R.R.FC

Would agree we need two more signings and one has to be a right winger. However, I think the other has to be full back cover. It’s a big ask for Watson to come in and play 36 games at a high standard having barely played before this season.

Weirder than that, I know some part time players for the likes of Peterhead and Elgin who train with other teams closer to home through the week and only meet up on Saturdays with their own team.

No they didn’t.

Pretty sure 8-1 wasn’t the average score tbh.

Received the email too as well as a note that all people that renew before 30th of June have the incentive/reward of being entered into a draw to win the new away top. Regardless of whether it was already in the pipeline or if there is actually somebody reading here it’s good work by the club, fair play.

Slow uptake on season tickets after a failure of a season and then sticking with the manager responsible for that failure? Who’d of thunk it!? It’s old ground on the manager and it won’t change now so no point going over it but I’d imagine it should be pretty obvious to the club season ticket sales will be comfortably down this season. I’d also be very surprised if your post suddenly changed anyone’s mind into buying a season ticket. I will get one eventually, as I’m sure most on here will. But I’d class any football fan posting on a football forum amongst the ‘hardcore’. It’s the more casual fan who’s uptake will affect the numbers and budget more and those numbers will almost certainly be down due to the clubs decisions and performance on and off the field over the last couple of years. In danger of this becoming a rant but why don’t the club email/post out to all season ticket holders who haven’t renewed? A personal touch can go a long way. I’ve always thought there should be incentives for season ticket renewals instead of it being taken for granted also. Returning customers should receive some sort of reward even if it’s something as simple as £10 off your renewal or a discount for the club shop.

I’d say a right back is needed more than a left back. Not sure Watson is ready to be relied upon as first choice. Murray at left back with Bene and Davo at CB and a new signing at right back is a solid back 4. Somebody able to play comfortably on both sides would be ideal. Someone like Gary Irvine but only not old and passed it.

Not listened to the interview but surely he means we are 3 players away from a team i.e 11 players? Not including the youngsters promoted we have 8 senior players signed up for next season so that would make sense. Sure there will be more signings on top of that as is already indicated with talks for another keeper and striker.

I’m not particularly excited by the Duggan signing but it’s hard to take some of the reviews by the East Fife fans seriously. Was he not their best player just a couple of months ago? I wonder what changed their minds...

Not surprised, been coming a while. Sure he will be a big miss as he did a great job with the youth team and was very enthusiastic and active in the community side of things. However, he has also been involved with 2 first team season failures, although I’m not sure what, if any, input he had amongst the various management teams so that is perhaps unfair. Interesting change of tone in the statement, hopefully moving away from the ‘Can’t stand in his way’ comments were used to seeing.

Surely Hopkin is looking at the clubs Jack Ross is being linked with and thinking he can do better than Carlisle?

Anyway, I’d be a little surprised if we signed McIntosh. He was training with us last pre season and we never offered him a deal. Don’t really see what he did at Arbroath last season that would cause a U-turn.

Fact is we could sign the last 11 posters on this thread and we’d still finish above East Fife. Probably still beat them 4 times too.

I wouldn’t be too disappointed to see Thomson go. He’s been a great servant but probably better he goes now before his stock drops further in fans eyes and damages the way he’s remembered. He’ll certainly suit Dick Campbell’s style of football! There doesn’t seem to be too many replacements jumping out though, decent right backs seem to be pretty thin on the ground which maybe edges me towards wanting him to stay. Is the lad Ballantyne that was on loan at Montrose and just been released by Dundee United a right back? He might be a decent option, highly rated by the Montrose fans.

It’s a good interview. Don’t agree with everything Sim says but I certainly appreciated the honesty and transparency which is something we’ve lacked for a long time. It may be controversial and It’ll not happen anytime soon for a number of reasons but if we ever had the opportunity to leave Starks and move to a 7000/7500 capacity purpose built stadium I would jump at the chance. As much as I love Stark’s the place seems to be falling apart and the lack of room for expansion and development of facilities is really hampering us. ETA: Also, credit to the Raith TV guys once again, can’t be easy but I think all the important questions we asked.

Looking at the retained/released list further, I understand people saying Smith can finally put his stamp on the team. The worrying thing for me is he signed 6 of his own players on ‘permanent’ deals last season and 4 of them have been released and Buchanan would most likely have made that 5 had he not signed a 2 year deal. If I wanted to be really harsh you could also include McHattie as Smith’s own signing who is also gone. A clear out was definitely required but it will require a serious step up in Smith’s recruitment to make it work. Fingers crossed he gets it right this season.

Would agree with no thanks to Mark Stewart. We’ve just got rid of a few injury prone players and I’ve seen enough of his first touch and constantly getting caught offside to last me a lifetime. However, I can understand the suggestion. I thought we missed a genuine speed merchant upfront last season. Someone with real pace to stretch defences either out wide or upfront (preferably both) would make a real difference to us I think.

Exactly this. Although I would have kept him based on potential I can understand Furtado. He only ever showed it in flashes for us and his performances have dropped over the last couple months. Pleasantly surprised by what appears to be a good sized clear out. I don’t normally like to be too harsh on individuals but I’m pretty relieved I won’t see McHattie, Barr and Smith in Rovers shirts again.

On the theme of Alloa loanees, I’d love us to sign Ross Stewart. Was impressed with him everytime I saw him. If we persist with our direct style of play would think he’d suit that too. Cant see him getting game time with St Mirren in the Premiership but I’d imagine they may want to loan him to a Championship side next season. Would also take his namesake at St Mirren as our keeper.

Exactly, spoken like someone who hasn’t seen Barr and Spence play the last year and is going purely off reputation. Wilkie and Duggan are not exactly inspiring signings but certainly wouldn’t be a downgrade based on what we’ve seen the past season. Duggan scored more goals than Spence in a dreadful East Fife team isolated on his own upfront. He will also suit our style of play more. Spence works hard which helps him escape criticism but he has flattered to deceive this season and has been a big disappointment for me. Bobby Barr hasn’t put in a consistent run of performances since around September 2016, it will be a relief to see him finally go.

What he said.

Hopefully we can manage both but if we could only afford one out of sacking Smith or staying full time, what would be the preference?

Any idea if the board meeting is this morning or this evening? Up for discussion we have: New Chairman Sack or keep manager Full time or part time next season Confirmation if we still plan to install the synthetic pitch this summer and when work should start. Nothing too major then...

I am no fan of the board but I can’t blame them for not releasing money to sign another midfielder in January. Smith only has himself to blame for spending a large chunk of his budget on Spence and Buchanan and then not utilising them properly. Add that to the fact he brought in Hendry at the start of January and then, for reasons known only to Barry Smith, didn’t play him until March. Why would the board give him money for another midfielder when he wouldn’t play the one they did give him money for? Smith was left with a lot of players from last season but he has made 7 signings, more than enough to shape his own team and style. Also, the fact that out of those 7 signings only one can be deemed a clear success (Murray) puts yet another black mark against Smiths name.

Depends if he claims he’s always been an Ayr United fan. You’ll get him for free in that case.