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The New Raith Rovers Thread


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Listening to Sim and so will put forward some details as I get there. 

We lost £100k last year. Would've been in profit if we'd finished 3rd rather than 5th. Bear in mind we played Celtic at Parkhead twice, had a televised game against Aberdeen and sold Dylan Tait for £100k. 

f**k sake. 

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Discussed signing players and what's available, points out that these are for the manager to make. Mentions the problems with signing from outside the UK, saying it makes the continent 'less interesting' due to the work permit situation.  Saying that, we do have access to video etc for both Europe and the leagues in England. So it sounds like we have the bases covered, it's not a case of players slipping through the net. 

Interestingly, Sim says that the signings are for the manager to decide if the player is good enough, but for the Chairman to decide if the signing if affordable. 

Notably, the Chairman until recently was John Sim. 

On the stadium, Sim indicates that there seems to be endemic design problems in the stands built by Barr in the 90s. Other clubs are seemingly having these issues too. 

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The stadium was moved to Stark's Park Properties because the Allied Irish Bank insisted on this for lending purposes. As part of the lease, the football club was to paint the stadium regularly. We went to the Allied Irish Bank for lending facilities because Clydesdale pulled our overdraft facilities. 

The club hasn't been keeping up with the maintenance requirements above. 

The above (club paying for stadium maintenance) is something that has bugged me as it seems incongruous with a usual landlord/tenant relationship. However it is good that the reason for this has been clarified. 

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5 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Listening to Sim and so will put forward some details as I get there. 

We lost £100k last year. Would've been in profit if we'd finished 3rd rather than 5th. Bear in mind we played Celtic at Parkhead twice, had a televised game against Aberdeen and sold Dylan Tait for £100k. 

f**k sake. 

It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of where that money went. 

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2 minutes ago, Michael W said:

The stadium was moved to Stark's Park Properties because the Allied Irish Bank insisted on this for lending purposes. As part of the lease, the football club was to paint the stadium regularly. We went to the Allied Irish Bank for lending facilities because Clydesdale pulled our overdraft facilities. 

The club hasn't been keeping up with the maintenance requirements above. 

The above (club paying for stadium maintenance) is something that has bugged me as it seems incongruous with a usual landlord/tenant relationship. However it is good that the reason for this has been clarified. 

I don't think it's particularly unusual for commercial property. Certainly I think its the normal within football when there's a stadium that's owned by one company but used solely or primarily by one club. 

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On to Silverbear...

Ian Murray had a conversation with Sim, saying we need a reserve team. We can't afford one. Murray also mentioned that some parties had approached the club saying that they could help, would it be OK to talk to them. Naturally, this leads on to Mike Delios. The model described is what we supposed: come in, provide players and potentially sell them on. They were interested also in developing the stadium. 

However, no-one at Raith spoke directly to Silverbear. 

Edit: it doesn't sound like Sim is looking for an immediate sale. Mentions that he thinks it's hard to run a team from Thailand, people need to be on the ground. Mentions Dundee, who are US-owned, but whi had people at the game on Friday. 

Edited by Michael W
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6 minutes ago, Against The Machine said:

It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of where that money went. 

Ah, Davie goes back to this. A right good question on it, just a sharp listing of all those income streams that Michael mentioned above, and an ask as to why that "perfect storm" led to a loss. 

The answer... is somewhere between condescending and obfuscatory. Some amount of shite about cup draws we didn't get years ago. 

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28 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Mentions the problems with signing from outside the UK, saying it makes the continent 'less interesting' due to the work permit situation. 

Its easier to sign foreign players in Scottish football than its ever been.

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On immediate concerns with finances and the playing squad...

Can't look at football in isolation and reflects on wider situation on the country (cost of living, strikes, inflation). 

Points out we were lucky to put in the new floodlights when we did, as electricity costs haven't gone through the roof for us. However, we did not save as much money as we thought we would when we installed them. Looking to bring in an external consultant with experience on Engliah football to look at supporting the budgeting. 

The questions RE squad size/players was somewhat dodged. 

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Just now, Against The Machine said:

Scott Boyd is back working for the club again? Did we know that? 

I'd read he was leaving St Johnstone a couple of months ago, don't know if that was to take up an offer with us?

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6 minutes ago, Against The Machine said:

Scott Boyd is back working for the club again? Did we know that? 

I’d heard about it but not sure if he’s being used as a consultant or employed.

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27 minutes ago, Against The Machine said:

Ah, Davie goes back to this. A right good question on it, just a sharp listing of all those income streams that Michael mentioned above, and an ask as to why that "perfect storm" led to a loss. 

The answer... is somewhere between condescending and obfuscatory. Some amount of shite about cup draws we didn't get years ago. 

Yeah, Davie has done an excellent job, Sim seems a difficult to interview. Very politician like in his reluctance to answer questions in a direct straight forward manner.

Fair play to Davie for jumping on the Gretna comparison too which certainly alarmed me as Sim was saying it. Can’t be easy to interview what is effectively your boss but felt he was challenged when needed and pushed for further detail and answers as much as could be expected.

Brought up the Goodwillie question as well and I’m surprised that Sim doesn’t make the connection (or is unwilling to admit) that adult season ticket sales may be down due to that signing rather than it being solely down to the lack of streaming (which I’m sure did play a part too).

I found the last 15 minutes to be the most positive and encouraging of the whole interview. I’m not sure anyone watching will find themselves feeling ultra positive or with a clear picture of what the future holds for the club but I suppose that is John Sim, he is very much a realist and isn’t going to dress anything up.

Glad there are plans for fans questions to be put direct to him in another interview, hopefully that can further clarify some key issues. Sim says all the right things about being upfront and honest but his demeanour and interviewing style doesn’t really lend itself to that IMO.

Edited by R.R.FC
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Davie is an excellent interviewer. He's got the perfect balance between being a passionate supporter and trying to keep a rational view that osnt rose tinted.  As ever,  we're lucky to have Raith TV.

As for Sim, it's good he's sat down for an interview but I feel i could watch it a dozen times and get hee haw from that. The chat about Silverbear doesn't seem to add up with what's come out earlier in the week. At a boardroom level, it feels like there's one thing said to the national press,  another to the local press,  and another when they sit down with Raith TV. There's a lack of coherence.

The only main positive I took from that was that there's an acknowledgement we need a succession plan. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Dalziel8 said:

So yesterday the papers said we are in talks with Scottish investors and may conclude a deal by the end of the month, yet when asked whether all interest was foreign or if there was any local interest, Sim said there wasn’t anyone local?

The interview was done either last week or earlier this week (Possibly Monday due to the Andy's Man Club reference about kicking them out of the room) so its maybe before that was actually happening.

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