[denphone]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17064905

English football is a step closer to reintroducing artificial pitches after the Football League announced plans to seek opinion on their possible return.

The public consultation will run until the end of April and canvas the views of clubs, fans and officials.

The Football League's chief operating officer, Andy Williamson, said there was a "clear appetite" to reconsider the use of artificial surfaces.

BBC Sport broke the news last year that artificial pitches could make a return.

No thanks.

---------- Post added at 16:02 ---------- Previous post was at 15:02 ----------

http://www.sportinglife.com/football...t.html&BID=165

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has warned the club need to get rid of a host of their big names and sign six established players if they are to return to their former glories.

The French World Cup winner admitted he fears for the future of the Gunners following last night's Champions League debacle.

Petit, who formed a formidable partnership with Patrick Vieira in his three year's in north London from 1997 to 2000, claimed the likes of Andrei Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott were simply not good enough.

"I asked myself what has become of the team that I knew. It's worse than I thought, they haven't recovered from the departures of (Cesc) Fabregas (to Barcelona) and (Samir) Nasri (to Manchester City)," Petit told www.sofoot.com.

"It's a gulf which is confirmed weekend after weekend.

"And what is perhaps the most worrying thing is the club won't do anything this summer to reverse the trend.