RONNY Deila last night branded criticism of artificial pitches “old fashioned” - and revealed he would be happy for Celtic to play their home games on one at Parkhead in the future.
Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, last week blamed the injury Martyn Waghorn, his leading goalscorer, suffered in the Scottish Cup replay against Kilmarnock on the astroturf at Rugby Park.
The Englishman also stated that plastic surfaces should not be allowed at the highest level in Scottish football.
However, Deila, whose side take on Hamilton on their 3G pitch at New Douglas Park in the Ladbrokes Premiership tomorrow evening, insisted they pose no danger to his players if they are of a high standard and are maintained properly.
The 40-year-old also rated the artificial pitch at Kilmarnock as the best in the country and admitted he would approve of one being installed at Celtic Park.
“I wouldn’t have a problem with it,” he said. “I would say yes. It has to be perfect with a proper watering system, but yes. I think it would take a few years to get to that stage.
“If we had it at Celtic Park, all the teams could play there. Imagine what Celtic Park could be. You could train there every day, you could be very familiar with it, get perfect circumstances all the time. So there are a lot of positive things.
“I think that Kilmarnock is okay if it’s watered. The Hamilton one also should be okay, but it’s slippy. The Kilmarnock one and the others, they are better. You have to use money on it if it’s going to be really good.
“If you have, like England, so much money, you will get a perfect grass pitch all the time, because they work on it. Here, it’s also raining maybe 50 times more here than it does down south. So it’s so much harder for us to keep it good. Then, it’s a good thing to have an artificial pitch."
Deila, who will be looking for his side to extend their lead at the top of the Premiership to nine points with a win over Hamilton, dismissed claims that artificial pitches can be responsible for players suffering injuries if they are well looked after.
“That is not true,” he said. “There is no truth in that. I can assure you, there has been a lot of research into that and there’s nothing that says you get more injuries on artificial.
“But you need to water the pitch. That’s very important because, if not, you can twist joints, the ball bounces and it has a harder touch, so it’s easy to get twisted. But, if you water it, there is no science that says an artificial pitch is more dangerous.”
The former Stromsgodset manager revealed that half of the top flight clubs in his native Norway play on synthetic pitches – and attributed the emergence of a generation of talented youngsters in his homeland to kids training and playing on them.
Deila is adamant that Scottish football could benefit greatly from its most promising players working more on artificial surfaces also and rubbished suggestions that senior teams need to play competitively on grass.
“In my view, that’s very old fashioned,” he said. “You don’t get perfect grass all the time in Scotland, so it seems like a good thing, artificial pitches. If you are going to develop talent, it’s so important that you have good surfaces.
"That way you can lift your eyes up and look for a pass, instead of worrying about the ball bouncing away from your feet. Everything is about quality - quality in training and quality of pitches, as well. That is very important if we want to develop skills in Scottish football.
"In Norway, half of the top league play on artificial pitches. That has been a positive thing. That is why there have been so many talented players coming from Norway."
Meanwhile, Deila has confirmed he will continue to select James Forrest to play for Celtic despite the winger, who is out of contract at the end of next season, turning down the offer of a lucrative new four year deal.
He admitted the Scotland internationalist could be sold by the Glasgow club if they receive an offer in the summer - because they risk losing him for nothing if he signs a pre-contract agreement with another club in the next January transfer window.
But he compared the 24-year-old to Barcelona star Lionel Messi when he is on the ball and stressed he would feature in his first team in the coming months as they chase a Premiership and Scottish Cup double.
“He can still be a fantastic footballer,” said Deila. “Everybody sees what he has got. When he carries the ball he is like Messi. You just feel it is so easy. Everything is good, his balance, everything."
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