The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Ro Sham Bo]

Wedderburn and Murray both picked up knocks last night and will be assessed prior to the game on Saturday according to the Courier.

[GhostZapper]

12 hours ago, kev23 said:

Near enough our strongest available 11. We are a shambles. Barry Smith is an absolute moron at times.
We might win 5-0 but one injury to anyone will cause a ridiculous amount of seethe.

A bit OTT surely? - half the team were injured for spells in the pre season and the first 11 have hardly played together - a bit of game time will do them the world of good.

Edited August 15, 2018 by GhostZapper

[GhostZapper]

49 minutes ago, McGuigan1978 said:

Anyone know the last time we had a lower crowd than last night? My initial thought would be the mid-80’s, possibly before I started going, but I’ve genuinely no idea.

479

[Michael W]

1 hour ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Wedderburn and Murray both picked up knocks last night and will be assessed prior to the game on Saturday according to the Courier.

Hopefully the £5k loss or whatever we post for the game and the away tie to Annan are worth it. 

At a minimum, Valentine, Stevenson and Berry should've started last night. Needless knocks picked up for no gain. 

[SuperHans]

The players injuries is unfortunate but I'd still say that last night was a beneficial exercise for BS and the players. Hopefully nothing too serious for Wedderburn and Murray for Saturday but if they are fit to play then Smith could actually have a little bit of a selection headache.

Do you throw Davo in and replace McKay straight away? Who starts up front with Nisbet; Duggan, Milne or Buchanan? If both keepers are fit to play then who do you go for?

Last night was always going to be a straight forward win and although the majority of players played well, they were playing against a youth team so I'm not going to get too excited about individual performances but as a team I think we looked good. More players getting much needed minutes on the pitch, set pieces and playing a lot more fluid than we've been used to seeing last season. Mixing in the youth players wouldn't have benefited many and if Aberdeen Colts had snuck a result or even had the performance been poor then it would have been counter productive.

Players will pick up knocks and suffer injuries throughout a football season. There's no point in trying to wrap them up in cotton wool to protect them.

[renton]

5 minutes ago, SuperHans said:

The players injuries is unfortunate but I'd still say that last night was a beneficial exercise for BS and the players. Hopefully nothing too serious for Wedderburn and Murray for Saturday but if they are fit to play then Smith could actually have a little bit of a selection headache.

Do you throw Davo in and replace McKay straight away? Who starts up front with Nisbet; Duggan, Milne or Buchanan? If both keepers are fit to play then who do you go for?

Last night was always going to be a straight forward win and although the majority of players played well, they were playing against a youth team so I'm not going to get too excited about individual performances but as a team I think we looked good. More players getting much needed minutes on the pitch, set pieces and playing a lot more fluid than we've been used to seeing last season. Mixing in the youth players wouldn't have benefited many and if Aberdeen Colts had snuck a result or even had the performance been poor then it would have been counter productive.

Players will pick up knocks and suffer injuries throughout a football season. There's no point in trying to wrap them up in cotton wool to protect them.

Think Davo is still suspended for the league on Saturday.

[SuperHans]

Think Davo is still suspended for the league on Saturday.

To be honest, I'm not that fussed about him. I noticed a considerable difference in how McKay played last night with Davo beside him rather than Bene. I thought similarly last season too. McKay looks a lot more comfortable with Bene than Davo. I think McKay will feel hard done by if as soon as David suspension is lifted, he goes back to warming the bench.

[renton]

Just now, SuperHans said:

 

To be honest, I'm not that fussed about him. I noticed a considerable difference in how McKay played last night with Davo beside him rather than Bene. I thought similarly last season too. McKay looks a lot more comfortable with Bene than Davo. I think McKay will feel hard done by if as soon as David suspension is lifted, he goes back to warming the bench.

 

Agreed, McKay looks decent value for his place in the team.

[Beachbum]

Rovers new board appears to be getting their finger(s) out.

