Culverhouse slams 'shocking' Walks pitch

Ian Culverhouse has slammed The Walks pitch as shocking and embarrassing.

“I think this is possibly the worst pitch in the league,” said the Linnets boss after the 3-0 home defeat by Dagenham & Redbridge.

“I don’t why because we haven’t played a lot of games on it, but to ask us to play the way we want us to play... even from kick-off, we played the ball straight back to our centre-half and he ends up volleying it with no one else touching the ball. What the hell is going on?

“The pitch isn’t good enough, the pitch is shocking and it is killing us.

“For a possession-based side to actually play on this is an embarrassment. I feel sorry for the boys to be honest with you, because I am asking them to do things that really the pitch isn’t allowing them to do because I want them to play fast football, one, two touches - we can’t play it.

“I don’t want to change because this is the way we are, this is the way we play, but I must say for the amount of games there’s been on this pitch, because there hasn’t been many, it’s in a real poor state.”

Sonny Carey goes close for King's Lynn Town against Dagenham & Redbridge (Image: Ian Burt)

While Culverhouse believes the pitch stifles his team’s style, there was little doubt Lynn were flat against a Dagenham & Redbridge which deserved to take home the points on Saturday.
Culverhouse said: “We made bad decisions at times, especially centrally because we are very expansive, and gave the ball away cheaply, which is not like us.

“You look at us on Tuesday (in a 1-1 draw at Aldershot), we were exceptional in possession of the ball and created numerous chances.

Cameron King had to be replaced in the first half of King's Lynn Town's game against Dagenham & Redbridge (Image: Ian Burt)

“I don’t know if we created that many chances today. We didn’t test the keeper enough, but I am not going to have a go at the players because what they are delivering at the moment is magnificent for the football club. We are a patched up side that comes together at games and give it a go.”

Lynn do, indeed, come together just for games, with no midweek training – which makes their recent performances so much more surprising. And perhaps the state of the pitches at some of the higher-level grounds they visit has contributed towards some of those high-quality away performances.

Culverhouse and owner Stephen Cleeve both have ambitions to see the club go full-time – and therefore on a par with most in the National League, but the financial effects of playing a season behind closed doors mean that is not now a definite for next season. However, Culverhouse’s comments about the pitch illustrate that going full-time is not just about the players – the pitch needs to be top drawer, and there needs to be a dedicated training facility, which the club doesn’t currently have.