Seems Spurs aren't to happy about Rochdale's pitch, and want the FA to step in.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42996945
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/engl...mauricio-pochettinos-pitch-concerns-unhelpful
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/5534...hdale-wembley-tensions-pitch-fa-cup-heighten/
I happened to have listened to that Talksport interview, IMO, the Chief Executive, came across as a tad irate & arrogant, and indicated that they would possibly consider re-laying it, however, he seemed to suggest that if Tottenham were so bothered about playing on it, then they should pay to have it re-layed. I think the cost that was bounced around the "Tinternet"... about re-laying their pitch with improved drainage & with the ability for the rugby team to continue to still play regularly on it, at this time of year, as an emergency measure was around £200K. And that would wipe out their TV revenue & gate receipts etc.
Seems to me Rochdale are in a bit of a "win win" with this FA Cup fixture, with the small possibility of getting the game moved to Wembley for a bigger pay day or play at home & get someone else to cough up the costs of a new pitch. (Why didn't think of that?!?!?.....Oh that's right, we stuck to the tradition of getting knocked out in the 1st round every year :sad:)
I can kind of see where Pottichino is coming from, by wanting to get the FA involved, can you imagine if say Harry Kane, Dele Alli or Eric Dier break their ankle's and miss this summer's World Cup Finals as a result of playing on that surface, (all England fans will blame Rochdale for that). Furthermore, from a Tottenham perspective, their chances of progressing in the Champions League on the back of that match would also be under a possible costly financial risk to the club and national pride.
Anyway, looking at the current weather in Rochdale, I wouldn't be at all surprised if their game against Fleetwood this weekend is called off also, they've had rain and sleet last night, & their due for some more later today (with sub zero temperatures over night) and more rain and sleet from 8am Saturday morning all the way through to Sunday evening.
As someone else mentioned in an earlier post, their fixture list is already congested, & they will currently be playing every midweek and weekend (with the exception of a seven day break on just two occasions) between now and Sunday the 22nd April. (In other words the last two games of the season).
Let's just hope that their fixture headache will play into our hands, in terms of facing tired legs, important injuries, and of course us picking up an important 3 points on the road, when we meet them in mid March.
