Raith Against The Machine
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Posts posted by Raith Against The Machine
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We're not selling anyone in January, Steven MacDonald is just opening his mouth and letting noise fall out.
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To be honest, I find this puzzling as much as anything else. John Sim is, and always has been, opaque to the point of madness, but I just can't get the whole situation to add up.
Why spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a pitch, floodlights, portacabins and hubs only to then plead poverty over what are essentially day-to-day running expenses?
MacDonald mentions "maintenance that hasn't been done in previous years" (I might be misquoting slightly, but that's the gist) - which years? Presumably since 2005 (albeit almost certainly pre-dating that too) when Sim took control. Why neglect some maintenance but spend money on the floodlights? Why bother with either? If you're going to sink money on one, surely you'd do the other?
That's the fundamental contradiction I just can't square. He's spent a fortune in the last 15+ years on various pet projects of varying natures, but seems to have also flat out refused to spend comparitively small amounts at other times.
It feels like he's got a greater interest in the community aspect versus the first team, but then why bother supporting the club at all? He owns the ground. As someone has alluded to above, why not split them entirely? Make it some other mugs problem whether to pay rent at Stark's or try to find a ground somewhere else, and focus on running a centre for the community. Does he think the stadium needs the club as a "principal" to build the whole thing around? Then why let it get to this point?
And it's also worth thinking about who's been setting the budgets for the last 17 years. This isn't the case that a new owner has come in and is dealing with legacy contracts and a bloated squad. If John Sim wanted to cut the playing budget by £150,000 at any point he could've done so.
Maybe he's not pointing the finger at anyone, perhaps I'm reading that accusation into it, but it seems utterly bizarre for a man who's made a fortune in the finance world to be seeking investment in a business/project/charity/basketcase by essentially highlighting his own mismanagement.
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Frederiksen, regrettably, looks to be nae use. But I think it's a much more forgivable move than bringing in, for example, Kyle Connell.
Frederiksen was a total unknown for this level, a gamble that could go either way. When the market is thin, you've got to roll that dice at times with guys who've never played here before and hope they come out well above (Joel Nouble, Dipo Akinyemi) but it's obviously easier said than done.
Anyway, I hope Frederiksen turns it around. It really doesn't look likely, but someone told me that he's got a background in social care, and he spends his days off helping out somewhere (The Cottage, maybe?) in the town.
If you can't look at a seven foot good egg and want him to succeed, and instead be too caught up in how it's a waste of money that otherwise would've gone on some other nineteen year old from a Premiership side, you're watching football for different reasons than I am.
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I think Ethan Ross, like Dylan Easton, is much more effective in the middle of the park rather than shunted out wide. Ross has much more of the "look" of a winger, but they're both better when they've got space to move and turn into.
Someone mentioned earlier that we were getting a fair bit of joy down the right hand side. I think a lot of the time it just looks like that because we've got nothing down the left.
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37 minutes ago, Beachbum said:
Why is Murray playing Stanton so far back? Huge difference when he's pushing forward towards the opposition box.
He started Stanton at 10, to be fair, then moved him out left (with a lot of licence to come inside) when Ross went off.
My issue is that when he decided he wanted Easton on, it was Spencer who went off and Stanton dropped into the base of the midfield.
If Stanton was a better option than Spencer in that role, he'd have shown it in his ample opportunities before Spencer came back from injury. Stanton has been very good at points this season, but he's not a universal option who can play anywhere.
We've seen it more starkly in games when we're losing, but I really don't like how quick Murray is to abandon his own ideas. The base of the midfield that you're starting a game with should be robust enough to cope with winning, losing and drawing during games. If he thinks that's Stanton and Brown, so be it, but start that way, and don't then throw it in the bin at the first sign of hardship.
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Hang on guys, raith1974 isn't happy with how things are going. Has someone alerted the media?
SpoilerNo but seriously, my immediate reaction is that that's the worst game I've seen in years. We created more chances in one five second spell in injury time than in the rest of the entire game. Arbroath had two chances, scored one and should've scored the other. Luckily, they also scored one for us, which looked like our only route to goal. Two absolutely abysmal teams just making stupid mistakes over and over again for 90 minutes.
The SPFL should be taking a point away from both sides for that, not awarding one.
