Broken Algorithms

We're playing with house money at the moment. All the pressure is on United given the outrageous sums they're chucking at players just now. Tomorrow will be a tough game but I'd expect it to go to the wire either way.

If Chris Kane isn't fit, I'll happily get along to East End Park with a hose to help flood that pitch. Failing that, I'd be delighted if Dunfermline did us a favour.

I think it's great for the club, and I don't think the logistics will be too difficult. It'll be more costly than a trip to Dunbar, but if we get promoted it wouldn't be the most outrageous thing. I suspect it's more on our side (funnily enough, Las Palmas seem quite keen to try to exploit the canary yellow link to Norwich) than the other, but there's definitely still really solid ties there given Paquito's reputation. Zero chance we'll get loanees in off the back of it. Brexit has put paid to that one. The clubs would need to figure out work permits for players who would be going on loan to a club who are probably at a similar level to a third or fourth tier club in Spain. It's a nice wee connection to have though - it's generated a wee bit of interest over there which will have been helped by us doing well. We've done really well from the back of it though - our neeburs along the road have had owners desperately trying to tie themselves into St Pauli over the last few seasons. Theirs comes across as forced, ours has been totally natural.

Someone suggesting that the space shouldn't be used because in the winter it's a popular area for sledging.

That whole incident is a testament to how professional Ross Matthews is btw. Couldn't get a game, bided his time, won Murray's trust and put in a tremendous performance last night. He's like a new signing now he's back to full fitness. No toys out the pram, just a man who continues to give his all.

Job done. I've no idea if that game will be a must win game, but we've gone away from home to a team who still have a lot of quality. Defensively, that was a tremendous backs to the wall performance.

It really wouldn't have been hard to improve on the hot mess you were before. With ourselves, it wasn't the contract length which was the issue - it was the substantial year on year increases to entice players in the door. Two of these players (Ross and Gullan) ended up being injury prone and failing to really offer value for money. That's not anyone's fault that it ended that way, but when you look at where it left us as a club it's McGlynn who put us in that position. You can also point to the Goodwillie debacle too. For me, Ian Murray has his faults but has done really well with John Potter and Allan Halliday to make sure we're identifying targets and getting them in on deals which, contrary to popular belief, aren't breaking the bank. McGlynn clearly has an eye for talent and some outstanding contacts. I don't think anyone can dispute that - but at the moment I think Murray has done better for us. Even in his first season he'd identified Scott Brown to go with Dylan Easton. Both of them have been exceptional.

There's absolutely no chance anyone will offer Ross anything close to what he's on just now. The word I've heard is that we got Falkirk to cover his full wages as part of the loan. It wouldn't surprise me if the next step for him is Cove given he's from the Aberdeen area. It's a shame because everyone wanted for things to work out for him when he came back but he had recurring issues which meant that he couldn't very the consistency. He doesn't really fit into Ian Murray's ethos so it was always going to be more difficult. With that said, he's not been worth the financial expense. Of all the signings McGlynn made on those types of deals, Stanton was the only one who justified the ends - scoring in four of our five victories over Dunfermline this season means he's worth his weight in gold.

Sam Stanton signed an extension just before Christmas, and Easton has been linked to the top flight although has been out of form recently. I'd like to think Easton would be likely to re-sign for us based on where we're at just now if he's not going to the top flight - it has all the feeling that he'll wait until the end of the season before a decision. Ethan Ross will likely be away. McGlynn signed him on one of his fabled multi year deals where the player received wage increases after every season. I've not really seen much to suggest he's even been an important figure for yourselves, and I don't think he's really what we need to move forwards.

It's a tough for people doing the job. Everyone thinks they'd go full Paxman with interviews but the reality is that if you go too far into the awkward questions, you end up with Brian Rice's awkward formations interview at Alloa. On the other side, nobody wants leading questions which are easy to answer. At this level, it's pretty much all volunteers too - it can be tough to find an interviewer who can handle the situation well. We're lucky at Rovers to have Davie Hancock who feels like someone who has a natural rapport with whoever he talks to.

Childish behaviour inbound.

I'll usually walk to the ground and I've always found it's just easier to go along the prom if you're coming from the High Street side. I'd not even chance going up Milton Road or Links Street - it's far easier to avoid that area just sticking to the front road.

Both second and third place have worse defensive records than second bottom of the league. Truly ridiculous.

To hammer home both on how inconsistent we've been at the back this season and how mediocre Dunfermline are at finishing: 50% of our league clean sheets have been against the Pars.

A tight game but we took our chances when they came along. Mehmet doing us a solid for the opener - Stanton had all the time in the world to head the ball into an empty net. Second half and we soaked up all the pressure. I think we could play 5 more games in a row and you'd be unlikely to see Jakubiak get a shot on goal. Brilliant fun when Easton put the second home. Absolutely ruined them. I know they're not long back from injury, but both Matty Todd and the much fabled KRH were absolutely anonymous today.

We had Lee Ashcroft turning down other clubs at this level to join us. I'd rather we had used Corr but I don't think that failing to use him will impact things going forwards.

Aye, unfortunately we had a few instances where life has dictated. We *might* have a recording this evening but if not we'll have one for Sunday covering the post match and a look ahead to Tuesday.

That's some absolutely classic RRFC content right there.

We've started over half our league games by changing our back line due to injuries. Watson is the only one of the two likely to make the game but even then it's a big ask. There's not been any update on Ashcroft who looked a lot worse off.

Managers will always fancy their chances at some clubs despite perceived weaknesses. Regardless of whether United win the league, I can't see Goodwin being in the job by the end of the year.

A second clean sheet and an assist for Callum Hannah today.

Fwiw, I don't think tinkering was an issue. Watson going off combined with a failure of collective responsibility after an hour absolutely ruined us.