Don Valley pitch is not helping the team - Howard Webb

Last updated : 09 April 2010 By Bigrich.....

Webb supports the team whenever he doesn;t have reffing commitments and spoke to todays Tiser regarding Rotherham's chances of gonig up and also the state of the DVS surface.

webbbig"First of all, I've got to say how grateful I am to (chairman) Tony Stewart. To bring the club to where we are now is an amazing achievement and he deserves massive credit. The club has a big future and it's just a matter of being patient" said Webb.

"Don Valley is a place to go to keep the club going but we are looking forward to getting away. I know the ground staff work hard in terrible circumstances but the pitch is not conducive to good football because of the weather and the other events that take place there. We have to play on it at least 23 times a season. Other teams only have to play on it once.

"It becomes a lottery. I'll see the ball travel 15 yards and it bobbles five times. How can that give you any confidence when you're on the ball? Talking to the officials last Saturday, they were saying how hard it is to keep your footing.

"The sooner we get to another dedicated pitch and get some atmosphere back, the better. It's difficult to get some atmosphere at Don Valley. The bear (Miller Bear) does the best it can but we need to get to our own stadium."

If all goes to plan, it will be a couple more years before Webb gets his wish. In the meantime, he'll continue to follow his home-town club from near and far, whether he's officiating at Old Trafford, the Emirates Stadium or, as in the case last week, at the San Siro Stadium in Milan for the Champions League quarter-final between Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow.

He added: "The Rotherham result is the first one I look for still. At half time I get the phone out and see how we are going on. I don't buy the local Saturday sports paper if we lose but I do manage to buy the Advertiser and force myself to have a look at it.

"It's looking like the play-offs though now. Maybe 72 or 73 points might be enough, so we're looking at a couple or maybe three more wins. 70 is a bit of a benchmark although I know it took 77 points to get that seventh place a couple of seasons ago.

"As Rotherham fans, we've taken a bit of a battering over time but whatever happens we'll stick by them. My kids love going to the matches. They still go every week."

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