Raith Against The Machine

Jamie Gullan is a really good striker when he's running onto the ball. We haven't played a through pass for any of our forwards since October.

Our fullbacks aren't good enough going forward to justify three at the back. And given that we're not even winning our headers with three big puddings at the back, it's doubly frustrating. Gullan's having to come to the touchline at halfway to get a touch, and we've got absolutely no chance of creating anything from that position with only Ross capable of going beyond him. We've got five subs. Use another to put someone else on who can move the ball from the middle to the front.

Game over.

Really feel for Tom Lang. He's done absolutely nothing to be behind Musonda and Benedictus in the pecking order.

He was sent off for us, and scored a goal, which means he must've made at least one attempt at a tackle, and had at least one shot, which is more than King ever managed!

He's better than Adam King.

John Hughes must be odds on to become the first manager to make a quintuple substitution.

Championship clubs agree to go to five subs for the remainder of the season. I'm not particularly keen on the idea. You'd have to imagine it'll work in Killie's favour in particular, looking at the strength in depth they've got compared to the rest of the league.

I think that was certainly the case before Saturday. Now, I reckon McGlynn will probably bring in an extra body with some of the Celtic money, although I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was another loan after the permanent transfer window has closed. Personally, I'd be looking for another wide option or a left back to replace Liam Dick, unless there's a Brian Graham-esque striker who inexplicably becomes available. I think we've got enough bodies in the forward positions and central midfield now.

What is Ethon Varian if not a target man?

I don't think you could say it didn't work out, because ultimately it was a means to an end. It was a temporary measure to get us out of League One. It's an interesting comparison though, because it's almost the reverse of the dynamic you're currently discussing. I can't remember if it was the owner or McGlynn, but someone was asked about us going either fully part-time or ramping up the number of part-time players, and he said that it wouldn't happen because ultimately our 'default' position is fully full-time, so the more part-time work we do just means more to be undone when we get promoted. The Rovers, certainly in the last few years, never truly committed to a hybrid set up. They did a couple of evening sessions in the week instead of daytime, but only with a very limited number of part-time players. Kieran MacDonald was kept on for the Championship last year but that was it. The season before we might've had a couple of others, but only really on the periphery. For Arbroath, if your long term ambition is to remain the best part-time club in the country and you get promoted, do you want to spend money bringing in full time players to supplement the squad, or do you spend that same money on the club's infrastructure to really bolster that part-time operation?

Stolen valour IMO. Wait until the Fans League of Vermin hear of this.

Watching football?

Big part of me is disappointed that we didn't get a more winnable tie, but that's going to make up for the lost New Year's derby income, and hopefully let McGlynn do some more forward planning for next year and beyond.

Was Kai Kennedy in with the away support today, or did I just see a short guy with bleached hair?

Three nil absolutely captures the dominance we had in that game, but probably belies how wasteful we were. You could win a game 7-0 and not control it as much as we did there, but the two goals at the end were smashed and grabbed once Banks o' Dee started committing men forward.

You can't fault Dario's effort today, he's shown for the ball every time and everything has come down his side since halftime, but absolutely nothing has gone for him. Ethan Ross, by way of contrast, hasn't been anything more than peripheral.

Creating changes and missing them is, at least, infinitely preferable to not creating any at all, but we really should've done better with at least one of the 15 odd chances we had there. Just a bit of patience required, though. It's not one of those cup games where you can't tell which ones is a multitude of levels above the other. We'd be much better off if we had attack minded fullbacks, mind you. I'm not quite advocating for Connolly on for Musonda, but it would help with these overloads.

Well, at least we're creating chances. Wasting them, like, but we've had more shots in the first fifteen minutes here than we have in the last fifteen games combined.

From the Rovers thread: "He's a good player, but not a great one for this level (yet). Hibs have signed him for his potential, but he wasn't the best midfielder in our team at any point in his spell with us. I wouldn't expect him to go into Kilmarnock's team and suddenly start turning in game changing performances, albeit he could well improve your midfield options if you're needing a fairly dynamic, creative presence. It's obviously not a fair comparison because it's one out and two in, but our midfield is stronger now than it was when he left, with the addition of Sam Stanton and Ben Williamson. I can't see that there would be any ill-will if Hibs decided to put him out on loan again to this level. They've changed gaffer since they signed him, and our squad had moved to the point where we don't have a space to take him back." Now that it's confirmed, I've just had a look at the Kilmarnock squad, and I think he'll have a bit of a time getting a first team place every week. They're totally different players in different positions, but I'd say ability-wise he's probably on a par with Daniel Armstrong. He's a good Championship player on his day, albeit one with a lot of potential. He played pretty much every minute he was available for us this season, but there was basically no competition for the jersey for most of that time. We weren't particularly well stocked in midfield. A lot of it is going to come down to whether McInnes is willing to put up with inconsistency with the potential for a higher ceiling, rather than the more established known quantities that Killie already have.

He's a good player, but not a great one for this level (yet). Hibs have signed him for his potential, but he wasn't the best midfielder in our team at any point in his spell with us. I wouldn't expect him to go into Kilmarnock's team and suddenly start turning in game changing performances, albeit he could well improve your midfield options if you're needing a fairly dynamic, creative presence. It's obviously not a fair comparison because it's one out and two in, but our midfield is stronger now than it was when he left, with the addition of Sam Stanton and Ben Williamson. I can't see that there would be any ill-will if Hibs decided to put him out on loan again to this level. They've changed gaffer since they signed him, and our squad had moved to the point where we don't have a space to take him back.

I don't think so, it's been fresh numbers each time. It looks like the second group to get their name into the Banks o' Dee draw didn't get tickets but every other group did. Hopefully it was just an oversight on the page and supply narrowly outstripped demand and everyone's getting in.

Christ, the luck you'd have to have. If that is indeed the case (and it looks like it is), I hope the club can find a space among the directors or something for the 1-5 people in that incredibly unlucky group.

Personally, I'd go back to the 4-2-3-1 that served us well in the early parts of the season. It definitely has a couple of drawbacks. You have to sit out either Matthews or (more likely) Williamson, despite neither of them being at the top end of the culpability list for our recent failings. It also brings Zanatta back in, and we know he's not as effective as he was early doors because everyone has been reminded of the specific factors that make him a threat. What it would give, though, is a solid back four, a pair in the base of midfield with clearly defined roles, wingers/wide forwards to try and get closer to the striker, and a free-ish role for Ethan Ross to get up behind Gullan/Varian/Poplatnik too. It's been tried and hasn't worked every time, but I think it's the best system we've got for the players we have. It's most recent failings came in the fallow period without Spencer or Stanton. From what we've seen from Sam Stanton, I think he can be the correct catalyst in there to get everything ticking again. I suspect there's not going to be any more incomings, but if there's room for another body, I'd bring in another left back because I think Dick's a weak link, or a winger to bring more variety and competition alongside Connolly and Zanatta who are a little too predictable.