The New Raith Rovers Thread

[liam_barnett]

Who's the numpty on Twitter with the username @FantalkMeltdown ridiculing mine & other fans' opinions posted on Fantalk!?

[kev23]

Who's the numpty on Twitter with the username @FantalkMeltdown ridiculing mine & other fans' opinions posted on Fantalk!?

Brilliant

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

Lost for words at the after match interviews now... He still using excuses,

This weeks it's a dodgy penalty... And how we are still creating chances, and had all the possession.

Unfortunately grant Murray, sticking the ball in the pokey wins you games, and right now we aren't doing this

But seem to open our own net quite freely!!!

He doesn't even look worried when getting interviews, he hasn't won in ten games, knows the fans are on his case. So clearly no discussions can have taken place with the BOD, either that or he cannae have put a brave face on.

The next 3 games will properly determin where we finish this season, hibs falkirk cowdenbeath... Can we really take 3 wins? Two wins and a draw? On recent form we doomed too 3 defeats.

Put yourself in his shoes, if you are a manager of any team/business you will not explode on camera, (Billy Brown aside), you will stay on message.

The taking to task of the players which ended up with Christian trying to placate the fan by telling him that the players care could have been ugly, but at least someone came off message and allowed a little bit of humanity to shine through and give the fans a glimpse that the players are not sitting with their thumbs up their arses all week.

[ADMO]

He still using excuses,

This is what infuriates me ... He could just come out and say that the performance's haven't been good enough, there's a lot to work on and come Monday we will look to learn and work on it (then actually do it), hell even McCoist Vs Hearts flamed Smith for his red and Vs QOS last night said the team where terrible and that sort of performance isn't acceptable for Glasgow Rangers ...

For the first few games we lost it was because our "injured squad", then last week it was "the red card and 2 penalty's we didn't get", this week its "the soft penalty" .... Perhaps if Murray bothered his arse to have his team play so the games where already wrapped up each week, decisions like this wouldn't have any outcome on the final score. Such a clueless idiot.

Edited December 13, 2014 by ADMO

[Ding Dang Doo]

This is what infuriates me ... He could just come out and say that the performance's haven't been good enough, there's a lot to work on and come Monday we will look to learn and work on it (then actually do it), hell even McCoist Vs Hearts flamed Smith for his red and Vs QOS last night said the team where terrible and that sort of performance isn't acceptable for Glasgow Rangers ...

For the first few games we lost it was because our "injured squad", then last week it was "the red card and 2 penalty's we didn't get", this week its "the soft penalty" .... Perhaps if Murray bothered his arse to have his team play so the games where already rapped up each week, decisions like this wouldn't have any outcome on the final score. Such a clueless idiot.

Totally agree. For all the disgraceful performances for the past year I don't remember one apology. He comes up with excuse after excuse and we can all pre-empt exactly what he is going to say. Last week was his best when he didn't even put any blame on Perry and not even a "sorry" for even the result. It's not about lambasting players in public, it's about giving criticism where criticism is due and tell me one manager who has never done that? (other than Murray?). God Sunderland got hammered 7-0 away at Southampton and you had players offering to refund tickets and travel. Even Ally last night said the performance was unacceptable and that was only a 2-0 away defeat after a horror show of a day for Sevco.

The way I am feeling just now is that the manager thinks us fans are clueless and don't know anything and the board are treating us with a lack of respect as they have their money from the season ticket sales and to be honest if a few hundred of us stop going what is the financial harm?

For me until Murray is relieved of his duties I will not be back at another game. I have had a season ticket for the past few years but simply cannot continue to travel and watch matches as the board sit back and let a manager take us back down to the 3rd tier. As others have pointed out this is not a bad run of a few matches, this has been over an entire year and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that it is likely to change. We have 2 games left this year and does anyone honestly expect to get even a point from either? We have only won 5 games this season and only an idiot would look at our results and come to a conclusion other than we are in a relegation battle.

