Raith Against The Machine

A week or two back, the FFP had Murray giving the team extra time off, and noted today as the first day back.

Only question mark with Ashcroft is his fitness, particularly when he'll actually be fit again. There was never a prognosis offered other than "out for the season" last year. No idea if he's going to be 100% for day one of pre-season or if he's still weeks/months away. Quality-wise though, as good as you'll get in terms of a big Championship unit who has been the distance. You're never going to get silky football out of him, but you'll not lose many headers either.

As with Partick Thistle announcing Logan Chalmers on a 'pre-contract' just last week, presumably the current convention for at least some clubs is to contract players to the end of June, so you won't be able to register them officially until 1 July.

Honk [derogatory]

That made up Jai Quitongo rumour now starting to look quite aspirational for you chaps.

How old will Collin Samuel be now? I'd rather sign him.

Or Andy McNeil.

The Rovers haven't been able to reach an agreement with Dylan Corr, largely (I'd imagine) due to the arrival of Callum Fordyce. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he was on McCabe's radar, with your defensive needs.

No, it's a cricket post.

Class. I've always wanted an EverSolo DMP-A6 Master Edition Streaming DAC

Does it?

Employers have a much greater responsibility to their employees than the other way around. One is a corporate entity with dozens of other employees and the other is a human being with (likely) a single source of income and bills to be paid. This whole Caley situation clearly doesn't reflect well on many people, but Duncan Ferguson deserves his fair share of criticism for this particular aspect of it. Even if the boardroom is a shambles, you'd think the manager would at least pick up the phone to tell players "Look man, I don't know what's going to happen, but assuming things stay more or less as they are, you [are/are not] in my plans for next season." The Doran situation in particular is appalling. Obviously there are a lot of moving parts at the moment, but there's a real lack of basic human decency from some quarters.

Could do, but Kai Montagu has already filled our quota for players with the names of pilots from The Great War.

Basic courtesy?

You're maybe using language that's slightly more critical than I'd choose, bur I agree with your overall point. I also think it's a phenomenon that more players and agents should pay attention to. Particularly your flashy wingers of this world. Drop a level, get into the top half of the division below, and you'll have a much better time of it.

Aye this narrative that Byrne 'was benched' or whatever is disingenuous. He was clattered in the face and presumably had a fairly nasty concussion. Fully fit, Shaun Byrne starts in any midfield in this division.

Too early to call on Livi, I think. If the business they've done so far is the "top end" of what they do then I can't see them challenging, but if (as I suspect) it's more like the bottom end and their headline signings are still to come, they'll be tough to beat. They'll also likely be the ones with the most funds available in January, which is always a factor.

Does he get the keys to both Twitter accounts, or only one of them?

Yeah, I know Twitter isn't a great barometer, but the reaction to this news and particularly yesterday's "Btw, we're not going to Kelty" statement seems to be missing the bigger picture that the club as a whole is on the brink. It might be good news that you don't have to move and that the landlord is changing, but if the building is still on fire, worry about the fire.

That, surely, is the angle for the next couple of days then? Are the existing directors willing to be bought out by some new mystery entity, for some agreed pence in the pound figure? The alternative being that they see the club go into administration, with the points deductions and everything that goes with it, to end up with a reduced figure anyway? I suppose this is where it comes down to questions of what the club owns and what it's worth. Does the club own the ground the land is on? Does it have some sort of astronomical book value because of the freeport? Would the extinction of the football operation actually free up enough assets for administrators to pay off debts more or less in full?

I know that there have been delayed accounts etc which will obscure the up to date picture, but do we have a rough idea of what Caley's debt position is? How much is owed and who to? Is it mostly to existing directors?

It's a "come and get me plea" but for investment. The insolvency advice is only going to be one thing. This is the football club saying that there are only a couple of days before the insolvency practitioners have officially assessed the situation and administration will be confirmed. If anyone wants to avoid that, they need to be providing funds now.

The Rovers have been using Fanbase for the last season or two and there's been the option to have a physical card posted out, for a small surcharge. Fanbase can be a little finicky sometimes if you're trying to load your tickets in a busy place (ie, at a busy football ground!) but that does seem to have improved since the beginning of the season. It's better than most of the other e-ticketing type solutions I've seen.

Ethan Ross far from the only player forced to take a step down to revive his career. Fair play and good luck to him.

Do we need a starting CB with Murray and Fordyce on the books? We definitely need another, but I wouldn't at all surprised to see them coming in as the "third", behind those two but ahead of Corr.