Life's a pitch

We got our first sight at the touched up St Andrew's at the Sporting Gijon friendly.

The pitch looks lush and played well, there's the blue trackside surround that has replaced the old mucky shale, and the frame of the big screen is in place.

Underneath the stands, the home dressing rooms have had a makeover as well.

There was also something that intrigued the eagle-eyed: the width of the pitch.

Had it been reduced? You bet.

Blues have decided to make St Andrew's more compact. They have taken in the width from 68m to 66m.

Length-wise, the pitch has stayed the same, at the minimum required 100m.

The theory behind this is to make it a harder place for Premier League opposition to play. To compress the space, to create a suffocating feeling, that Blues are always 'there' with little room to manoeuvre.

As Blues do not possess genuine out-and-out wingers who like to hug the touchline, there is some sense in this.

And it could help stop the kind of teams who like to 'stretch the pitch', as our Total Football aficionado Tony Mowbray used to say of his Barcalbion, having it all their own way and pouring through and round.

On the flip side, the big guns are not the teams Blues are realistically competing with. It's the other scrappers who will also want to keep things tight and might be happy with the change.

Blues are not the only side to have altered the dimensions of their playing surface.

After promotion, Stoke City reduced the size of the Britannia Stadium to 100m x 64m, and it worked for them and especially Rory Delap.

There are rumours that Wolves, who used wingers and loved to run into open spaces last season, are taking Molineux in from 68m to 64m. Now that is some change.

St Andrew's, believe it or not, used to be one of the widest pitches around. Wider, or at least on a par, with most.

Blues commitment to up-grading various parts of the ground and facilities has to be applauded. But there is still work to be done.

One thing that has been a bug bear of mind for a while are the seats in the Main Stand. They look tatty; replace them with the same kind and the same colour you see elsewhere.

And outside, St Andrew's could do with some brushing up to make it gleam. The steel supports on the Kop need repainting, and the steel supports on the Gil Merrick Stand need painting full stop.

They may be a couple of minor things, but it's more aesthetically pleasing and it creates the right impression.