The New Raith Rovers Thread

[RandomGuy.]

Were you linked with David Norman Jr?

Sure ive seen his name mentioned, but he signed for an Irish club today.

[Specky Ginger]

39 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Good game the day lads , played at a fairly decent tempo , you never let us out our half second half , all the best for season ahead

Likewise 

[Specky Ginger]

Dabrowski seems quite excitable.

Looking forward to seeing him in the derbies when we score at the North end.

 

[CountryBumpkin]

46 minutes ago, RRFC_Liam said:

Not necessarily need another experienced CH we need a quick CH and a quick FB if we are to play a high line or Kelty’s second goal would be the common theme this season because for instance a back 4 of Millen, Watson, Dick and Paterson then that’s slow not one of them are quick on the recovery 

I don't disagree. I think Corr looked a lot better in the second half with Dick than Dick and Watson did as a pairing. Watson looks a good move if he stays fit though. However, I am absolutely against our current setup of 4-1-3-2, if our press is beaten, we're badly exposed as a backline. Easton had a cracking game, some great close control and good distribution throughout. 

In terms of the players, none of the guys that we'd hoped to come back in made it and the lack of movement from the bench suggested either Murray was very happy or we had a few knocks in the squad. I suspect if Hamilton doesn't play against East Fife and perhaps a bounce match, he's not making the starting 11 against Dunfermline. I also don't see where Ethan Ross fits into this squad given what we've got.

 

On another note, hospitality for the Pars game is £120 a head to include free bar. or £132 if you're not a season ticket holder.

[foreverarover]

On 28/06/2023 at 10:50, raith1974 said:

I saw nothing in those highlights to suggest Corr is ready and a starter. I still think we will have another CH signed as Watson surely wants to play on the right side of the pairing not the left.

Watching that although just signed I thought Watson was, just as bad. 

[foreverarover]

I know it's still early but I really hope someone with pace palys alongside Watson. In know he got injured but for me he turns like a ship and isn't much faster on the move. 

[Ro Sham Bo]

We were much, much better in the second half, albeit the issues from last season in front of goal were still there. 

Of the new signings, Dabrowski looked decent enough and seems a bit of a character, Watson was alright but needs a bit of pace beside him, Corr strolled the second half although he wasn't exactly tested much, while Mullin and Smith both had fairly quiet matches. 

First time I've seen Paterson play. I don't know if he's genuinely still trying to earn a deal or if it's just a formality of arranging something with Hartlepool, but if he is I doubt he's done himself many favours today. Got roasted time and again by the Kelty no 7. He does look decent enough going forward though. 

[Beachbum]

Jack Hamilton might start in the next game.

 

[McGuigan1978]

Wasn't there today so can't comment on the performance, but I think it's a bit frustrating we've (presumably) still not managed to use the system we'll employ in competitive games. 

Having one sitting midfielder with five attack minded players in front would get absolutely trampled all over in the Championship. There's a reason no team used that formation in the league last season, and if Ian Murray is keen for his full backs to get forward more this time around, then that puts even more importance in the players in front of the defence to protect it, so I'm struggling to believe he'll use just one. 

The problem there is that we only have two players who can play that role in Scott Brown and Ross Matthews. Sam Stanton just can't do it, and when he does it also hinders us further forward, so as much as I wasn't that bothered about Brad Spencer heading to Grangemouth, it does leave us sparse in that area, with just a couple of players who have missed a lot of football over the last season or two. 

Last time around, we weren't good enough in both penalty areas, and while we've made moves to fix things up top, the defence, as it stands, is weaker than last season, which is a concern, as last term's was poorer than the previous season's. 

I don't mind Ross Millen and Liam Dick, but they're both somewhere between mediocre to fine, no better and no worse. I haven't seen enough of Keith Watson to know what he's going to be like, but I'm going to guess he'll be broadly similar, so it feels like we desperately need a defender who we can, at the very least place in the "he's quite good actually" category.

I'm really not sure that Dylan Corr or Adam Masson (just now) fit that description, and Brody Paterson doesn't either, so another defensive signing feels key for me, otherwise we'll be in a similar situation as last season, but incrementally better/worse depending on how Jack Hamilton gets on. 

