The New Raith Rovers Thread

[CALDERON]

There isn't any point panicking about how much or not the club can strengthen for next season until we actually know anything about it.  

[SirJimmyofNic]

Next season is all going to hinge on what happens with Sims ownership, if he cant sell or get investors then how much of this years cup runs earnings plus whatever we get for a 7th place finish will he take to reduce his debt/do the repairs. Sadly I can see a fight on our hands to stay clear of trouble    

[Michael W]

The end of the season really cannot come quickly enough. That was awful. 

I feel that planning for next season really hinges on the ownership situation. Until that's resolved, I really don't know where we stand. 

 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

The atmosphere at the shirt sponsors event in the Raith Suite after the game must have been like identifying a relative in the morgue.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Rovers_Lad said:

Why would it be good to have her back?

Because she has money and a profile which attracts media attention and potentially sponsorship

1 hour ago, RAITHROVERS84 said:

It’s going to be a tougher championship next season and worrying if we’re not in a position to strengthen.

Harsh to say it but Vaughn isn’t the answer. Spencer has barely had a good game all season, Gullan no, Ethan Ross flatters to deceive, Isma fat and immobile, Akio isn’t natural in front of goal etc etc.
 

Brown, Stanton, Easton, Connolly, Nolan, Lang and Jammer is the base of the squad to work with imo.

Disagree on Spencer, he’s done fine, but there is no sign he’s activated the player option.

Brown, Stanton and Easton are signed. Gullan, Ross and Vaughan are signed. Isma and Akio are loans.

Keeping Nolan and Lang would be a huge start for keeping a decent defence. Then we’d have Millen and Young wide plus Masson as backup. It’s a work in progress, but that’s a decent starting force, if possibly weak at LB.

Connolly should be a priority among our attackers, with three others already signed and from a similar playbook, we need a big presence, hold up type attacker or two.

[CALDERON]

When you have a record as bad as that for defending set pieces, the argument to retain both centre backs is a tough one.

As harsh as it sounds, I'd be doing everything possible to offload Ross and Gullan.  We can't afford them, when you look at the return we are getting from that expenditure.

[Ro Sham Bo]

1 hour ago, CALDERON said:

When you have a record as bad as that for defending set pieces, the argument to retain both centre backs is a tough one.

As harsh as it sounds, I'd be doing everything possible to offload Ross and Gullan.  We can't afford them, when you look at the return we are getting from that expenditure.

I said the same about the defence on the way out the ground last night. Murray has been banging on about this all season but still we continue to ship cheap goals. If he can't get the players to change then change the players. He's got pretty much a blank canvas with the defence so it'll be interesting to see what he does there. 

Also inclined to agree about Ross and Gullan, if we can find any takers (looking at you McGlynn). 

 

[roverthemoon]

1 hour ago, CALDERON said:

When you have a record as bad as that for defending set pieces, the argument to retain both centre backs is a tough one.

As harsh as it sounds, I'd be doing everything possible to offload Ross and Gullan.  We can't afford them, when you look at the return we are getting from that expenditure.

Agree with this. Our defence simply isn’t good enough and both Lang and Nolan are at the heart of this. Conceding from two set pieces in two minutes last night was criminally bad and cost us the game. Lang whilst strong in the air also has a habit of pushing opponents and giving away cheap fouls when there is absolutely no need to. Giving teams set pieces that they can score from. 

I think Murray absolutely fucked team selection last night. Bringing back Spencer who has been poor for a while now and Ross who hasn’t shown any indication he’s recaptured the form he once had significantly weakened the team from Saturday. We were poor first half and lucky to be ahead. Then the substitutions once we went behind were an absolute mess. McGlynn always got slated for not having a viable plan B but Murray proved himself exactly the same last night. 

[Scary Bear]

I went in the Main Stand last night for a change. Noticed Josh Mullin of Ayr United there.

Big Mixu Paatelainen, formerly of Bolton Coroner’s Office, was also there. Possibly to identify the bodies at the shirt sponsors event?

Edited April 5, 2023 by Scary Bear

[Scary Bear]

7 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

The atmosphere at the shirt sponsors event in the Raith Suite after the game must have been like identifying a relative in the morgue.

And all it took was two games against bottom of the league Accies who we have beaten every other game this season.

[Hank Scorpio]

Lang has avoided criticism to a barely believable degree. His biggest strength - his aggression - is also his biggest weakness. He needs to sort it out and learn when to stand off and when to try to win the ball. He dives in near constantly and it costs us goals. See the free kick for the first goal last night, and the goal Connor Shields scored last time we played QP midweek at Ochilview as two perfect examples. 
 

He is a good defender, and I’d be happy for him to stay, but that side of his game needs fixed if we are to be a credible force at the top end of the Championship. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Hank Scorpio

[Rover the Moon]

14 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

Likewise. Any high profile Rovers fans are a good thing as far as I’m concerned and to be fair, they have both put their money where their mouth is at some point. Brown during Reclaim the Rovers and Val through sponsorship. 

Val clearly did. Brown talks a good game and makes assurances but I’m pretty sure he never actually puts his hand in his pocket.

In terms of the football, I think we’ve been generally fine this season but the panic mode to chase games is an absolute shit show and just makes us worse. Why do we never swap the wingers over and try Connolly on the left and Easton/Ross on the right? It would mean we could actually hit the byeline and drill the ball across goal or pull it back to someone running on to it. Instead we always have to check back and lose momentum, or watch Millen/Dick aim hopeful crosses from 30 yards out. 