[Scary Bear]

Just had a look at our 2014 stats.

Home - W6 D3 L8

Away - W4 D4 L9

Total - W10 D7 L17

One home game and one away game to go.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Who's the numpty on Twitter with the username @FantalkMeltdown ridiculing mine & other fans' opinions posted on Fantalk!?

Probably one of the players. Or Grant Murray.

[mojito]

Who's the numpty on Twitter with the username @FantalkMeltdown ridiculing mine & other fans' opinions posted on Fantalk!?

Plenty milage in that one to be fair.

[graeme_p]

Just had a look at our 2014 stats.

Home - W6 D3 L8

Away - W4 D4 L9

Total - W10 D7 L17

One home game and one away game to go.

I think if you look at the calender year 2014 stats you will find they are horrendous. In particular the home stats.

Whether we were good or bad yesterday, unlucky or not Murray and the ENTIRE coaching staff need to go.

There has been ZERO progress on the pitch. We are still dismall, we make the same mistakes repeatedly, Our youth players, who Murray signed STILL warm the bench, the fans are sick of the product on sale. Staying up and harvesting the cash this season is short sighted. In 2 years we will a significantly smaller core support. We are losing fans every week because of Murray. We are fed up with performances, fed up with the negativity, fed up with the lack of tactics and fed up with the same tired old excuses.

Murray has to take responsibility.

Edited December 14, 2014 by graeme_p

[peegee]

I was there, we got a very dodgy penalty, then Stevie Crawford had a great chance with a 1 on 1 to grab a winner.

I am sure Dalziel dedicated his goal to Peegee

He did, the silly b*****d. As frustrated as we were then we weren't as frustrated as we are now. As they say in Kyoto, murraymusgo.

[Michael W]

Even if we were 'unlucky' yesterday, there have been enough very poor performances in the last 10 games that don't earn Murray a reprieve because there are 'positives' to take.

We are clearly struggling, so why wasn't Paul Smith replaced? He wasn't a world beater, but clearly the board have put trust in Murray to handle things himself. He isn't doing that, so why not get him help if you're not willing to sack him? The money saved from not replacing Smith can even go towards his redundancy package.

[Beachbum]

We are clearly struggling, so why wasn't Paul Smith replaced? He wasn't a world beater, but clearly the board have put trust in Murray to handle things himself. He isn't doing that, so why not get him help if you're not willing to sack him? The money saved from not replacing Smith can even go towards his redundancy package.

Around the time Paul Smith resigned we took on a new physio. Maybe that's where the money went.

[Paco]

Tbf Big Berk is right to a degree. On the 20th of September we had 12 points, on the 20th of November we'll have 18. A gain of six points.

Contrast that to Queen of the South (was 11, now 22), Hibernian (was 6, now 13), Falkirk (was 6, now 14) and Dumbarton (was 5, now 13). So there's the two sides above and below us who are outscoring us currently. Cowdenbeath have also done so (seven points gained to our six) and obviously so have Rangers and Hearts. Which leaves Alloa (who've gained five points) and Livi (two points gained) as the only teams to have performed poorer.

I don't mean to come across as negative, but those are the facts. There's a range of factors to be taken into account of course - opposition faced, home/away game ratio, etc - but it wouldn''t be incorrect to say we're "sliding down the league" even if our league position isn't bad.

I made this post on November 17th when people were claiming we weren't doing badly, because we were fifth. From the 20th September until now, we are now the 8th worst performing side in the league, and are down to seventh overall. Here's the form table since then:

Last 10 matches (overall)

P W D L GF GA Dif Pts

1 Hearts 10 9 1 0 29 5 +24 28

2 Glasgow Rangers 10 6 1 3 20 9 +11 19

3 Hibernian 10 5 4 1 19 8 +11 19

Queen of South 10 5 2 3 18 14 +4 17

5 Falkirk 10 5 2 3 14 12 +2 17

6 Dumbarton 10 4 2 4 12 20 -8 14

7 Cowdenbeath 10 3 1 6 9 22 -13 10

8 Raith Rovers 10 1 3 6 10 23 -13 6

9 Alloa Athletic 10 1 2 7 9 17 -8 5

10 Livingston 10 1 2 7 8 18 -10 5

If you were to narrow that down to the last eight games, we'd be the worst in the league. But let's use September 20th - present.

