R.R.FC

This. If we sign Poplatnik we will still need another striker, he is not the answer to our problems on his own. I understand people looking to sign him given our lack of options and the fact he was decent in the latter half of the season. The concern for me is there were still plenty games in that run where he was anonymous. Take away that 4 consecutive game purple patch from QOS away to the cup final (where he was excellent tbf) and he scored 6 goals in 40 appearances and 2 of those 6 were scored against East Fife and Banks O’ Dee. I feel like those 4 consecutive games culminating in the cup final, where he was absolutely outstanding, are clouding people’s views of the bigger picture and evidence over the season that he isn’t the answer as a lone striker. If the budget is there for two strikers then I’d be happy to see him back, he seems like a really decent guy and popped up with some important goals but if he can only sign one striker, it wouldn’t be him. The likes of Musonda, Poplatnik and even Bene are perfectly serviceable Championship options IMO but let’s not forget they all played a part in our dreadful second half of the season form. I am happy for Murray to roll the dice and seek out improvements for those key areas which we need if we want to kick on. The key thing is holding his nerve and making sure he gets the replacements right otherwise I’ve no doubt not retaining those players will be thrown back in his face throughout the season.

Big fan of that home kit, the first one in quite a while I’ve liked.

He can play anywhere across the back 4 with varied success. If you just want your full back to defend then he can do a job at left back but struggled there a few times for us due to the way we played in terms of being expected to get on the ball and attack and being on his wrong side. He’s a solid mid table Championship centre back with potential to be better but still prone to the odd lapse in concentration. McGlynn didn’t seem to rate him as much as the fans, he was pretty much 4th choice centre back for us and his versatility probably worked against him with not too many games in his natural position. His first season he was really good and a lot of us were surprised he signed up again for a second season but between a mixture of injuries and playing different positions he didn’t excel anywhere near to the same level last season albeit he was by no means poor. The caveat to his first season is although he looked our best centre back watching the streams he was our third best centre back in terms of goals conceded per 90 behind Benedictus and Davidson which suggests some of the flaws we saw this season were there in his first season too they just weren’t as visible. Always tended to struggle against Dunfermline for some reason, although that won’t concern you this season! I think it’s a good signing for Ayr and certainly better than what they had.

As others have said, happy to roll the dice and try to get better, Berra and Lang already on the books were a better partnership last season although the latter will be out for the start of the season and Berra was injured a lot in the second half of the season, we definitely need 2 centre backs assuming Musonda is away. I would have kept him on as 3rd/4th choice but as club captain, he was never going to agree to that and you don’t want someone with his influence in the dressing room unhappy about not playing, particularly with a new manager. He is a competent Championship centre back so in theory, he should stroll League One but I don’t think that’ll be the case. Until Steven Anderson arrived, he wasn’t particularly great for us in League One after his injury in the Barry Smith season. The flaws he has; pace on the turn, concentration and discipline are all equally evident in League One, concentration even more so because he has less to do. He was always at his best being able to defend deep in backs to the walls performances, defending his box and he won’t get many of those with a title challenger in League One. His performance away to Airdrie in the 1-0 win in the shortened season was standout, he was outstanding that day, like a magnet to the ball the last 10-15 minutes as defended ball after ball launched in the box. He goes with my best wishes though, he has racked up a lot of appearances for us and on the whole been a good player and by all accounts off the field, a very good captain.

Depends on what happens with Brad Spencer. If he leaves then I would be surprised if Murray wasn’t in for McInroy. However, I’d imagine Spencer is the preferred option and if he signs a new contract, that would leave us with Spencer, Stanton, Matthews, Easton and Arnott as options for the middle of the pitch so we won’t be in for McInroy.

Cammy Ballantyne has left Montrose in search of full time football. Would be happy with him as a replacement for Tumilty, someone Ian Murray will know all about from League One the last few years.

The board’s handling of the McGlynn situation was really poor. However, credit where it’s due for making probably the best appointment we could have hoped for from the realistic options. I wasn’t sure they had it in them so fair play.

Positive update from Alan Temple, hopefully he is correct, would be happy with either.

Kevin Thomson to Dundee, Ian Murray to the Pars and we will be left with James McPake right? I hope he brings Jimmy Nicholl as his assistant for at least a minor nostalgia plus point.

The time frame from the Courier is very similar to that reported for the Dundee job, not sure if it’s guesswork or based on insider feedback. I am not ITK at all and I am probably completely wrong but if the reported timescales at both clubs are correct, my guess would be that we want Thomson but he has an interview for the Dundee job and won’t accept our offer when he has a chance there. If he doesn’t get the Dundee job, he’ll take our offer. If he gets the Dundee job we’ll go to plan B. I want Thomson to get the job but I’m not convinced he is worth waiting a lengthy period of time for if that is the case. Although looking at the reported alternatives…

Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought. Given reports seem to be our previous manager left to a team in the league below due to being unhappy about his budget for next season, it doesn’t seem like a foregone conclusion that Thomson would be tempted away from a big spending Kelty by what we have to offer. Happy if it is him though, he was my first choice from the start and if we did get him it would probably lend some weight to the theory that a new manager will have access to a higher budget than McGlynn was offered.