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I really fear for Arbroath. They might well still win this, but they won't come up against another side playing as badly as this all season, and they've created next to nothing.
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Just now, TxRover said:
Was Matthews perhaps more important than Spencer after all?
No, I don't think so. Brown takes Matthews' place perfectly adequately. It's the combination of Spencer and Brown (or Matthews) that we missed so badly.
We need both for a sense of control both with and without the ball. Spencer goes off and we cede the midfield, every time.
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Not a fan of taking off Spencer ahead of Stanton, but then asking Stanton to do Spencer's job for him.
In a more global sense, something has to change in January. We're awful to watch. Even when we're winning, we look so brittle.
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Folk love forgetting that Poplatnik was basically hopeless for 95% of last season, eh?
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The more I see Gullan, the more I'm convinced he's one of these guys who'll just slowly drop down the leagues every couple of seasons until he basically disappears.
He's got the physicality to play as a number 9, but he's just not got the football brain for it. It seems harsh seeing as I suppose he forced the goal, but that was definitely a Little error. I really want to like Gullan, like the rest of the guys (other than Vaughan) we've tried up front over the last couple of seasons, he's full of endeavour and intention and effort, but he doesn't make the right runs and doesn't take up the right positions.
Did he touch the ball inside the box in that half? We're at home against, with respect, one of the poorer teams in the league. If our number 9 can't get into goalscoring chances in this game, when will he?
There are definitely fingers to be pointed at some of his teammates for not adapting to his game, but you're not telling me that other number nines in this league would get through 45 minutes in front of our midfield without getting a proper shot away.
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The only surprise here is that it's 1-1 and not 0-0. Neither team has done anything like enough to deserve a goal.
Game has been totally devoid of quality and defined by both sides just repeatedly making wee stupid mistakes.
If it continues in this vein, one side will have a man sent off and the other will win basically by default.
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I don't know what condition Vaughan is in, and I'm not sold on Stanton as a left winger, but I prefer this set up to the one we started with. Other than the goal, Gullan was only getting involved by dropping deep. Vaughan should drive us forward a little more, and be an alternative focal point when Gullan does drop.
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Nice to see the Arbroath defence score a goal for us, and even nicer to see them in shirt numbers 1-5, all in the right positions (not looking at anyone in particular, Ross Millen).
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I take it Kareem Isiaka is nae use?
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"Here's a list of all the reasons why this football club is a total fucking money sink. Now, would you like to invest in it?"
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1 minute ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:
Have I missed a goal or did the stream bounce back to kick off?
Shot from 20 yards that might have had a deflection but I'm pretty sure it just went straight through the keeper.
The stream itself is garbage so I'm packing it in.
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Looks like a fairly flat 4-4-1-1 for this bounce game. I think it's McNeil in goal, back four of Dick/Nolan/O'Riordan/Millen, midfield of Ross/Stanton/Brown/McBride, then Vaughan behind Gullan as the front two.
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Talbot have done exactly what they set out to do, which is drop into the final third and limit any space for the Rovers, then play on the break when the opportunity arises.
I'd be sorely tempted to take Stanton away and put on either Connell or Frederiksen on, for the long throws as much as anything else. Just gives us another dimension, because we've looked a wee bit short of inspiration. Doesn't help that Vaughan is falling into the same habit as the rest of our lone forwards this season, where he's not getting involved so he drops deep, and we're left with nobody up front.
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Just need to be patient here. A lot of attacks are breaking down as they run into the packed defence, but I'm not sure Talbot have had two consecutive touches in the Rovers' half.
Easton keeps losing the ball, but it's him trying things that's most likely to create proper chances. Otherwise it's just a lot of passing in front of a bank of five and a bank of four.
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I'm surprised Murray hasn't opted for a bit more rotation. I suppose with five subs it's easier to make changes later on if you can get into a comfortable position, but I thought he'd pitch in one or two like McBride and Frederiksen.
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8 minutes ago, Hampden Diehard said:
Sorted that for you.
Five goals and hit the post.
That'd be six then, neebur.
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I've never seen a game like this. Rovers have been absolutely terrible and, on another day, could've had about seven!
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The New Raith Rovers Thread
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted
Question for the board: the club made nine signings in the summer, and then added John Frederiksen in October. What's changed since those signings were sanctioned that now means the club is in crisis and needs fresh investment?