SuperHans

I've been conducting interviews all weekend. I know who they all are but there will be no appointments made until we find the bag of cash that Turnbull buried under the corner flag.

I actually thought Kevin Cuthbert was starting to morph into good old Yogi Hughes during his interview. Got some of the key phrases in too "look themselves in the mirror" brought back some great memories of Hughes after the St Mirren game.

Interesting that Smith had obviously stated that he wasn't happy about leaving Michael Woods. I'll take Clark's word on the matter which makes me even more concerned about why someone who was in the position that Smith was in to suddenly decide to leave. He's either had enough or he's seen something that he's not happy about and made a choice to protect himself and a career that isn't exactly one that will have him knocking back jobs at a higher level than he already is. With the Morton job being taken today that only leaves the St Mirren job and I'd very much doubt he'd be anywhere near the running for that.

Right so because the previous BoD made a mistake with Gary Locke, every manager this club gets will now have to run all of their signing decisions past John Sim and Bill Clark? The BoD either have to trust the manager that they've signed to do a job or bring someone in that has some kind of experience or knowledge on the subject. Smith needed a CB last season, we had Robertson playing unfit and out of position for a big chunk of the games. Regardless of who Smith wants to sign, you have to trust his judgment. The BoD aren't asking him what he thinks about the business decisions they're making, and I'm sure Smith would rather have had more money than a plastic pitch. So what grounds do they have to tell a manager how to do his job? What will this say to the group of out of work managers looking at Raith Rovers?

I'm sorry but whether or not there is any truth in this story. If people genuinely think it's acceptable for a man who's half way round the world and had absolutely no experience in football whatsoever to make any type of football decision then why don't we just have a committee with all the old codgers picking the team? Either get someone on the BoD who knows what they're doing regarding footballing matters or trust the manager that they've appointed.

I'm sorry but whether or not there is any truth in this story. If people genuinely think it's acceptable for a man who's half way round the world and had absolutely no experience in football whatsoever to make any type of football decision then why don't we just have a committee with all the old codgers picking the team? Either get someone on the BoD who knows what they're doing regarding footballing matters or trust the manager that they've appointed.

I wouldn't be surprised if a manager does have something like this written into their contract. It basically protects them financially regardless of being sacked or walking. Any club will more than likely waive the notice period as there's no point having an unhappy manager that wants away in charge. It also protects the club in case there's a situation like what seems to have happened at Morton with McKinnon. Regardless of all of this. I doubt we'll see him back in the Raith dugout again. Any contact between him and the club is likely a formality.

Probs punting their wages on Russell Latapy who's been mentioned on Twitter as 'joint favourites' [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] 🤦.

The fact that he's been working with the current BoD members since the start of the season and hasn't handed his notice in and when Sim arrives in Kirkcaldy for the game on Saturday, he handed his notice in. Clark has covered his arse by saying things were tricky but they were behind him even when things were going against him. He's clearly not happy with the current circumstances which makes me wonder if the goalposts have been changed. If he wasn't happy with things he could easily have walked well before now.

Is anyone else wondering the dynamics of the BoD? I think it's become obvious that Sim and Smith have had some kind of bust up. And we're all assuming that it's more than likely to be over funds available for transfers etc. But if this is the case, then what's the Chairmans role in all of this? Is Bill Clark not supposed to be the man who makes the decisions from a footballing point and Sim is the man sorting the SPP company etc? If so then it seems that Smith has waited for Sim to be back in Kirkcaldy to air his grievances and then handed in his notice. It all seems a bit late in the day for it to be over not getting the money to spend considering he's resigned after the window has shut and not before in protest for not getting the money he wanted.

I don't understand how that has anything to do with my post. And no I wasn't able to get there unfortunately. Or are you referring to the Airdrie game? In which case I was.