McGlynn was the Hearts youth and reserve team managers though was he not? Brown hasn’t even had that. I listened to an interview Steven Gerrard did with Gary Neville a few weeks back and he said Jurgen Klopp recommended he took the under 18’s at Liverpool to learn his trade first and Gerrard said that step was really important in preparing himself for first team management as it let him learn what type of football he wanted to play and how to implement that style as well as handling players and making mistakes and learning from them away from any real scrutiny. If Brown had done a year or two managing a Premier League sides under 19 or reserve side to learn the trade a little and work out his style and how to put things in place, I would be more inclined to give him a shot but it’s a huge risk to appoint someone with absolutely zero management experience at any level especially when it seems he wants to bring Steven Whittaker as his assistant rather than an experienced older head. That’s my reasons, how he was on the pitch for Celtic doesn’t bother me, I know people who know him very well and by all accounts he is a decent bloke who is determined to make a success of himself as a manager and has always wanted to get into management from a young age but I just don’t think it’s quite the right time. Will obviously give him a chance if it turns out to be him, would certainly rather take a punt on him than the likes of McPake or Laszlo. You are correct though, that whatever appointment we make will be a gamble, there is no guaranteed success and whoever we appoint will not please everyone. I want Kevin Thomson because I have heard he is a very good coach, he comes across well whenever I’ve heard him talk about the game (except for calling it ‘footy’) and he has some managerial experience with the youth team at Rangers and now at Kelty so I think he is a couple of years ahead of Brown in his managerial development but I have no doubt many people would disagree.

Agreed. On a positive note, that article also says there isn’t a number one target at the stage but that Ian Murray and Kevin Thomson are the other ‘frontrunners’ alongside Brown. They are also reporting that Laurie Ellis and Csaba Laszlo have applied. Both of those are a big no for me, despite Ellis’ status as a player. Kevin Thomson or Ian Murray would definitely be my preference. I know Brown started his coaching badges at a young age so it’s not something he is just jumping into but he has no experience of being an outright manager at all, not even at youth football which makes it too big a gamble for me. The fact he has helped out coaching at Aberdeen and the Pars this season is hardly a glowing reference either, although I appreciate he probably had very limited input, particularly with Dunfermline. If Kevin Thomson joined us, the Kelty job would probably be an ideal place for Brown to learn his trade.

It’s always overstated how poor we were before the January recruitment. We were in the play offs for most of the season and were pretty much the 4th best side in the league before and after the January recruitment. I never really felt we wouldn’t make the play offs at any point that season, particularly after taking 4 points from away games against QOS and Morton before Christmas (our nearest competitors for a play off place). However, we went from a side that looked like it was just about going to edge out QOS and Morton for 4th place to being a match for anyone in the league losing only 1 of our last 15 games and that was at Ibrox whilst playing some nice football along the way. So the January recruitment improved us a lot but McKinnon already had us in decent position beforehand. In saying all that, I wouldn’t take him back.

I am not remotely in the know so this could be complete nonsense but I was told Falkirk did actually ask the Rovers for permission (which was granted) before they spoke to McGlynn last week because he is technically still under contract until the end of May. Not heard anything suggesting there has been any poor conduct in the approach of Falkirk. The Rovers fans are angry at our own board for getting to the last game of the season before deciding what to do with our manager, I’ve not seen any anger directed to Falkirk or their board. I don’t think McGlynn could have had any complaints if he was let go after the disastrous second half of the season but the board couldn’t seem to decide either way. We are now left in the impossible position of either losing a popular manager to a team in the league below or trying to match Falkirk’s offer by handing a long contract and large wage increase to someone who has won 3 of their last 19 league games and hasn’t won a home game since December.

@spot on who is usually one of the #ITK posters as far as I am aware and posted yesterday that McPake was lined up as a replacement. That’s certainly why I’m fearful there might be some substance to it. If they could come back and say they were at the wind up, it would make me feel a whole lot better.

