Dundee Rangers is cancelled again after the forecasted rain did indeed start to tumble early afternoon in Tayside and referee Don Robertson called it off.
A second pitch inspection is underway at Dens Park ahead of Dundee's rearranged match against Rangers – here is the latest ⬇️
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 10, 2024
If it goes ahead, watch it live on Sky Sports from 7pm 📺 pic.twitter.com/zrBEecvgZe
The downpour began around 1PM and while it’s not quite monsoon levels, it’s heavy enough rain that the match was in too much danger.
It’s was in the hands of the football Gods at that point, or more to the point, the weather ones, and over the course of publishing this piece the verdict was reached, given the inspection is 10 minutes in as we go to press. Can you see we edited…
The fact is this pitch is not up to code, the drainage non-existent and the skies are indeed grey indicating the rain is unlikely to dry up any time soon – most of Scotland has been under a blanket of storm cloud this Wednesday and Dundee is no different.
Journalist Scott Burns of the Express offered one particularly grim snap, showing the angry sky and sand-sodden sides of the pitch not to mention the muddy embankment.
To suggest this is football-worthy is a bit of a stretch, but Dundee can’t host this match under covers so we pretty much awaited Robertson’s predictable verdict.
And update: Robertson’s pitch inspection is a bit of a farce, showing the ball skidding ridiculously (aquaplaning) on the surface when the ref throws it at the turf.
As of quarter to 4 we’d be astonished if he green lights this. And here we are 5 minutes later and he called it off. Goodness.