The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Raithie]

Another thing to ponder is whether McGlynn discussed the signing with the current squad to gauge whether bringing in such a player would cause some unrest amongst the players. God forbid someone in the squad had someone close to them having went through a similar ordeal and had to share a dressing room with DG and there was no consideration to the upset it could cause. 

[ribzanelli]

15 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

Aye, I think going forward in the future opposition fans can criticise our board and management over this deal, but nobody can have a bad word to say about how our fans have reacted. I'd like to think every support would be the same.

Great point but I’d change this to ‘most of our fans’, this whole episode has confirmed that there are is still a sizeable minority of knuckledraggers with really out dated attitudes to all this.

[Double Jack D]

2 minutes ago, Raithie said:

Another thing to ponder is whether McGlynn discussed the signing with the current squad to gauge whether bringing in such a player would cause some unrest amongst the players. God forbid someone in the squad had someone close to them having went through a similar ordeal and had to share a dressing room with DG and there was no consideration to the upset it could cause. 

I might be being a wee bit harsh here but from the very limited response we have seen from current players at our club and elsewhere in SPFL is that they don't really get what the fuss is about.

Quite sad really 

[HoBNob]

19 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

: I think I've only seen one person who is currently playing (an ex-Pars player who is now down south) come out and say "That's a brutal decision and I'd not feel comfortable with it". 

Who's that? 

[Broken Algorithms]

Who's that? 

Can't remember the name but I'll have a dig through twitter.

[Raith Against The Machine]

It was Matty Bowman, wasn't it? 

[McGuigan1978]

It certainly wasn’t Paul Paton…

[San Starko Rover]

The more this goes on the more I can’t get my head around why they even took the risk, they factored in there’d be a backlash they just got their sums monumentally wrong.  Clyde signed Goodwillie when they were down in league two and hurtling towards the bottom and I guess figured they had nothing much to lose at that point (to be fair it paid off) their fans were probably already protesting and walking away as they were a mess. We on the other hand had returned to the Championship, had a great first season, a great start to this one and while we’d hit the buffers this season and were in a slump.  No one was calling for the manager or the board to go it was a slight disappointment that we looked like we’d be the loser in the race for the playoffs but no one was panicking.  The feeling around the club was pretty much together with the usual discussion of bringing in a player or changing formation and when injuries would return. There was absolutely no reason to take this risk, we were going to end up falling into mid table obscurity but so what! we’d only just come up last season, We we’re only 3 years into this 5 year plan. It’s utterly baffling.  

[Passionate]

2 hours ago, DiegoDiego said:

It's a very emotive subject, but the main reason I don't want Goodwillie in the SPFL is his complete lack of contrition, not the actual offence. I do think people can be rehabilitated and given second chances. Their behaviour after the act is as important to me as the act itself.

Martindale's a great example of that. His crimes were worthy of four years, the average sentence for sex crimes in Scotland is much less than that.

I'm fine with Martindale having a job but there are others in the SPFL that I wouldn't want to see at my club, many of whom were convicted of much lesser offences.

That said, I'm perfectly okay with anyone who doesn't want a convicted criminal at their c

I think there has to be a zero tolerance to this throughout football,  not just a political tap which gets turned on and off when it suits,   ignorance cannot be accepted either there has been a n d still is convicted sex offenders and people been up in court for assaulting females plying there trade in our professional leagues,  we all know who they are....

 

Hopefully Val McDermid and her band can cleanse Scottish football and it just doesn't stop at Goodwillie.

[Broken Algorithms]

40 minutes ago, Against The Machine said:

It was Matty Bowman, wasn't it? 

 

Aye, that's the one. 

[San Starko Rover]

8 minutes ago, Passionate said:

I think there has to be a zero tolerance to this throughout football,  not just a political tap which gets turned on and off when it suits,   ignorance cannot be accepted either there has been a n d still is convicted sex offenders and people been up in court for assaulting females plying there trade in our professional leagues,  we all know who they are....

 

Hopefully Val McDermid and her band can cleanse Scottish football and it just doesn't stop at Goodwillie.

Be a few players sweating right now I expect, could the powers that be deem anyone guilty of certain crimes unsuitable to play the game at professional levels? I’m all for rehabilitation and second chances in life but certain crimes rule you out of other professions. Like it or not these days footballers are seen as role models and idolised by children. Could be some changes coming to the game. 

[DiegoDiego]

I think there has to be a zero tolerance to this throughout football,  not just a political tap which gets turned on and off when it suits,   ignorance cannot be accepted either there has been a n d still is convicted sex offenders and people been up in court for assaulting females plying there trade in our professional leagues,  we all know who they are....
 
Hopefully Val McDermid and her band can cleanse Scottish football and it just doesn't stop at Goodwillie.

So are you okay with Martindale? His actions are deemed worse than most sex offences.

Personally, although his actions were calculated and premeditated over a long period of time I'm okay with him due to his actions since.

