Raith Against The Machine

Otoo going into the defence has given the Pars a bit of a foothold in the game because he's not afraid to step into midfield and it's giving them numbers on that flank. He is leaving space behind but we haven't been able to exploit it. That said, the period between the goals was as dominant as any point in the 3-0 game. Dunfermline barely crossed the halfway line and the Rovers were knocking it about with ease. But it only takes one lapse, particularly when your goalkeeper is visibly hurt. He's clearly struggling, and that's all the encouragement Summers needed for that dig. It's a good hit, but not a great one, and I think a fully fit keeper gets a lot closer to it. If we re-group and get back to what we were doing in the middle of that half, we should be strong enough, but any lead we can establish is always going to feel pretty fragile.

What a sucker punch that is. After a shaky start we hadn't looked remotely troubled since we got the goal. Almost complete control and then it's just one slip of concentration leaving the gap in the middle. Brutal.

Playing Dabrowski like this is a huge risk. Should've known, when we saw the 4-2-3-1, that Murray would find a way to up the stakes somewhere else.

Ah, but perhaps The Pars will adopt the new security innovation that was deployed at Stark's Park on Saturday. The stewards at the turnstiles were having kids pat themselves down in order to identify contraband. A truly impossible system to overcome.

If we make it to the Premiership I'd like us to not just sign a load of Championship players, but that's just me.

Yeah, we're very fortunate that we've got this stable of attacking players we can turn to. You've really got Vaughan, Smith, Mullin, Easton, Connolly and Gullan all competing for the three spots behind Jack Hamilton. Part of our travails in the last three games have been down to Murray trying to get an extra one of them on the park from the start, but it makes us too top heavy.

We've been off the boil the last two games, but it should be a relatively easy fix, if Murray wants it. Shaun Byrne comes back into the midfield alongside Scott Brown, who then has the job of driving us forward. Callum Smith probably the unfortunate one who drops onto the bench. A straightforward 4-2-3-1 and we should have enough to get by this Pars side that's severely hampered by injuries. It won't be as simple as that, of course, it never is, but that's going to give us the best platform to work from.

Ian Murray has had a huge amount of plaudits for performances and results so far this season, and it's only right that, for me, he takes the bulk of the blame for the last two results. There's a reason nobody else plays 4-1-3-2. It's horrendously unbalanced and far too forward heavy. We've been getting away with it recently because Sam Stanton, in the middle of the three, makes the whole thing work. He has an almost unique ability to operate as both the 10 and the 6 in the same midfield at the same time. Lewis Vaughan can't do it. None of our other players can. I can't actually think of any other players in the division who I'd trust to do it. Kyle Turner from last year's Thistle side is probably the closest that springs to mind. When you put someone like Vaughan into the middle of the three, he's forward thinking, because that's his game. He scored a hat-trick from there the other night! But he's not naturally dropping back beyond the halfway line. He will do it, but it's a little bit like when Liam Dick goes the other way. You know he understands what he's supposed to do, but he's having to think about it too much. So you get all these gaps behind your midfield that any orthodox formation wouldn't leave, which Ayr in particular really exploited. Despite having a man less on the pitch, at times they were doubling up on our defence in that second half. And in the front half of the pitch, you're looking at diminishing returns. You're getting a fifth attacker in there, but are you getting an extra 20-25% attacking output? I don't think so. Naturally, Vaughan/Easton/Smith/Connolly start occupying the same spaces. You do get moments where it really comes together, like yesterday's first goal, but it's not worth what you give away. What our last two games have needed is cold, boring cynicism. We're top of the league, for f**k sake, so act like it. Have a bit of arrogance. Not everything needs to be a toe-to-toe, ding-dong battle. This Rovers side is better than a ten man Ayr United or an Arbroath side with a goalie up front. Or, at least, they should be. The league table tells you that. "All things being equal", the Rovers should win those two games. So be boring. Don't take unnecessary chances. Slow the game down, strangle the opposition, wait for your chances. If it's still level going into the last fifteen minutes, maybe throw a striker on, but be patient and let your quality show. Instead, without any prompting from the opposition, Murray gave Ayr and Arbroath far too much encouragement. Arbroath in particular must've been about as low as it's possible to get, morale wise. Already without their top scorer, then they lose two more, run out of subs... And we let them into the game. If we're playing a two man midfield, whether it's Brown with Matthews, or McGill or even a makeshift option like Dylan Corr stepping out, they're not getting the space for a 30 yard worldie. And if we didn't have Callum Smith up front, we'd still create chances like our second goal. All in all, it's very frustrating because of how unnecessary it is. On the one hand, you'll never see a goal like that first one again and losing a penalty like that is unfortunate, but Murray left too much up to chance. I think he sees this Rovers side as thriving on a bit of chaos, a side that's all-action all-of-the-time, and in most games this season that's what we've needed. But when you've got a better hand than your opponent, play like it, don't leave it up to chance.

