Raith Against The Machine

Yup, I'd echo this. Really worth listening to. I'd completely forgotten about Brian Graham's boot deal with Pelé

You can hear Hendry under the replays shouting something like "Fifteen minutes, fucking get back at them" and it's looks like that's what McManus has taken exception to. Pretty tame stuff, but it never has taken much for young Declan to make his displeasure known.

Michty me, that GoPro behind the goal does Owain Fon Williams absolutely no favours for the third. He can definitely see it the whole way, and nobody's even slightly close to getting a touch on it. I think the high volume "c'mon tae f**k!" from a teammate is about as succinct a summation as you'll get.

Owain Fon Williams collects a simple headed pass back

Generally the Dunfermline fans on P&B are a fairly reasonable lot, so I believed what I was reading about how poor Dunfermline are, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so apparent. They've been abysmal. Incredibly fortunate to have a goal to their name, because they've been chasing shadows from whistle to whistle. The first goal is incredible. It's what we threatened to do a few times at the beginning of the season, but never looked quite this fluent. Some of the passing and movement had been phenomenal. The defending for the Rovers second goal just sums it up. The defenders seem to be holding two separate offside lines, but neither of those lines are taking into account the position of the ball. Vaughan is well onside and he's never going to miss from there. As for the second goal... dearie me. I have absolutely no idea what OFW is thinking about. There's absolutely no mitigation for that. He can see it the whole way. He should be able to throw his hat on it. It'll take the most miraculous of turnarounds for Dunfermline to get anything here. I look forward to going fucking tonto and smashing the telly as it happens.

Jamie MacDonald - not a sweeper.

This boy talks some amount of pish.

I really like Jamie Gullan, even if he has committed to growing a beard that doesn't touch any part of his face.

Fills you with a deep sense of foreboding, eh?

Booooooo

Largely agree with what's been said. I wouldn't take a draw now, but a draw also wouldn't necessarily be a bad result. The thing with a team like Dunfermline - where the quality in the squad is high but they're being hamstrung by their manager - is that they've got the capacity for individual moments of quality that can have a massive influence on matches. Going 2-0 up in six minutes at Dens tells you that. Wighton's goal in particular was excellent, but then the systemic failings with Crawford's Pars kicked in and Dundee had the time to get their goals back. Those flashes of brilliance are concerning, from a Rovers point of view. Those sparks of inspiration are exactly what we've been missing recently. We've scored four goals in six games. Three of those goals were from corners. Two of the goals were against League Two opposition. The limited success we've had recently has come through hard graft and perserverence rather than true quality or instinct. If we'd had McManus, (pains me to say it) Wighton or even Kevin O'Hara up front over our last five or six league games we'd almost certainly be at least two points better off. That said, we've been very strong defensively, which gives us a really solid base. If I was Stevie Crawford, my team was low on confidence and I was looking for a win, there are a lot of back fours I'd choose to face before this Rovers' one. Going forward, I wonder if Lewis Vaughan might be just about ready to step into that number 10 role behind the striker. In the way that Regan Hendry makes the back half of our team tick, Vaughan can do the same for the front. He's the only one of our forwards (discounting the wingers) whose technical quality and natural ability outstrips his physical attributes and/or the effort he puts in. We've done plenty of huffing and puffing recently, and we'll see more of that tonight. I'd be amazed if it was anything other than a game of fine margins, and probably a fairly brutal watch with it. Even the 4-1 game was like that until the first goal went in. It concerns me slightly that some Pars fans reckon they'll need to go behind to get something, because I think our best chance is probably to scrap a goal from somewhere and then see out the 1-0.

In general, I quite like these pre-contract deals. Certainly getting the business done early is preferable to a more Jim Duffy-esque approach to the window where you've only got four guys at pre-season training. In terms of Zanatta, I'm surprised John McGlynn has felt the need to get him locked down this early. I can't imagine clubs would've been falling over themselves to sign him. Thinking about it now, though, he must surely be at the bottom end of the wage table for full-time players, and he's shown enough promise to (hopefully) be a good squad player at this level. It's possibly just a case of the gaffer filling a place nice and early, with someone who has experience at this level, can play in a couple of positions, won't be demanding a start every week and won't cost the earth. Is my rampant optimism showing again?

Especially when we don't know which of three leagues we'll be in...

Abraham.

Robbie Neilson is complaining about the officials after a defeat? Why I don't believe it!

In the same category as "we never play well when we wear red" or "we don't play well on TV".

Remember sexy Raith Rovers? Feels like a decade ago.

Really enjoyed reading this, and look forward to reading more from you. I do wonder if King has had enough minutes (prior to Tuesday) to really draw some of these conclusions with quite so much confidence, and that would certainly be my defence if I was his agent. That said, he didn't stand out at all against League Two opposition and he hasn't started particularly well tonight, so your analysis looks pretty spot on!

Anyone seen anything decent on the telly lately...?

Two proper out-and-out strikers is a clear attempt to try and get more touches in and around the opposition's box, which have been sadly lacking. Sacrificing the wingers to make it happen is an interesting choice, though. Keen to see how it turns out, and not as pessimistic as some.

I knew this ludicrous suggestion felt familiar. We had the same thing the last time we played Morton at Stark's.

Just stop.

Made me laugh. Those pesky players, unilaterally deciding to play short, quick set pieces, as John McGlynn stands on the sideline jumping up and down, shaking his fists, "Why I oughtta!".

That was a vital interception from Adam King to prevent Adam King from delivering a dangerous cross.