renton

No need for melodrama, the guys we have didn't turn into bad players over night. We have half decent personnel and our target should still be attainable, i.e. staying in the division and maybe not getting sucked into a dog fight, and that really can only be the height of our ambition this time round. We've come on leaps and bounds under McGlynn, but it was always going to get harder to provide year on year improvement. I'd be the first to suggest that Davidson and Simmons shouldn't play together, and as the game got more stretched last night I thought walker made a good claim for one of the CM berths on saturday, time will tell. In other areas, depsite being up against guys with a lot of pace and power, I thought Dyer had a better game, he's getting there. Wilson looks to be getting forward more and that will only help. I still wasn't impressed by ellis and Murray as a partnership but as Hill and Ccampbell become fit that will sort itself out. while up fornt our strike force did as well as it could with the opportunities they ahd and were unlucky rather than incompetent I thought. Yes, the team ahs issues just now, and I'd be the last to gloss over them but there is no doubt that we picked up a bit after saturday and facing a superb team like DU was never going to be easy. We have to pick the positives where we can and accept that at least the team's tempo should have improved for saturday. We are not fucked, not yet (albeit if EF put us to the sword then I might just retract that statement) Here's the issue, the money we might ahve spent on Smith went into getting Mole, and even if it didn't we were not offering Smith the kind of wages that would have made him upsticks anyway - it's not that likely that he would ahve come for the wages we had (pre-Mole).

Bit of a late post on the subject, still quite bileous after saturday if truth be told. That was the outlier from last season, the half dozen games where players, coach, manager all got it 100% wrong and we got a pasting, that was saturday. In truth it was near the effort levels put in against Airdrie in the 3-0 gubbing last year, or more worryingly, the non shift put in against Berwick. Where to start? The central two at the back did ok, although Murray had an uncharacteristically sloppy performance in giving the ball away, and Ellis, for all his height really isn't able to use his strength as well as campbell or Hill, and against Dempster that became an issue. I can only imagine that McG did not take this as a serious game, otherwise why pitch Wilson in from the start after only fifteen minutes against Stenny, where he looked far from ready. Looking down the left hand side of that team, it's obviously all new and you have a problem here. neither player, Dyer or McBride was able to give the other much support, It's tempting to put more onus on McBride who was clearly being marked out of the game by his ex colleagues, leaving Dyer stranded. My temptation would be to pair one of the two with a more experienced player. Mcbride lacks Smith's defensive work, and Ellis is needed presently to cover that centre half pairing. I'd be inclined to use Ferry out there, he can sit deeper and give Dyer more cover (until the latter is less rusty and more confident), sure he won't get up the pitch as well but he'll hold on to the ball, finds good space and can pick a pass, which giving the other big problem we had on saturday is surely a blessing. The midfield two just don't work. Neither is inclined to get up the pitch and move beyond the two strikers to pull a defender away from the strikers, thus neither create space for the strikers moving forward (on occasion Davo does to be fair to him). Simmons tends to play within himself to often but is still a better footballer than Davidson. You can see it the way Simmons holds on to the ball a bit longer, trying to drag his marker in close and commit him before releasing the ball. Davo tends (or I find that he does) to release the ball to early and thus no space is created. He also has a bad habit of coming deep, almost into the centre half position to pick the ball from Murray and then give it back to him. He should either stay more advanced to recieve the ball from centre half, or turn and find a ball forward, to often he does neither. So we end up with a flat centre two who don't move enough to create space and consequently we end up trying to play through two banks of four players to get a sniff at goal. I have no understanding of what Walker has to do to get a game, he is easily the best CM at the club. Indeed in 3 of the 4 midfield positions on saturday I'd prefer him to the present incumbent. He has the fitness to last in the position, can play a pass and crucially will get forward and make space for the strikers. Everyone else can see this, yet he has been used very sparingly in the pre season. Williamson is basically a passenger for large spells of the game and tends to hide a lot. Up front, I thought we started with our best striker partnership on the bench. Mole will hold the ball up and Baird has a better brain and more pace than Weir. Surely that was Weir's last chance to stake a claim for one of the two starting berths up top. As a striker I feel he's gone backwards a bit since we got promoted and I wonder if his future is as a wide midfielder where when he does go outside he can beat a man. In the case of Tade I'd move him out wide right and he will terrorise most left backs in the division. You can understand McG's prediliction to having him more central as he is athletic enough to cover every blade of grass but he is better starting from wide, and as both he and Weir have a tendency to play that way, one of Baird or Mole, who will stay more central has to play in there. Clearly, that was unacceptable as a performance. That is not his best eleven but given that much of that is what has played all the friendlies it gives me no great hopes for the games ahead. Rovers really need to get there act together, I understand the temptation is to sit with a deep midfield and play over the top to Tade, but that only works against teams like Dundee who'll come and play a high line, anyone playing a more cautious game will kill us with that eleven we started with.