Someone like Paul McGowan, although he's never spent a day inside, I'd be much less happy with at my club due to his repeat offending (though to be fair, I'm not hugely clued up on him).

Morals and ethics are notoriously difficult though and no two people draw the same lines.

There are of course some offences which are so abhorrent perpetrators should be kicked out of Scottish football and sent straight to the NFL.

[Enigma]

19 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

 

 

So are you okay with Martindale? His actions are deemed worse than most sex offences.

Personally, although his actions were calculated and premeditated over a long period of time I'm okay with him due to his actions since.

Someone like Paul McGowan, although he's never spent a day inside, I'd be much less happy with at my club due to his repeat offending (though to be fair, I'm not hugely clued up on him).

Morals and ethics are notoriously difficult though and no two people draw the same lines.

There are of course some offences which are so abhorrent perpetrators should be kicked out of Scottish football and sent straight to the NFL.

 

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard we tried to sign Gallacher after his release but Val protested at the time and the signing didn’t happen so maybe some idea of where she would draw the line.

[foreverarover]

I might be being a wee bit harsh here but from the very limited response we have seen from current players at our club and elsewhere in SPFL is that they don't really get what the fuss is about.
Quite sad really 

Because they have wives, partners, children, mortgages and really don't want to get involved as they have absolutely no requirement to do so.

[roverthemoon]

Thinking back to December 11th and how we all bounced out of Stark’s Park after beating Kilmarnock for the second time. Or a week later at Firhill when we couldn’t see a thing for fog and the whole stand was rocking singing John McGlynn’s name in those final minutes. If someone had told me then, within two months you’ll have no appetite for football and have lost respect for John McGlynn, I’d not have believed you. What an utter shitshow. All completely avoidable. Fucking morons. 

[foreverarover]

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard we tried to sign Gallacher after his release but Val protested at the time and the signing didn’t happen so maybe some idea of where she would draw the line.

He trained at Starks Park whilst on day release from prison. As soon as the fans found out he was outed. Nothing in the press about that and he became a Scotland International.

[roverthemoon]

3 hours ago, Rovers_Lad said:

Much the way I see it

Clark tried to imply that Clyde offered us Goodwillie and it was sent upstairs to the Board, rather than McGlynn actively going out to try and sign him. This feels a bit like trying to protect McGlynn. Even if the player was offered this way, surely there’s still a step in the process where McGlynn thinks, ‘Aye, I’d have him in my squad’ or ‘No thanks’. A player isn’t going to be considered by the Board unless the manager has somehow approved it. 

[Scorge]

On 06/02/2022 at 19:15, San Starko Rover said:

I’d assume (not a lawyer) that if he owed her and claimed bankruptcy then the debt was wiped clean and sadly she won’t see it from him and she then has no right to claim it, so unless he chooses to do the honorable thing (aye right) and pays her voluntarily she’ll not get a penny from him.  If we just paid the money on his behalf we’d be the one who’d be in the wrong as we owe it to Goodwillie and he’d just take us to court. 

There was a part of me wondering when discussing this at the game on Saturday whether John Sim might decide to play a game of brinksmanship poker with the rapist and try and bluff and/or shame him out of his as much of his contract as he can - something along the lines 'we'll pay up six months but you can go fish for the rest, and if you decide to sue then good luck avoiding a tidal wave of outrage in the process because the real victim is getting zilch while you try to waltz off with six figures'. Given the vibes that there isn't much remorse from the hierarchy about the decision to sign him, I suspect not.

(Also certainly not saying that idea would be right or wrong, merely suggesting it might have been a play.)

[Broken Algorithms]

30 minutes ago, foreverarover said:

37 minutes ago, Enigma said:

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard we tried to sign Gallacher after his release but Val protested at the time and the signing didn’t happen so maybe some idea of where she would draw the line.

He trained at Starks Park whilst on day release from prison. As soon as the fans found out he was outed. Nothing in the press about that and he became a Scotland International.

There was a few bits in the press, but rather than outraged fans it was, understandably, from the victims but also a "prison source" said it made no sense given he hadn't served that much of his sentence according to The Record.   

[San Starko Rover]

21 minutes ago, foreverarover said:

28 minutes ago, Enigma said:

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard we tried to sign Gallacher after his release but Val protested at the time and the signing didn’t happen so maybe some idea of where she would draw the line.

He trained at Starks Park whilst on day release from prison. As soon as the fans found out he was outed. Nothing in the press about that and he became a Scotland International.

It’s pretty difficult to say what’s acceptable and what isn’t obviously few have a problem with Gallagher but as I understand it, it was a pretty nasty assault hardly a wee scuffle in a nightclub.  Martindale always comes up for obvious reasons and then you’ve got Rix and Lithgow amongst others. What offences are acceptable? Then you’ve got what was their punishment? And I guess finally do they show remorse? Lots defend Goodwillie as he’s never been found guilty in a criminal court and will point that other were and can still be involved. It’s a big can of worms we’ve opened with this of who should or shouldn’t be acceptable in the SPFL.