The New Raith Rovers Thread

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17 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

 

When was this year we had a plan?

What plan did we have under Murray? I only recall a 6 month period during his second season where it was good. It was aimless under him. Not bad enough to be relegated, not good enough to go for the league. McKinnon had a great last 3 months of the season, then he left. That's not a plan.

 

 Skim read the first part of the post so you probably got a notification. I'd beg to differ. It genuinely felt like the club, fans, players and management were united as one in the final 5 months. Ray had room to expand the following season, and I'm confident that with him Longridge and maybe even Connolly might have stayed. Surprised you saw it though given you're usually off doing other things like gardening and birthdays. 

[HoBNob]

Also, Stewart's goal was all the more hilarious in that the Pars fans had told us about some pish about how Ben Richards-Everton was a sexy b*****d who'd have no problems with our forwards. Some say, he's still recovering from his broken ankle as Stewart turned past him to curl it home. 

Some say it was worth it to see how hilariously above themselves Raith got in the aftermath, literally the peak of your season.

[Scary Bear]

 Skim read the first part of the post so you probably got a notification. I'd beg to differ. It genuinely felt like the club, fans, players and management were united as one in the final 5 months. Ray had room to expand the following season, and I'm confident that with him Longridge and maybe even Connolly might have stayed. Surprised you saw it though given you're usually off doing other things like gardening and birthdays. [emoji6]

Final 5 months of last season? We were our usual god awful selves until the middle of February when we drew with Falkirk, then we kicked on from there. The season finished on May 7th with the defeat at Easter Road in the play offs. 3 months of quality. Not a plan as such, just a very brief great spell to be supporting the club. As you say, could have continued to be great if he stuck around but he didn't.

My schedule is very busy but I did manage along to a few of Ray's games in those 3 months. Some of the best football I've seen us play in ages. I made 7 out of 8 home games (missed the Hibs game for a Birthday). It did feel that we were onto a winner until Ray left.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Here's the link.
I really wanted to vote for Lewis Vaughan to send a message to the board, but he's not on the list despite having played more games than Osei, who is on the list.

A vote for the likes of Skacel or Roberts seems like a good protest vote but I would worry the board would offer the winner a new contract in a bid to boost their popularity.

Osei it is then.

[Ex Machina]

I voted for Court. f**k it to the man.

[Scottydog]

3 hours ago, Beachbum said:

On your plan to demolish the railway stand, you'd have to remove what the stand sits on, ie the banking for the railway track. Not too sure how British Rail would feel about that. The cost of shoring up the banking would probably be prohibitive so far better to just open it up to home fans, as Frank suggested above. It would also do wonders for the board's popularity.

Yup! In a nut shell.

Any work to the banking that could potentially disturb the track bed or use of a crane (or other high reach equipment) that could possibly come into contact with the track would require the suspension of the East Coast line. Last I heard on that it would come at a compensation (to Railtrack) cost of £200,000 per day.

Even without the compo element the cost of demolition and building alone would be prohibitive.  Even assuming it could be built and fitted out for less than £150,000 (doubtful) they'd have to sell an awful lot of hospitality  before £1 was generated in profit.

Add to this the the poor location of the stadium it's self and the only viable and  long term solution is a move away from Starks.

[Scottydog]

Bene gets my vote too.

[Broken Algorithms]

1 minute ago, Grant228 said:

 

Some say it was worth it to see how hilariously above themselves Raith got in the aftermath, literally the peak of your season.

 

 Well done, you're comfortably 6 points ahead of an absolutely rank Rovers team who went from October to February. Scudded us at Starks right enough, before beating us 1-0 with a team playing Skacel for 80 minutes. Did the Pars peak at the New Year derby?

 

37 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

 

Final 5 months of last season? We were our usual god awful selves until the middle of February when we drew with Falkirk, then we kicked on from there. The season finished on May 7th with the defeat at Easter Road in the play offs. 3 months of quality. Not a plan as such, just a very brief great spell to be supporting the club. As you say, could have continued to be great if he stuck around but he didn't.

My schedule is very busy but I did manage along to a few of Ray's games in those 3 months. Some of the best football I've seen us play in ages. I made 7 out of 8 home games (missed the Hibs game for a Birthday). It did feel that we were onto a winner until Ray left.
 

