AuldReekie

Not making this week and can't say I'm that bothered. Made the effort to go to Firhill on Saturday and it was absolutely brutal. Until there's a fundamental change in the club (owner, manager), I'm not expecting any huge change in our fortunes. On paper, this should be a key run of three games we should be looking to win but we'll no doubt fumble the ball again. In an alternate universe, we'd win all three, go into the Falkirk game on a high and the season could turn very quickly in our favour. But we'll screw it up somewhere along the line though and the general apathy will continue. Given we can't put together any kind of consistency, I have no idea how we'll do at weekend. This post is brought to you by the words "pessmistic" and "uninspired".

I have no doubt at all you can, and will, get better. It still doesn't the fact that that was an atrocious game of football. We were brutal, you less so. If you want to pretend otherwise, good for you.

Absolutely awful game of football. One of the worst I can remember in a long, long time. Partick better team in first half but even then I was surprised at how poor they were - had them down as challengers this year and can't work out where they've gone wrong. Megwa the only player on the pitch that showed genuine ability. As for Pars, went along hoping to underline that we might have turned a corner only to find Mehmet in for Tobi, and the tone had been set. Mehmet didn't really do much wrong until the goal IMO but his presence alone is doing nothing for anyone's confidence. Across the entire team, there's a real lack of composure - noone willing to put their foot on the ball and take control of possession. Nervy passes, poor headers, misplaced passes, trying to float passes into space (which are easy to defend). Could barely string two passes together - dreadful. The injuries to Fogarty and Wotherspoon certainly didn't help (two of our better performers last week) but Matty Todd who hasn't played in a couple of months, looked like our most attacking threat for most of the game. Chris Kane spent most of the game deep, with back to goal, throwing himself to ground to buy possession, while KRH and McCann huffed and puffed with no real quality. Some of the young boys did well but their lack of experience and confidence at this level is contributing to a lack of composure and leadership on the park. I don't think he's got it in him, but McPake needs to find a consistent attacking setup urgently. Worked against Rovers last week but absolutely nowhere to be seen this week. McCann and KRH blowing how and cold each week, and Kane having to live off scraps - it's just absolute garbage. I don't think he gets sacked until we're cut adrift or new owners are found, so not expecting any management changes soon. Only positive I can find is that we have QP, Morton and Airdrie in next three weeks - we have to go try and win all three games. Playing it safe would be completely unacceptable.

And you sacked the fella. All-timer of a decision. Was obviously sore being on the end of that record last season, but punting Murray didn't half cheer me up. Thanks for the laughs.

I think form rather than TV likely to be the biggest factor on crowd. If we can hit a run of form, I'm all in on a Friday night Falkirk game, mid holiday season. If both teams playing well, this is 8000+ which would be fantastic for the Championship and great for TV. If we're looking grim, it's an easy out to watch on TV. Too easy to blame TV - if we want bigger crowds, play better.

Great win. Having watched the full match on BBC, most pleasing was the tempo and intensity which was sorely lacking through League Cup and early league games. Rovers didn't get a chance to settle and Kane showing good awareness and energy to get in behind their back line ensured we had a great platform for rest of the game. Small things that give hope: Oluwayemi looks a big upgrade on Mehmet - kicking good but held a high line in a sweeper-keeper role allowing fullbacks to push on. Very encouraging. Fogarty looked excellent again - no nonsense, kept it simple, has a bit pace and always looking to move the ball quickly - the latter two points are the biggest concerns I've had with Bene, who's now going to have to work hard for his place Another solid showing from Sam Young - tougher tests await but like Fogarty, kept it simple, did his job and recovered well from a couple of mis-kicks A very good performance from Wotherspoon who has been a big concern since he joined. He's clearly a very good player but was starting to feel like a luxury we didn't need. As the team performance level's improved, we can see what he's going to bring. As expected, Chris Kane isn't going to score 20+ goals a season, but he's an absolute menace. Showed great energy and pace throughout and coaching team deserve some credit for managing his injury despite huge pressure to get him played. Looks sharp and pacey. We continue to need the rest of the team to help in attack though. I don't buy the moaning that this was 2 shit teams battling it out. Not going to speak for Rovers, but I actually thought this was a really good Pars performance. Good intensity, played some really nice football and on another night, could have had 1 or 2 more. As a squad, need to raise performance levels so we see this on a more consistent basis.

