Raith Against The Machine

What a delightful photo.

First of all, that was good fun. Football's more enjoyable when you've got a bit of needle, and we've been to plenty derbies where we walked away with nothing. There can't be many better ways than spending a Saturday afternoon than watching a team of players you really like, led by a manager you really like, winning away in a game like that. That said, I don't think we played well. But crucially, we never, at any point, played badly. We never did anything stupid, never made silly mistakes, never got frustrated. Scott McGill personifies that perfectly. Compared against natural left backs, was that an actively good fullback performance? Not really. But for someone stuck out of position, on his bad foot? He was excellent. Did everything he had to do, recovered quickly when his first dig didn't come off, stuck to his task, kept his head up, stayed at 100% until the final whistle. I don't think it's a game where we ever had it the way we wanted it. If you spoke to Ian Murray before the game and asked him his ideal way for that game to play out, I'm sure it would involve a lot of domination in the middle of the park, controlling the ball, pulling the Pars from side to side, with Mullin and Smith driving into the box to support Jack Hamilton. Basically none of that happened. The first half was basically chaos, but we adapted well. Took a chance, rode a bit of luck, but fundamentally kept the Pars at arm's length. I think McPake will be extremely disappointed at how wasteful his team were in the wide areas. Time and again, in the first half particularly, the Pars had the Rovers scrambling with Edwards/Comrie getting forward and McCann/O'Halloran getting wide into the same areas. Far too many of those opportunities ended up with crosses into Murray and Watson, that they'll eat up all day. A couple of direct runs rather than shite crosses and I think you're causing much bigger problems. O'Halloran in particular was garbage. Didn't look like he has the fitness, ability or inclination to really cause bother. Also, I don't have a wider point on this, I just want to reiterate that Craig Wighton is absolute muck, and I refuse to acknowledge or even consider any evidence to the contrary. He's just Greig Spence without the hair transplant. League One level at best. It was so pleasing to see the Rovers just dig in and see the game out. It's not an asset you'd particularly ascribe to Murray's side, certainly not last season, but they didn't look seriously troubled today. Obviously I was shitting it every time a corner was awarded, particularly after Hamilton went off, and especially once Murray had gone too, but very few of them came close to actually being a threat. A nod to Lewis McCann's freekick that he smashed into the Norrie. In hindsight, I think that was the point that the Pars' players belief started to go. I thought Stanton was brilliant for the time he was on the park. Setting aside the goal, he was continually dragging us 20 or 30 yards up the park almost single-handedly. For all I adore Lewis Vaughan, it totally justified Murray's decision. There's no way Lewis gives you that much dig in the middle. Brown and Byrne, who both did their jobs excellently, aren't going to also get you going forward again. Stanton did that exquisitely. You put a left back into that team and it really starts to look pretty formidable. Dabrowski was excellent, really exuded confidence for the first time, and the defensive unit looks better every week as they start to gel. If we can get three games on the bounce with our actual starting back four, they should get even better. Byrne and Brown are excellent defensive midfield options, and we've got more quality attacking midfielders than Martin Hardie has restraining orders. A second out-and-out number 9 would be lovely, but Jack Hamilton continues to look really dangerous even without banging the goals in. We're not going to win the league. We'll lose plenty games this season. But when it clicks, and it did today even without a fair few things going our way, I really enjoy watching this Rovers side.

Q. Why do Raith Rovers play in yellow and blue? A. Because those are the colours winners wear.

This has been exacerbated since the goal, with the wider centre half on either side pushing on too. It should mean there are gaps for us to exploit, but it looks incredibly dangerous (without actually coming to anything so far). I agree with the earlier description of the game as harem scarem. The first half hour was just pinball across the park, which better suits the Pars with the runners they've got, versus our supposed more compact midfield. Ultimately it's to Brown and Byrne's credit that the Pars have had to go wide so often, but I'm worried about how much space they're now getting. You can't just have McGill/Smith and Millen/Mullen covering three men for another 45 minutes and not expect to, at the very least, concede some dangerous crosses. Being clinical isn't out strong suit, so it's delightful to see us score from the only half chance we really created. I fully expect the second half to start as the first half ended, with the Pars trying to dial up the pressure. We don't really have any options on the bench to shore things up further, so it's probably just a question of what happens first; the Pars getting an equaliser by hook or by crook, or us breaking away and getting a second. We have, at least, certainly got the players for that.

