R.R.FC

Whilst it was reported in the press our chairman was attempting to persuade McGlynn to stay after the approach from Falkirk, it is also worth noting he had still not been offered a new contract by our last game of the season. Our owner, John Sim, also said in an interview that after the approach from Falkirk, McGlynn joked with him that if he took the job, Sim wouldn’t need to sack him. McGlynn did an excellent job for most of his time but from 18th December 2021 onwards it was a complete disaster. 3 wins in 19 league games despite having our biggest budget in about 25 years with a huge amount of money wasted on some disastrous signings. Because of this, his budget was due to be cut significantly in a more competitive looking Championship this season. That added to the fallout from the Goodwillie debacle means a move to League One Falkirk at their lowest ebb, where it was almost impossible not to make an improvement on last season, with the biggest budget in the league would definitely be viewed as a much better option. I think it’s been the right move for all parties involved.

Congratulations Accies. We know exactly how it feels to have Colin McGowan involved in the club, ripping the heart out of it. Hamilton have had a hard time of things on but particularly off the pitch this season and I’m sure many fans have wondered at times why they bother, days like yesterday and last night make it all worthwhile. Can go a long way to building a bond between the fans/players/management which could make a difference in your relegation fight too. All the best (except a week on Tuesday).

Well done Hamilton, well deserved. Not huge numbers but their support backed their team very, very well orchestrated by Rankin and helped get them over the line. I thought we moved the ball pretty well second half, just maybe needed to be a bit more intricate with our final ball from the wide areas as cross after cross played into Hamilton’s hands. Still had enough pressure and openings that on another day we probably would have got a goal but just didn’t get the break of the ball, allied to some excellent goalkeeping from Fulton. Didn’t think it was a red card either so Hamilton deserved that little bit of luck. I really can’t be too critical of the second half, it was the first half where the game was lost. We were absolutely dreadful the first 45 and if you only play for half a cup final, you can’t have any complaints about being on the losing side. Frustrating day. Congratulations to Accies.

Yeah, Millen in for McGill is the only change for me. Murray said he told the players before last week’s game they were in pole position to start the cup final and it was up to them to hold on to their jersey with their performance. You can’t say that and then drop anyone from last week’s side, particularly Vaughan who had probably his best game since returning from injury. Harsh on Connolly who has been excellent this season but after watching last week’s game, he’d have expected to miss out. He’ll still have a big part to play off the bench along with Ethan Ross I think. I assume there isn’t any danger Murray rotates the keeper? MacDonald hasn’t played a minute in the Challenge Cup this season but I’d hope since it’s the final he’ll go with his strongest available side.

Looking around at strikers potentially available in the summer, Calum Gallagher seems like an obvious target. Top scorer in League One with 18 goals and 6 assists in 29 games and someone Murray knows and has signed at both Airdrie and St Mirren. Left wing isn’t really a priority but I would imagine Charlie Reilly at Albion Rovers is also being watched. Huge step up from League Two but only 21 and with 20 goals and 10 assists in 28 games. Been linked with the likes of Dundee and Killie so will probably have better offers although he is another one Murray worked with at Airdrie. However, jury is out if that will be to our benefit given he only played a handful of games and was then released!

If you told me a few weeks ago, a fit Aidan Connolly would be on the bench for the cup final, I’d have thought you were mad but I can’t see Murray changing that front 6 after yesterday. Expect Millen in for McGill to be the only change. Nice to have a positive selection dilemma for once though and potentially game changing options from the bench alongside Ross who has looked pretty sharp in his two brief appearances since his operation. A week is a long time at Stark’s Park though so there’s every chance we’ll have another couple of injuries by Sunday.

I actually agree with this. It’s a bit of an old firm attitude to say ‘Well they haven’t sold all their tickets yet so give them to us’. I think in a cup final you should always look to sell as many tickets as possible (we only took one quarter of the ground against Rangers in the final) but I completely understand why Hamilton wouldn’t want to give up more than half of the ground and it would be hypocritical of me to suggest they should given my thoughts on this when the Old Firm look for similar.

Anyone know how many tickets we got? Given the capacity of the stadium I’m assuming around 3,500? Fantastic effort in just a few days of sales.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/sport/football/raith-rovers-takeover-bid-business-29421673 Some more information on the proposed takeover. Described as a ‘local Fife consortium’ and a mix of business and football people. Individuals within the group have links with another SPFL club, presumably these are the ‘football people’ rather than the business people having a stake in another club. They are hoping to accelerate things over the coming weeks if greenlighted by Sim. Looking to buy out Sim’s controlling stake and Sim is keen to be some level of shareholding within the club.

Don’t know about the ref but the main stand linesman is/was definitely a Rovers fan!

Well deserved win for Dunfermline in the end. Look forward to having the derby back next season, hopefully finally get a 3pm Saturday kick off with fans for the first time in the league since 2017. Credit to McPake, would have been easy to continue in the same way as the first half and try to settle for the draw. However, from the start of the half they went right after Falkirk with a complete change in intent and they had no answer. Will be interesting to see how Bene does in the Championship next season, given his performances since joining Dunfermline. He was decent enough for us but always prone to a lapse in concentration or being overly aggressive causing mistakes but he absolutely strolled it tonight. McGlynn’s record at East End Park is fucking dreadful, seen that same performance many times.

