The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Scary Bear]

1 hour ago, renton said:

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/raith-rovers-foreign-investors-linked-with-move-to-buy-kirkcaldy-club-3959673

Fire sale incoming?

And just like that, we’re beaten by Linlithgow Rose in the cup. That’s how it works.

[Raith Against The Machine]

Question for the board: the club made nine signings in the summer, and then added John Frederiksen in October. What's changed since those signings were sanctioned that now means the club is in crisis and needs fresh investment? 

[Michael W]

35 minutes ago, Against The Machine said:

To be honest, I find this puzzling as much as anything else. John Sim is, and always has been, opaque to the point of madness, but I just can't get the whole situation to add up. 

Why spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a pitch, floodlights, portacabins and hubs only to then plead poverty over what are essentially day-to-day running expenses? 

MacDonald mentions "maintenance that hasn't been done in previous years" (I might be misquoting slightly, but that's the gist) - which years? Presumably since 2005 (albeit almost certainly pre-dating that too) when Sim took control. Why neglect some maintenance but spend money on the floodlights? Why bother with either? If you're going to sink money on one, surely you'd do the other? 

That's the fundamental contradiction I just can't square. He's spent a fortune in the last 15+ years on various pet projects of varying natures, but seems to have also flat out refused to spend comparitively small amounts at other times. 

It feels like he's got a greater interest in the community aspect versus the first team, but then why bother supporting the club at all? He owns the ground. As someone has alluded to above, why not split them entirely? Make it some other mugs problem whether to pay rent at Stark's or try to find a ground somewhere else, and focus on running a centre for the community. Does he think the stadium needs the club as a "principal" to build the whole thing around? Then why let it get to this point? 

And it's also worth thinking about who's been setting the budgets for the last 17 years. This isn't the case that a new owner has come in and is dealing with legacy contracts and a bloated squad. If John Sim wanted to cut the playing budget by £150,000 at any point he could've done so. 

Maybe he's not pointing the finger at anyone, perhaps I'm reading that accusation into it, but it seems utterly bizarre for a man who's made a fortune in the finance world to be seeking investment in a business/project/charity/basketcase by essentially highlighting his own mismanagement. 

Fully agree with this. 

Look at the situation a couple of months ago: grandiose plans for a huge clubhouse/sports hub or whatever he was calling it. Whatever it was, it was a project that required a significant amount of capital investment. Then here we are, with the chairman making rambling statements about selling players, repetitive statements about an average loss of £150k a season and an FFP article signing off begging people to send Sim and Macdonald some money. 

Sim has completely and utterly fucked this club. He has total control over it and it's been run into the ground - that is on John Sim and the buck stops there. He could've cut budgets and stopped the losses. He has actively chosen not to do this and now, here we are. He is based in Thailand and so has been mostly distant from the club. Not ideal, but he chose a succession of clowns to manage it in his place, removed from the reality of what's happening on the ground. Benign neglect is exactly what it is.  

And the best part of this? He is a fucking Auditor! Partner and Global CEO of one of the world's largest accountancy firms. The football club is insolvent and even the stadium (Sim's asset) isn't looking very healthy either now. He has run a business in a way that he would've had kittens about as an Auditor: loss after loss, insolvent, loaded with debt, an asset losing value and in serious need of expensive maintenance and, to cap it off, an owner based 6,000 miles away that is detached from the operation. 

The club has been severely mismanaged. John Sim is not Colin McGowan, but he has still presided over a complete shambles that puts the club's future in jeopardy. 

The big question, however, is this: why the sudden move on all this? Has it dawned on him that he has screwed up and he's trying to run away before it implodes? Have his own circumstances changed and he needs the money? Has he found "the right person" to sell to? 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Michael W

[RavyDavy]

As usual, some mental knicker wetting going on.  That FFP article doesn't tell us anything new... Any decent offers for players will be considered. New signings considered in Jan. Club close to a break even position, a good cup run makes a difference, finish 4th and it's all rosey.

Calm the f**k down. 

[basher brash]

Why did the club allow John mcglynn to agree contracts with players and each year there salary would rise as part of the deal ?  Where was the clubs governance and why let Mcglynn go rogue , I’m just in total dis believe and utterly scunnered with the running of the club 

[Raith Against The Machine]

1 minute ago, RavyDavy said:

As usual, some mental knicker wetting going on.  That FFP article doesn't tell us anything new... Any decent offers for players will be considered. New signings considered in Jan. Club close to a break even position, a good cup run makes a difference, finish 4th and it's all rosey.

Calm the f**k down. 

I agree with you in terms of the black and white of what MacDonald is saying, but the problem is that this is all being driven from within the club. Nobody would be talking about any of this if it weren't for a statement sent to media outlets by the owner and then follow up quotes from the chairman. 

Once again, the communication from the football club is causing massive issues. 

[Broken Algorithms]

Red Bull Raith Rovers has a ring to it tbf. 

