Raith Against The Machine
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Posts posted by Raith Against The Machine
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33 minutes ago, Raith Against The Machine said:
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.
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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Winning laughable cup competitions > not winning laughable cup competitions.
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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.
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"Jail/Awaiting Trial"
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22 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:
Never thought I’d see a supporter say their team will improve because Ross Millen *will* be playing.
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.
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23 minutes ago, DAFC. said:
If we get the T-1000 version of McCann on Saturday, I can see Raith getting a hard time of it. He was causing them all sorts of bother at Starks and has looked like a tank when he has played so far. Of course I am still wary with so many key players being injured, but our record at home to Raith is stupendous, and we still look like a good outfit regardless of the missing players. What’s the chances of getting faces in before Saturday? Zilch?
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.
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46 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:
Poorly defended corner, but not sure Dabrowski is ever getting to that
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.
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New left back please, for myriad reasons.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Vaughan wide left and Smith up front? Ethan Ross can feel very hard done by not getting that start on the wing.
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11 minutes ago, CALDERON said:
Back to playing without a number 9.
FFS
Sorry everyone, jinxed that.
Hamilton has looked gubbed after an hour the past few weeks, I wonder if he's been carrying something.
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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.
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Well, if nothing else it's reassuring not being the only one.
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Anyone who was waiting on a season ticket in the post not had it through yet?
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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.
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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.
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Vaughan has every right to anticipate contact when faced with such an aggressive team and fanbase IMO.
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7 minutes ago, Mr November said:
From reading that match thread it seems like there was some Jai Quitongo/Raith beef today. I know there was the thing where Ian Murray called him a diver last season too but I thought you’d enjoy this excerpt from the Rico Quitongo tribunal last season:
“On 29 December 2021, during an Airdrie and Queen’s Park game, there was a verbal altercation between Mr Murray and the claimant’s brother. Airdrie won the game but the game had been ill tempered. Mr Murray shouted into the Queen’s Park dressing room, as he walked past it, “Go tweet that you little fanny”. This was aimed at the claimant’s bother.”
This is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing.
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Fife Derby: Pars vs Rovers - Sat 26th August
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted
Q. Why do Raith Rovers play in yellow and blue?
A. Because those are the colours winners wear.