Jump to content

Double Jack D

Gold Members
  • Posts

    1,635
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by Double Jack D

  1. 38 minutes ago, Heid_The_Baw said:

    Never mind new faces coming in!

    So now we know O'Reilly is away, the reality is the following players could sign a PCA with another club, as all out of contract at seasons end.

    Thomson, McNeil
    Corr, Masson, Dick, Millen,Watson
    Matthews, Byrne (loan), McGill, Easton, Ross
    Vaughan, Gullan

    So as well as getting in some fresh faces, we face the prospect of losing some of the above if we don't get the chequebook out to secure them.

    Priorities?
    I would say one or both goalies, Millen (aggressive RB and good crosser - currently only RB we have!), Byrne and Vaughan.

    Easton I think is already away.  McGill is a very useful player but is a wage to sit on the bench.  Ross will be away to Falkirk permanently I think.

    I like Matthews but he has been out for a long time, and will take time to work back into the team.  I hope he is the player he was and then we can add him as a priority too.

    Dick is better I think in the middle than he is at LB.  But Premier league possibly?

    The rest have not played enough for me to be other than meh if they go.
     

    I'm sure there are offers/discussions with those we want to keep. 

    I don't think we should get too hung up on actual contract extensions though. Currently it's far from clear which league we will be in next season therefore there may be players we don't want to commit, or commit long term to, should we actually attain promotion. Similarly, there are players who are likely to receive offers from us and other teams at levels around or above us given some of our performances this season. I wouldn't anticipate many contract extensions, or PCAs being agreed with other clubs, over the next month or two.

    I think we will have definitely offered Vaughan and Easton terms. I can see Easton sitting it out and waiting to see his full options. Vaughan, with his injury history, may be easier to deal with to ensure he has some security. 

    I would say our priorities at present should be securing as strong a squad as possible, within our budget, to get promoted this season. There is a real opportunity there that existed before Dan O'Reilly came to the club.

  2. 14 hours ago, Double Jack D said:

    Fair play to the boy, we couldve offered him til the end of the season but didny.

    That said, if he doesn't sign we still have Murray, Watson, Corr, Mason, Dick and Brown that can play centre half so we won't break the bank to keep him. 

    I would like him to stay but there's other clubs with more money and some that are far more desperate than we are.

    Said this before O'Reilly signed for Thistle and it's kinda how it played out. 

    Whilst I wouldn't describe Thistles situation as desperate, I think their need for a centre half is greater than ours at present and they are willing to go beyond this season with an offer. I'm happy we didn't.

    Don't get me wrong, O'Reilly would've been a great option for us this season however we don't need to be throwing daft money or lengthy contracts at him to get him to stay, there are other possibilities and options. We managed ok at Tannadice without him for example and he was part of the shocking defensive display at home to Ayr (Although, ironicallly I don't think he particularly had a bad game that night). Watson appears almost ready to return and Dylan Corr isn't miles away from being a first Team player and would benefit from a run in the team. Also, with Ross Matthews being back, Scott Brown can drop back too. He also frees up a wage that can be deployed at another CB or elsewhere in the team (Scott Tiffoney would be my preference :))

    Wish the lad all the best, 2 goals at East end in a Rovers victory hasn't been done by many. 

     

  3. Fair play to the boy, we couldve offered him til the end of the season but didny.

    That said, if he doesn't sign we still have Murray, Watson, Corr, Mason, Dick and Brown that can play centre half so we won't break the bank to keep him. 

    I would like him to stay but there's other clubs with more money and some that are far more desperate than we are.

  4. O'Reilly been a good signing but if Corr and Watson both fit then he is surplus to requirements. Also, there may be others available in January who are a better option so will wait and see. 

    Happy with the soundbites coming out of the club in that we are happy with what we have. We absolutely shouldn't be trying to speculate to win the league, leave that to United. It may well come off for them but the longer term strategy should be what we are pursuing. 

  5. 1 hour ago, Broken Algorithms said:

    There's an absurd number of games over the years where we'll go up against a team low on confidence, and they'll end up winning against all odds.

    Off the top of my head, Cowdenbeath and Falkirk were really bad for it before. Still remember the COVID season where Queen of the South played a school kid in goals making his debut at 16 and we didn't have a sniff at goals.

    I always go back to the season when a dying, homeless Clydebank won one game all season on a miserable Tuesday night at Cappielow.

