CallumPar

Cup game confirmed for Friday 24th at 7:45pm.

I was just meaning this season, to be fair. I know they’ve shown a couple in the past.

Other than the day we won the league in 2011 and a snow game in 99/00, I don’t think there’s been many memorable games between the teams. BBC showed Pars v Morton at EEP last time we were in the championship and that was a completely forgettable game as well. I don’t know who’s in charge of these decisions. They’ve not chosen any Fife derbies, yet choose Morton v Dunfermline. Only reasoning I can imagine is that, for some reason, someone expected either us or Morton to be entertaining to watch when they picked the game. That person needs to find a new job, if so.

0-0 after 80 minutes. Todd and KRH come off the bench to score a hat trick each.

Remember the Partick game. Think the other home game on tv was Morton at home that season (1-1 draw iirc - Iain Wilson scored for Morton). I think the Partick game was rearranged and it meant that the BBC were at East End in two consecutive games. The Raith games weren’t on tv anyway, I remember that.

Glad it’s on the tele and I won’t be wasting my time driving through for this. We need to see a response to last week, where we had a lot of the ball and got into good areas, but didn’t do enough to score. We haven’t scored a goal since we last played Morton, so that’s a bit of a concern. Don't know Bene’s status, but would imagine Breen is out fairly long term again. I liked Otoo and Allan in midfield, so would hope we can play Comrie, Bene and Fisher as a back 3. I think we need Bene’s physicality up against Muirhead. Thought Moffat played quite well last week, but if Summers is fit I’d start him. If he’s only half-fit (like he was v Ayr) then leave him on the bench. We need a result. Performance doesn’t really matter, it’s just win at all costs. This is obviously a really poor run that we’re on and we need to put an end to it as soon as possible.

Hoping the club make the prices reasonable, to try and encourage a big crowd. £15 would be about right. We’re now playing Rovers at least 6 times this season, which isn’t a particularly appealing prospect. It’s pretty boring when we end up playing teams so often - same thing happened with Partick 2 years ago (except both cup games were away). I’m sure that the Scottish cup draw was just after we’d played them at Firhill on that occasion too. I’d imagine there’s a fairly good chance this game is moved for tv as well. Haven’t looked at the draw, but I’d be surprised if there was a better fixture for tv in this round.

Yeah. We’re going through a rough patch, but we’re still the same team that did well at Tannadice and Hampden. We’re also still the same team that put in a fantastic performance against Morton a month ago. McPake has a fair bit of goodwill and nobody is going to be calling for his head in the next few weeks. But it’s a real test for him right now. First time we’ve lost back to back games under his leadership, but it’s more the manner of the defeats that has been so alarming. Let’s not lie, Rovers are one of the better teams in this league and we’ll have to rediscover our best form, if we want a result here. I was hoping the long break would have seen us come back refreshed, but Saturday was just awful. If I’m being honest, I’m kind of at the stage that I just want Todd, Benedictus and KRH back, before I can really be confident in this team ahead of a game. Their consistency and energy will be crucial once they’re back to fitness. We’ll put in the odd good performance and get the odd good result before then. But we’re starting to see why those players are so important to us. We certainly could have done with Bene’s leadership on Saturday. But the players shouldn’t need any motivation for this one.

As parsforlife says above, I would not be playing Breen in that central role. To be honest, after today’s performance, I’m not sure I’d be keen to see him play at all next week. He wasn’t the only one to play poorly, but he was the worst of the defenders and didn’t look anywhere near fit enough to be out there.

Taylor Sutherland scored twice for Bonnyrigg today, in a 3-2 win against Clyde. Hopefully this loan move turns out to be successful for him.

A 1-0 defeat is better than we deserved. Ayr were dominant and never looked like dropping points. Logan Chalmers was outstanding and ran the show. From our perspective, it was horrendous. We had a few chances to salvage a point, but Ayr had about 6/7 chances to extend their lead that were as good, or better. Jakubiak has to score. Great save, but the keeper shouldn’t have been given a chance. We were all over the place and the manager’s subs were very weird. Hooking Chalmers, then bringing on Allan at half time to do what Chalmers usually does… also no idea why he waited until HT to change the shape/bring Breen off. He should have been off when we made the double sub. Mehmet’s shot stopping was decent. But he was glued to his line at set pieces, which was a cause for concern. First half, Ayr were putting every corner between him and the six yard line. Ref was awful. But not going to focus on that, as he certainly isn’t the reason we lost. Ayr had a handball claim for a penalty at 0-0 and I thought it looked like it could have been a pen from where I was. Could be wrong though, as I didn’t have the best view of it.

Absolutely terrible first half from us. No idea how it’s only 1-0. Had that chance after a few mins (Edwards should have scored), but Ayr should have scored 4 or 5. Defensively, we’ve been shambolic. With the ball, we’ve been atrocious. Ayr have a game plan and it’s working. If we have a game plan, I can’t tell what it is. Mehmet looks back to his old self from the Grant era - but he’s not the only one. The whole performance reminds me of the Grant era, if I’m being honest. No idea how Breen managed to avoid getting subbed off. McCann might get pass marks so far, but I’m not even sure of that. He’s the only one that even comes close though. Summers and Moffat look like kids that have won a competition - is Summers actually fit? Ayr look a good team today. They’ve been much better than us in every department.

Didn’t see McPake dropping Fisher. Mehmet and Summers start. 2 keepers on the bench. Still seems to be a lot of players missing.

If Mehmet’s fully fit, he should start. Think I’d stick with Comrie at RCB and O’Halloran at RWB. Think we’ll see Otoo used in midfield if Breen’s back. edit - Summers starting is obviously a no-brainer, assuming he’s back fit.

Club just tweeted, pitch is fine.

Winds have died down and it’s drizzly. Ground is quite wet, but if the pitch is fine now, I can’t see it being unplayable later. Meant to dry up around lunchtime according to met office.

As far as I can see, trains seem to be up and running. Replacement bus from Waverley to Inverkeithing (as was always going to be the case), but Fife services seem to be fine.

Regarding derby tickets, I think we had this discussion when their prices were announced. Unfortunately, clubs can charge what they want. I’ve been arguing that we should be capping away ticket prices in Scotland for a while. They’re charging their own fans the same amount and everyone can make their own decision, whether they’re willing to pay that price or not. Raith are far from the only team that increase prices when they play against big clubs. Although it’s a slap in the face for match-going fans, it’s a bit of a compliment to the club/fanbase that they obviously see us as a big club. I’m not a fan of tiered pricing, but it’s pretty common in football these days.

Based on our friend’s theories above, it turns out Raith Rovers are struggling financially.

Worst part is, I don’t think they’re fishing. I think they actually think they’re being clever/funny.

Also no trains between Edinburgh and Fife all weekend, due to engineering works.

Pleased with the 2 year extension for Bene. Would be surprised if he was starting every week by the end of that time, but his attitude, experience and leadership is so important. He’s a really popular guy around the club and all of our defenders have spoken about how he has helped them become better players. He’s also only 31, so should have a few years left in him, particularly if we continue with the back 3. Also sounds like he’s looking to get involved in the coaching side, so we may give him a role with the reserves and/or academy at some point too.

Looks like an interesting start, going by twitter. Inside the first 6 minutes Falkirk had a goal disallowed, Little saved a penalty then Dunfermline had a goal disallowed!

Any idea what the trialist looks like? I’ve only seen the photos the club uploaded. Be interested to know what area of the team we’re looking at, or whether this was maybe someone to make up the numbers in training whilst we have our injury troubles.