Raith Against The Machine

Assuming he can keep Spencer and bring Scott Brown in, we'll not be short for midfield places. If you split the midfield into two lines (the way you would in a 4-2-3-1) you'll have four senior players for the "base" (Spencer, Brown, Matthews, Stanton) and four for the "attack" (Connolly, Zanatta, Ross, Easton). That'd certainly put is in a healthier position than last season, but it's a little at odds with Murray's initial comments about a tight squad. It's something I'd like to see, I think it's the kind of options you need to have for a proper sustained playoff push, but I don't see that there's the money for that and a full stocked defence, and that's before you get to relying on Vaughan and Gullan to be the only strikers of any note.

Aye, agreed. It'll take the new digital guy a wee while to find the right "voice" for the content he's putting out, and how that dovetails with what the RaithTV guys do, but the intent is already clear. Positive signs.

Do you think it had the ParsTV commentary on it? He might need a welfare check.

Time will tell if he's got the quality to make a significant impact at this level, but he's the kind of player you like to watch, so absolutely no complaints from me. A really positive start to the summer.

Ah, turns out they had a wee video for it and forgot to tweet that out first

I don't know if anyone else saw it, but the Rovers just tweeted that we'd signed Dylan Easton, along with obligatory scarf-above-the-head photo, and then swiftly deleted it.

Yeah, this. I was clamouring for him to get more game time earlier in the season because I wasn't convinced by Varian, but he didn't do anything with the minutes he was getting for a long time. I wouldn't be aghast if we signed him, I think he'd be a useful squad player, but we need to be looking elsewhere for a starting striker.

If I ever have to do a press conference, I hope I get to sit next to Steven MacDonald too. Ian Murray comes across like one of the world's great orators just by comparison.

And hey, we've already got a great reaction jpeg for anyone who supports the new manager too vociferously on Pie and Bovril...

I really like Dave McKay, but on the sole condition that he's played as a centre half who doesn't have to do intricate passing. McGlynn's use of him always brought to mind the adage about judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree. He's not a full back. He's certainly not a fucking wing back. Wheel him out to the edge of the 18 yard box and let him win headers and smash into strikers. He's top half League One standard for doing that, easy. Just don't try and get him to run with the ball or try to deliver crosses.

Failing that, Timmy Abraham has been let go by Fulham...

Scott Burns reckons it's Murray. I think we can probably take that to the bank.

"Right Alex, thanks again for the sponsorship, that's us ready to get that new sign up. Did you have a preference for the font?" "Aye, could you get the one that Blue Öyster Cult used for the cover of On Your Feet Or On Your Knees?" "Of course!"

I'm not sitting anywhere other than the South Stand until they change the typeface on that dreadful "Penman Family Stand" sign that's stuck to its roof. I refuse to look at it.

If Murray can bring Dylan Easton with him, that might tip the balance.

There were definitely worse names thrown around. Feels like Thomson will either be brilliant or dreadful, whereas Murray is more likely to just be fine and keep things ticking over with a slow build.

Or one of the interviewers...

Unsurprisingly, that's Matej Poplatnik been released by Livingston. He might've caught a bit of form at the tail end of the season, but I don't think there's any question that he didn't show enough quality for the Premiership.

I'd take Liam Fox over James McPake.

I know folk are fed up with me wanging on about club communication, but just compare and contrast these two: Football Management Update The club confirms that we have shortlisted applicants for the football management position and have started the recruitment process. Interviews have been taking place, with more scheduled. We have been overwhelmed at the number of candidates and delighted with the quality that applied to be Raith Rovers First Team manager. The club will look to make a final decision and to announce the appointment of our new manager next week. A Short Recruitment Update Hi everyone, After receiving a huge number of really impressive applications for the role of First Team manager, I’m pleased to confirm that we’ve whittled them down to a shortlist of candidates that we're taking into the next stage of the recruitment process. A number of interviews have already taken place, with more scheduled for this week. We’ll make our final decision after the last of those, and I expect we’ll be able to reveal the identity of our new manager by the middle of next week. I’d like to thank you for your patience as we conduct this thorough process, but I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s important we do everything it takes to get the right person to take us forward. Steven MacDonald - Chairman Materially, it's exactly the same information, but putting a name on it at least gives the process a bit of a face and some perceived accountability (even if the Chairman is away on a golfing holiday). It just feels a bit more like you're being given an update by someone who wants you to know what's going on, as opposed to a cold, anodyne notice. It's a really minor change, it took me two minutes to rehash that, but it can make a huge difference to how people feel about the communication they're getting.

I'd generally refrain from describing myself as "overwhelmed" but it's good that we've got something from the club explaining that we won't hear anything until next week. People were only ever going to get more disgruntled if there was prolonged silence (hi, Pars fans!).

Want to try that again?

Would it be dreadfully boring of me to suggest that an update from the club to that effect, without naming names, would be nice?

Tab Ramos is not a name I expected to see on the McBookie list. Make it happen.

They've put that hashtag on everything recently. It made a lot more sense at the front end of the season. I'd love to think it's a coded reference to him staying, but I'd be surprised at this point. I think the best we can hope for right now is that he's fucked off for a fortnight in the sun somewhere and doesn't intend to speak to anyone about his future until he's back. Without a manager, I don't think we look like a very attractive option. Just taking yesterday's playoff result into account, he'll almost certainly get more money at the same level for Queen's Park. Our hope for keeping him is a new manager who can sell him on a "vision", and even that's probably quite a slim hope.