Another  week and another draw. The first team drew their 10^th game of the season on Saturday in the Sky live game at home to Sheffield Wednesday. As you can see from my title even I am getting in on the act with draw jokes. I am sure the players and coaching staff are fed up with them and to be fair to them they are unbeaten in six games. Signs are we have turned the corner but in a results business they do not need me to tell them that we need to turn draws into wins. Despite the team sitting in second bottom place the business side of the club has to go on. Plans are well under way regarding the Pink concert to be held in the stadium in June. Our stadium manager has met with various people who he will work with to deliver the gig. Once the first series of meetings have been held over the next few weeks we will know the exact site that the stage will occupy on the pitch as well as the size and weight of it. I have already given my thoughts and I am always going to go for the location and set up which will keep the majority of the stage of the pitch. I know the surface will be damaged but we can do a lot to limit it. Being involved in the early planning should benefit us come the summer. As well as having one eye on the concert plans are well underway with the plans for our 2010 spring renovation programme. Requests for costs have gone out to all our suppliers. The renovation equipment is about to undergo its winter overhaul in readiness for a March start. I am also getting quite a few requests from various quarters within the club to use the pitch for end of season games. It is the role of my coordinator to look at all requests and see how many we can fit in. The concert will deny us several dates where we could host minor games. Fans love the opportunity to play on a professional pitch and we will try to make as many dreams come true as possible.

No matter where you have been in the country in the last few weeks you will have got wet. After a dry spell even the South East has had its share. But none of us can compare or complain with the North West especially those in Cumbria. Your heart goes out to the poor people whose lives have been turned upside down. Within their number will be grounds men. I saw TV pictures of Carlisle United’s ground last Thursday with over 30% of it under several centimetres of water. Despite the deluge they were still talking about playing on Saturday. I thought no chance so imagine my surprise when I found out they had managed to put their game against Swindon on. Despite losing the game to Swindon it was a magnificent effort of team work and groundsmanship in extreme conditions. Well done to all concerned. Despite a couple of wet days preventing us running tractors across our pitches our aeration programme is going well. We are currently carrying out a root pricking exercise using 8mm needle tines. The tines are set on multi blocks in sets of eight. The aim is to give as much opportunity for the small white roots that come horizontally of the crown of the plant and drop vertically down the holes. We have benefited hugely in recent years from this practice. Encouraging such young roots to develop in this way builds up the mass of natural root in the top surface helping to hold the entire root zone region together and provide the playability the players expect.

Last night’s World cup play off in Paris between France and Ireland ended in controversy and heart ache for the Irish. After getting the two leg tie back onto level terms the Irish took the much fancied French into extra time. Almost half way through the extra 30 minutes the French were awarded a free kick and with the aid of a massive hand ball from Thierry Henry managed to score. Over recent seasons arguments have raged about the use of video technology in football. Referees get hammered when they make a wrong call but with the pace of the game so quick now it is hardly surprising that sometimes they get it wrong. I cannot believe it has taken football so long to utilise modern technology when other sports are using it to good effect. Referees are being asked to make on the spot decisions that cost teams and countries millions of pounds. Let’s hope that those who claim to support fair play and respect can see the error of their ways to date and bring football into a position where it can finally stop a lot of the blatant cheating that is spoiling the game.

Last Saturday I travelled to Cardiff to see Scotland play Wales. Just getting to Cardiff was a victory in atrocious conditions. I cannot recall such a bad day on the roads. My country does not have to seek their problems right now and after the game we lost our manager. It was a bad day to be a Scottish fan and Wales deserved there win but the real winners and heroes on the day were the ground staff who put the game on. Two training sessions on the Friday an International on the Saturday and then an overnight turn around to host a top level rugby game on the Sunday took some doing. Well done to Wayne Nash and his staff at the City of Cardiff stadium.

As the International break comes to an end I am pleased with the work that we have managed to undertake on the stadium pitch and the first team training pitches. Deep aeration using a Blec ground breaker working down to 12 inches has helped to open up the root zone in the stadium pitch. We have also managed to get the centre of the pitch over seeded using seed that can germinate down to temperatures of plus 3oC. With the weather staying mild I am hoping for a good take. On Saturday we are home to Sheffield Wednesday live on TV. Preparations will be along usual lines but like any self respecting grounds man I will be making sure the pitch looks its best with every cut line ruler straight and the lines just a bit whiter.   

The final International break of the year is under way. League games are held over for two weeks to allow International friendlies and World cup playoff games to take place. With so many players from different countries in the English game now banter at this time around the training ground can be pretty good. At Ipswich we have a large contingent of Irish players not to mention one of their most famous players in our manager. They are all looking forward to the weekend and Irelands first leg play off against France. On their day the Irish can be match for anyone and with Scotland sadly missing out again on the sharp end I will be rooting for the Irish. Good luck to them. When you work in league football week to week an International can be a great change. There is something special about an International. Although we are out of the World cup I will be making my way to Cardiff on Saturday to cheer on Scotland in a friendly. I was a big fan of the old Home internationals and travelled down to Wales on several occasions. Saturday’s game in Cardiff will be a throw back in time and a good atmosphere is always guaranteed when the two countries play.

