Raith Against The Machine

Four players completely disappeared from the matchday squad, without prior warning. I'd assume they're all Covid cases.

It might well come down to the age of the apprentices. I'm sure I read earlier it's 13 players over the age of 18. I think Arnott just turned 18, but if he's the oldest we might well be under the threshold.

Nah, you'll never get it on appeal, not a clear and obvious error. The boot was high, it's just the referee's judgement.

How many minutes did he play there? Other than the red card, was there a stoppage? That's an absolute sickener. Finished the game with four apprentices on the park, and they absolutely didn't deserve that.

We can't get out at all, and we don't have any options on the bench. The pressure is only going to crank up from here.

Not kidding just because we're a man down now - the fog has gotten significantly worse in the last five minutes.

I'm not convinced that should be a red card. His foot's up but there's no force in it, there's no chance he's going to hurt the boy. Just as we'd been starting to come into the game, too.

We've swapped Zanatta and Ross. On the one hand it's working well, because he's been in position to hold the ball up a good few times already. On the other hand, he hasn't actually managed it yet...

Not to mention we're also missing the one player most likely to spring that high press and get us going forward. Rather than being poor, the Rovers are doing about as well as you could expect given the circumstances!

I didnt think we were allowed to criticise Tait these days. He's ripping my b*****d knitting. I think it'd be unfair to criticise his application or endeavour, but his decision making has been suspect at best. Obviously he's young and still learning so you're going to get rushed passes and the like, but that handball was ludicrous.

This looks like what it is. A half decent side versus a depleted side with no strikers. We've managed to create a few half chances slipping the ball into the channels, but nothing that's even come to a shot at goal. Too many Rovers players, Dylan Tait chief among them, making bad decisions for us to keep Thistle out all afternoon.

This is shaping up to be a very unenjoyable afternoon. Without Varian we can't get the ball to stick up top, and without Spencer we can't build it through the middle. We could potentially get some joy on the wings, but I can't see Dario Zanatta anymore.

Petition for everyone to learn the rules on blood checks pls.

Absolutely no idea what Dylan Tait was thinking there. Not convinced the ref was going to book him until the Thistle players complained, but it was a fucking nailed on booking, so he's due them a thank you.

It's not crystal clear, but from the Main Stand I can see the other touchline and both bylines. It'd need to get a fair bit worse for the game to be in danger.

Strikers are over-rated anyway.

Slightly harsh on John Hughes IMO.

I'd like to see Denis Prynchynenko's freekick one more time.

Scored a decent goal. Did f**k all else. Next!

Ah shite, I'll need to update my Rovers midfielders wallchart.

Aye, while we're waxing lyrical about some of the people who surround the team, Lesley Fleming's matchday photography is fantastic. I believe she's been away recently because she was having a baby (congratulations, if you read this, Lesley!) and I can't wait until she's back. I can't say I've ever gone out of my way to look out a photo gallery of "match action" after a game, but I always look out for Lesley's work after a game. The difference that kind of stuff makes to the engagement through social media is huge, too. Everything just looks so much more professional.

If you'll forgive me the Texas-style analysis, our central midfield options fall into three categories, and in McGlynn's preferred formation, you really need to be picking one of each to form your midfield triangle. "Number 6s"/Destructive: Ross Matthews, Frankie Musonda, Blaise Riley-Snow "Number 8s"/Creative: Brad Spencer, Dylan Tait, Aaron Arnott (?) "Number 10s"/Attacking: Lewis Vaughan, Ethan Ross, Aidan Connolly Now that's overly simplistic. You can be a creative number 6 or an attacking number 8, but those are the broadstroke typesets we're working with. McGlynn has also proven during Matthews absence that you don't have to have one of each (although throughout that period I'd argue we looked light in the middle). I've listed them in order of preference there, and it highlights a couple of issues; we have an over-reliance on Matthews, although Musonda could fill that gap, and that without Spencer for months and Tait going, we're incredibly fragile when it comes to midfielders who can link the defence and the attack. That's not news to anyone, and it's quite clearly the biggest priority for January. On the other hand, Ethan Ross is about as good a replacement for Lewis Vaughan as you could possibly expect, so once again, a tip of the hat to McGlynn and the board got getting that deal done.

Excellent. The last thing you want is to be making it more difficult for people to come and watch lower league football, there are already plenty factors that drive that.

I don't know if he's ever played there, but during pre-season McGlynn was very open about his intentions to use Musonda in midfield. Frankie then had another injury setback and the landscape had changed by the time he was available, but I'd be very surprised if we didn't see him in the midfield before long.

Aye, that's a real boost. Finding out he was only signed up until January was a shock. I'm a huge fan of Frankie's and I was really quite concerned that he might go. I can't think of the last player we had who was so versatile, and when you're running a small squad, you need that.