Firstly, it should be said, I’ve always been a fan of McGlynn and I always think managers should be judged on where the leave the club compared to where they were when they took over. On that front, it can’t be denied McGlynn has done a great job both times he has been our manager. However, losing McGlynn doesn’t have to be a disaster. I think the panic from the fans is a sign of how little we trust the board to get the replacement right more than anything else. Ultimately, if Falkirk are throwing a lot of money at him along with a long term contract, we can’t and shouldn’t be doing that for a manager who has performed the way McGlynn has since January (form and the involvement in that signing). I would have been happy to see him continue on the same terms but his performance in recent months doesn’t justify breaking the bank for him. However, the board surely can’t just line up James McPake as an immediate replacement without interviews and inviting applications as has been rumoured? I appreciate fans are keen for us to get a move on with signings for next season but I’d rather we took a couple of weeks to get the recruitment process correct and appoint the right person rather than rushing into another mistake because of timing. Ray McKinnon was appointed on 23rd May and put together a new squad that finished 4th so it can be done. Yes, we were better after January that season but we were barely out the top 4 even before that. The board have handled this whole thing appallingly but it’s important they don’t panic now and get the next appointment right and don’t compound their mistakes. We have the core of a decent squad signed up, if we get the next appointment right there is no reason next season has to be a mess and we can certainly improve on McGlynn’s last 4/5 months.

Yeah the board have really backed themselves into a corner here by dragging their heels on a decision about what to do with McGlynn. They either lose a popular manager to a league below which looks horrendous for the clubs ambition and will upset a lot of fans. Or they give a decent wage increase and long term contract to a manager who has won 3 league games out of the last 19 and hasn’t won a home game since December. If that form continues for the first few months of next season and they have to sack him that contract will also look like a terrible decision. Hard for them to come out of this looking competent tbh.

Fucking hell. McGlynn leaving doesn’t need to be a disaster, we can get better. He is a solid Championship manager but not irreplaceable by any means. However, losing McGlynn and replacing him with McPake would be a fucking disaster. You are usually, as your name says ‘spot on’ but I really hope you’re miles off this time.

McPake is my fear too. His CV as a young manager is probably enough to tempt an incompetent board with a promotion to the Premier League and Dundee getting worse after he left this season. Quite a few mitigating factors there though and the reality is I am fairly certain he’d be another Gary Locke. Ian Murray seems the obvious choice. I appreciate I will be very much in the minority but I wouldn’t be against Kevin Thomson either. Obviously he only did what was expected with Kelty this season so it would be a big gamble. However, we’ve seen managers with the biggest budget f**k things up before but he cruised it, had a decent cup run and I always think he comes across as quite impressive when I hear him interviewed. Probably not the time to be taking a risk like that though.

I know where you are coming from, we all know the high regard McGlynn is held in for his work with the club (Goodwillie aside). I was certainly leaning towards keeping him after signs he had started to turn around the major slump and he has clearly done a good job over the piece with us. However, if Falkirk are offering a 2/3 year deal with a large wage increase, can we really justify offering that to someone who up until a couple of weeks ago had won 1 league game in 16 and oversaw an horrendous collapse in the second half of the season? Any other Raith Rovers manager in my lifetime would have been getting hounded out for such a run. A change might not be the worst thing for both parties but the next appointment is absolutely critical. If we get it right, there is no reason we can’t push on again next season. Get it wrong and we will be in real trouble. The board have to show their ambition and make sure they don’t f**k this up.

So good at Raith Rovers he was in a team relegated by Brechin and not a stand out in a honking Hamilton team. He was injured at the end of that season and missed the last 7 games including the play offs against Brechin and as mentioned elsewhere he scored 9 goals for relegated Hamilton last season, so you’re wrong on both counts. You may not rate him, which is fine, but to put him in the same bracket as someone like Martin Woods is fucking wild.

I assume there is no chance of Hughes being emptied before the play offs? A few of the senior Rovers players have since spoken out about how they considered going to the board before the play offs in our relegation season and asking that Hughes be removed and our reserve team manager, Craig Easton be put in charge for the play offs, such was the negative effect ‘Yogi’ was having on the morale and atmosphere around the club. Ultimately, they never did it so we don’t know if it would have made a difference but I remember QOS binning Gary Naysmith after the last game of the season and bringing in Alan Johnston for the play offs and that paid off (in the short term at least). Obviously I have no idea what feelings the Dunfermline squad have towards Hughes, they may all be fully behind him, but if it’s as negative as the Rovers, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to put Whittaker and Shields back in charge for the play offs. I appreciate the money may not be there to pay him off but if it was the difference between going down and staying up, it would certainly be worth it, League One looks like a nightmare next season.

I’d be very surprised if John Yorkston made any money from Dunfermline and if anything, I am led to believe he used money from his other companies to prop up the Pars towards the end. I’ve met him a few times and he’s a decent guy who clearly cared about the Pars. He was naive and too trusting in a complete charlatan like Masterton though.

As said before, I don’t really have an issue whether he stays or goes but very poor from the club if he is allowed to leave without a proper send off. Is it possible the discussions are now under way with McGlynn and there has been no announcement because negotiations are ongoing and nothing is signed? That would be the only real explanation for no confirmation on the situation. Talks could easily have begun after the Hamilton game and I don’t expect that process would be completed in 5 days. Might be reading too much into a throw away comment but his pre match interview on the website didn’t sound like someone who knew they were on their way out, his last line was something along the lines of ‘We’re going to need the support of the fans going forward as well’.