Yeah it's a nice thought but it's changed days since all that. Smith said in his interview last week that they don't have the same video analysis facilities as we had at Michael Woods and they have to use a makeshift set up in the club. Michael Woods was also a seriously good asset to prospective managers and player signings. Having a choice between a club that maybe train on a public park or a club who have the most up to date modern facilities was a real bonus. Now we have an excellent playing surface but no gym or indoor training facility. Like I said, a new manager coming in won't think about how nice it is that Raith are back at Starks, he'll think it's a pain in the arse having to organise cars and shuttles to get players to a gym for some training. We've also been using Michael Woods since 2013. So it's hardly like you can pinpoint our poor form on it. Edit to add: Jackie O's was also still open when Sinkie, Dazza etc were around. I'm sure those lads were making plenty of "connections with the town".

Maybe it did. I wouldn't say he was overly keen for getting involved with the fans and town etc but would that have made him any better as a manager if he did. He had a job to do and granted it didn't work the firs time but that made him even more determined because he was getting seriously desperate. If he had failed this season by either missing out on promotion or being sacked mid season then any chance of a career in full time football was gone for a long time. He wasn't the given the tools he felt he needed for the job and walked. This is now on the BoD and owner of the club IMO. Do they make the job attractive and magic up some funds from somewhere or do they keep to the rule they've set and hope we can get a new manager who can work under these conditions?

Regardless of who's to blame for what, since Smith took the job, a lot has changed at the club and in his shoes not for the good. Since his arrival there's been a club buyout, boardroom shuffle, 2 chairman, budget slashed, change of training facility and a plastic pitch. Managers are selfish because they don't have a very long shelf life, especially if things don't go to plan. Smith doesn't care about the club or the fans, he cares about doing as best as he can for his own career. He's not interested in the savings made by moving from Michael Woods which has modern indoor and outdoor facilities, gyms and swimming pool to Starks Park which doesn't have a working sprinkler system yet. He's not bothered about the BoD trying to keep the club on a secure financial footing by not giving him more money to spend on players and he couldn't care less where we are in 10 years time. All he wants is results and to get himself as high as possible in football. I don't blame him for that, I'm not naive enough to believe that he's all about Raith Rovers etc. The next manager who comes in will be just the same. Only problem is that anyone that sees why Smith left might think twice before chucking their hat in the ring.

Not what I heard.

I think they know who the ideal candidate is. Just like we all have an idea of what an ideal candidate would be. But then I'm sure most of us on here know what our ideal woman would be too. We'd all love to have a manager that engages with the fans, plays attractive football, utilises the youth and gets results on the pitch. Unfortunately unless we strike gold, it's unlikely that this wonder manager is going to be out there at this time of the season just waiting for us to give him a call. From what I've learnt in the last 3 seasons or so and from how I see it, I'm lowering my expectations drastically for whoever we sign as the next manager and for how this season may well pan out. Although Barry Smith was no world class manager, he was the best that we could have hoped for right now. The fact that he was willing to walk away with nothing from a team he's assembled and a task he was confident he could achieve says it all. Even if he was to get sacked (which would have taken a monumental f**k up) he would have walked away with his contract paid out. He's ripped that up and left with nothing but his current record and potentially some pride. I'm also going out on a limb here and point out that Sim was in the directors box on Saturday, the players and staff have a Monday off and by the end of the day on Tuesday the managers resigned. Clearly been a fall out and Smith has taken what he sees as the best option for his career and walked.

I'd agree with parts of the first point. We can be an attractive prospect, but under the current circumstances, the new manager is walking into a fire pit. If another manager comes in by the start of next week and we lose or even drop off a couple of games then there's a real issue with regards to our title chase. The margins were so fine last season, they'll be even finer this time round. Interestingly, the last 2 or 3 interviews Smith had before games he mentioned Training at Starks and although he didn't criticise it, he did have some issues. Michael Woods was a massive, modern facility that really did offer us something a bit more unique over other clubs at our level. Regarding the BoD, I think they're lost when it comes to 'football matter' and fine on the business side. Sim even said in one of his interviews this year about how they're all learning as the go along. We were very lucky with Turnbull Hutton and since him passing away, we've had no one on the board with any kind of savvy when it comes to sacking and appointing managers. Even the decision to sack Locke when they did was wrong. It's one thing relying on a full time team winning this league but if we don't have enough resources then it cuts out chances down. The BoD have made a decision to cut costs everywhere and it's clearly had an affect on the squad size and now the manager leaving. I also know that Smith asked for more money in Jan last season to boost the team and was told if he had wanted the money, he should have done better in the Scottish Cup.