As we can see, Falkirk & QoS, the two teams "at our level" who we "have to compete with" this season are vastly outperforming us. They're almost three times better than us, in fact. Part-time Cowdenbeath who have about an eighth of our home support, have outperformed us by four points - and that's despite losing to us 2-1 at Stark's, our only win of the period. So really it's seven points from the other nine games. At that rate they'd be due to overtake us in the New Year derby. Terrifying.

Part-time Dumbarton, with an average crowd of 1187 to our 2765, have won eight more points than us. Livingston, with the worst form in the league, won 5-1 at Stark's Park last week, their only win in the period. Alloa also picked up one of their five points at Stark's Park. We have the worst defence in the league over this same period.

There is no doubt this club is severely underperforming, equally there is no doubt the manager is to blame. Our budget would come in comfortably around fifth or sixth, but we consistently finish seventh and much closer to the bottom than mid-table, or the promotion play-offs. We have been the worst Championship side in 2014, three part-time sides and a dreadful Livingston doing better than us. Over the past 36 games, we have won eight, and would finish joint bottom with Alloa in that period. Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and Livingston - our peers, if you will - would all finish above us, Dumbarton by a staggering 19 points.

The easy answer to this would be "but we're still seventh". My response would be that we were fifth this time last month. The danger signs were there that in a few weeks, we'd be in seventh. The danger signs are now there that Cowdenbeath are closing the gap. Alloa aren't just yet, but it'll come. Six points to Alloa, seven points to Cowdenbeath. Let's revisit in a month and see where we're at. Anyone confident enough to bet we'll be further away? Hibs, Falkirk, Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South,, Dumbarton are the fixtures.

Sacking the manager isn't guaranteed to change anything. But based on his track record on failure, keeping him is certain to have us truly steeped in a proper relegation dogfight. Last season our excellent start ensured we finished one point above ninth. We don't have that luxury this time. The "winter rot" started early. The promotion play-offs are already gone. Not even Christmas, but the season's objective has failed before the halfway mark. Let's not make the mistake of the last two seasons and let Murray drag us closer and closer to relegation. In previous seasons we've been saved by a good start, this time there's no such luxury.

Murray out.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Paco

[CALDERON]

This. Nobody can argue this.

[San Starko Rover]

I made this post on November 17th when people were claiming we weren't doing badly, because we were fifth. From the 20th September until now, we are now the 8th worst performing side in the league, and are down to seventh overall. Here's the form table since then:

Last 10 matches (overall)

P W D L GF GA Dif Pts

1 Hearts 10 9 1 0 29 5 +24 28

2 Glasgow Rangers 10 6 1 3 20 9 +11 19

3 Hibernian 10 5 4 1 19 8 +11 19

Queen of South 10 5 2 3 18 14 +4 17

5 Falkirk 10 5 2 3 14 12 +2 17

6 Dumbarton 10 4 2 4 12 20 -8 14

7 Cowdenbeath 10 3 1 6 9 22 -13 10

8 Raith Rovers 10 1 3 6 10 23 -13 6

9 Alloa Athletic 10 1 2 7 9 17 -8 5

10 Livingston 10 1 2 7 8 18 -10 5

If you were to narrow that down to the last eight games, we'd be the worst in the league. But let's use September 20th - present.

