Ball Boy

[Honkytonk]

It's interesting to debate whether the ball boy, an unnecessary addition put there simply to speed up play, 'cheated' Chelsea out of the win. By being deliberately beligerrent, and then play acting like a pro, he goaded a Chelsea player into an action that led to his sending off and therefore meant the team were at a disadvantage. Essentially an off-pitch incident with a biased member of off-pitch personel altered the result of a major tie. It's a bit like if a ref asked the stewards if a goal went in. Weird.

Hazzard got a red for violent conduct, that I understand, I want to see what happens to the ball boy. Mostly because he's a fat little cunt, but also because it's possible it could set a precedent of 'local' staff doing biased things to affect the match without any fear of repurcussion (I understand this is a bit of a long stretch, but it's worth bearing in mind-steward twatting a player on the back of a head when he goes to take a throw in, announcers moaning about the extra time being over etc- I know in Football League guidelines the scoreboard is not allowed to count the extra time that has elapsed, it has to stop on 90 minutes).

The whole 'apologies after the match' thing doesn't really mean much to me. Sure, it's good PR, but the ball boy deliberately decided (and joked about on Twitter beforehand) to be a twat, and affected the result of the tie through his actions. I'm interested in what other people think about it.

[london_red]

Essentially an off-pitch incident with a biased member of off-pitch personel altered the result of a major tie.

It didn't really alter the result though did it? There were 10 minutes to go and Chelsea never looked like scoring twice in the first 80.

[Samdy Gray]

Hazard shouldn't have kicked him, that much is obvious. But the little scrote shouldn't have been playing funny buggers and trying to waste time by laying on the ball in the first place.

[herthab]

I don't know how you can say this incident of a ball boy wasting time sets a precedent. It's been going on for years sporadically.  Anyone at Oxford away last season has seen first hand proof.

[Arriba]

Was expecting to see a brutal assault after the uproar on the radio about it. Talk about going ott.
The ball boy was out of order trying to slow play and Hazard was out of order kicking out(even though he was clearly trying to retrieve the ball)
Should be the incident over now with regards of the FA-police. Hazard will serve his ban and i'd like to see Swansea stop the lad being a ballboy(he's too old anyway really)

[DMR]

I would put a 17yr old ball boy on a equal footing with a middle-aged man who gets his own name printed on a replica shirt i.e. a bit tragic

[Flashheart]

I would put a 17yr old ball boy on a equal footing with a middle-aged man who gets his own name printed on a replica shirt i.e. a bit tragic

My sister came out here once and bought me a town shirt, with my own name on the back. I was both dead chuffed and gutted at the same time.

[nevillew]

The ball boy was the son of one of the Swansea directors, I believe.

[Honkytonk]

It didn't really alter the result though did it? There were 10 minutes to go and Chelsea never looked like scoring twice in the first 80.

I'm playing devil's advocate here. 10 minutes is still plenty of time to score two goals though.

I don't know how you can say this incident of a ball boy wasting time sets a precedent. It's been going on for years sporadically.  Anyone at Oxford away last season has seen first hand proof.

I'm not saying it's the first ever incident, just that it's the one that's received the most nationwide publicity in my memory. I did say the 'sets a precedent' thing was a bit tangental, but it's an interesting point.

I would put a 17yr old ball boy on a equal footing with a middle-aged man who gets his own name printed on a replica shirt i.e. a bit tragic

I'm 22 and have my name on the back of my shirt (mostly because I train in it). Does that make me tragic DMR? I'm not sure I could cope if I was.

[DMR]

Only a bit...

[Arriba]

Don't you get pelters for having your name on your shirt? If not you should do.

[Bumpkin]

The ball boy was the son of one of the Swansea directors, I believe.

And the dad is currently tearing his son a new one.

[jonny72]

Think the reaction to the ball boy wasting time is over the top, especially as players do it all the time.

Plenty of similar underhand things go on; ball boys only drying the ball for their players taking throw ins, clubs moving advertising hoardings closer to the pitch to stop long throw specialists for example.

[Bewster]

Having been forwarded this I am inclined to agree with DMR

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267276/Eden-Hazard-kicks-ballboy-ribs-refuses-return-ball-cup-semi-final.html

[TheMajorSTFC]

I see Chelsea fans moaning on twitter and the like, but if the shoe was on the other foot Chelsea's lot would have been first to kick up a fuss about it...I say fair play to the ballboy!