The whole of last season does not prove he was or is a shit manager. His failings in the League Cup weren't great but his ambition as Raith manager had nothing to do with the League Cup, purely the League. Admittedly, he's shot himself in the foot with the cups as had he been a bit more successful then we'd have likely had more finances to afford more players. His managerial statistics for us based on League One competitions alone shows that we were unbeaten for around 80-85% of the games we played under Smith. Over 50% win record and lost 2 games at home. Granted, when it counted, he didn't get us the promotion. But there's more factors to that than just the fact he was a 'poor manager'. Regarding his personality, Hughes is the life and soul of the party and he was great for us. John McGlynn on the other hand seems like a great laugh... Personality counts for f**k all. I'd rather have a guy getting results than cracking the jokes.

So there was a bald man in the directors box on Saturday... The plot thickens.

There's always the potential that anyone who's just recently been sacked and has received a 'pay off' will be less inclined to worry about how much money they'll be getting by taking our job. From what I understand, it's that for obvious reasons, clubs don't pay managers off with 'lump sums' of cash that they've got sitting about. The more likely scenario is that they're kept on the payroll for the remainder of their contract term. This logic should also be applied to anyone who thinks that the BoD were sitting on a nice big pile of cash waiting to pay Smith off. The more likely scenario for not being able to sack him is that the club can't afford to have Smith/Cuthbert still on the payroll at the same time as another manager and coaching staff.

When? Does the closed window not mean that the only loans we can bring in are the 90 day emergency loans? And I suppose there's a queue of amazingly talented free agents that every other team were wanting but didn't sign? Chickens coming home to roost seems to be the phrase I've been saying over and over again in my head. He won't be remembered for much but with what we're faced with now, sometimes it's better the devil you know. We're not an attractive prospect for anyone looking at this. It's an opportunity for someone to make their name or ruin it. I was dead against signing an inexperienced manager before Smith came in but now it seems that's going to be the likely option. It's that or trying to attract someone like Dick Campbell away from Arbroath. It's a nice thought for Laurie Ellis to come back and make a name for himself but I wonder how long it would be before we would turn on him if things didn't start the way we would want. Any manager coming into this job is taking a gamble with their career.

[emoji122][emoji122] fucking brilliant! He's only gone and sussed it! A complete "masterstroke"!! The BoD deliberately wanted to give him limited resources which would put the us at a disadvantage from the start of the season. I actually saw Bill Clarke kick the seat in front of him in rage when Nisbet scorer the last 2 goals against Airdrie. They were so desperate to get rid of him... This tops the lot! Why on earth would the BoD put themselves and the club under so much pressure? And with all this cash we've somehow saved from not allowing Smith to buy in the players we so desperately needed we can now poach Pep Guardiola. You're right though, maybe the BoD didn't do that because they're not tripping on fucking acid and you really are the only person smart enough to have come up with this theory...

Easily amused it seems.

I like how we're all becoming fussy over who we would want and not want as manager again, while we're in such a precarious position. Smith walking tells a story in itself considering had he failed to win the next couple of games he'd have likely been sacked and paid his contract out (unless we couldn't afford it and just kept him in). If he's walking out to protect his own career than what does that tell you about the state he's leaving the place in? Unless there's a full time team above us willing to take a punt on him then what does he really expect to happen now? But more importantly for us, who do you see wanting to come into what is proving to be a poisoned chalice? Also, assuming the BoD didn't see this coming, I can't see a decision being made quickly. For all those wanting Smith out, you seem to have forgotten our BoDs track record in managerial appointments. Murray, McKinnon, Locke, Hughes and Smith...

I think we should just go back to a committee. Plenty of Football Manager experts/virgins kicking about here that'll surly be able to get us promoted.