Ball boys need training

[KingCarlito]

Feel sorry for them as they have to climb over the hoarding. I think a lot of us would struggle doing that, nevermind a 10 year old lad!

They used to sit on a stool at pitchside and be a lot more pro-active, the club should address this and see if we can do this again, fuck advertisement.

 

[blueparrot]

Those who don't think it makes a difference are wrong. They may well be young lads so give the job to older lads. Small margins make big differences. Read either or both of Clive Woodward or Dave Brailsford's books. You should be looking to get every tiny detail right and this includes ball boys who are slow to retrieve the ball or can't vault the boards.
You can "shake your head slowly" or call people wankers but they are right.

If the difference between winning and losing is how fast the ball boys get the ball back then you have bigger problems than the ball boys. As somebody else pointed out as we are usually winning maybe slow ball boys have saved us points not cost us points.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

We were talking about this at the game yesterday. Joe Hart had to run 50 yards to the halfway line to get a ball while the ball boy dithered. If the ball goes out 20 times and and it takes 10 seconds to retrieve it instead of 4, that wastes 2 whole minutes. Now imagine if we'd wasted 2 minutes retrieving the ball in that game against QPR in 2012.

 

[Brad mcfc]

Noticed it for a whlile now but even more so yesterday when we was chasing the game it's really frustrating

 

[bluemoon98]

We were talking about this at the game yesterday. Joe Hart had to run 50 yards to the halfway line to get a ball while the ball boy dithered. If the ball goes out 20 times and and it takes 10 seconds to retrieve it instead of 4, that wastes 2 whole minutes. Now imagine if we'd wasted 2 minutes retrieving the ball in that game against QPR in 2012.

why that game? what happened?

 

[steviemc]

First time I noticed this yesterday - but then again we're not often chasing a 2=goal deficit at home so I guess it was easier to spot.

I agree it's worth a mention. We regularly see Joe running to retrieve the ball and play it quickly, as this helps our momentum and doesn't allow the opponents to settle. If it's important to Joe then we can assume he feels it makes a difference to his (and the teams) game. I'm sure nobody's trying to be a killjoy to the kids, or using this as a 'reason' why we lost the match yesterday, this would never suffice as an excuse.

It's correct that we involve the youngsters wherever possible, but the nature of the game doesn't make allowances for sentiment. If they can do the job a bit better, or something can be done to make retrieving the ball a bit easier, I don't see any reason why this isn't worth a mention.

 

[blueparrot]

Those who don't think it makes a difference are wrong. They may well be young lads so give the job to older lads. Small margins make big differences. Read either or both of Clive Woodward or Dave Brailsford's books. You should be looking to get every tiny detail right and this includes ball boys who are slow to retrieve the ball or can't vault the boards.
You can "shake your head slowly" or call people wankers but they are right.

If the difference between winning and losing is how fast the ball boys get the ball back then you have bigger problems than the ball boys. As somebody else pointed out as we are usually winning maybe slow ball boys have saved us points not cost us points.

 

[Harvster]

Multi-ball is the only good thing about Champions League. Can't believe it is still not used in the Premier.

 

[Cityfan]

If the difference between winning and losing is how fast the ball boys get the ball back then you have bigger problems than the ball boys. As somebody else pointed out as we are usually winning maybe slow ball boys have saved us points not cost us points.

Winning and losing can be very small margins . With the ball boys the problem is not primarily the few seconds extra playing time. It is the difference in tempo you can play a game at. If a free kick is awarded the opposition usually stand close to the free kick initially to allow the defence and team to reorganise. A few seconds extra make a big difference. The slow ball boys were right in front of me, the extra time allowed West Ham to press the throw and organise the defense on at least two occasions.
No one is blaming the loss on the ball boys but we are pointing out that returning the ball quickly when out of play helps attacking teams more which is something we are.
It is maybe a minor point worth looking at.

 

[RandomJ]

So we're blaming little kids now instead of the multimillionaires paid to win games for us?