The break also gives extra time off to the players not involved. This in turn gives staff at the club to catch up on jobs and desk work that has maybe fallen a bit behind. I am using the break to step up the planning for our spring 2010 renovations and deep aerate the first team training pitches when they are off. The deep pass is being carried out using our Blec groundbreaker working down to 300mm. As you can imagine this is very slow the tractor moving at .4 mph. This week I have also held meetings with our seed supplier Rigby Taylor and our sand supplier Garside sands. These meetings cover everything from the product itself to cost and delivery. Most of the reps are football fans as well. John Holmes our contact with Garside sands is a big Watford fan and our recent game with them was discussed in depth. Along with my co coordinator we will pull together all the details of costs and specifications before writing a full specification report for board approval. We are planning to start the works in Mid March and be done by the end of August.

Finally there has been a new arrival in the Ferguson house. Just over three months ago we lost our dog Max after 13 years. Anyone who has had a dog for such a time will know how much of a loss it is. After much debating Faddy a 10 month Lercher cross is with us. In case you are wondering on the name Faddy is in honour of one James McFadden who is one of Scotland’s best players who will hopefully help to put a smile on our faces in Cardiff on Saturday.

After 15 games we have our first league win of the season. A 1 0 win over Derby County on Saturday raised the roof at Portman Road. Anyone witnessing the scenes around the ground at full time would have thought we had won the league. Saturday was busy day with two games against Chelsea Academy at under 16 and under 18 levels in the morning. The 16s play games as part of their development but the 18s games are league games. A hard fought 2 2 draw was just about right. For a small staff as ours having three games and schoolboy training in the same day means a long day. Much of the preparation was carried out on Friday with final checks on the academy pitches carried out in the morning. The heavy rain forecast for Saturday morning did not materialise and made the final preparation for the main game in the afternoon easier. The heavy rains finally arrived on Sunday.

On Friday morning I attended a meeting with our Chief executive along with the Stadium manager and Head of safety and Security. The club had been approached to host a concert in June 2010. The gig for Pink was formally announced on Tuesday and is already eagerly awaited. I have to confess I knew little about Pink before last week but hosting concerts has become part of the clubs non football business activities. For us it will be about limiting the damage for the pitch and being ready for the next season but we have a lot of football to get through before then.

Our aeration programme is well under way with all 12 pitches being solid tined over the past two weeks. This week has seen our ground breaker start working on the pitches. Being 100% natural and with no drainage in the pitches we have to ensure the sandy root zones are kept open. The ground breaker cuts vertically as it moves forward de-compacting down to 300mm (12 inches). As well as aerating we are being kept busy with the regular day to day jobs that accompany the football activity. Re instating the pitches following training is a never ending job. The daily task of divoting is like painting the Forth Bridge. You are never finished. It will be the most boring job a grounds man does but equally the most important if the surfaces are to be kept level. Our mowing frequency is down to three cuts per week as we move into November. With the temperatures finally falling and seasonal weather with us clearing the leaves from around the pitches is also a daily task for the next few weeks.

Now that the clocks have changed and the dark nights are on us many parts of the country are thinking about winter. Not here in Suffolk. Our Indian summer just keeps going. As I am writing this post (28th Oct) the temperature this afternoon was 19oC.

I measured the ground temperature at midday and it was still 11oC. This is great for some late season seeding to help keep sward covers full. We have been seeding local areas on pitches where some of the training drills have been harsh on the surface. We are observing the new grass coming through in around 9 to 10 days. For the most time the conditions have been good for us but we have to wary. Light rains have produced ideal conditions for disease attacks. We recently had an attack of Leaf spot which checked the pitches back a bit. We have treated them with two quality fungicides. Banner Maxx at the training ground and Hertiage at the stadium. Aeration is ongoing. We are currently passing over all the pitches using a 12mm diameter tine working on a 45mm x 40mm centre and penetrating down to 200mm. It is vital to keep the root zones open. Air has been described as the best fertiliser of all and it is free. As groundsmen our job is to get it in to the root zone.

Half term has so far been busy with over 20 trialists working at the centre. Ages range from 14 to 19. We are using 6 pitches daily on the centre to facilitate all the extra sessions. As well as the half term activity we also had a reserve team game against our local rivals Norwich. With Norwich relegated last season it was good to have a derby again. These games are always keenly fought and both teams deserved a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw. The week will finish with two games against Chelsea in the academy league on Saturday and three games on Sunday against Fulham. Roll on Sunday night.