THE debate on artificial pitches has blown up again, thanks to PFA Scotland’s clever use of a petition against plastic that was signed by every single player in the Premiership outside the three clubs who play on them. If it had been a secret ballot I am pretty sure that most of the players in those three clubs – Hamilton Accies, Kilmarnock and Livingston – would have voted with their worn-out feet and dodgy knees to ban them, too.

Since then we have had telling interventions, with managers whose teams play on grass backing the petition and those with plastic pitches such as Livingston’s Gary Holt and Kilmarnock’s Steve Clarke defending them.

For me, the best point in the whole debate was made by St Johnstone’s Liam Craig, chairman of PFA Scotland. He said that switching back to grass at every club would have a “positive impact” on the game in Scotland.

Let me quote Craig exactly and at length: “The inconsistency of artificial surfaces at the top level of Scottish football is a major factor on how the game is played by players. The ball rolls and bounces differently which affects a player’s decision-making.

“Movements such as running, turning and tackling on the pitch also have a negative impact on the body which inevitably affects a players performance.

“Players often say it takes longer to recover after playing on an artificial pitch. This can not only effect (sic) future performances, but also team selection. If a player takes longer to recover, a manager may not select them for games on these surfaces or for a game after playing on them.”

Craig has hit the nail right on the head with that word inconsistency. It is the fact that players have to switch from grass to plastic and back again that causes even the best footballers to suffer problems as there is no consistency and it does give a side with a plastic pitch an advantage.

There are even variations between the types of plastic pitch as long as they are 3G which Fifa now see as the minimum standard for football. That just means third generation and manufacturers’ quality varies.

I am well aware that players train on artificial surfaces all the time, but there’s a huge difference between training and playing – about the same between boxers sparring and actually fighting. I know the latest surfaces are much better than the original AstroTurf, but that’s not the point – professional footballers should be playing on grass pitches kept in good condition, and there is one reason they don’t.

It costs money, and quite a lot of it, to keep a grass pitch in playable condition, and I have personally witnessed how hard the ground staff at the likes of Parkhead, Ibrox and Easter Road, to name but three, work to keep their pitch in the best possible condition. Yes, there are differences in the quality of grass pitches, but the basic surface is sound, largely due, I suspect, to the under-soil heating all top-flight grass pitches must have.

To me it’s an issue of consistency. Why does just about everyone in Scottish football harp on about the inconsistency of referees but we allow the pitches to be anything but consistent? To know that a quarter of the Premiership play their home matches on plastic is to question the fairness of it. Some 25% of players have to play three-quarters of their games on grass and a quarter at home on plastic. How is that fair? How is that consistent?

After Celtic’s poor showing the other night, we now know our place in European football – somewhere between mince and mud. We will never get the necessary wide-ranging improvement across Scottish football if we ask players to perform on sub-standard pitches and plastic is drastic.

I wouldn’t go as far as Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers in saying that I’ve never seen a good game on plastic – not many, though – but I absolutely agree with Rangers boss Steven Gerrard and his comment: “The people that run this league should do more to make sure the games are played on grass. Every other elite league plays on grass so why shouldn’t Scotland?”

That’s the point – we will stay sub-standard if we keep taking a sub-standard approach.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has the right of it: “There’s no criticism of the clubs who have AstroTurf pitches, they’ve done it probably on a financial side.

“If these clubs need financial assistance when they come into the top flight to make that happen, and to get a grass pitch, then I think that’s something to work towards.”

So come on SPFL. Help clubs to get rid of artificial surfaces for the good of the Scottish game.

You could even flash the plastic to pay for it.