I've heard a rumour

Ironically it was around the time Johnson was at the club that ball boys improved but it's slipped back now.

Just the whole body language is awful. Hoods up, slumped over the seats in front with their feet up and huddled together where, in the case of the North Stand, they have a massive bank of seating to work on and ought to be spread out.

It's not a trivial thing either. It can make an impact on the match in our favour. Plus if the amount of interest they seem to take in their employer's fortune is anything to go by, they aren't what we want at the club.

Sadly, things have changed from the days of boot cleaning and fixing potholes in the car park. Young men and their families hold a lot of the power and Academies are frightened of upsetting them in case little Johnny Flashyfeet cries to Daddy and they leave for Leeds United, letting a lad who might be a £10million player in 5 years walk out of the door.

I remember Chris Morgan serving as a ball boy, running about like a madman on the muck stack behind the Ponty End goal when they were rebuilding it. Chasing every ball and celebrating our goals as much as the fans. I'd love to see just one ball boy show half as much eagerness as that these days.

 

Jesus!! This ‘thread’ shows just how bad things are on the pitch. I thought i’d been resurrected in Tunbridge Wells.

 

My recollection of when we were in the premiership and the season before was that we had ball boys who very quickly returned the ball to our players and somewhat slower to opponents. so that we can gain an advantage from a quick throw in before the opponents were settled and settle before they took theirs. It seemed to work to our advantage then, not the hesitation we have now at all our throw ins.

 

in serie a most clubs actually train their ball boys, if the home side is losing there will be balls everywhere and they sprint to get the ball to home players ready for quick throw ins and if the home side are winning they will be expert time wasters, in fact a Shakhtar player pushed a Roma ballboy over the hoarding the other week for deliberate time wasting

 

If we do end up getting relegated and our turnover is reduced there would have to be grave concerns about the quality of ball boys we would end up with in that scenario. It is a very concerning situation.