From what I've seen so far, he's looked pretty reasonably. Made no obvious errors, contributed in attack, solid enough in defence. He has been one of the first players to be subbed though which suggests, given he hasn't performed badly, they might be concerned he's not reliable enough yet over 90 minutes or they don't want to dent his confidence should he make a costly mistake. 21 year old isn't that young in the modern game at this level but he's clearly not been a consistent starter at previous clubs so I'm pretty happy with how they're managing his development. Was always going to be tough to replace Josh Edwards. But if they can manage him through the first 6 months, I actually think he could turn out to be a pretty decent player. He doesn't have to be brilliant - just needs to be reliable and consistent. On the game itself, would be fantastic to back up Friday night with a result this weekend but until we put together a run of form, Friday night is more likely to have been an exception rather than a new dawn. If the players can put in the same energy and intensity, then we can definitely win the game. The new keeper and changes in the back line mean I am we more confident in our defensive setup. Expecting a defeat, would take a draw but a repeat of Friday night and I'll be looking for a win.

Delicious. You probably should be finishing well above us given the conservatory and pie money your man Barrowman has blown, so keep these predictions coming. And no world beaters here, just happy to get a win against a Rovers team destined for Premiership. Apparently.

Pretty much this. Still pretty pessimistic - that team will have to elevate their game to beat Rovers IMO. Oluwayemi, Young, Fogarty, Ngwenya, Cooper all still pretty unproven, especially for a match of this size, while the jury remains out on McCann and KRH is a shadow of his previous self. A win would be hugely encouraging. A repeat of the Dundee United game last season would be absolutely ideal.

My worst case scenario for the club at the moment is McPake continuing to do just enough to leave doubt in the mind of the board or any new owner, and we continue to limp, sometimes literally, through the season. McPake needs to get really good, really quickly, or we need to shit the bed and force a decision. A drab draw or a fluky win (which would be welcome relief) isn't what we need. I'd obviously take any points in the short term but longer term, we need more dramatic changes in performance or coaching. But yes, I wouldn't object to Murray if it happens, although I do hope we throw the net far and wide if/when the managers job becomes free. I'm not convinced he's as good as some of the fever pitch hype last season when he was being touted for Hibs, but I do think his players play for him and he clearly wouldn't be lacking in motivation to make an example of the idiocy at Rovers at start of season.

Despite some improvement in recent weeks, I've still not seen anything to suggest we're about to win games, never mind big derbies. Scoring goals remains an issue (despite what two against East Fife might suggest), and keeping clean sheets is equally challenging (again, despite keeping East Fife out). Are we about to score goals, keep Rovers at bay and do it all on national TV - there's very little evidence to suggest so. I'm liking what I've seen from Sam Young and Tommy Fogarty and they've quite right established themselves as the preferred centre-halves (a damning indictment on Bene and Fisher), but Friday night will be altogether different test. At the other end, our strikers are up against well-proven ex-Hibees so I'm struggling to see us unlock Rovers (although Hanlon especially looked pretty suspect for at least one of the Ayr United goals at weekend). There's a lot of stars that need to align on Friday for us to have a chance, so my bar is set particularly low. Rovers lose this though and Barrowman should be chased out of Kirkcaldy - the Murray sacking was and continues to be absolutely moronic, and despite many Rovers continuing to pretend to support that decision, deep down surely nobody will still think it was a good decision. Luckily for Rovers, I think they'll win on Friday and probably quite comfortably too.

What in the lino-licker is going on here?! This thread is WILD!

ffs. This has been a bit of a laugh but it's just getting a little sad and uncomfortable now watching folk lose their absolute shit. Ultimately, it's just a game of football, you're only 3 games in to a season and your squad will still almost certainly make promotion playoffs at least. Even allowing for this to drag on another month or so, if you don't make promotion playoffs that would be a bigger disgrace than the time it is taking to appoint a manager, which isn't actually that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. What is remarkable though is the number of people who can't bring themselves to admit that sacking Murray was ultimately the wrong move. You might think the performances were crap, you might think preseason was underwhelming, you might think Rovers deserve to be sitting top right now, etc. But everything about the sacking was a mistake and almost all of the nonsense of the last month stems from that decision. But it's OK to admit that a mistake might have been made. It might even help folk cope if they acknowledged it. But it's clear your board messed up. It doesn't mean they should be sacked. It doesn't mean your club is in trouble. It doesn't mean players private lives should be talked about on social media. It was just a mistake. It happens. Coping is a lot easier if people just accept it wasn't the right decision and reset their expectations from there.

From outside looking in, totally agree. Can't be arsed with how so many people find it completely OK to circulate unfounded garbage online. Might be true, might not - not sure it's anyone's business other than those affected. Manager shambles no doubt contributing as it's a creating a vacuum into which fans will speculate about anything that's vaguely connected. You'd like to think a manager would have taken action by now to protect player, squad and club where required. Doing noone any favours when this stuff takes hold. Anyways, if he needs a home...