Came to this thread with the specific thought of "That looks like a clear red card to me. I wonder if craigkillie has explained why it isn't one yet." Relieved to see I haven't completely lost track of the rules of the game yet. Staggered that the referee apparently doesn't have that down as a clear goalscoring opportunity. You'd think that's the kind of mad decision that's a tap-in for VAR, but we're well beyond hoping for anything resembling positivity or common sense from that shambles.

Yeah, truly perplexing that United didn't feel like they could use him in the summer. They'll surely rectify that in January. Their lack of options from the bench was startling at Tannadice last week, Chalmers would've made a huge difference. From what I've seen of them this season (which, granted, is only a handful of games combined) I'd take Chalmers over Kai Fotheringham. When you see the difference he makes to a fairly limited Ayr side, he'd surely be doing massive damage in a Dundee United side that's getting much more of the ball. I know Dylan Easton's good, but I'm not sure even he has the ability to "initiate" unprompted an opponent's studs into his own leg above knee height.

Two very different, very brilliant goals. I wonder if that gives the Rovers a bit of momentum and impetus that wasn't there at 0-0.

Presumably this will go down as a 3-0 walkover, with Ayr United FC having no option but to fold entirely after the release of that "Somerset Boab" video.

Strongly agree. It's silly to suggest we're not spending decent money. McGlynn was seemingly throwing daft money around, but we wouldn't have been in a position to sign someone like Jack Hamilton during his spell. There has definitely been an increase there. It's worth noting, however, that there's hardly an ounce of fat in the Rovers squad. Go back even to last year and there were guys like Connor McBride and Willy Akio hanging around where you're throwing money away. With the exception of Ross Matthews (who's been with us for a decade and is coming off a long-term injury) and Ethan Ross (who's out on loan at Falkirk and having his wages covered) every one of our senior players has contributed significantly this season. There's nobody who we're looking to offload in January. And beyond our senior players, we only have five younger guys, and three of those are out on loan. The Rovers are categorically spending money this season, but you can see almost every penny of it on the park. I think that creates a bit of a illusion. You'll find the likes of Caley Thistle will be a lot closer budget wise than you'd first suspect, because of the amount they're spending on jobbers who'll never be good enough for this level.

I think a call to our friends at the SFA is in order. Wouldn't want Lewis' absence to diminish the spectacle on Saturday.

No need to panic. We've created plenty chances and should be able to keep on doing so, but that's so, so stupid. It looked like Arbroath's early fight had died away after the goal but that's brought them right back into it. I don't think it's a challenge Dick particularly needs to make, but if he decides he must he can't be that blatantly obvious with the foul. Rookie stuff.

Doesn't grab headlines but when you see him every week, it becomes so clear just how good he is. Absolutely runs the show.

That's my thinking, and I suspect it'll be Murray's too.

I'd go for something along these lines: ---------Dabrowski-------- Millen - Brown - O'Reilly - Dick ----------- Byrne ---------- Connolly -- Stanton -- Smith- ---- Hamilton --- Gullan ---- Possibly overly attacking on paper, but we know Connolly and Smith can be trusted to do their defensive work when required. All going well, plan would be to bring Hamilton off as early as possible to rest for Saturday, and Matthews on for Stanton to get some minutes under his belt.

Heard yiz were all doubting the Rovers for a bit there. Do you no learn?

As per the SFA's wishes.

Really surprised nobody has stuck a yellow jersey on Sneddon at half time. It doesn't take a huge leap of the imagination to see a scenario where someone (most likely one of his own players!) mistakes him for a defender, or vice versa.

Shaun Byrne is so good, man.

Thanks Dunc, ya big fucking idiot.

It is, I've seen it.

Are you sure it's a battery farm you're building? Looks like a bottle plant to me.