Pleased to hear that Kevon Dabrowski sounds like a good laugh. I remember he saved a Brian Graham penalty while playing on loan for Dumbarton and he posted a picture of him celebrating afterwards on Instagram and tagged Graham in it. I couldn't make up my mind if it was a fine piece of shithousery or if he was a bit of a bellend, but now he's with us I've decided it's very much the former. 

 

[Broken Algorithms]

1 hour ago, McGuigan1978 said:

 

Pleased to hear that Kevon Dabrowski sounds like a good laugh. I remember he saved a Brian Graham penalty while playing on loan for Dumbarton and he posted a picture of him celebrating afterwards on Instagram and tagged Graham in it. I couldn't make up my mind if it was a fine piece of shithousery or if he was a bit of a bellend, but now he's with us I've decided it's very much the former. 

 

I wasn't there, but my mate sent me this after Kelty came close with the free kick before the penalty. 

 

[raith1974]

1 hour ago, foreverarover said:

Watching that although just signed I thought Watson was, just as bad. 

Though Corr looked good when he came on today. Watson looked slow but could pick a long pass. We do need another dominating centre half, Brown or Matthews in the middle and Hamilton up top. We still lack a physical presence in the team.

[Raith Against The Machine]

In one of his recent interviews, Ian Murray spoke about a home game against Dundee where they made a raft of changed at half time when we couldn't, and it turned the game in their favour. It was in response to a question about the incoming forwards and a possible selection headache, and I took from it that he's planning to be very freewheeling in that regard, and it makes sense. 

You can quite easily see a situation where he starts a game with Mullin, Vaughan and Easton buzzing about behind the striker, and shortly after half time he replaces them with Connolly, Ross and Smith. You could make the argument that that's not a particularly weaker three, and it's certainly good enough to cause a lot of bother to a defence that's already put a shift in. You'd still have Stanton and McGill in reserve, too. 

The problem, as alluded to above, is that while we can do that in triplicate (and more) in the attacking midfield, we basically can't do it at all anywhere else. 

Pick any other player in our starting eleven and the first choice replacement is a marked downgrade, with the possible exception of Ross Matthews coming in for Scott Brown as the combative holding midfielder. 

Now, obviously, we can't expect to have two starting-quality players for every position with our budget, and I'm not advocating for that, but I am highlighting these singular points of failure. We've got incredible depth in the one area of the park where we can probably afford to carry someone a little. We're playing three 'tens'. But we've only got one number nine in Jack Hamilton. Gullan wears the jersey but he's not a proper lone striker, we've evidence enough to make that judgement now. We've only (currently) got one body for each full-back position, and neither of them are worldbeaters. We've got one centre half over the age of 18. 

This post comes across incredibly negatively, mostly because of all the negative things I just wrote, and I don't really mean that. I'm not down on this team, and I don't think they'll do badly over the course of the season. But I do think there are still significant points of weakness, and some paper thin barriers between being fine and being out at sea again, like we were for large parts of last season. 

You can play all the nice football you like, but lynchpins get that name for a reason. If you could guarantee right now that Jack Hamilton, Scott Brown and Keith Watson will play every game this season, I'd put good money on us reaching a playoff place. But with the squad we've got now, I think losing even one of those could significantly compromise the whole operation. 

[Ro Sham Bo]

I knew that Kelty no 9 looked familiar to me. I see now that he was one of the two thugs convicted for assault in Ireland while playing for Montrose. 

Shame his penalties aren't as accurate as his punches. 

[TxRover]

2 hours ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

In one of his recent interviews, Ian Murray spoke about a home game against Dundee where they made a raft of changed at half time when we couldn't, and it turned the game in their favour. It was in response to a question about the incoming forwards and a possible selection headache, and I took from it that he's planning to be very freewheeling in that regard, and it makes sense. 

You can quite easily see a situation where he starts a game with Mullin, Vaughan and Easton buzzing about behind the striker, and shortly after half time he replaces them with Connolly, Ross and Smith. You could make the argument that that's not a particularly weaker three, and it's certainly good enough to cause a lot of bother to a defence that's already put a shift in. You'd still have Stanton and McGill in reserve, too. 

