A&H

Additional Assistant Referees

RegalRef

RegalRef

Politically Incorrect
Or rather their positioning to be exact.

Personally I'm not really sure what these additional assistants actually bring to the game.

Would it not make more sense for them to go on the opposite side of the goal, rather than on the side between assistant and his near post?
 
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The Referee Store
When they were first introduced they did exactly that. Iirc the referees wanted it changed due to the patrol path they followed they interfered with. Could be wrong on that though.
 
Seems odd that they don't actually go on the pitch during play, but could offer an alternative view from a different position to ref or AR but that isn't used?
 
@Ross has it spot on. Referees using AARs found that they were moving out of a diagonal and into more of a "down the middle of the pitch" movement.

The other benefit of the AAR being on the same side as the AR is that it removes a duty from the AR (goal line and the ball) and allows them to focus on their other duties.
 
Well on the other side of the goal it still removes that one duty. And that way you potentially have 2 officials right on the line, not just one.
I find the 'interferes with the diagonal' argument bizarre. So, the response is to make the official quite redundant by potentially giving them the same view as the AR? If view of the line from that side is blocked, then it just means there's one more official who is unable to make the decision.
 
CapnBloodbeard said:
Well on the other side of the goal it still removes that one duty. And that way you potentially have 2 officials right on the line, not just one.
I find the 'interferes with the diagonal' argument bizarre. So, the response is to make the official quite redundant by potentially giving them the same view as the AR? If view of the line from that side is blocked, then it just means there's one more official who is unable to make the decision.
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Completely agree.

Isn't refereeing with AR's and running a diagonal all about consistently getting two opposing views?
 
what rubbish ... having an AAR on the other side of the goal wouldn't make me run any differently!

id rather have the more spanning view of the pitch so we could, as a team, get every decision nailed on
 
Gents, I'd hazard a guess that very few, if any, of us on here have ever been part of a game involving AARs. So whilst we're all entitled to an opinion, fair to say that it's not exactly going to be an informed opinion on this issue :). For what it's worth, my (uninformed!) view on this, is that with both my Ref and AR hat on, I think the current positioning makes sense. Referees at this level are completely used to having total ownership of the whole of the LHS of the pitch but, to varying degrees, looking for help and input on the RHS. But for me the critical piece is that this frees up the AR to focus far more on offside, which as we all know is a devilishly difficult job on its own! The only error for me is not giving AARs a proper flag as this ends up giving the impression of them adding little value .. an impression that is probably inaccurate given their ability to constantly interact with the referee through the Comms kit.
 
point made by @Russell Jones ... I like the fact they don't have a flag, it means they give a suggestion to the referee/AR without anyone actually no they are doing it - so there isn't anymore officials to aim frustration at ... let me give an example as im not sure I make sense in that last bit ...

go to West Ham v Man U on Wednesday. in the 92nd minute? I think? the ball chipped over the top to Carroll by the goal line, as Carroll went to head it, Smalling fractionally lifted his arm to punch it away from Carroll. now I saw this clearly as it happened about 10ft away from me with no blockage to view! but the referee and AR both had about 20yard at least and 8/10 players so rightfully, had an excuse to dismiss Hammers claims ... if an AAR had been in use, he 'may' have seen the handle, over the comms he tells the referee, the referee blows for a penalty - players are totally unaware who called it and who to aim frustration at ...

does that make sense? :confused:
 
The problem with the current positioning is that if the keeper is on the goal line, and there's a ball in/out decision on the left hand side of the keeper (opposite to AR/AAR), then both AR and AAR have no view - and the referee, naturally, is not in position to judge it anyway. Whereas having the AAR on the other side means that he has a view if the AR is blocked - or if his view is blocked the AR may have a view.
That's why I think putting him on the same side is daft - given that his entire reason for existence is facilitating those decisions.
 
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