The New Raith Rovers Thread

[CALDERON]

Of we course we are a long way from being ready.  So is everyone else. That's because the league is quite a while away.

[Michael W]

Ach, this is still basically pre-season. Match sharpness still isn't quite there yet. 

Maybe we haven't been great, but we have done what was required and won both our games. The squad is not yet complete either, giving time to address areas of concern. 

[Skyline Drifter]

8 hours ago, Rugster said:

Fife is a whole other culture from anywhere else in Scotland, to be fair.

Well yes, that was kinda my point. ;-)

[spot on]

Locke also confirms he hopes to have two forward thinking players signed in time for Saturday, one I assume will be Rudi the other has to be a target man

[RRFC1989]

I fully expect the 2 players to be Thorsen and Skacel. Would be very surprised if it wasn't the pair of them.
Good to hear Coustrain can play at left back if needed. That certainly ticks off everywhere but the fowards which could be sorted by Saturday.

When was the last time we had our full team before our first league game?

[McGuigan1978]

Judging by last night, I reckon as long as all our opponents are from at least two tiers below us, then we should probably do reasonably well this season.

In fairness, last half-hour apart, I didn't think we were too bad, although we were also a fair way from good.

We've kept possession reasonably well at times in the last two games, although with the added caveat that it was against teams who were willing to sit in. I have my doubts they'll look quite so comfortable on the ball against teams who are willing to press and cajole them.

I do think we'd have ended up winning by a big scoreline if we'd taken one of those chances just before Montrose scored though.

The miss from Barr wasn't too clever, but their 'keeper did superbly to save Vaughan's shot, then spread himself to block Callachan's follow up.

We looked perplexed about what to do as soon as they scored though, and the last half-hour was disconcertingly drab/frustrating in equal measure.

This Saturday's match against Ross County will probably give us a better gauge of what to expect this season, although I reckon whatever happens, a win against Alloa, which is no shoe-in incidentally, should probably be enough to take us through as one of the best runners-up.

That said, I can't see anyone taking this 100% record off us to be quite honest.

[Mr.Blue]

Barr is very direct and will put some good balls into the box. Last season his finishing was very poor ao not surprised to hear he missed a good chance to score. Don't expect him to score.too many goals.

[CALDERON]

Tbf, we could have been 2/3/4 up by the hour mark, which would have changed everyones opinions on things a bit.

Hard to tell really where we are at, we have played against two teams who have sat in and frustrated us.  Neither game was at the pace or intensity of a league game.

 

[Paco]

Very true. We missed a fair few chances last night before the sucker punch equaliser.

Our performance after the equaliser was concerning, as were Locke's tactics to win the game which consisted of two like-for-like subs and playing the same way, and I don't think the goal was coming but for a soft penalty.

But, it's early, the game did have a feel of a pre-season friendly, we've still got a couple of players to come in, etc. No panic. Think we saw we definitely need a centre forward last night though.

[CALDERON]

I'd agree, and the encouraging thing for me is that at least the manager sees that going by his comments.

Dont have too much of a problem with the subs, there wasnt a huge amount he could do.

Also, it was fucking roasting last night.  Match sharpness would be a bit lacking anyway, not withstanding the heat.

[Raithie]

11 hours ago, CALDERON said:

We did get the winner,so not quite sure what your point is?

Wasn't classic, but we should have been out of sight.

 

I'm sure even you could take off the blue tinted specs to see what my point was. After their equaliser we weren't exactly running riot with chances galore and in the end we've relied on a very dubious late penalty that even we couldn't have predicted was coming. We might have looked in no danger of losing the game over 90 minutes but I think a lot of us were feeling it was going to the lottery scenario of penalties. However, as you said, we got the winner which was the main thing but the performance at times left a lot to be desired. As per what a few folk said after the Cove game I really fear for us if we're going down the Callachan/Matthews route for central midfield, there doesn't seem to be any indication when C Barr and Robertson (who's missed all of pre-season) will be fit, f**k knows what's wrong with Coustrain, M'Voto isn't match fit apparently. Scraping by against the likes of Cove Rangers and Montrose isn't exactly having me brimming with confidence when the league starts. Hopefully whoever Locke has in mind, signing wise, can give us a bit of oomph.

[CALDERON]

M'Voto made the bench last night, which would suggest he is not far away.  Coustrain had a wee knock apparently, nothing major.

Its essentially pre season.  No need to panic yet.

Locke was nowhere near my first choice either, but I get the feeling people cant wait to jump on the teams back.  Its mid July ffs. 

[Wee Sandy]

11 hours ago, Martin Nelson said:

11 hours ago, Martin Nelson said:

 

 

Did he admit his substitutions were

 

 

 

Bring YOUR boots next time, he'll maybe give you a game.

[renton]

55 minutes ago, Raithie said:

I'm sure even you could take off the blue tinted specs to see what my point was. After their equaliser we weren't exactly running riot with chances galore and in the end we've relied on a very dubious late penalty that even we couldn't have predicted was coming. We might have looked in no danger of losing the game over 90 minutes but I think a lot of us were feeling it was going to the lottery scenario of penalties. However, as you said, we got the winner which was the main thing but the performance at times left a lot to be desired. As per what a few folk said after the Cove game I really fear for us if we're going down the Callachan/Matthews route for central midfield, there doesn't seem to be any indication when C Barr and Robertson (who's missed all of pre-season) will be fit, f**k knows what's wrong with Coustrain, M'Voto isn't match fit apparently. Scraping by against the likes of Cove Rangers and Montrose isn't exactly having me brimming with confidence when the league starts. Hopefully whoever Locke has in mind, signing wise, can give us a bit of oomph.

