Raith Against The Machine

My gut feel is that we probably won't. I don't think it'll be through a lack of trying, I just think it's a fairly narrow remit for an incoming player, and the options are narrow. I'm sure McGlynn could get a handful of teenagers from lesser-light Premiership sides on a bus to Kirkcaldy right now if he wanted them, but what he really needs is someone who's played more than 50 games of senior football and knows how to look after themselves and provide something a little different. Those types of players are going to be few and far between.

One save, no matter how good, does not a witch make. The Witch wouldn't have been megged for the opener, either.

We didn't have an answer for Dunfermline pressing us a little higher with the two strikers. In hindsight, Poplatnik might've offered more if he'd come on earlier, but that could just coincide with Dunfermline getting the goal and sitting back (oddly, we're nothing if not fragile when under pressure late on). We should've been out of sight at half time and OFW has had to make a fantastic save to keep us out at the end, but it just highlights the lack of flexibility we've got in the squad. The starting eleven is very good but it's quite one-note in how we can go at teams, and the bench really just has lesser equivalent of who's already out there. I said it about Thistle on Saturday with regards to Rudden and Graham, but if you gave the Rovers any one of Wighton, O'Hara or even Todorov we'd be a much more potent outfit. We lost 1-0 to Queens a few weeks back but nobody lost their mind because we did the right things and just didn't quite get it to click into place on the night. I think tonight was similar. On balance, I think you'd have to say we were the better side by a fair margin, and I'd much rather be in our position than Dunfermline's. My concern, though, is that it's on a bit of a knife edge. Once the loan window closes (tomorrow?) we could very easily be scuppered by an injury to Dick, Tumilty or Zanatta. We've got players who can take those slots, but none that can be anywhere near as effective, and we don't have a Plan B to switch to without them either.

The two strikers have dragged this game 30 yards up the park. Bene and Berra must've shared 25 passes in the first half, but they've barely managed three since half time. In theory, there should be space in behind for us to exploit, but Varian hasn't looked like finding it. Let's see what Poplatnik can bring.

Whether by circumstance or by design, Varian essentially operates as a sort of low-level false nine for us now. For variety as much as anything else we could do with a more "classic" striker in.

If it was me, I'd not let the Canadian Joe Cardle cut inside every time.

That's a ridiculous corner for Dick to concede. Lucky to get away with that.

Ayr Utd have that too, when away fans are buying the matchday stream. Can't imagine it's a particularly lucrative income source for them.

Seems we were in for Callum Hendry from St Johnstone but he's gone to Killie instead, which isn't a huge shock. There's a finite number of reasonable options and that's another one off the table. It'll be interesting to see what the Plan B (or C, or D) is. McGlynn doesn't strike me as the kind of manager who'll bring in a body for the sake of it. If he doesn't get one of his top targets I suspect he'll settle until January. No inside information on this one, but I see Harry Panayiotou has barely featured for Livi since he arrived earlier in the window...

And I thought the Rovers running with five senior central defenders was wasteful.

I agree with your overall point, and all fans think their team are the bad-run-busters for everyone else, but that Queens game was a real classic of the genre. They were nine games into the season, had four points (having beaten Peter Grant's Alloa, naturally), and had conceded 25 goals. In the days before the game, they lost both their senior goalkeepers and had to play a 16 year old who'd only ever sat on the bench once before. As it turns out, that game was a real catalyst for them, but I think their resurgence has people forgetting just how abysmal they were in the first third of last season.

True, but they did also play a literal child in goal.

I've been pleasantly surprised by how patient the home support has been, in general, with the playing out from the back. I had a fear that after all of last year's good work took place behind closed doors, the South Stand would be on the player's backs at the first sign of pressure. There are definitely the individuals who give it the old "git it up the perk!" at all times (the same ones who get ratty when the 5'10" striker loses out against two giant centre halfs) but the general response has been decent, and very forgiving when the odd pass in the defence goes astray. There's certainly more of a pragmatism about the side this year too, though. The loss of Hendry probably accounts for that. His presence really allows you to be militant about playing that passing game, because he's always available and always using it well.

Was the other penalty appeal the one where Ross Docherty went down in the box with a defender at his back? I didn't think much of it at the time. Looked like the kind of one Zanatta tries to buy quite a lot by pitching himself forward, just because the defender is touch-tight. As for the Benedictus one... I'd have been going tonto if that wasn't given at the other end. As I said at the time, it can only be the proximity that's getting him off the hook, because his arm is away from his body, and the way he turns his back means he's really blocking the shot with it. The Cammy Smith one is a stick-on though. Don't know what he thought he was doing in that moment

I think scoring from the subsequent corner really took the sting out of that.

I don't think that's fair. At one point he literally threw himself head first into a tackle. He's not putting any less effort in, if anything [cliche] he's trying too hard. [/cliche] I think he's missing Vaughan more than anyone else. There's more of an onus on him to get the ball into the striker rather than having that link inbetween. In essence, he is that link now, and it's not easy. It would've been interesting if he'd been able to play that role in the early games against lower league sides where it might've been a kinder baptism, but obviously we still had Vaughan at that point.

Buzzing for this now. It can only go horribly wrong.

BRS is a really interesting one. At times he's looked really very good, and I agree that it tends to be when he starts rather than when he comes off the bench. The weakest part of his game, to me, seems to be his awareness, and how he plugs into the wider midfield battle. He tends to win his one-on-ones and I love his drive when he's got the ball at his feet, but he's caught in possession quite a bit. It's obviously a much higher level, but the third goal at Parkhead comes through him waiting on a pass from Tumilty that Turnbull nips in and steals. I think a more experienced player at this level anticipates that and either moves towards the ball or gets their body in the way to block the runner. Given that, it doesn't help when he's being pitched into these scrappy backs to the wall battles, where nobody's where they should be and everyone's diving into challenges. It's much harder to get your foot on the ball and pick a pass. He's got the right attitude though, and I do think he brings something else to the midfield. I agree we need something else in that midfield, but I'd say that it's in addition to BRS rather than in place of him. I think it's very clear that the first priority is someone else to play through the middle. Either as the 10 or the 9. Tait looks uncomfortable in Vaughan's shoes, and right now neither Varian or Poplatnik look like getting five goals this season rather than the 15+ you'd be hoping for. But this is a match thread, so a quick point on Thistle. If you put any one of MacDonald, Tumilty, Berra or Benedictus into that back line, I think Thistle win that fairly comfortably. They've got the midfield and the goals, but it's built on sand with that defence. (And if we're doing swaps, give us a Brian Graham or even a Zac Rudden and we'd sail into the playoffs.)

Nut. Cannae dae this again.

Don't concede goals? What a revolutionary idea.

And did you like Peter's post?

I think we needed that to exorcise the ghosts of the Hamilton game. It's a good thing. Honest.

A reminder to all Raith Rovers fans, that you can now use the Matchday App to vote for Kyle Benedictus as your man of the match.

Our midfield have gotten considerably worse since half time. Which is strange, because we're getting chances left and right.