Quiet you. We're doomed, and if you can't get on board with that then f**k off to disneyland and let the rest of us wallow as we please.

You know, I'm almost certain that McGlynn entertained that exact thought 30 minutes into the game on tuesday night. God help us

Carrots have feelings too, you monster

Anyone know if O'carroll is still at the club, or have we just booted that option?

I'm happy enough with our new signings, they have strengthened areas where we were weak, criminally up front and providing more cover and options up the left hand side. I still think we'll be lacklustre this year, we will almost certainly be without our first choice right back and centre half for the start of the season so can't see us having a decent start, let alone the terrific start we had last time out.

On paper it certainly looks like you have a lot to look forward to, I imagine the only real worry you should have is the gelling of so many new players into a unit.

Not to sure, we've got Diurmund O'carroll on trial, he's played in three games and I'm not sure what the rules for trialists in friendlies are, is it he same as the league, if so we are unlikely to have anyone new. If not O'carroll will most likely feature.

True, but I hope he gets it, seems a decent lad who wants to get on in life, a bit of a comedown if he can't get the Notts County gig and his fall back is us.

Until Ellis is fit enough to play a full game. If we really did need extra cover I'd much prefer us to try and get Armstrong back in until Campbell was fit.

Maybe Scott Mcbride was busy that day.

He doesn't live in Kirkcaldy, although I assume he lives on the east coast anyway. I also seriously doubt we'd be able to match Thistle for wages.

If Smith's interest was purely monetary, in a straight up bidding war I reckon we'd lose. We'd be relying on the personal relationships Smith has built up already at Stark's, as well as the obvious rapport with the support to counter balance that.

Your thoughts regarding McBride echo those I was having last month regarding the then not unlikely (now almost certain) partnership of Weir and Baird up front. We seem unlikely to get another striker now, we also look unlikely to get Russell, injured for six weeks at least and likely to have another option in RC should Houston deign to send him out on loan. Basically, for all of us that were hoping for more strengthening before the season starts, it's hang on to your seats and put your faith in John 'I'm happy with the squad as it is' McGlynn time.

I feel sorry for Scott McBride, he's obviously relatively local, becuase as one of the new signings - and the other three can't be - he is getting wheeled out for all the various large and small tedious public appearences required of the Rovers. god help him if he's shite now....

Aye, and then achieved Scotland's first unmanned space flights.

but maybe I'm being too negative just now..... edited too add picture more closely aligned to how I feel about this.

So he must have had some training surely, otherwise what's the point throwing him into a game situation, friendly or no? In many repsects my initial gut instinct is that this seaosn will be similar to lasts, cup run aside, and that we'll be looking at avoiding relegation again.

Can't see the story on line, why is Ellis still to begin?

Yes, it's not so much the lack of raw pace but rather the slight slowing of reactions - the difference between a tackle and an outright leg breaker, he was unable to force his way back into that team, nor was he able to make it at QoS, I'd imagine that during training he simply wasn't competing well for his place. The problem is that first divisions sides are cannier, faster and won't oblige us by humping balls striaght down the middle of the field for Marv to eat up. Luckily, Campbell has more to his game, as does Hill. Andrews raw passion and strenght aren't enough anymore, we simply shouldn't be risking a wage on him.

Guess That's the standard template then.... And blue shorts as well, would no doubt look better with white but hey ho.

Yes, now I think he might be getting there. He couldn't break through into the Queens team last season, which would imply something missing that used to be there. he was a disaster at Hamilton before that. In the last two years he's only managed to prove himself as a second division player. Now, I think we are better equipped with players who have a better reading of the game. Marv never really anticipated the play, but rather reacted to it, his reactions aren't what they used to be, and his physical presence is less intimidating in this league.

I don't have any As long as Wilson is fit to start the season, my apprehension will be less, but as it is, unless Tade has found a pair of shooting boots, we are still ridiculously light up front. Baird is only likely to be a partial solution and I don't want us relying on a loan signing to fill the gap if possible - what Houston giveth, Houston can also taketh away.