Colchester United boss Danny Cowley says his brother will remain in the stands for the upcoming matches, as reported by The Gazette.
Assistant manager Nicky has taken a seat in the stands during The U’s upturn in form.
Helicopter View For Assistant
Colchester are currently seven games unbeaten in all competitions and Nicky Cowley will continue to take his seat in the stands.
Cowley believes the arrangement has given the side an advantage.
“It does give you an advantage from a tactical viewpoint and we have the live feed so if we need to, in-game, we can watch back.”
“You get that helicopter view which from a tactical perspective is so important.”
“Nicky goes up there with our analyst and it’s been working well. Nicky has cut fourth officials out of his life.”
The move is certainly working currently, with the Essex side keeping four clean sheets during their unbeaten run as they look to put more daylight between themselves and the drop zone.
Fewer Bodies A Bonus
Danny Cowley believes having his brother on the stands and reducing the number of staff in the dugout is beneficial for the work needed during the match.
“It’s so difficult to do your work at pitchside, we have all these new laws around where we can stand, where we can’t stand in the technical area.”
“It just makes it so difficult. I do think the FA needs to look at this really.”
Bundesliga An Example To Follow
To rectify the issues in the technical area, Cowley recommends the FA take a look at the arrangements in the German top flight.
“In the Bundesliga the dugouts are 10 metres either side of the halfway line and the fourth official is then on the halfway line.”
“But there’s distance between the two dugouts and the fourth official, it’s so much cleaner.”
“I think you would significantly reduce the number of coaches and managers getting booked, you would really tidy up the game.”
Writer’s View
The way Danny and Nicky Cowley work together is a huge advantage for Colchester United and taking the aerial view allows for a different perspective on the action.
As for the dugout situation, perhaps it would make the fourth official’s job easier to have the opposing benches and staff further apart and keep the focus on the pitch.