt been happy with where his side have had to play - yet according to the man himself there is no need for artificial pitches in the eircom league.