The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

You can e-mail him from this page but he should be approachable on matchdays, as I said in my last post I can't remember seeing him this season (possibly once or twice I've forgotten about) and I've not missed a Rovers match yet this season home or away.

The Livingston game.

[liam_barnett]

The Livingston game.

Fair enough I did say there could've been 1 or 2 that I'd forgotten about.

[CALDERON]

When did fans boo in the first minute?

What a fucking stupid thing to say....again.....

[Stelios]

When did fans boo in the first minute?

What a fucking stupid thing to say....again.....

Maybe when we lost a goal and a player in the first minute. . .

[Raith Against The Machine]

I couldn't tell you if it's ever literally been the first minute, but there are players who've been booed/heckled when they've made their first mistake of a game over the past few weeks.

[Yoss]

"I've always thought supporters were there to support" is not an especially well-judged way of expressing it, but I'm basically happy with what he's saying. Especially this bit:

“The board considers that helping the manager and creating circumstances in which he has the best chance of achieving results to be the best course of action.

“We all accept, both the board and management team, that it’s a results-driven business and we’ve seen that with other clubs this week.

“But we as a board pride ourselves on giving our managers the best chance to succeed and that’s what we’re all about at the moment.”

That's the sort of club I want us to be as well. If this is a genuine expression of confidence and not just game-playing or a way of putting off a decision for a couple of weeks then that's fine for me. Happy to put it to bed and see where we are at the end of the season.

[ADMO]

I couldn't tell you if it's ever literally been the first minute, but there are players who've been booed/heckled when they've made their first mistake of a game over the past few weeks.

Not that I'm one to do this, I do try and take each game with a positive mind and intend to get right behind us, but the board are shooting themselves in the foot here ... The reason (I would imagine) certain players get booed/heckled from the first minute/first mistake some/every week is because for the last 10+ Weeks they have been an absolute nightmare and we have better options on the bench ... Thats "there man" Murray who's at fault for it as he picks the team, nobody elses IMO !

I'm not saying its right to do it & as i say I'm not one of the culprits, but I can also see why people tend to moan and groan from the minute the teamsheet is announced when the likes of Fox/Elliot have kept Callaghan/Vaughen/Stewart on the bench despite being horrendous for months.

Perhaps if for once we actually set up to attack with players who have the more attacking mentality rather than 4-5-1 defence based players at home to bottom of the league, the crowds would be a little more amplified !

Edited December 18, 2014 by ADMO

[bobbykdy]

"I've always thought supporters were there to support" is not an especially well-judged way of expressing it, but I'm basically happy with what he's saying. Especially this bit:

That's the sort of club I want us to be as well. If this is a genuine expression of confidence and not just game-playing or a way of putting off a decision for a couple of weeks then that's fine for me. Happy to put it to bed and see where we are at the end of the season.

You also happy with the part where they refuse to discuss if finance is the reason that they won't fire him? I know I am not, it comes

across as basically saying club finances are none of the fans concern. Will they still be taking this high and mighty attitude when home crowds drop to 3 figures regularly?

He also said Murray was set no targets, in what other job do you not have targets and goals to achieve? I think most people if they were perceived to be performing so badly in their job they would be on a performance management plan, what makes a football manager any different?

Edited December 18, 2014 by bobbykdy

[Scary Bear]

"I've always thought supporters were there to support" is not an especially well-judged way of expressing it, but I'm basically happy with what he's saying. Especially this bit:

That's the sort of club I want us to be as well. If this is a genuine expression of confidence and not just game-playing or a way of putting off a decision for a couple of weeks then that's fine for me. Happy to put it to bed and see where we are at the end of the season.

It's a vote of confidence. Don't managers dread them? Anyway, if we lose to Hibs, Falkirk and crucially Cowden, then I wouldn't bet against the board swithering. January will probably be the crucial month.

I have time for Eric and It is good that our board aren't a knee-jerk bunch, as stability in a club is crucial. However, league results have been fairly poor for most of 2014. That can't be allowed to go on forever.

[RavyDavy]

Also, when he was 16 months into the job and doing pretty well, did you think because things had been going well for that long then there was no chance of it going pear-shaped?

define going well - you mean the 3 month purple patch we had?

[Raith Against The Machine]

You also happy with the part where they refuse to discuss if finance is the reason that they won't fire him? I know I am not, it comes

across as basically saying club finances are none of the fans concern. Will they still be taking this high and mighty attitude when home crowds drop to 3 figures regularly?