The problem, as alluded to above, is that while we can do that in triplicate (and more) in the attacking midfield, we basically can't do it at all anywhere else. 

Pick any other player in our starting eleven and the first choice replacement is a marked downgrade, with the possible exception of Ross Matthews coming in for Scott Brown as the combative holding midfielder. 

Now, obviously, we can't expect to have two starting-quality players for every position with our budget, and I'm not advocating for that, but I am highlighting these singular points of failure. We've got incredible depth in the one area of the park where we can probably afford to carry someone a little. We're playing three 'tens'. But we've only got one number nine in Jack Hamilton. Gullan wears the jersey but he's not a proper lone striker, we've evidence enough to make that judgement now. We've only (currently) got one body for each full-back position, and neither of them are worldbeaters. We've got one centre half over the age of 18. 

This post comes across incredibly negatively, mostly because of all the negative things I just wrote, and I don't really mean that. I'm not down on this team, and I don't think they'll do badly over the course of the season. But I do think there are still significant points of weakness, and some paper thin barriers between being fine and being out at sea again, like we were for large parts of last season. 

You can play all the nice football you like, but lynchpins get that name for a reason. If you could guarantee right now that Jack Hamilton, Scott Brown and Keith Watson will play every game this season, I'd put good money on us reaching a playoff place. But with the squad we've got now, I think losing even one of those could significantly compromise the whole operation. 

I think we’re overly concerned here, in that at this level, no team without Dundee United will have the money to field a team of 22 starters.

At RB we have cover with Masson and Brown (and possibly McGill)…

At LB we lack a second player but have McGill (and even Connolly), perhaps that’s why Patterson is being considered so carefully. I do think casting Grieg Young adrift was an error.

At CB we have Watson, possibly Dick, Corr and Masson…we need another, but with Corr’s showings so far and Masson having shown basic competence, if we get a LB and Dick becomes A CB/LB, I could see us going for a less experienced, but physically imposing, CB…if Dick is starting at LB, we’ll need a more experienced CB.

The midfield is pretty much set, as is the forward line. Perhaps Mitchell can spot fill for Hamilton, as can Gullan. Stanton can cover for Brown or Matthews, even if he’s less effective. The concern now is Brown’s scan result. I could see a forward coming in on loan.

[Hank Scorpio]

Wouldn’t be getting too excited about getting any loans in any time soon. Premiership clubs will want to come back, go away on their European training camps and assess what they’ve got before making any decisions on who isn’t in their immediate plans. Think we’ll see a CB on loan from a top tier side, but that it won’t happen until probably a few weeks into our season. 

[Rovers_Lad]

5 hours ago, Raithie said:

That was strangely enjoyable. Battered them 2nd half. Dabrowski some laugh at the pens. 

Same,enjoyed the game and Dabrowski is a bit of a character.Thought we played some nice stuff especially second half.Think if we had taking our chances penalties would never have been needed

We,re two pre season friendlies in and one fairly competitive game in and the negativity from some has already started..Pretty sure our manager is aware of whats needed and has already said in a previous interview hes looking to bring in another two or three and in addition we four potential starters sitting injured to come back

[Raithie]

Boy standing next to me today was saying he'd heard from one of the directors that we're trying to sign Andy Considine....

[RandomGuy.]

2 minutes ago, Raithie said:

Boy standing next to me today was saying he'd heard from one of the directors that we're trying to sign Andy Considine....

We literally only have 2 CBs at the club and hes one of them, and our budgets so tight the managers saying we can only get one more.

I'd say theres nothing to it.

[Broken Algorithms]

18 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Wouldn’t be getting too excited about getting any loans in any time soon. Premiership clubs will want to come back, go away on their European training camps and assess what they’ve got before making any decisions on who isn’t in their immediate plans. Think we’ll see a CB on loan from a top tier side, but that it won’t happen until probably a few weeks into our season. 

Same goes for clubs down south. O'Riordan only came up here after we'd lost to Cove on the opening league game of last season. 

 

[Raithie]