Club Assistants

[Soc3032]

Where does the rule / training thought come from regarding club officials swapping sides at halftime?

They start on the same side as “their teams defence” and move to cover their own defence.

Wouldn’t it be best for them to stay on the same side all game?

The replies have gone off track about what the CAR’s do.

I was looking at why they swap at halftime and not remain on the same sides all game.

 

[Viridis1886]

Probably just equally bad.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Where does the rule / training thought come from regarding club officials swapping sides at halftime?

They start on the same side as “their teams defence” and move to cover their own defence.

Wouldn’t it be best for them to stay on the same side all game?

Better that they give a dodgy offside than allow play to continue and hence a dodgy goal.

Simple solution which is one adopted in many leagues in my County (and was also referenced in the Referee Training I delivered 2008-2020) was to allow them only to do ball in/out of play. Do your own offsides

 

[GraemeS]

If a CAR doesn't flag and a goal results, the defence will be screaming at their own coach/sub etc. Much better outcome than them going at someone associated with the opponents. And when they do flag a goal off, you only usually have 1 or 2 disgruntled attackers to deal with rather than a whole defence.

From your perspective, if they do look dodgy, it's also easier to overrule a flag-happy CAR than it is to start giving offsides without a flag. I don't think this actually happens anywhere near as often as some referees (primarily those who don't give offside to CARs) think, but I think this is the general principal.

 

[RustyRef]

There's nothing to say they have to take their own defence, that's just the generally expected approach.

With CARs you need to work hard in the first part of the game to get wide so that you can see how they are doing with offsides. The worst kind of CAR is the one who puts the flag up immediately after the ball is played without waiting to see where it goes, so you can very easily ignore those flags, or at least wait to see where it goes. Likewise, if you can see they are never level with play, or even close to being, you need to be prepared to overrule them.

CARs are generally, in my experience, not as bad as some make out. Some are very good, some OK, some really don't want to be doing it and make a token effort, some have absolutely no idea of the laws, but a relatively small percentage deliberately cheat. And if they do it should be fairly easy to identify it.

 

[CraigRef]

In Ireland we do ball in and out of play by the club assistants and I will do offsides myself. works for us here

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

I was looking at why they swap at halftime and not remain on the same sides all game.

Because they aren't independent, so it's better they do their own sides defence.

 

[Soc3032]

Because they aren't independent, so it's better they do their own sides defence.

Thanks. The threads gone on more about what they are flagging for.

If we are only using them for in and out of play surely it doesn’t matter where they are on the sidelines

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

Thanks. The threads gone on more about what they are flagging for.

If we are only using them for in and out of play surely it doesn’t matter where they are on the sidelines

good point, I'd say maybe better to have them around their own players then? Just to keep confrontation to a minimum but you're right at that stage it matters less. I'd do it to maintain an atmosphere that I am in control of the procedure of the game

 

[GraemeS]

Thanks. The threads gone on more about what they are flagging for.

If we are only using them for in and out of play surely it doesn’t matter where they are on the sidelines

I mean, I think a similar principal applies, albeit in a less inflammatory way. The big call will be giving a corner/attacking throw "against" their own team rather than "against" the opposition who would be more likely to be angry at a rogue corner.