The Pars are getting all of the advantages of playing the back three, without having to deal with the disadvantages. Chalmers and Otoo should be having a torrid time trying to deal with our midfield three, but we're spending most of our time trying to go down the flanks, despite the lack of a left back. None of Stanton, Byrne and Brown are doing badly individually, but they're not controlling the game. Nevermind, 1-0, fucking up yees

We don't know who's going where when the wingbacks come forward. It was the same in the first game, we're totally unaccustomed to dealing with opposition back three. We've looked alright pretty much everywhere else, but we're all at sea if Comrie or Edwards push on.

That's the team I'd have gone for, I think. Very harsh on Vaughan to drop out, but Callum Smith is on excellent form and Stanton just offers so much. Certainly a lot of options to change things from the bench, which is highly unusual for us.

Q. Why do Dunfermline play in black and white? A. It reminds them of the last time they won something. Am I doing this right?

Winning laughable cup competitions > not winning laughable cup competitions.

I said before the game on Sunday that we might finally field a team of players in their natural positions, and I continue to be punished for that hubris. Our defence hasn't really looked settled at any point yet this season, and playing without a left back isn't going to help that. That it's almost certainly going to be a right footer dropping in really isn't ideal, and it'll particularly impact attempts to get forward on that side. With that in mind, it's particularly critical that Jack Hamilton starts. Without him, I think we're set for a long 90 minutes of possession around the box, but very little inside the box, and very few alternative routes to goal if our quick, short passing in the final third isn't getting through. Despite the loss of Liam Dick, I do think we're significantly stronger than we were going into the League Cup game, with the additions of Scott Brown and Shaun Byrne into the midfield. I'm not quite sure the Pars can say the same, and we should take confidence from that. If Liam Dick was available, and Jack Hamilton confirmed as fully fit, I'd be about as confident going into this derby as any in recent memory, but McPake's game plan is set for him with such a glaring hole in our back line, and we'll need a huge chunk of good fortune to keep a clean sheet. We're good enough going forward to score multiple on the right day, but with the underlying fragility I think you could really make the case for this game finishing 3-0 either way, or anything inbetween.

"Jail/Awaiting Trial"

Twelve months ago I'd have said the same thing, but last season he grew to be very good, bordering on excellent for us at times. He is, at worst, a solid Championship full back.

While McCann was undoubtedly excellent in that game, we were playing without a right back. The return of Ross Millen should mean he's got to work significantly harder to get the same time and space that he did.

You could be right, I was very low down at the other end so it's difficult to judge how close to the goalkeeper it was. I agree that it was a game of fine margins, and that Newell made a big difference. First half it felt like every break of the ball in the middle fell either to a Rovers player, or a Hibs player who had Stanton/Byrne/Brown breathing down their neck. So often in the first half a Rovers midfielder turned away into space and played a neat pass. It took Newell for Hibs to do that, and suddenly they were getting their forward players into the game. Prior to the second goal, I thought Liam Dick was having one of his better games. He supported Vaughan well in the first half and looked relatively adventurous when we had the ball in the second, but he's totally suckered in for that goal. He's got so long to watch Stevenson's crossball to Youan and he's got to either be completely confident that he's winning it, or stand off and deal with the second ball. As it is, he gets far too close and the ball is knocked in behind him before he knows which way's up. The red card looked harsh to me at the time, in as much as it's clearly a genuine attempt at the ball, he's got absolutely no intention of catching Vente, let alone bursting his puss, but fundamentally if you kick someone in the face you're always giving the referee a decision to make. I think you saw in his relatively brief appearance what we missed being unable to start Hamilton. His very first involvement gave Hanlon and Harbottle a tougher time in the air than they'd had at any point up til then. With Smith (and, indeed, all of our other attackers) playing off Hamilton, we might've gotten on a lot better turning possession into attempts at goal. Our season isn't going to turn or be judged on a game at Easter Road. I said at half time that I was pleased with how we approached it, and that continued in the second half. You can easily be turned over in a game like this if you don't get the basics right, but we made it a competition to the very end. Intrigued to see whether Byrne and Brown both make it into the starting line-up for next weekend. For me, it's a no-brainer. Byrne dropped off a bit after his booking, but those two should absolutely run the midfield in most games at Championship level.