As we can see, Falkirk & QoS, the two teams "at our level" who we "have to compete with" this season are vastly outperforming us. They're almost three times better than us, in fact. Part-time Cowdenbeath who have about an eighth of our home support, have outperformed us by four points - and that's despite losing to us 2-1 at Stark's, our only win of the period. So really it's seven points from the other nine games. At that rate they'd be due to overtake us in the New Year derby. Terrifying.

Part-time Dumbarton, with an average crowd of 1187 to our 2765, have won eight more points than us. Livingston, with the worst form in the league, won 5-1 at Stark's Park last week, their only win in the period. Alloa also picked up one of their five points at Stark's Park. We have the worst defence in the league over this same period.

There is no doubt this club is severely underperforming, equally there is no doubt the manager is to blame. Our budget would come in comfortably around fifth or sixth, but we consistently finish seventh and much closer to the bottom than mid-table, or the promotion play-offs. We have been the worst Championship side in 2014, three part-time sides and a dreadful Livingston doing better than us. Over the past 36 games, we have won eight, and would finish joint bottom with Alloa in that period. Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and Livingston - our peers, if you will - would all finish above us, Dumbarton by a staggering 19 points.

The easy answer to this would be "but we're still seventh". My response would be that we were fifth this time last month. The danger signs were there that in a few weeks, we'd be in seventh. The danger signs are now there that Cowdenbeath are closing the gap. Alloa aren't just yet, but it'll come. Six points to Alloa, seven points to Cowdenbeath. Let's revisit in a month and see where we're at. Anyone confident enough to bet we'll be further away? Hibs, Falkirk, Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South,, Dumbarton are the fixtures.

Sacking the manager isn't guaranteed to change anything. But based on his track record on failure, keeping him is certain to have us truly steeped in a proper relegation dogfight. Last season our excellent start ensured we finished one point above ninth. We don't have that luxury this time. The "winter rot" started early. The promotion play-offs are already gone. Not even Christmas, but the season's objective has failed before the halfway mark. Let's not make the mistake of the last two seasons and let Murray drag us closer and closer to relegation. In previous seasons we've been saved by a good start, this time there's no such luxury.

Murray out.

When you break it down like that Paco it really is unbelievable he is still in a job, his record is woeful and nothing suggests he can turn it around.

[Big Berk]

Makes a change for someone to agree with me

I must be doing something wrong

Or maybe its the Christmas spirit

[Ken Dodds Dads Dead Dog]

Dad: What do you want for Christmas?

Son: A unicorn.

Dad: Seriously though what do you want?

Son: I want the Rovers Board to realise that Grant Murray is a poor manager and replace him with someone who knows what he's doing and for the Rovers to win a match playing good football in both halfs.

Dad: What colour unicorn do you want?

[Pride of Fife]

Excellent post Paco.

My two small issues with it....

A) We actually HAVE had the luxury of a good start, maybe not to extent of last season but a few early season wins and a point deduction for Livi leave us flatteringly far from the bottom.

B) Glasgow Rangers!

[mojito]

The whole Nade episode has got me thinking of the ultimate Booooooo XI. Difficult to keep it away from just being a shite XI but players that just seemed to be always getting it tight.

Ally Brown

Greig Mcculloch

Todd Lumsden

???

???

Steve Tosh

Liam Fox

Iain Davidson

Joe Hamill

Stevie Hislop

??

Trouble is I'm only mid thirties with a terrible memory. Can anybody fill the gaps? Is Kevin Twaddle a candidate?

Edited December 15, 2014 by mojito

[liam_barnett]

The whole Nade episode has got me thinking of the ultimate Booooooo XI. Difficult to keep it away from just being a shite XI but players that just seemed to be always getting it tight.

Ally Brown

Greig Mcculloch

Todd Lumsden

???

???

Steve Tosh

Liam Fox

Iain Davidson

Stevie Hislop

??

??

Trouble is I'm only mid thirties with a terrible memory. Can anybody fill the gaps? Is Kevin Twaddle a candidate?

Willie Dyer at left back?