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Linesmen / Assistant Referees in Junior Football.


RobRoyGuy

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Do they actually help much? Most of the time it's either young inexperienced boys doing it or like you had at our game yesterday or looking at the troon Clydebank game older guys who are past it and really to overweight and unfit to be doing it.

Most of the time they just wait to what the referee is going to do before putting their flag up, most seem to get big decisions wrong that are right in front of them, that we the fans in the terrace can see.

I don't like to have a go at officials to much but they seem to be in general getting noticeably worse.

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A good percentage of them it seems have stepped in at the last minute to help without much of a clue to what they are doing.

As i said i generally don't like having a go but as the seasons go on have found myself getting more and more wound up by them. At least in years gone by you knew of some good officials who you could see moving up the ranks, now you just despair as they are all much the same, struggling .

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The idea is to always (as far as I know) pair a young official with a more experienced counterpart on the lines. It's part of the SFA's development programme. The young lads often will ref on their own in Div 1/2 when not on the line in the top two divisions.

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The biggest issue with assistant refs regardless of size or age is their lack of involvement. That's what frustrates supporters. They are there to work as a team to make decisions however every decision is made by the man in the middle even if it happens right in front of them. No wonders supporters /players / managers get frustrated.

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The biggest issue with assistant refs regardless of size or age is their lack of involvement. That's what frustrates supporters. They are there to work as a team to make decisions however every decision is made by the man in the middle even if it happens right in front of them. No wonders supporters /players / managers get frustrated.

I don't think that can be laid at the door of the assistants - some of the biggest refs in the SPFL will tell their assistants they only want to know about offsides etc and leave anything to them inside the box for example.

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The biggest issue with assistant refs regardless of size or age is their lack of involvement. That's what frustrates supporters. They are there to work as a team to make decisions however every decision is made by the man in the middle even if it happens right in front of them. No wonders supporters /players / managers get frustrated.

We had the opposite complaint the other week. Ball was on the touchline right in front of the assistant, and it was bang on the line. The ref who was 20 yards infield decided he had a much better view and gave a throw in. You have to have some sympathy for the assiatant when that happens, and it doesn't exactly do his confidence any good.

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I don't think that can be laid at the door of the assistants - some of the biggest refs in the SPFL will tell their assistants they only want to know about offsides etc and leave anything to them inside the box for example.

Inconsistency is the problem. We never know what each ref has said to the assistants. Some refs ask them to take a real, active part in decisions; other refs say leave everything to me apart from throw-ins and offside (although they sometimes overrule them on that as well).

The problem is we don't know what they have been told - then the assistant can be left looking like a wally when something happens right in front of them but they have to follow the refs instructions to "leave it to me".

Perhaps the poor guy/girl is itching to raise his/her flag, with the crowd bawling in their ear, but they are following instructions given to them before kick off. Who would be an assistant?

PS I would always choose to have assistants; I think they usually add a lot to how the game is handled.

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Inconsistency is the problem. We never know what each ref has said to the assistants. Some refs ask them to take a real, active part in decisions; other refs say leave everything to me apart from throw-ins and offside (although they sometimes overrule them on that as well).

The problem is we don't know what they have been told - then the assistant can be left looking like a wally when something happens right in front of them but they have to follow the refs instructions to "leave it to me".

Perhaps the poor guy/girl is itching to raise his/her flag, with the crowd bawling in their ear, but they are following instructions given to them before kick off. Who would be an assistant?

PS I would always choose to have assistants; I think they usually add a lot to how the game is handled.

Agree with everything you say.

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Inconsistency is the problem. We never know what each ref has said to the assistants. Some refs ask them to take a real, active part in decisions; other refs say leave everything to me apart from throw-ins and offside (although they sometimes overrule them on that as well).

The problem is we don't know what they have been told - then the assistant can be left looking like a wally when something happens right in front of them but they have to follow the refs instructions to "leave it to me".

Perhaps the poor guy/girl is itching to raise his/her flag, with the crowd bawling in their ear, but they are following instructions given to them before kick off. Who would be an assistant?

PS I would always choose to have assistants; I think they usually add a lot to how the game is handled.

Correct the linesmen can earn pelters from the crowd through no fault of his own as the ref has instructed them that he will deal with incidents.The more experienced linesman of the two will take a more active part though,it was the linesman not the ref that gave the penalty for the winning goal at the recent Shire\Kilbirnie cup tie.

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The lino had an abolute howler yesterday at Shettleston. Ref not much better. They missed an obvious goal crossing the line which had bounced out and been handled by a defender all in the same incident. Still better to have them on balance though.

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Be grateful that you have them as the refs who don't have a much harder task.

Often decisions go down to who shouts with most conviction that get teams decisions. Some are clearly better at it than others.

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I'm lead to believe it's a 'Scottish' thing when it comes to Assistant Referees that they only flag for offsides and ball in and out play.

When I officiated in the Northern League the Assistants were told referee in your quarter just as you would when your refereeing but do it with your flag. That meant offsides, ball in and out play and free kicks. The only stipulation I would request is I want first stab at a penalty decision and stick your flag up and get me over if you've seen something I haven't but get me over first.

That was the remit right through the league's down there but it certainly doesn't up here and that includes the seniors.

On the subject of Assistants what a breath of fresh air the guy on the line at Rutherglen Glencairn was yesterday. Had a craic with the players and the Culter bench right through the game and gave as much stick back as he took.

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we had a right pair yesterday where the linesman flagged 1 way the referee gave it the other way and then the linesman looked straight at the referee and changed his mind to go with the referee which btw the lineman was correct but wrong in the decision to go with the referee which I`m sure resulted in beiths goal if I remember correctly

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Inconsistency is the problem. We never know what each ref has said to the assistants. Some refs ask them to take a real, active part in decisions; other refs say leave everything to me apart from throw-ins and offside (although they sometimes overrule them on that as well).

The problem is we don't know what they have been told - then the assistant can be left looking like a wally when something happens right in front of them but they have to follow the refs instructions to "leave it to me".

Perhaps the poor guy/girl is itching to raise his/her flag, with the crowd bawling in their ear, but they are following instructions given to them before kick off. Who would be an assistant?

PS I would always choose to have assistants; I think they usually add a lot to how the game is handled.

It shouldn't be in the refs hands with regards to what they want their assistants to get involved in.

They are there to apply the laws of the game as a team of officials. Clubs pay for these officials to do just that so are being short changed if some assistants only are there to flag for offsite or throws

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