Raith Against The Machine

Setting aside the bamming up of Grant which is all in good fun, I googled that Hardie case just to remind myself of the details and it is exceptionally grim. I had it in my head that the drainpipe thing was after an argument or something and he was trying to get back into his own house, but it was part of a sustained campaign against the poor woman. Just based on what was reported, he was lucky to escape the jail.

@Grant228 Hi, It would appear you're no stranger to the old mental pommel horse yourself. Do you want to double down, or are you prepared to admit that there's a bit of the old hypocrisy at play here? Your pal, (Raith) Against The Machine

Staggering.

Ooyah boy, Frank's going to go tits...

Are you alright? Do you need us to call someone?

Sorry, to be clear, the questions in that post were posed to people who aren't dribbling morons. Apologies for any confusion.

I've seen a couple more clips from today now. I want to declare first of all that I've got a real propensity towards support for John McGlynn, certainly under normal circumstances. He's the best Rovers manager in my time watching them, by an order of magnitudes, and he's played a huge part in turning the club around twice when it's been mired in the dirt. With that in mind, I do still think it's probably best he goes at the end of the season, but are other people looking at that interview from today (the footage, not the quotes in isolation) and seeing sincerity and contrition, or not? That's not a leading or a loaded question, not deliberately so anyway, but when I watch that I feel like I'm seeing the tone I needed to hear and some (but certainly not all) of the right things too. Is my judgement clouded, or is that any neutrals' view too? Also, I hadn't realised Benedictus was out with him today. Increasingly angry that the board have sent those two out again to face the music. Particularly Bene, who's got no say in anything. Unless they're all planning on resigning (and Sim will be around in any case) it's nothing but abject cowardice refusing to comment while the manager is doing a full sit down with a press room.

I feel heart sorry for Lang. He's been at this level before and didn't 'make it' but he's proven this season that he can be a standout (on his day) in the Championship, so to have that whole progression stopped for the best part of a year is a sickener. I don't know how many games he and Berra got together as a two, but up at Arbroath they were imperious. Undoubtedly the best defensive pairing I've seen this season. I'm sure he'll come back stronger, he seems like that kind of guy. It's yet another factor in this absolute Enron-share-price of a season, though, that'll mean we'll be very lucky to finish fourth.

I am shocked, shocked that the Fife Free Press had this wrong. Pleasantly surprised that McGlynn has sat and answered questions on it, which he could've gotten away without doing, and simultaneously disappointed that the owner/chairman/CEO hasn't stepped up to the plate. At least there's someone fronting up though, it's definitely preferable to a head in the sand approach. In terms of the content of his apology, I think it's probably about all you could expect, if not what you'd hope for. He has literally said "sorry" (which some people wanted instead of "we apologise" which seems like semantics to me, but there we are) although it appears to be to the support and to 'football' rather than to any victims. Other than that I think it's just confirming things we already knew or heavily expected. Ultimately I don't think it changes much. I still think he should leave, probably at the end of the season. There's still a greater emphasis on the club, and it's owner, to provide a fuller response and a plan for moving forward.

I think this is more the fact that there's a contractual obligation for the manager to do pre- and post-match press. They risked a slap on the wrist when they patched it for the Hamilton game, but they'd get (rightly) hammered if they tried it this Cup game. As you say, the official full club response should come from Sim, and I expect it will, along with the confirmation that Goodwillie is officially gone. The worst thing would be sending McGlynn out without any kind of strategy at all so that he's taking questions and having to try and deflect on the hop (as happened before). I'd be amazed if this is anything more than an acknowledgement that the lawyers are still at it, that a full response will come once they're done, and that there'll be no further discussion of Goodwillie today.

Aye, this is going to be a two line statement that says "there's a legal process still ongoing, the club will comment in full once that's complete". I'd be amazed if there was any kind of substance beyond that, this is just about getting through the weekend now.

It'd just take the one question. "Please successfully spell the surname of this Raith Rovers manager from the late 80s: Frank ______"

I think it's become abundantly clear that the club won't be making any further comment, of any kind, until the legal process of separating Goodwillie from his contract is complete. It's frustrating, from a supporters' point of view, because we want the heads to roll and the whole thing to be over with, but from a legal standpoint I can imagine the last thing you want is for your clients to be making public statements and apportioning blame when you're still mid-negotiations. I'd still be happier if there was a wee line leaked to the press to confirm that this is definitely the case, but it could easily be a good few days or even weeks yet.

What does this even mean? We've just seen the biggest test of morals that Scottish football has faced in who knows how long, and Val McDermid was at the vanguard of the correct moral response. It's fucking mind-boggling that some people's response is "Ah but what if it there was money at stake?" or "What if it was about racism instead, eh?". When someone takes a principled stance, the appropriate response isn't to try and find some hypothetical chink in the armour of their principles. Some folk need to give their head a wobble and thank their lucky stars that there are at least some people in football (however tangentially) with a moral conscious. We need more Val McDermids, not fewer.

These uppity women should just stay in the kitchen, eh lads? Lads? Eh? Lads?

"This man is a rapist, that is a bad thing." "But Clyde Football Club are sponsored by a leisure company owned by the local council." "Oh my! That is a very relevant fact that definitely directly relates to the matter at hand! I retract my previous statement." "Thank you, First Minister. I am not a crackpot."

Really harsh on @keyser_soze IMO.

Is there an index somewhere that shows how BBC Scotland programmes rank alongside English football clubs? Is the Scottish Home of the Year bigger than Leyton Orient? Does Cornershop Cook-Off beat Crawley Town?

She is, but NRR Ltd has such a small share in the club (I don't have the exact figures to hand), and obviously does no other business, that it's effectively meaningless. Certainly it doesn't give her (or the other directors of NRR Ltd) any kind of say in decision making.

St Mirren are streets ahead of Raith Rovers. We are more Ayr Utd and QOS. Yeah, that's pretty much my point.

100%. I can't possibly think what it is that people don't like about Val McDermid.

If this is indeed the case, I think there are green shoots of recovery.

Some folk are really out of order when they're talking about Val McDermid. All she's done is put a load of money into the football club, and then spoken out when the club tried to sign a rapist. In my (non-bestselling) book, those are both pretty good things.

I'm not suggesting conscription or a ban on volunteers. If individuals are happiest volunteering their time, then all power to them. But I think there are key roles within the club that should be fulfilled by employees, and that the norm should be to offer a wage first and foremost.

That depends entirely on the actions of the board between now and next season. I think most people's red line was Goodwillie being in the team, but there will be people who are already lost to the club, and others who'll stay away longer term until the manager and/or owner are gone too. The number of people who fall into which camp will fluctuate fairly massively depending on how the club acts over the coming weeks and months, I'd imagine.