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"One minute last summer I was tinkering with the sprinklers at Millmoor, trying to get them to work, then all of a sudden we were going to Don Valley.
"We had only two or three weeks on the pitch before pre-season. There were no renovations but this time we've been able to do more. It's still not what I want but it's better than it was.
With Sheffield Eagles playing Rugby along with the pitch being used for athletics his job is not made easy yet he explains:
"For the first time we've been able to sit down with Sheffield International Venues, who manage the stadium, and come up with an improvement programme. "We've done a lot to the underneath of the pitch. There's a verti-drain system in place that its never had. "We're trying to introduce a fertiliser system and there's more grass on the pitch now than ever before; 50 per cent more than at this stage last year. It's lush. "The pitch is going to be tops; better than last season. We've levelled a few dips out and sorted the waterlogging problem we had under the main stand. "I also think the surface will be more durable this time. When the players kicked a divot out last year, that was it. It was gone. Now, you don't know the players have been on the pitch and that's a good sign for the forthcoming months.
"Obviously because it's not just a football pitch, you have to be careful how long you shut it down for. It's used for rugby and athletics and we're fire fighting all the time. We're putting everything back after everyone else has gone. "But from my perspective it's better than it's ever been. There's been sand on it and one or two areas are a bit bare but I can assure people that by this weekend we will have a football pitch and hopefully a football team to grace League Two."
As for some of the critics Jim added:
"People have opinions but if they need to speak to someone then they should come and talk to me rather than making comments or saying the pitch is this or that. "All I can say to people is just let us get on with it. We can do the job."