New left back please, for myriad reasons.

Happy to be proved wrong, but without Brown I'm not sure how we get control of the ball to get it to all these forwards we've now got on.

Not the last goal we're going to lose this season coming right into the six yard box like that. For everything Dabrowski gives, he doesn't look comfortable at all when the ball's coming in on top of him. He did well with the one before it, and another one just there, but he'll be continually targeted by the opposition.

First five minutes Hibs looked quite lively but once the Rovers settled they took control. I don't know if you could go as far as saying Hibs have looked dangerous on the break, more than they've threatened to threaten. A couple of times LeFondre and Youan have been in promising positions but it hasn't come to anything. Rovers look transformed with Scott Brown back in. Obviously his destructive work gets all the headlines, but his close control and his short passing is excellent too, Hibs have struggled all half with that little triangle of Brown, Mullen and Millen. The major issue for the Rovers, as you'd be able to predict as soon as the starting line-up was announced, is that we've done nothing inside the box. Some of the build-up play has been excellent, Megwa is having a bit of a torrid time with Vaughan and Dick, and the Hibs back line definitely don't look comfortable, but Callum Smith is never going to rough anybody up. He managed to get in behind once, and Marshall stopped well, but Hibs wisely aren't leaving loads of room behind Hanlon for us to run into. Whatever happens from here, I've enjoyed the approach. Very much going toe-to-toe and seeing what we can do, rather than trying to focus on nullifying Hibs.

Vaughan wide left and Smith up front? Ethan Ross can feel very hard done by not getting that start on the wing.

FFS Sorry everyone, jinxed that. Hamilton has looked gubbed after an hour the past few weeks, I wonder if he's been carrying something.

Still the line-up to come, but is today going to be the first time in at least a year that we field an eleven where everyone is playing in a position and role that they'd consider natural? We've had Sam Stanton out of position for each game so far this year, we went through all of last year without a proper number 9, not to mention all of the various shoehorning we've done in the back line. Whether it's a 4-2-3-1 or Murray continues with his baws oot 4-1-3-2, everyone should be comfortable with what they're being asked. Obviously it'll still be an incredibly tough game, but it feels like we're in a good place for it.

Well, if nothing else it's reassuring not being the only one.

Anyone who was waiting on a season ticket in the post not had it through yet?

From the outside, it looked more like a Kids Club than a singing section on Saturday. I really don't want to be negative, but I can't help but think it's a rare miss from the new regime.

It's definitely not a penalty, it's a dive, but I do think there's some mitigation for the referee. It's exactly the type of scenario that looks like a penalty. You see it all the time where a defender only has eyes for a ball he's looking to clear, and the striker comes from his blind side and is taken out. At the time, from the other end of the ground, I called it naive defending. It's only seeing the replay that actually the defender does the right thing and doesn't take a swing or stick out a leg, he tries to keep out of the road. The charitability towards the referee comes from the angle that he's at. Looking at it from behind Vaughan, he's seeing the same thing I did, essentially. It's only when you rotate by 90° and go to the camera angle that you see that there's minimal contact, if any. Or to put it another way, it's a very good dive, if you'll allow for such a thing. With the movement of both players and the ball, there's a high expectation that there could be a foul, which completely sells it to the ref.