All fair enough, worth noting that Johnston and Stewart have had heavily interrupted pre-seasons as well. Talking of the former, his positioning for the goal was good - I liked that about Connolly last year as well, making for the back post for the tap in. Still, it's easy to see him as one who needs a bit more time to get up to sharpness. He looks a bit lightweight still (Vaughan might be short of stature but he's strong with it). On the other hand his ball control is good (his goal against brechin was a wee bit sweet) and he knows how to make himself available in the box. Likewise Osei is still pretty raw, but bags of pace in there.

This pre season we haven't looked very clever with corners so far, and I do think we lack that extra height in the box that Toshney gave us from midfield. Scott Robertson, once he's fit might give us more composure in the middle but he won't necessarily give us more heft in there. I still think Matthews should be a contender to start most weeks though, he's tidy on the ball and a decent ball winner as well. 

On another note, I think Locke actually came across well in his comments, level headed and didn't bullshit over where the team was lacking.

Assume he brings in two forward players - assume one is skacel, you'd hope the other was a centre forward, direct competition for the number 9 position and someone with a bit of height - something a bit different from the other options. Beyond that I'm not that worried, presently. My general view is that the team is fairly raw at the minute, but that the individual players are all reasonably decent players.

[RRFC1989]

All fair enough, worth noting that Johnston and Stewart have had heavily interrupted pre-seasons as well. Talking of the former, his positioning for the goal was good - I liked that about Connolly last year as well, making for the back post for the tap in. Still, it's easy to see him as one who needs a bit more time to get up to sharpness. He looks a bit lightweight still (Vaughan might be short of stature but he's strong with it). On the other hand his ball control is good (his goal against brechin was a wee bit sweet) and he knows how to make himself available in the box. Likewise Osei is still pretty raw, but bags of pace in there.

This pre season we haven't looked very clever with corners so far, and I do think we lack that extra height in the box that Toshney gave us from midfield. Scott Robertson, once he's fit might give us more composure in the middle but he won't necessarily give us more heft in there. I still think Matthews should be a contender to start most weeks though, he's tidy on the ball and a decent ball winner as well. 

On another note, I think Locke actually came across well in his comments, level headed and didn't bullshit over where the team was lacking.

Assume he brings in two forward players - assume one is skacel, you'd hope the other was a centre forward, direct competition for the number 9 position and someone with a bit of height - something a bit different from the other options. Beyond that I'm not that worried, presently. My general view is that the team is fairly raw at the minute, but that the individual players are all reasonably decent players.

As much as i like Matthews, i thought he took far too long to get into the game last night. I'd still have him there instead of Callaghan every week though.

I'm happy how Locke' coming across on camera, no BS. Nothing worse when a manager buries their head in the sand and doesn't understand the need to change. You can say his subs last night didn't improve the game, but with the limited depth in the team he done all he could.

[GhostZapper]

Thats the first I've seen us play this pre season, and i thought in spells we played some really decent football. Definitely some positives to take away from last night. Sure - there was some scrappy rubbish in there as well, but that will gradually improve as players get their foitness and sharpness back up.

Someone earlier said 2 of the better performers were subbed off - Totally agree - Osei looked very lively, and had plenty nice touches - unfortauntely he seemed to do something good followed by giving the ball away or fluffing a shot... but their is definite potential in him. Johnston likewise - lively down the right, got in to good positions, and played a few decent balls in to the strikers. I was actually surprised that Vaughan wasnt subbed inplace of one of the above - thought he looked a bit of pace, but maybe worth while leaving him on to get his match fitness up.

Roberts looked keen to get involved when he came on - a few good runs down the wing, and looked to create - just needs to remember when to beat another man and when to cross/pass it away, but liked what i saw.

A few concerns - one is still where the goals will come from. Another is cover for defence, where we seem a bit light... Also, the cenrte of midfield. A lot of youth in there - If Davo plays centre half, we lack both experience and a bit of dig in the middle. Callaghan really needs to step up into that role this year as someone who can get stuck in in the middle, and play a pass rather than giving it away, which i seemed to spend half the year moaning about!

Still - plenty to be positive about, and prob feel a wee bit more positive than i did when Locke was appointed.

 

 

[Raithie]

M'Voto looks an absolute colossal unit of a human and I'm very excited to see him in action. I'd like to see him at CB alongside Bene and move Davo into the middle and see how we look. I also thought McHattie, mainly in the first half, looked keen to get forward and seems to have a decent pacey delivery to his crosses. Wasn't overly impressed with Thomson last night but heard he had a bit of a so so performance against Cove as well. Liking the look of Vaughan thus far since coming back from injury, he looks to have bulked up a bit and his injury doesn't appear to have hampered him much if at all. Hopefully as the games come on we'll see the team start to look a bit sharper and fingers crossed a couple of new players give us a bit of depth as well a bit of threat up top. Should one of the players Locke is talking about bringing in be Skacel then I'm a bit sceptical on the basis he'll be quite a bit behind in match fitness/sharpness and already a few of our players are already showing that even with a full pre-season behind them. Will they (Locke and co) have realistically seen enough in Skacel to merit signing him after only seeing him in training? Time will tell I guess.

[Hank Scorpio]

I'll take the criticism of Callachan seriously when more than half of you spell his name correctly.

[Beachbum]

Eric 1-0 Baldy Snake

[Ebanda's Handyman Services]

4 hours ago, CALDERON said:

Locke was nowhere near my first choice either, but I get the feeling people cant wait to jump on the teams back.  Its mid July ffs. 

This.

The majority of us wouldn't have even considered Locke for the job but he's here now so the best we can do in the interest of the club is support him, his team and hope it all works out.