 

Fair enough! I can understand why people weren't enthused during the run. He got a bit unlucky with constant draws between November and February, as well as ending up with only one striker. 

I always found it amusing how much stick got given to some of those players. Longridge and an out of position Craigen in particular. Both were far better than anything that we have now. I'll always ruefully look back at that team and think of "if only". Sadly, it's the nature of clubs like our own where if a manager does do really well, then the likelyhood is that they'll be scouted quickly. 

 

[Scary Bear]

Yup! In a nut shell.
Any work to the banking that could potentially disturb the track bed or use of a crane (or other high reach equipment) that could possibly come into contact with the track would require the suspension of the East Coast line. Last I heard on that it would come at a compensation (to Railtrack) cost of £200,000 per day.
Even without the compo element the cost of demolition and building alone would be prohibitive.  Even assuming it could be built and fitted out for less than £150,000 (doubtful) they'd have to sell an awful lot of hospitality  before £1 was generated in profit.
Add to this the the poor location of the stadium it's self and the only viable and  long term solution is a move away from Starks.

Railtrack haven't existed since 2002. It's Network Rail these days. Houses get built alongside rail lines quite frequently. No doubt you would have to carry out a risk assessment and get a civil/structural engineering survey carried out and approved by Network Rail but I doubt the £200k a day. Did we pay that when the North and South Stands were built? They are pretty close to the line and are much bigger structures. If the line did require to be shut then you are usually given a 4 hour overnight window when it can be shut. The thing that would kill any such project - even if Network Rail approved it - would be the cost. Even the cost of the initial study is probably a cost too far.

I agree that the ground is poorly located. Back in the '90s we should probably have relocated, but we'd probably now be stuck with a 10,000 seater Airdrie type ground out on the outskirts of town with about 600 people on March days. The ground's location is handy enough for train and High Street. It's just the ground design which is horrible. We need a 4 sided 6,000 seater with enough hospitality/bars for 800 fans. We have 2 large stands, 1 small Main Stand and 1 mainly derelict Stand which has the best view of the pitch.

The obvious answer is for one diehard Rovers fan to win the Euro Lottery, or invent something that's worth a fortune, and make it his (or her) life's mission to sort out Starks Park. Highly unlikely but it's our only hope.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

13 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

 

 

Railtrack haven't existed since 2002. It's Network Rail these days. Houses get built alongside rail lines quite frequently. No doubt you would have to carry out a risk assessment and get a civil/structural engineering survey carried out and approved by Network Rail but I doubt the £200k a day. Did we pay that when the North and South Stands were built? They are pretty close to the line and are much bigger structures. If the line did require to be shut then you are usually given a 4 hour overnight window when it can be shut. The thing that would kill any such project - even if Network Rail approved it - would be the cost. Even the cost of the initial study is probably a cost too far.

I agree that the ground is poorly located. Back in the '90s we should probably have relocated, but we'd probably now be stuck with a 10,000 seater Airdrie type ground out on the outskirts of town with about 600 people on March days. The ground's location is handy enough for train and High Street. It's just the ground design which is horrible. We need a 4 sided 6,000 seater with enough hospitality/bars for 800 fans. We have 2 large stands, 1 small Main Stand and 1 mainly derelict Stand which has the best view of the pitch.

The obvious answer is for one diehard Rovers fan to win the Euro Lottery, or invent something that's worth a fortune, and make it his (or her) life's mission to sort out Starks Park. Highly unlikely but it's our only hope.

 

There's a huge market out there for ParSoap, the initial hurdle would be getting them to use it in the first place.

[Scary Bear]

Fair enough! I can understand why people weren't enthused during the run. He got a bit unlucky with constant draws between November and February, as well as ending up with only one striker. 
I always found it amusing how much stick got given to some of those players. Longridge and an out of position Craigen in particular. Both were far better than anything that we have now. I'll always ruefully look back at that team and think of "if only". Sadly, it's the nature of clubs like our own where if a manager does do really well, then the likelyhood is that they'll be scouted quickly. 
 

