Raith Against The Machine

I'm not proud of myself for commenting on someone else's appearance, but David Hopkin looks like someone's put a gilet on a particularly gnarled sweet potato.

As anticipated, McGlynn rings the changes. Nominally I'd say that's the same shape as we've been using, but Vaughan int the middle and Gullan wide left should give us a more direct goalscoring threat from the midfield compared to Kennedy and Spencer. It's harsh on Kennedy in particular, because his individual performances have been at a higher level than a lot of others, but as the truest out-and-out winger, he's probably also the biggest culprit (through no real fault of his own) in our recent predictability. You'd expect Vaughan and Gullan to get a lot closer to Duku, and whilst it's quite a lop-sided formation, Armstrong should have a lot more to aim for when he's got the ball in open play. I think Ayr's right back will need to have a big afternoon, or their right sided centre-half could find himself overloaded.

In a word? No. Maybe he's improved since he was with us, but he scored a belter from 25 yards on his debut at Stark's and then set about proving it was a fluke with the rest of his performances. I'm not aware of him setting the heather alight at Thistle, either. I'd have thought he'd be better suited to having a shot at League One for the tail end of this season and seeing how he got on. This is surely last chance saloon for him at full-time level. Maybe he'll have a decent turn and get himself a proper contract at Ayr, but it's heavy Ross Perry vibes for me, I'm afraid.

Drewn at half time?

I feel like the video can't be showing the full picture, because it looks like Davidson just has his arm over the boy's shoulder. Even if he's pushing across, he doesn't look to have the momentum or the force to warrant a red card. The way the other players react, though, does suggest there was something more to it.

Since the turn of the year, I think our top scorer is... Iain Davidson.

Same as you.

This might trigger a rush of wee bawling eyed memes, but to come away from those two games with just one point is really, really poor stuff. I'm not sure Caley Thistle offered much more than the Rovers did across both games, despite the early red card tonight. Ultimately though, it's largely self-inflicted. As covered by various posters above, we don't have a Plan B. I don't think it's a lack of imagination, it's more a lack of versatility. We've got a fairly large squad but a lot of the players we've got are in exactly the same mould. When it comes to facing this Rovers team, you close down our wingers, and you track out fullbacks. That's it. None of our carbon copy strikers is technical enough to create chances for himself. Hendry, for all his quality, plays too deep to be able to properly influence the attack without wide options. Crucially, we don't have a goalscoring "10". That's where Vaughan might be able to make a difference, but it's asking a lot. This league is daft, so who knows what might happen between now and the end of the year. We won't get relegated. There are too many teams between us and ninth. Even if we're utterly bobbins between now and the end, at least two of those sides will be too. If we can keep Musonda and Benedictus fit and available, we'll probably still squeeze into fourth by virtue of our defensive strength. What could've been a fantastic season will ultimately go down as quite frustrating, though. Some odd decisions have really hamstrung the progress of this side. Perspective is important, because they're still so much better than anyone had any right to expect this season, but the "what might have been" looks pretty stark.

We've had absolutely nothing off this ref tonight.

Ugwu got far too long on the park on Friday. Are we going to see the same here? I'd be sticking Abraham on just as a free hit to give him some minutes, see if he can't manage something. Ugwu's just been tackled by the goalkeeper. Get him aff.

Jamie MacDonald has been so good, but those are the kind of mistakes that just can't happen if you're going to get a result with ten men. I don't know where we're going to find a goal from. We just don't look like scoring at all.

Caley Thistle have been piss poor since the red card. A real exercise in how not to play against ten men. That said, 0-0 looks like the best the Rovers can hope for. Ugwu hasn't had two touches in succession. As touched upon above, Spencer isn't particularly suited to this particular scenario. His passing is neat enough, but he's not really dynamic enough to fill the gaps that are naturally going to appear.

Ah, I see. Well, we hadn't started well at all, and it's going to take some turnaround now.

Booked for the initial challenge (that I missed) and then raised his hands when the two boys came at him? Silly, silly c**t.

Musonda dropping out is a big surprise. Surprised to see Ugwu keep his place as the lone striker, too. Good to see Matthews and Spencer back in the starting line-up, and very pleased to see Vaughan back involved. Once again, and I feel like we've said this a thousand times already this season, big performances required from the wingers and the striker.

And Craig Winter before him.

Would you stoap it?

That penalty claim at the end looked very strong to me, no? Defender leant in to block it with his elbow. I think we'd have needed a penalty to score though. And we'd have needed a midfielder or a defender to take it. I think you have to now go back to Duku again for Tuesday, with Abraham as the option off the bench. We're an in-form striker away from being a very, very good side. Ultimately, like Tuesday night, a point isn't really a bad result, especially after making five changes. Still, frustrating to watch.

That's a good booking from Hendry. Musonda well out of position when the ball was turned over.

Ugwu certainly can't complain about not being given a chance. He's had 20 minutes (and counting) longer than he's really deserved here.

I don't see that the latest Kennedy v Carson is any different to the last one with Tumilty down near the byline. Give neither or both.

Agreed, on both counts. Refs have generally been excellent this year, but MacLean has been all over the place this evening.

Adam King has already shown more tonight than he had in all his cameos. Looks very proactive in dropping deep and then driving forward. Maybe slightly lacking in quality so far, but really good intention.

At least Neil McCann isn't getting his excuses in early...!

Also, cannot wait for Keatings to come off the bench and score a hat-trick, just to really reaffirm his place in McGlynn's plans for next season.