Commercial Brochure

[basher brash]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ! It’s unfortunate that potentially wedderburn and Murray may miss saturdays game but is it really Barry Smith fault or is it at the stage now he getting blamed for everything that goes wrong at the club? I can actually see his logic last night because this is probably the first time this season he’s had a full squad to choose from and why not experiment a little with formation/ starting 11 etc as this was an ideal game to do it in against so called weaker opposition .

I personally think Smith has had is time with the Rovers because at times hes fell short in terms of recruitment, formations, motivation and tactics etc however the Rover won comfortably again last night but some people would rather dwell on the negatives , imagine the reaction if he played a weakened side and we got pumped . 

 

[Beastie Russell]

I think based on key players, and our limited squad the use of Murray over Valentine could be questioned.

No issues with the rest of the team

[Hank Scorpio]

[SuperHans]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ! It’s unfortunate that potentially wedderburn and Murray may miss saturdays game but is it really Barry Smith fault or is it at the stage now he getting blamed for everything that goes wrong at the club? I can actually see his logic last night because this is probably the first time this season he’s had a full squad to choose from and why not experiment a little with formation/ starting 11 etc as this was an ideal game to do it in against so called weaker opposition .
I personally think Smith has had is time with the Rovers because at times hes fell short in terms of recruitment, formations, motivation and tactics etc however the Rover won comfortably again last night but some people would rather dwell on the negatives , imagine the reaction if he played a weakened side and we got pumped . 
 

Exactly!! Smith was actually applauded off as he walked towards the tunnel by the home fans! If he'd lost or even if we'd scrapped through with a poor performance then all the slavering moaners would have been out with the pitchforks again.

I'm starting to see it and others are too that when we get the ball down and play, we can see a better intent than we did in the second half of last season. By all accounts, this was the case at the same time as last season but I think we've actually got better players than we did last season. Consistency was our problem last year and that's what we need this season. Injuries won't help but I'd rather see guys playing together regularly than having youths dropping in and out when they don't need to be.

[piebob]

22 minutes ago, SuperHans said:

 

Exactly!! Smith was actually applauded off as he walked towards the tunnel by the home fans! If he'd lost or even if we'd scrapped through with a poor performance then all the slavering moaners would have been out with the pitchforks again.

I'm starting to see it and others are too that when we get the ball down and play, we can see a better intent than we did in the second half of last season. By all accounts, this was the case at the same time as last season but I think we've actually got better players than we did last season. Consistency was our problem last year and that's what we need this season. Injuries won't help but I'd rather see guys playing together regularly than having youths dropping in and out when they don't need to be.

 

I think we have better ball players than we did last year, or so it seems so far. I also think the new pitch must be playing a part too. Not a surprise we performed well, early season, before the weather changed, and the clocks went back. If we can maintain a better, passing, style of play throughout the season, then we won't be far away. 

[Broken Algorithms]

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Rovers start a season well. Christ, even Gary Locke start off with an unbeaten run. It'll be interesting to see how we get on going into the winter on our new pitch.

As for our squad this season,  we've made a few solid signings. Wright looks to be a solid keeper, and Thomson has plenty of experience so we're a bit less worried for goalkeepers. Gillespie looks like he'll be an excellent acquisition, and while I missed the game last night, it was good to see Wedderburn apparently had a good game. Players like Milne and Flannigan will want to do well and try to progress. I'm really interested to see Milne at full fitness, as he looked very useful when he came on last Saturday. Aside from that, Nisbet has been a pleasant surprise so far. He appears to be a player who hasn't had a track record, but this league is notorious for churning out players who will score for fun when they've struggled at Championship level.

After the league cup disaster, it's starting to look a bit more positive now we're back at Starks. Hopefully we don't implode against East Fife and can get another 3 points.

[Ro Sham Bo]

23 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

 

 it's starting to look a bit more positive now we're back at Starks. 

This is exactly the pattern of last season:

Good result at home - things are fine, we'll win this league easily.

