Raith Against The Machine

I take it the Premiership Playoffs have the five subs rule, as opposed to the Championships three. What about the Championship playoffs that will feature predominantly League One teams?

If Matthews is indeed back, this game tomorrow will be the first time since the 5-1 that we'll be able to have our midfield diamond back in its proper form, and Friday night was the first time we'd gotten Vaughan and Gullan back together too (barring an injury-interrupted 40 minutes at Livingston). Unfortunately, without Musonda I don't think that's going to be enough, but it gives us a proper shot. The striking quality that the Pars have got gives me the fear. Over the two legs they're going to get chances, and our defence isn't at its best. Ultimately, if we had any one of McManus, O'Hara or (cough) Wighton, they'd have started 90% of matches this season, ahead of any of the rotating cast of misfiring number 9s that we've had all year.

Tremendous news. Not a cure-all, by any means, but a truly fundamental part of how this Rovers team functions. If Matthews is in a position to manage 180 minutes (or however many it takes before we rack up an unassailable lead...) I'll feel much more confident about our chances in these two games and any others that might come.

If you swapped the managers for these two squads, where do you think they'd finish?

There are other differences too.

The biggest mistake the Rovers made was not escalating things immediately. One of yours turns up in a box? We put him in a box. No mercy.

Thanks Michael Stewart.

We haven't had some Falkirk style collapse. We've lost two games. One narrowly at Dens, one badly tonight. Talk of capitulation is nonsense. As I said earlier, if we'd finished the season with three games against teams at the bottom end and chucked it, you could argue that, but we've had two of the toughest games we'll get at this level, with injuries and a daft red card to content with. Tonight hasn't been good enough, but the folk chucking their scarves onto the back lawn need to give themselves a shake.

Fifth choice goalkeeper maybe, but our defenders tend to be a little more reliable.

Didn't you lose six goals to this Hearts side earlier in the season?

Exactly. I think it's quite clear that Cooney was the cheapest reasonable option we could get while Mendy was away. And rightly so, too. You don't expect to use your fifth choice centre half too often.

Some massive over reactions going on all over this thread.

Ludicrous, isn't it?

How can that be a red card? It's Neil Parry all over again. You could argue about whether or not it's a foul, but it's an honest attempt to play the ball.

Yeah, a wee bit perspective required, I think. We're without our best defender, and while Matthews isn't our "best" midfielder, he's probably the most difficult to replace, in terms of style of play. If we'd had Hearts at home and Dundee away two or three games ago, had lost them both, and then beaten Alloa and Queens to finish third, we'd be delighted.

I think in the first and last ten minutes of that half you can see what the gameplan was. Without Matthews we don't have the midfield to play the diamond, and the Gullan/Vaughan attacking duo has looked like our best bet. But deary me, as far as fatal flaws go, Mendy is more fatal than most. Even though this Hearts side have been shoogly throughout the season, they've still got a lot of quality players. You're going to need to ride your luck a little, and do the simple things right. Parachuting Mendy into that backline has just disrupted a lot of what our defence can do well. Ultimately, Dundee hammering Queens is going to do for us. A win tonight was always going to be a huge ask, but I think John McGlynn has made it more difficult than it necessarily needed to be.

Adam King looks up for it, eh?

I like the 3-5-2. But to roll it out in the last game of the season for the first time in months... it's bold, John, I'll give you that. And while I'm openly and entirely motivated by bias, is it not a bit shit that Robbie Neilson isn't bothering to give at least a handful of younger guys a run out? I know a lot of managers do it, but there will be guys involved today that he knows he doesn't want next season. What's the point?

What a hill to die on. One of the core elements of protected characteristics is that an individual cannot control them. You can't discriminate someone on the basis of the colour of their skin, their gender identity or their physical or mental health, because there's nothing that anyone can do to change or control those. With recognition that you can't change the past, Tiffoney could have absolutely controlled his status as a sex offender, by not committing sexual offences. In a perfect world, once someone had served their time for a crime and been rehabilitated, it would never be mentioned again. But you absolutely cannot equate any discussion of someone's criminal past with someone else's history of traumatic mental health. To suggest otherwise is simple-minded, belligerent idiocy.

Is Durnan one of the players who wasn't supposed to be fit enough for more than five minutes? Is there possibly a mitigation there? Because that looks dreadful on the face of it.

It's Camelon Juniors you need to worry about. They'll be your derby soon.

You've still got finishing behind Ray McKinnon's Queen's Park to come next year.

How's Corrzo getting on?

David Cox explains the situation Really, really grim stuff.

This is objectively very, very funny.