Stop Playing With Your Balls

Manager Martin Scott has blasted the FA for continually playing with their balls after Hartlepool had to adapt to two ball changes in one week.

‘I don’t know who’s in charge of it but they’ve changed the ball again this year and the ball’s an absolute disgrace. That ball is not the right type for any team to play good attractive football.

‘It was the same for the Dagenham lads. They don’t like them, we don’t like them, no player likes them, so why do they change the ball every year?

‘The size doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t look right when players kick it, it doesn’t fly right, feel right or bounce right.

‘They suddenly went to a yellow ball in the league last week then they changed it back to a silver ball for the FA Cup. Something’s not right somewhere.

‘I like to see good, attractive football and I don’t think the ball helps anybody.’

Match Winner Thomas Butler, like many players was below par, and for most of the match it looked like he was struggling with his range as most of his shots found the back of the stand.

‘The ball was different. I thought it was a size four ball or something. But it definitely took us a while to get used to it.’

A spokesman from the official makers of the FA Cup ball, Mitre, said: ‘I’m totally bemused by their comments.

‘The ball – the Meteor Pearl 100T – they used in the FA Cup on Saturday is exactly the same ball they use week in week out in the league – the Pro 100T.

‘The England team and the whole Football League use the Pro 100T. It was launched at the beginning of the year but has only been used since the beginning of the season.

‘We design a different ball each year for the FA Cup and although the look and feel is different it is exactly the same model: the Pro 100T.

‘They have different names because we have different contracts with the Football League or the Football Association so we design them with these aesthetics in mind i.e the change of badge.’

A cynic would take these comments as a reason to why the national team play like amatuers half the time!