Stumble to draw/defeat away from home - we are hopeless, Smith out or we'll be down in this league forever.

Good result in next home game - Things aren't so bad, we still might pull this off.

 

I know it is very early this season but we must break out of this cycle and start to put in some performances and pick up wins regularly on the road. 

 

 

[kev23]

A bit OTT surely? - half the team were injured for spells in the pre season and the first 11 have hardly played together - a bit of game time will do them the world of good.

We have a very thin squad and we keep harping on about how we'll need to rely on youth at times this season. Berry, Stevenson, Valentine should have been in last night. An argument could also be made for McGuff because if it was boy wonder Rory Brian this place would have been in uproar if he didn't start.

I don't actively want us to lose but this tournament is right next to the Fife Cup in terms of importance, especially this season. I feel it's the perfect opportunity to give the fringe players a chance to show what they can do.

Positive is we maybe get a good away day in the next round (presuming the next round includes everyone).

[Ro Sham Bo]

2 hours ago, basher brash said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ! It’s unfortunate that potentially wedderburn and Murray may miss saturdays game but is it really Barry Smith fault or is it at the stage now he getting blamed for everything that goes wrong at the club? I can actually see his logic last night because this is probably the first time this season he’s had a full squad to choose from and why not experiment a little with formation/ starting 11 etc as this was an ideal game to do it in against so called weaker opposition .

I personally think Smith has had is time with the Rovers because at times hes fell short in terms of recruitment, formations, motivation and tactics etc however the Rover won comfortably again last night but some people would rather dwell on the negatives , imagine the reaction if he played a weakened side and we got pumped . 

 

I didn't agree with him not starting Berry, Stevenson and Valentine and once he had made that decision he should have used at least two of the three from the bench (I accept Duggan needs minutes under his belt so it made sense to bring him on). If Smith doesn't trust Berry and Stevenson to hold their own against a bunch of kids then what is the point in handing them new deals?

As far as losing the game goes, I am pretty confident any combination of players from our squad would have had enough about them to get the win last night.

[GhostZapper]

3 hours ago, basher brash said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ! It’s unfortunate that potentially wedderburn and Murray may miss saturdays game but is it really Barry Smith fault or is it at the stage now he getting blamed for everything that goes wrong at the club? I can actually see his logic last night because this is probably the first time this season he’s had a full squad to choose from and why not experiment a little with formation/ starting 11 etc as this was an ideal game to do it in against so called weaker opposition .

I personally think Smith has had is time with the Rovers because at times hes fell short in terms of recruitment, formations, motivation and tactics etc however the Rover won comfortably again last night but some people would rather dwell on the negatives , imagine the reaction if he played a weakened side and we got pumped . 

 

Spot on. Barry Smith cant do right by some folk on here.

We won and he's getting slated for not picking a weakened team.

Had we lost with a weakened team and lost, folk would have been slating him and calling for his head.

He's got us playing decent fitba, building a bit of confidence, getting players that missed the opportunity to play in pre season some fitness, and allowing his preferred first 11 to gel a bit. Nothing wrong there!

[SuperHans]

I didn't agree with him not starting Berry, Stevenson and Valentine and once he had made that decision he should have used at least two of the three from the bench (I accept Duggan needs minutes under his belt so it made sense to bring him on). If Smith doesn't trust Berry and Stevenson to hold their own against a bunch of kids then what is the point in handing them new deals?
As far as losing the game goes, I am pretty confident any combination of players from our squad would have had enough about them to get the win last night.

Were you there last night?

Aberdeen Colts were no mugs. If anything, it was the younger players (Matthews the exception) who I think had the poorest performances. That's understandable at their level of experience but with a few more youngsters in the team and a few less experienced players then last nights result and performance could have been different.

We really turned it on for 15 mins and got what was needed to win the game but that Aberdeen side weren't poor.

Smith did the right thing to keep the nucleus of the starting 11 together with a few additions. Onwards and upwards I think.