The New Raith Rovers Thread

[King Kebab]

[Beastie Russell]

1 hour ago, Scottydog said:

Last season we were pipped at the post by an Ayr side who found some money to bring in new faces in January (like the Pars did when they beat us to promotion to the Prem, though look where that got 'em) and we were left to struggle on without an addition or 2 to a broken and inept midfield.  Both Milne and Connolly were there for the signing but funds couldn't be found. I reckon either could have made that vital difference, and both would surely have left Ayr in our wake. This season the budget is again slashed and unless they are keeping cash back to give the seemingly inevitable new manager in January then the BOD have clearly learned nothing from what's gone before. Sadly Mr Sim & Sinton are continuing where they left off last term with their concentration wholly on the new playing surface while the team playing on it (eventually) falters  and the fans loose interest and drift away. Talk about fiddling while Rome burned.

Ayr got a full house and live TV match v Rangers, that’s where they got the money, it wasn’t a directors windfall.

 

[Kelheart]

Going by the general consensus here Smith aint everyone’s first choice of manager , who would you guys like to see taking the club forward ??? 

[microdave]

That's what gets me most about Smith...his insistence on basically picking the questions and refusal to answer any questions about specific players.

The guy who said after the Alloa debarcle that we could do a Dunfermline when they were the only full time team in the league and stuck with dinosaur Jefferies could be spot on.

Morton and (possibly) Airdrie were full time that season too. Anyway, we (Dumbarton) have been quite adept at managers resigning/being sacked after we've played them(including Smith at Alloa), so you may only have to wait until the end of September!

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

8 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Going by the general consensus here Smith aint everyone’s first choice of manager , who would you guys like to see taking the club forward ??? 

Ye cannie see past Bob.

[Cosmic Joe]

Is anybody going to acknowledge that it might have been a mistake trying to sustain full-time football for two consecutive seasons in SPFL1 on gates of less than 1,500?

[Ding Dang Doo]

Morton and (possibly) Airdrie were full time that season too. Anyway, we (Dumbarton) have been quite adept at managers resigning/being sacked after we've played them(including Smith at Alloa), so you may only have to wait until the end of September!

You might be right with Morton. Anway point is all the same. They kept a dinosaur in charge and it was a disaster and we have some the same toys summer. Unless Smith wins the league and we improve our style he'll never win over the fans.

I was prepared to give Locke a chance as we all still had the feel good factor of the playoffs and a belief we could improve but last season was honestly the worst football I've ever watched at Starks and by the sounds of it this season won't improve.

I'd actually rather suffer another season down here is it meant we got rid of Smith, got a new forward thinking manager, brought some people onto the board who know about business and how to build one (rather than yet ANOTHER accountant or ex council worker) and put a proper action plan in place as to how to build this club cause right now we're an absolute shambles and embarrassment.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

8 minutes ago, Angusfifer said:

Is anybody going to acknowledge that it might have been a mistake trying to sustain full-time football for two consecutive seasons in SPFL1 on gates of less than 1,500?

Our average home gate last season was 1920.

Lowest 971 Brora rangers.

Highest 4496 (last league match) Alloa Athletic.

[Cosmic Joe]

3 minutes ago, Zen Archer said:

Our average home gate last season was 1920.

Lowest 971 Brora rangers.

Highest 4496 (last league match) Alloa Athletic.

And where are the projected gates of over 1,500 this season going to come from.? Remaining full-time last season was a gamble, I'm not sure how to describe the decision to continue with full-time football in 2018-19...

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 minute ago, Angusfifer said:

And where are the projected gates of over 1,500 this season going to come from.? Remaining full-time last season was a gamble, I'm not sure how to describe the decision to continue with full-time football in 2018-19...

Supporters paying at the gate.

All football is a gamble.

Buy a thesaurus.

[Ro Sham Bo]

I know Smith is obsessed with 4-4-2 but with the personnel available today surely a 3-5-2 would've been the way to go?
The way we set to today was total madness.

[Cosmic Joe]

16 minutes ago, Zen Archer said:

Supporters paying at the gate.

All football is a gamble.

Buy a thesaurus.

So what is the cut-off point at which home attendances will not sustain full-time football? 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

2 minutes ago, Angusfifer said:

So what is the cut-off point at which home attendances will not sustain full-time football? 

That would be an ecumenical matter.

[CALDERON]

Full time football is a pretty big gamble i would think, especially if we see more performances like today.

I was using the league Cup to see if I was going to by a season ticket, pretty telling so far. 