    I hate being overly confident with the Rovers, but this team are made of different stuff.

  6. How long has the pitch been down? Must be about 5 years or so?

    In that time I don't think I've heard one negative comment from a player, manager or TV commentator on the pitch relating to how the ball bounces or potential injuries to players etc. I have heard several (mostly from Raith side) about how it helps us play better football, particularly in comparison to the state of some grass pitches in the Jan to March period of the season.

    Whilst plastic pitches generally seem to be getting stick left right and centre, genuinely feel like ours has been an outlier for some reason. It is certainly a miles better surface than I can ever remember grass providing at Starks Park.

  7. If pro indy support is at 50+% in the polls it is imperative that this is unified in the next Westminster election if there is to be any realistic chance of it happening in the short term.

    If not then any reduction in SNP seats (possibly even a Labour win in Scotland which kinda chills my bones) will put indyref on ice, perhaps indefinitely.

    I can't believe it appears we are going to go through the giving Labour one last shot all over again. 

    The million dollar question is how or who can unify it...

  8. Genuinely no idea what to expect from this game. 

    I think we'll return to a more familiar 4-2-3-1 set-up with Byrne and Brown back into midfield. Would expect Murray and OReilly to start at centre half with McGill in for Millen and Dick at left back.

    Hamilton will be the striker. 

    I think you could then draw straws for who starts and who finishes on the 3. The only certainty imo would be Stanton to start.

    Don't know what to expect from ICT. They were howfin earlier in the season but we huffed and puffed and were lucky to beat them in  the end.

    Going for a bad tempered 1-2 to the Rovers. Another 90+2 winner :)

  9. Whilst the McPake begging Dundee to cup tie Byrne is most definitely made up internet pish, it's still a narrative I quite enjoy. 😂

    We're definitely there to be got at on Friday. A new and inexperienced centre half pairing will definitely struggle and the Pars have seen a return of a couple of key players recently so it could be a tough night for our boys.

    Pressure is what makes diamonds though :)

  10. 3 hours ago, McGuigan1978 said:

    I'm not overly keen on a tiered pricing structure, but what I'm less keen on is charging £24 for a game in the Championship, no matter who the opponent is. 

    We were pretty vocal in criticising Dundee for charging that price last season, so I'm certainly not going to say it's fair enough because we're now charging that price for four of our home games. 

    I do think it probably has or will put some folk off attending, as it was a factor in me not going to Dens Park for the midweek game last season. 

    I get the "It's just an extra couple of pounds" argument, but there has to be a tipping point eventually. 

    I agree pricing is too high generally however I think tiered pricing is fair enough, if you don't want to pay it then you don't go. No one is forced to attend a game. The demand would then drop and therefore dictate future pricing strategy.

    Tiered pricing allows clubs to charge more for the big exciting games which can subsidise cheaper entry for lesser games and/ or tickets for kids. 

  11. 5 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

    Or......these 2 factors plus the serious financial investment in your club have allowed you to speculate & sign better players which helped you get off to a good start, leading to higher crowds at these home games.

    I still don't think the fact you've had bigger crowds at these 2 games means it's OK to charge more for them, but I feel like you've made your mind up.....fair doos. Just a bit concerned as to where will it all end? Will we be paying £26 next time we visit Starks?

    Still not sure our wage bill will be higher than the big city slicker team but hey ho.

    It will be £24 next time.

  12. 57 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

    We've had numerous people using the relatively high crowd to somehow justify the Raith ticket price policy.

    The home crowds are higher this season because you're playing well and are currently high up the table.

    Absolutely.... but

    Whether we were playing well or not, the crowds for the DU and Pars games would be higher than the ICT or Morton Games.

    Crowds are also higher, imo, due to the free under 12 policy and the excellent RRCF which has hundreds of youngsters playing football in Rovers colours. Not only are there obviously many more of these youngsters at games I know many families who now go who were never interested in football 2 or 3 years ago. 

    The tiered pricing and the higher than average adult ticket price have facilitated that. 

  13. See I think tiered pricing is perfectly acceptable. Games which generate less demand should cost less and games which generate more demand should cost more.

    I agree totally that prices should be cheaper, generally, but I have no issue with them fluctuating depending on the demand anticipated for the game.

    Therefore I reserve the right to think that £20 for the forthcoming cup tie is too expensive but £21 for the NY derby is good value.

×
×
  • Create New...