I’d have loved to have done same job for my Killie as the ball boy did for Jose’s Spurs
As a kid I dreamed of being a ball boy for Kilmarnock.
To play a small part in the club, the team I support, and to try to make a contribution.
I had to content myself with a place in the midfield but this week we’ve seen how a ball boy can influence a game and be credited with an assist.
With Tottenham trailing 2-1 to Olympiakos on Tuesday, the ball boy quickly launched a ball to Serge Aurier, whose throw-in down the wing found Lucas Moura to pick out Harry Kane for the equaliser.
For my money we then heard the quote of the season from Jose Mourinho.
He said: “I love intelligent ball boys like I was.
“I was a brilliant ball boy as a kid and this kid today was brilliant. He reads the game, understands the game and made an important assist.
“He’s not there just to look to the stands, lights or scarves. He’s living the game and playing it very well.”
Last season we had the ball boy at Liverpool who placed the ball on the corner arc for Trent Alexander-Arnold to take it quickly and Divock Origi to score in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final. It was brilliant.
During a 90-minute game the ball is only in play for about an hour, sometimes it can be less than that.
People are paying good money to watch a game of football, not to watch someone kick the ball into the stands and then wait for someone to throw it back in.
My introduction to multi-ball was as a player at Norwich in the 2003- 04 season we won promotion to the Premier League.
The manager Nigel Worthington and the players loved it as we would set such a high tempo. It was all about the first 25 minutes and swamping the opposition.
It’s natural for players to see the ball go out of play for a goal kick, corner or shy and regard it as a chance to take a wee breather and switch off for a few seconds.
But we had drilled the ball boys to react quickly and get the game going as fast as possible. We’d strangle teams by getting in and around their faces with the balls coming back into play quickly. There was no rest when the ball went out.
You could see the other sides taking a wee break or switching off for a split-second and it gave us an edge.
There were so many occasions we’d be two goals up in that first 25 minutes and the game would be done.
We absolutely loved it and the stats showed how effective it was as that promotion-winning season was based on scoring so many early goals and getting the job done.
We would be relentless in that period of every game. I decided to introduce it at Falkirk when I was manager there as we had a young side who were energetic and enthusiastic.
I was trying to maximise what we had and with that youthful energy it made perfect sense to use multi-ball even though some people objected. We were trying to improve our chances of winning games but some rival managers complained.
It was something different and some opposing players even felt it was unfair.
But before every game I would go into the referee’s room and tell him what we were doing and I’d explain that it would be the same for both teams.
The ball would come back into play just as quickly for them as it would for us but I recall many an opposition manager not being too happy.
Multi-ball is being used more and more by clubs, especially in Europe, and in international games too.
It can be used in a negative way as you sometimes see two balls coming onto a pitch and in many instances it’s not by accident. It can be a ploy to waste time.
That can lead to the referee saying he’s not going to allow multi-ball as it’s too disruptive to the game so it does need fine tuning as it’s frowned upon by the powers that be.
I’m all for it, just as long as it’s fair for both teams.