[Hank Scorpio]

A very weird interview all things considered. We are looking to move players on, unless we can keep them. We need investment because we don’t have enough money, but we are not far away from breaking even. We’ve spent a load on lights and a pitch but there is significant stadium maintenance required, but the maintenance is just tidying up and other bits and pieces. Sounds like a really fucking bad interview to be honest. 

Edited to add: again 

 

Edited to add again: Ending the interview with a plea for people with money to phone the club and give us it is one of the most tinpot things I’ve seen. Our communications are.. not good. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Hank Scorpio

[philpy]

Right then.. which 3 players are getting sold to livi for a tenner in January??

[Raith Against The Machine]

7 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Ending the interview with a plea for people with money to phone the club and give us it is one of the most tinpot things I’ve seen. Our communications are.. not good. 

Don't scoff, I'm sure there are a multitude of investors with millions they want to pour into a Kirkcaldy-based football club, who just don't know how to go about it. They'll be queuing up now to... [double checks] go to the club website and look up two email addresses. 

(Two email addresses which, incidentally, aren't actually on either the Directors or Contact Us pages of the website.) 

[TxRover]

There are a whole lot of contradictions here.

We have two huge stands (too big for us, honestly) with deferred maintenance needs…so we redo the light pylons mounted on those stands (likely for for several hundred thousand pounds). That only makes sense if you intend to repair those stands, so why haven’t we?

We have an owner who talks of becoming a Premiership club within a few years, yet who is running the club with a consistent budget deficit, and appears surprised by that deficit.

We had a BoD and manager who sanctioned buying a radioactive player last January…yet the owner pleas ignorance…who’s making the decisions then?

We have an owner who talks of being a Community Club, but doesn’t seem to truly support either Community nor Club.

 

[SirJimmyofNic]

I sincerely hope there is a buyer out there that knows how to run a football club and its stadium, and as for "knicker wetting"  we've been here before!!!,  

[TxRover]

Re: Selling players

Facts: Signed for next season…McNeil, Millen, Arnott, Brown, Easton, Matthews, Ross, Stanton, Gullan, Vaughan

Who on that list have value? To have value, we need appeal to Championship/Premiership teams, or other leagues. McNeil is probably worth a few quid, but that would be foolish…Millen is likely topped out…Arnott isn’t impressing anyone…Brown has topped out…Easton has regressed…Matthews is out with an injury, again…Ross isn’t interesting right now, and would pay less due to sell on clause…Stanton might bring some dosh…Gullan isn’t interesting to us even…Vaughan is likely too damaged a good. The cupboard is bare, lads.

[SirJimmyofNic]

What's the problem with the steelwork on the stands, does any of it need replaced or is it just needing cleaned up and painted on an annual basis

[CALDERON]

So we are looking to move players on, but not lose our best players.  

What a fucking weird interview.  Again.

[foreverarover]

2 hours ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

That will happen after next season when everyone's contracts are up and we'll be back in the seaside, if not before then

And that in my opinion is our place in football and folk need to realise of this. There was no justifiable reason for going full time again. Only to get McGlynn's donkeys in on high wages. 

[Scary Bear]

2 hours ago, Enigma said:

We’ll be hybrid and in League One within 2/3 years, and it won’t be any of the players/managers fault.

The circle of life.

It was a lot more interesting and fun when we bounced between the First Division and Premier Division.

[foreverarover]

1 hour ago, CountryBumpkin said:

Assume best case scenario, 1600 paying £20 each a week is £32000 a home game and £608,000 a season. That doesn't pay a full time squad and backroom staff sufficiently to be any better than we would be now. Sure add in some sponsorship and competition bonuses but it's not a massive additional amount. 

The issue is have of that 1600 are paying £25 for a season ticket. I'd say half that at best from season ticket sales. 

[TxRover]

33 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

What's the problem with the steelwork on the stands, does any of it need replaced or is it just needing cleaned up and painted on an annual basis

There are reports of deterioration of the structural integrity of the stands because they were knocked together quickly and never truly properly maintained. I’ve heard the figure £500,000 bandied about, but I’m sure that covers all issues, not just the steel. Comments from MacDonald about “significant deferred maintenance” and work needed to keep SP “safe and fit for purpose”, which suggest those reports aren’t simply made up. I know some posters here have suggested some pieces need replacement.

[pantene proV]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

A very weird interview all things considered. We are looking to move players on, unless we can keep them. We need investment because we don’t have enough money, but we are not far away from breaking even. We’ve spent a load on lights and a pitch but there is significant stadium maintenance required, but the maintenance is just tidying up and other bits and pieces. Sounds like a really fucking bad interview to be honest. 

Edited to add: again 

 

Edited to add again: Ending the interview with a plea for people with money to phone the club and give us it is one of the most tinpot things I’ve seen. Our communications are.. not good. 

My thoughts too. Embarrassing stuff