Can your assistants not destroy our pitch please?

[SM]

had a very strange request yesterday. High level cup game (high level for me anyway ) on a very wet pitch.

The manager of the home team comes over and asks if I can put my NARs on the opposite flanks to usual (on right backs) to save the sidelines of the pitch which was a little cut up the week before.

No. Sorry.

He stormed off thinking me awkward.

Another gentleman came over and politely asked for clarification. Explained it is where I look for my assistants and it is ingrained in me to try and stay left of the ball keeping play between me and the lead assistant. Switching the NARs would mean I would be all backwards and having to think about something which is otherwise natural.

They accepted that. Begrudgingly.

Anyone come across this before?

Pitch was kind of destroyed by the end of the game in a proper thriller of a cup tie. Some other things happened during the match which i am still cogitating on, will post about them for opinion/advice when they are settled in my head.

 

[Beezer]

I did that very thing last season .... pitch was rather cut up on the left back side ...My assistants made the point to me and I had no problem swapping it round ....after a few minutes you get used to the change

 

[Ross]

Lost count of the amount of times I've switched for that very reason. It takes a little bit of getting used to, not orthodox but a valuable skill

 

[SM]

Interesting.

To add some context; Would you agree if it was the just before the biggest and most prestigious game you have ever had, where you are fully expecting an assessment?

 

[Brian Hamilton]

had a very strange request yesterday. High level cup game (high level for me anyway ) on a very wet pitch.

The manager of the home team comes over and asks if I can put my NARs on the opposite flanks to usual (on right backs) to save the sidelines of the pitch which was a little cut up the week before.

No. Sorry.

He stormed off thinking me awkward.

Another gentleman came over and politely asked for clarification. Explained it is where I look for my assistants and it is ingrained in me to try and stay left of the ball keeping play between me and the lead assistant. Switching the NARs would mean I would be all backwards and having to think about something which is otherwise natural.

They accepted that. Begrudgingly.

Anyone come across this before?

Pitch was kind of destroyed by the end of the game in a proper thriller of a cup tie. Some other things happened during the match which i am still cogitating on, will post about them for opinion/advice when they are settled in my head.

Heard it many times. They ask the referee to run left wings instead of right. Referee shouldn't agree because as you say, you spend all of your time working to running patterns dictated by right wings.

 

[Beezer]

From an assessors point of view though !

Surely it should be a positive that you can swap angles and still perform ?

 

[Beezer]

Lost count of the amount of times I've switched for that very reason. It takes a little bit of getting used to, not orthodox but a valuable skill

You are waterlogged 11 months of 12 though .... so it should be a natural change

 

[Brian Hamilton]

From an assessors point of view though !

Surely it should be a positive that you can swap angles and still perform ?

Not if the referee misses something that impacts on his match control, decision making or application of law during his adjustment period. I know of a referee who used to do left wings first half and right wings second half.

 

[Beezer]

Not if the referee misses something that impacts on his match control, decision making or application of law during his adjustment period. I know of a referee who used to do left wings first half and right wings second half.

Don't you think Brian it is a skill to swap when the situation requires ?
Rather than having your assistants running around in the mud ?

and if the referee has a good game he should be marked up rather than down for his initiative ?

 

[SM]

The assistants had no problem with the lines as it happened. However, large areas of the pitch were hugely cut up by the end. Football in the UK eh?

 

[Beezer]

Its a West Coast problem lol

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Don't you think Brian it is a skill to swap when the situation requires ?
Rather than having your assistants running around in the mud ?

and if the referee has a good game he should be marked up rather than down for his initiative ?

If a referee isn't used to running that pattern and makes an error, then it will not have done him any favours. If it's a skill and he's good at it, then sure. The only thing then is the impact on his ARs. Making the adjustment for 2 referees out of 20 who run left wings each season can mess you up (speaking from personal experience). That impinges on teamwork ...

 

[CapnBloodbeard]

I do believe it's a good skill to practice sometimes - because what if the first time you do it is on a really important match, a cup final or something like that?

Running the reverse diagonal is difficult as an AR, because you need to make a conscious effort on which hand the flag goes in. Also, offsides are now signalled in a different hand, defensive throw-in in a different hand, and so forth. All this stuff which is usually instinctive now requires conscious effort - which is distracting and leave less mental capacity to focus on the match. Because one day you may get unlucky and have to run reverse wings if the worn-out touchline is too muddy, or some such issue.

Same for being in the middle - you need to adjust where you glance when a ball is played through, and need to consciously remember to alter your positioning all the time. This can throw you off. That's why i would recommend trying it out occasionally. Even just a couple of games under your belt will make a huge difference.

Would I do it just because the ground official asks me to? Maybe, maybe not. The nature of the match would have an impact on my decision, but aside from that helping out or working together isn't a bad thing.

Would I do it just because

From an assessors point of view though !

Surely it should be a positive that you can swap angles and still perform ?

From an assessor's point of view I can't see any way this could work in the referee's favour. While I may be able to make some concessions, if anything is missed it's still going to come back on the referee. I'm not going to 'mark him up' just for trying.

 

[Padfoot]

It's an old school skill that the new rising stars are far too programmed to be able grasp......

 

[Brian Hamilton]

It's an old school skill that the new rising stars are far too programmed to be able grasp......

No it's an old dated practice that FIFA, UEFA and The FA have all given guidance on... run right wings. It's like putting the flag across the chest to signal for a penalty or every goal kick being indirect and being signalled as such. No longer viable.

 

[bester]

I know an assistant referee who was asked to run right backs at step 4, apparently it's what they all do in Mansfield.

 

[ref craig]

Because I've run rb as a lino I know how difficult it can be to swap wings when you are use to running lb so it is difficult but if one line to another side was bad so yea I'd swap it up

 

[Nottsman]

I've been asked to run right backs before by an "older" referee. Even as a linesman it took a few minutes to get used to it and the swapping of hands around.

 

[Tealeaf]

If I didn't think I'd be accused of spamming I would post multiple quotes from Brian et al here. Done it once because of a swimmimg pool (ok big puddle) in the running area on one line and had the very problems stated. Couple of kick-myself-stupid mistakes because position was all wrong.

Unfortunately two of these proved crucial to the outcome of the game.

 

[CapnBloodbeard]

Yep, precisely why I think we should all try to practice it at some point, just in case you need it on a big game

Another time when I think I've used it in the past is when the setting sun was going to be a bigger problem on one end of the pitch than the other (maybe one end had shade, the other was looking directly into the sun), so swapping the lines helped give us a better view.

Haha, I just remembered - when I was being inspected for my upgrade years ago, I was in a different region so 2 AR's I didn't know, both kinda young. Did everything proper, they took their positions from the centre of the field....and before I knew it, both ran straight to reverse diagonals. Uhh.......

Oh well, just had to make the best of it