I'm asking because Vince approached one on Saturday, shook the lads hand and had a quiet word in his ear. My lad, who was close enough to hear, understood it to be something to do with recycling the ball quicker for our throw ins to keep the tempo up.

A few minutes later the same lad fumbled quite badly to get a hold of the ball and return it to play quickly - and Vince didn't look too impressed. I must say that it wasn't the lads fault, he just couldn't reach properly over the digital advertising hoarding.

Perhaps they need some form of implement to support them getting the ball back to the players quicker - or just be the right side of the advertising board.

Its finer details like this that I feel will frustrate Vince a little, and while there are bigger issues right now building the squad I think this sort of thing could be addressed easily and quickly.

* Not sure of the Politically Correct nomenclature for them now

It is frustrating when the ball is tricking along the boards and nobody can reach it but I don’t think they are allowed on the “pitch side” of the boards

Our ballboys have been terrible for years. Slow to get the ball back when we are looking for a goal, don’t look interested and they are lazy. Ball can be right next to them and they don’t move. Go to other grounds and some have how the ballboys do their jobs down to a fine art. Small buts like this we need to improve on. If it gains us 1 extra a goal and 1 extra point at the end of the season it can be crucial.

wilks_bfc wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 08, 2022 3:42 pm

It is frustrating when the ball is tricking along the boards and nobody can reach it but I don’t think they are allowed on the “pitch side” of the boards

I was thinking perhaps a Lacrosse stick for them to use (or something similar) - they certainly need training on what the manager wants them to do though - it can really change a game if we get the ball back into play quicker when we want to, and to also slow the game when we don't want to.

It’s been shambolic for a while - probably worked in our favour when we were time wasting but not good for the way VK wants to play.
When you see teams like Liverpool, Man City and Barca of old their players were under instructions to get hold of the ball as quickly as possible and throw it to a spare man - usually back to their defence - so they can keep possession. I read something on this that these teams had looked at the statistics of how many times you lose the ball by waiting or throwing it down the line like so many teams have done traditionally (we are a perfect example in recent years of losing possession more often than not from our own throw ins).

As for the ball boy on Saturday it was a bit embarrassing for him no doubt - he looked like he had never picked up a ball in his life let alone thrown one…..and why do they even stand on that side of the boards if they cannot jump over ?

Welcome to Burnley VK !!

I thought at one point the club used youngsters from the club to do this job as a ball person (if that is the right term).

Im sure if VK has seen this as an opportunity, he will know who to ask to see if this can happen. We probably need more of them to be fair, there are hardly any from what I can see.

Remember we were the team who were happy to time waste, frustrate and not have possession.. It probably suited to have the minimum no of peopler employed in this role.

Sometimes there doesn’t look to be ball boys/ girls, in fact on Saturday there was one occasion when one of our players ran after it. It struck me that VK would probably want the ball back quickly but there looked to be no organisation in doing so. They need more ball boys/girls and whoever’s in charge of them to explain what’s expected of them.

Zlatan wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 08, 2022 3:35 pm

* Not sure of the Politically Correct nomenclature for them now

It's balls people.

beddie wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:11 pm

Sometimes there doesn’t look to be ball boys/ girls, in fact on Saturday there was one occasion when one of our players ran after it. It struck me that VK would probably want the ball back quickly but there looked to be no organisation in doing so. They need more ball boys/girls and whoever’s in charge of them to explain what’s expected of them.

I mentioned it on the match on Saturday, it’s not so much the ball boys it’s the digital advertising boards, no average sized child is able to reach over them to get the ball. There’s no obvious way round them without taking a huge detour and I suspect clambering over them is a no no. So given the advertising boards aren’t likely to be going anywhere we needs taller ball boys/girls (which probably rules out boys/girls).

Unlearning Dycheball?

I was a ball boy in the 1960’s and we were coached to return the ball quickly if we were losing and take our time if we were winning. This entailed concentration and a knowledge of the game situation. If you weren’t up to this, you were dropped. The ball boys over the past few years haven’t been up to the job and I’m fairly sure that VK will insist on it being improved.

Each pick up though has to be risk assessed with an accompanying method statement.

So...is the answer to the question 'Nobody'?

My fellow Claret said during the match....what happened to the ball boys? No one appeared to get the ball, as it rolled down the touchline. They should be a weapon.

Let's just say they got out of the habit.

The last thing SD wanted was a quick throw, for either side.

They need a week at Wimbledon to get them up to speed!

Nobody it would appear. Wouldn't mind betting it's
going to change pretty soon.

It's not been the same since they stopped running to the centre circle and taking the applause, before the game. Funny really.

Don't they have to sign a contract to say they'll ballboy impartially these days?

Sure I remember a fuss on the old messageboard when it was brought in

A child wouldn’t be expected to sign a contract

When Cotterill was manager, we started using the youth team as ball boys. Not sure why that stopped.