[Stevo Fife]

On the Cowdenbeath thread one of the Cowden fans said, and I quote "Absolutely buzzing ! I know it's only Raith but 2-nil away first game has got to be a good start. Maybe they could just stop the season now"

I found that rather amusing

[JinglinGeordie]

Let's just all chill oot ffs.

Wasn't at the game but having read the reports and read some of you miserable b*stards I can gather that we were average first half, woeful in the second half and things look more of the same from last season.?

I'm not a big fan of Smith but cut him a bit of slack here - 12 players out the door, 7 in so far with only 3  available for selection today. Might have officially been a competitive match but it was basically a pre-season friendly. Let's wait and judge Smith/this squad once we at least see it closer to completion and most of the new signings available for selection.

Also, look at the other results today - Falkirk losing to an unfinished Montrose squad, Dumbarton failing to score against Spartans, Accies losing away to Annan, St Johnstone unable to score against the Methil minks and Dundee United failing to beat Arbroath. Last season Falkirk and Dundee United romped their groups then had miserable league campaigns, Alloa finished bottom of their group and look what they achieved over the season, even Albion Rovers smashed their League Cup group last season and look how their season panned out!

[1320Lichtie]

Let's just all chill oot ffs.

Wasn't at the game but having read the reports and read some of you miserable b*stards I can gather that we were average first half, woeful in the second half and things look more of the same from last season.?

I'm not a big fan of Smith but cut him a bit of slack here - 12 players out the door, 7 in so far with only 3  available for selection today. Might have officially been a competitive match but it was basically a pre-season friendly. Let's wait and judge Smith/this squad once we at least see it closer to completion and most of the new signings available for selection.

Also, look at the other results today - Falkirk losing to an unfinished Montrose squad, Dumbarton failing to score against Spartans, Accies losing away to Annan, St Johnstone unable to score against the Methil minks and Dundee United failing to beat Arbroath. Last season Falkirk and Dundee United romped their groups then had miserable league campaigns, Alloa finished bottom of their group and look what they achieved over the season, even Albion Rovers smashed their League Cup group last season and look how their season panned out!

 

To be fair Alloa got off to a pretty average to poor start last season whilst Albion Rovers were flying at the start.

 

After watching us today, without wanting to jinx anything, I think we have a Raith feel about us from last season.

 

Look like we will have a pretty solid back 4 and Jamieson seems promising in goal too. Hopefully we are able to grind out wins off the back of it like you lads seemed to do last season.

 

Thomson to me looks like he could be excellent, Fraser Aird never got anything out of him today.

[CALDERON]

3 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

To be fair Alloa got off to a pretty average to poor start last season whilst Albion Rovers were flying at the start.

 

After watching us today, without wanting to jinx anything, I think we have a Raith feel about us from last season.

 

Look like we will have a pretty solid back 4 and Jamieson seems promising in goal too. Hopefully we are able to grind out wins off the back of it like you lads seemed to do last season.

 

Thomson to me looks like he could be excellent, Fraser Aird never got anything out of him today.

You really, really don't want to have a Raith feel about your team. 

Trust me. 

[1320Lichtie]

You really, really don't want to have a Raith feel about your team. 
Trust me. 

Haha I thought you were ok last season, was positive you’d win the league off the back of your defence. Ayr were throwing away goals.

This season I’m not so sure, for me Barr, Furtado Zanatta and Spence are better than Flanagan, Duggan, Milne and Nisbet.

Robertson is a big loss but Wedderburn is probably just as good. Never seen Jamie Watson in my life but I think Thomson will be a miss for you, know a lot of you didn’t like him or think you’d miss him when he left but to me he still looks extremely fit, wins so much in the air and he’s strong and pretty quick too (unless Aird is a lot slower than I think he is).

Smith could have a tough job on his hands.

[Michael W]

Thomson has noticeably regressed as a player. I'd have been happy for him to stay, but he isn't what he once was and ultimately the goals he scored last season did paper over the cracks to an extent. 

In saying that, we haven't signed an RB to replace him and agree we are currently worse off in that position. Also agree that Spence is better than Duggan, but then our manager spent much of the season having the ball launched at Liam Buchanan, so hardly surprising that one didn't work out. 

Today's result was embarrassing but I'm more worried that half our team appears to be injured already. Our chances of progressing in this cup were slim anyway, so really it's making a good start in the league that matters. Hopefully we chuck it against Aberdeen Colts as well.