I don't know what you expect him to say at that point. "Yeah, we want to sack him, but we can't afford to." or "It'd only cost us buttons to bin him, but we're giving him some more time." The right line for that is definitely "It's not about finances - next question".

For what it's worth, I agree entirely with the second part of your post. It's a little concerning if the manager genuinely doesn't have an initial target against which he's assessed, but I could understand if it's also just a case of not making it public.

[Scary Bear]

You also happy with the part where they refuse to discuss if finance is the reason that they won't fire him? I know I am not, it comes

across as basically saying club finances are none of the fans concern. Will they still be taking this high and mighty attitude when home crowds drop to 3 figures regularly?

He also said Murray was set no targets, in what other job do you not have targets and goals to achieve? I think most people if they were perceived to be performing so badly in their job they would be on a performance management plan, what makes a football manager any different?

Surely, at the start of the season, he must have at the very least been set the target of keeping us in the league? I think what Eric was referring to in that article was targets for the remainder of the season. Either way, not having any targets, and the club not having plans beyond a season generally, is pretty disheartening. There is a general malaise at the club and taking the attitude that targets don't matter is symptomatic of that. You need a vision if your business is going to have a sense of direction that the employees - and in this case the fans too - can buy into. Otherwise you get what we have now: a club that doesn't know what it's all about and a group of players who just go through the motions and have no connection to the fans.

[bobbykdy]

I don't know what you expect him to say at that point. "Yeah, we want to sack him, but we can't afford to." or "It'd only cost us buttons to bin him, but we're giving him some more time." The right line for that is definitely "It's not about finances - next question".

For what it's worth, I agree entirely with the second part of your post. It's a little concerning if the manager genuinely doesn't have an initial target against which he's assessed, but I could understand if it's also just a case of not making it public.

If the board completely blank the issue of contracts/finances etc then for me it gives off the impression of "it's none of the fans business" even if that wasn't how it was intended. IMO what he would have been better saying is "we understand the fans concern on this one but we can't make details of the managers deal public." A small alteration on what they did say on the subject but it at least lets you think as a fan that they have acknowledged the question/ issue rather than just dismissing it out of hand.

Edited December 18, 2014 by bobbykdy

[RavyDavy]

"I've always thought supporters were there to support" is not an especially well-judged way of expressing it, but I'm basically happy with what he's saying. Especially this bit:

That's the sort of club I want us to be as well. If this is a genuine expression of confidence and not just game-playing or a way of putting off a decision for a couple of weeks then that's fine for me. Happy to put it to bed and see where we are at the end of the season.

Are you Eric Drysdale or Grant Murray?

You must be, because you can't seriously be that much of a door mat.

That statement is the last straw, season ticket or not I won't be back until there is real change and I won't be renewing next season either as it stands.

Very disappointed to see the BoD once again treat the fans with utter contempt.

[Whistle Blower]

Do you only appear during a crisis ?

[RavyDavy]

When was the last time we were not in crisis?

Unlike some, I have a life away from the dark corners of pie and bovril, so I apologise profusely if my infrequent appearances give you cause for anguish, concern or indeed some kind of hatred towards me. Very much smacks of a "you're not local" approach to life, although strangely sweet that you notice.

Thanks though for your thoroughly invaluable input.

[Whistle Blower]

Steady tiger, I used to enjoy your anti Dalziel posts back in those dark days.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Maybe when we lost a goal and a player in the first minute. . .

Booing Perry for essentially costing us the match is nothing like the slant Drysdale is putting on it though. Yet more negative P.R from the board. Hell mend them when this ends in disaster and they are left counting the cost in front of crowds under 1,000.

[mojito]

Whilst the last few weeks has been really grim and if time was called on Murray I certainly wouldn't object, however there is a part of me that like the board want to see Murray drag the team out of this slump.

I guess the big challenge this season is that almost every second week you find yourself in a tough fixture so it can be difficult to build that momentum.

As a support though we have been piss poor. Now some would argue that the brand of football makes it difficult to get any atmosphere going however every week I step into Starks Park it's worse than the crem, I genuinely think we can do more to at least try and instigate a bit of fight. The players are telling us in the press that it makes a difference.

[Michael W]

People are simply fed up with our disgraceful results over the last year - no surprises that many aren't up for encouragement and instead are negative when things are going wrong (again).

At least we weren't treated to part III of The Epilogue, but I thought the remark about the fans was needlessly patronising. Otherwise the statement was more or less as expected - the board were never going to do anything other than back Murray. I wouldn't expect them to publicly criticise him either