Poor game of football. Pars have set up as I expected, pretty comfortable defensively and out of possession but have been terrible on the ball and really failed to take advantage of any of the defensive traps they have set to win the ball back. They look like a side who know a draw isn’t the worst result, will be interesting to see McPake sticks or twists if it remains 0-0 late in the game. McGlynn ball when it works is fantastic to watch but there are also plenty games with dominant possession but being toothless upfront as has been the case so far. Lots of good movement off the ball but one tame shot on target all they have show for a half they have been the better side in. Hopefully a better second half, hard to judge either team on a one off game but certainly don’t see anything to suggest whoever finishes 2nd will definitely go up via the plays offs as has been said elsewhere. Both teams look to have strong benches for this level so hopefully someone can make an impact, an early goal will hopefully transform things for the neutral.

Over 1600 tickets sold for the Rovers end at the moment, which I’m pleasantly surprised by. Would be great to get to 2000 but that’s probably unlikely.

There’s also the chance the title battle in League One could go down to the wire, so you could have a situation where, like us in 17/18, a team loses the title on the last day of the season and then can’t pick themselves back up from that disappointment for the play off tie a few days later.

I think 4th will be a bridge too far for us this year, really need a win next week to keep any sort of hope. Home games against the sides around you like the recent Ayr and Inverness matches are the type you have to win if you’re serious about challenging for top 4. However, Ayr and Morton’s game in hand over us, is against each other so both can’t go 8 ahead.

Colin Steven getting wiped out was a flare worthy moment tbf.

Yeah might not be the worst thing, obviously the cash for finishing higher up would be very welcome. But let’s face it, even if we sneaked into the play offs, there is no chance we’re going up. Knowing with certainty what division we will be in with a few games to spare should give us a head start on our squad planning for next season.

Aye Robbie Thomson (our goalkeeping coach) said after the penalty win at Dundee that him and our data analyst go over pretty much every penalty ever taken by the penalty takers of whoever they face so MacDonald would have been well briefed.

Poor game of football, lacking in quality on both sides. Ayr will probably feel they should have taken 3 points based on the penalty save and Akinyemi’s sitter late on. That’s the worst I’ve seen us since the draw with Morton before Christmas, a real missed opportunity to put ourselves right into the mix for the top 4. Positives are it’s another game unbeaten and grinding out a point when not at our best and also a much needed clean sheet, only our second clean sheet in our last 13 league games. Thought Lang and Nolan handled Akinyemi pretty well. Our real problem was up front, we badly miss the option of Vaughan and Gullan. Goncalves is no where near fit and his decision making was poor when opportunities opened up late on. However, he is still a better option than Akio for me who just doesn’t look like a footballer. His movement was awful. Watching him closely, he let the passer dictate his run rather than him dictating the pass with his movement if that makes sense. Always on his heels and only chasing after a pass when it was made rather than making the runs himself for our midfield to find.

It’s not as bad as it looks on TV, I seem to remember having a good view of Conroy and Nade’s goals on my last visit!

Yeah, definitely. A pay day for us, particularly given reports in the last few months, is never a bad thing but just felt there was a sniff of at least the semi’s for us which doesn’t come around often. Like you say, could have been worse, it wasn’t Inverness away and there was always the chance we could have got beat at home to Darvel/Falkirk which wouldn’t bear thinking about!

Bit gutted with that. Much needed big pay day for the club but the draw was really opening up. One pick away from Darvel/Falkirk at home and then the potential for Killie/Inverness in the semi. Not that we ever have a chance of winning it but rarely do the opportunities arise for a club of our size to make the semi’s/final.

I make that 17 games unbeaten in 90 minutes in cup games at Stark’s Park. In our last 25, dating back to 2016, Dundee are the only side (twice) to beat us in 90 minutes in a cup tie at Stark’s. Resounding home defeat in the next round then…

What a fucking week.

He’s had 4 starts as far as I can see, 2 of them in the League Cup groups. According to Transfermarkt, his minutes from all his appearances combined add up to just over 4 games. I’m not sure that is really ‘plenty’ of chances to prove himself. I get Livi have far better options and you can’t persist with someone who hasn’t shown anything in limited appearance but not sure it’s enough to completely write the guy off at a lower level. Ross County fans mentioned Akio’s attitude was horrendous and I’ve not seen a sign of that yet (although it is still early). His quality is still up for debate but his workrate and attitude have been good. Looking at our side, I feel like we’re well placed to carry a bit of a maverick. The workrate and attitude of our entire team is spot on, we just could do with an experienced centre forward that can poach a few goals whether that from the start or off the bench. Hopefully the attitude of the rest of the squad will rub off on him. Definitely worth a gamble given his previous spells in Scotland and still only 31, hopefully Murray can get something out of him.