The middle of the Ray season saw consecutive defeats to Hibs (h), Livi (a), Falkirk (h). The 3-0 at Livi was when the wheels fell off for me. Then Dumbarton (a) when 3-0 up and drawing 3-3 by conceding 3 goals in the last 8 minutes. Then a home draw with St Mirren where we were coasting until an 88th minute free-kick. Then a draw with QoS and away win at Morton, then what felt like a load of defeats and a home draw with Dumbarton. Between 24th October and 13th February our league form was W1 D5 L6. Even Ray couldn't stave off the winter collapse. I think Longridge only got stick because people were properly scunnered by then. Fans want a bit of cheer in depressing January. Not a home defeat to Alloa and a 0-0 draw with Dumbarton.

In recent years, It's been the winter period that kills our season. The only slight exception was Murray's last season where we we're pretty good from New Year onwards, until we turned to shit again in April and he got canned. Even that season we were poor from October to December.

[Scary Bear]

There's a huge market out there for ParSoap, the initial hurdle would be getting them to use it in the first place.

If you could develop a non-hazardous spray that caused dogs shit to break down and disappear then you'd make a fortune.

Next idea!

[Poet of the Macabre]

9 hours ago, rw89 said:

 Well done, you're comfortably 6 points ahead of an absolutely rank Rovers team who went from October to February.

18 point swing in our favour, despite our wins not even hitting the double figure mark. Ooft.

[Beachbum]

12 hours ago, Paco said:

Looks like they've omitted Vaughan as well as those who have already left like Stevenson, Lennox, Syme, and my personal choice Robbie Crawford. 

Utterly scandalous that someone has decided who the supporters can or cannot vote for. If a player has been on the pitch for 1 second this season he should be on the list, regardless of where he is now.

[Beastie Russell]

14 hours ago, grumswall said:

Iv voted for bene for the second season running. He really is undervalued by our support. He's voluntarily played lb /rb this season and despite not being fully fit against Falkirk gave it his all. A leader on the park aswell when our captain isn't.

He also faced foaming at the mouth arseholes at Dumbarton, when he came to sign a 9 year olds programme.

Alongside Davo, one of the few players who hasn't hidden this season, and played where they've been told, without going in the cream puff.

[Scary Bear]

He also faced foaming at the mouth arseholes at Dumbarton, when he came to sign a 9 year olds programme.
Alongside Davo, one of the few players who hasn't hidden this season, and played where they've been told, without going in the cream puff.

I like Bene and Davo too. In fact when you look at the foundations of our team with Cuthbert, Callachan, Stewart and the Barrs, it seems a good starting point.

[Michael W]

I look forward to my vote being deleted for being in bad faith. 

On a serious note, M'Voto for me and I think Bene is probably the only other serious contender. C.Barr and Cuthbert would've been as well if they hadn't spent so much time injured. Hardie hasn't had enough time either but his goals are the only thing that may keep us up. 

Our defence actually isn't bad, it's just that the rest of the team is just hopeless. 

[baillieinleeds]

If we manage to stay up. And if it's true about Hardie being released from Rangers I'd be hoping that we atleast push to sign him. He obviously loves being here. Then we could atleast look to bring in experienced midfielders alongside Callachan and Matthews to offer greater service to the forward players.

[Paco]

Here's a stat for you Davidson fans out there. Raith Rovers have won one match in which Davidson has appeared in midfield this season - the 2-0 win over St Mirren, in which he was subbed at 0-0 and his replacement got the two goals.

 

He's appeared in four league wins from 25 appearances (the aforementioned St Mirren win, Dumbarton 3-2, Falkirk 4-2, QoS 1-0, all of which he played RB for 90 mins). In context we've won four of the seven league matches he hasn't appeared in.

 

Food for thought, a coincidence, a bit of both? I thought he was fine covering at RB, solid defensively but added nothing going forward (which is fair enough). We had pretty major injury issues through November as he covered at RB.

 

In midfield? Finished. Sadly with Callachan/Matthews out we have little other option at the moment.

 

We needed more from the likes of Davidson, Cuthbert, Thomson, Stewart etc to make up for Locke's haddies. There have been injury issues for all of them, sure, but they've not done enough for me. M'voto has been great, Benedictus good. Craig Barr and Hardie have been good for their limited time. Bobby Barr has been decent on the whole. Who else has even had an acceptable season?

 

Edit- I should add Matthews who I think improves the side when he plays.

[Beastie Russell]

At no point has anyone said Davo is a great player.

What's the compatible stats for others ?

Who has the best points for/against ratio per appearance, or are we just highlighting one players shortcomings ?