[Kuma Power]

For all we talk about needing a goalscorer - which I don't disagree with - if my calculations are correct we've also dropped 18 points from games in which we've scored first this season. We've won 11 games, but there are a further 8 (6 draws and 2 defeats) where we haven't been able to see the win out. Game management isn't as obviously bad as it was last season, and we're generally a better team to watch, but if we'd been able to get even a couple of those wins over the line then we'd be in much better shape.

We've also only managed to come from behind twice in the league this season to take something from a game.

Not sure how any of this compares to other teams in the league, to be fair, but on the face of it it seems we still have problems with keeping clean sheets and holding on to a lead.

[CountryBumpkin]

Its harsh to only pick out the two centre halfs for defending set pieces when as a team we bring everyone back into the box, its a collective shit-show. The first goal is a great example of how players attacking a ball always have the advantage over the defenders, McGowan just got above his man and pinned him down. Not convinced that header should have got to the net though.

The second highlights our bigger problem, not being able to clear the ball properly when we have a chance to. 

Quote

Why do we never swap the wingers over and try Connolly on the left and Easton/Ross on the right?

Its not their game, Connolly doesn't have the pace to beat a man down the line and get a ball in, i'm not convinced Ross does either. Easton would be better served in the centre, where Stanton/Vaughan have been playing. 

[renton]

There is nothing new, that we didn't know back in August. Short in defence and in attack. 

Vaughan isn't going to be that single hold up player, but he's done well considering his lack of pre season, or indeed much football in more than a year. He's still clearly a bit rusty and maybe some of his pace is lost but 5 league goals so far, 1 in the tinfoil Cup and some assists means he's actually one of our best attacking options overall.

Get him a decent pre-season and I think between him, Easton and Stanton the No10 gig is well tended to. 

The number 9 position has obviously been problematic. Goncalves has the talent but is likely not the most applied of players at the best of times, and he isn't fit. Frederiksen and Connell were varying degrees of gambles that didn't pay off. Gullan can play the role to a degree but has been injured the majority of the season.

Clearly that needs addressed in the Summer in a big way, whether it's with the intent of keeping a single focal point up front (which is also a single point of failure) or finding a different system that makes use of two forwards. It'd be interesting, given a blank sheet of paper, to see how Murray would set a side up rather than being forced into a McGlynn type setup by dint of the fact the latter built a side exclusively around one shape.

I'd love to know what our xG vs actual goals has been. Easton could have a category of his own in the goal of the season contest. We've scored a lot of good goals but we don't have the options, seemingly to get in behind to score 6 yard tap ins.

Defensively is the other big one. We've just about limped through the season with only ever having two fit specialist CBs. 

Neither of whom are immune from mistakes. There is something inherently hapless about Nolan. He's basically competent but hesitant. Like Vaughan he hasn't played a lot of football and it shows. Lang has the opposite issue where he over commits. If given the choice of signing only one, it'd be Lang and I wouldn't mind if Nolan stayed (albeit a future in the Irish league for him doesn't seem to far off it) but clearly need to find another option or two in there. 

Of the out of contract wide players it's a no brainer: try and keep Connolly, let McBride go. No interest in any of the loanees save McGill and I don't know how much of that is sheer novelty. 

I'd be tempted to let Ross, Gullan and Matthews leave. Matthews has missed a year and a half, basically, Gullan similarly. Our budget must get chewed up rotten with those three contributing little enough. That's not to say they are bad players but we can't carry passengers.

I'd still keep Spencer, but if Matthews went there would be space ro bring McGill or another combative midfielder in to let our midfield be a bit more compact than it sometimes is.

So aye, its up to Murray to think about how he wants the team to play, whether he wants to keep the system as is, replace it or at least develop a side capable of playing more than one shape.

We desperately need to revamp attack with probably 2 new strikers, another wide player with more pace who will try and hit a byeline. At least one, if not two additional CBs even if we do end up re-signing both Lang and Nolan.

All of this is contingent on their being an actual budget to use. I'm not convinced Sim will be happy to run at current levels next season, else he wouldn't have started banging the drum on investment in the first place. So if the takeover doesn't happen and we are left with a disinterested Sim (which would have played the youth team back in 06 if he'd had his way - he wants there to be a sustainable future for Raith he just doesn't care so much what level that ends up being) then we might be in big trouble.

Good chance the big moment of our season will occur off field and the outcome is yet to be seen.

[Rover the Moon]

6 minutes ago, CountryBumpkin said:

Its not their game, Connolly doesn't have the pace to beat a man down the line and get a ball in, i'm not convinced Ross does either. Easton would be better served in the centre, where Stanton/Vaughan have been playing. 

They have the ability to beat a man without needing blistering pace. One trick/shift of the ball can give them a yard start. Why not try it for once before reverting to the every-forward-on-the-park-but-somehow-manage-to-look-less-likely-to-score approach?

[Michael W]

9 minutes ago, renton said:

 

I'd be tempted to let Ross, Gullan and Matthews leave. Matthews has missed a year and a half, basically, Gullan similarly. Our budget must get chewed up rotten with those three contributing little enough. That's not to say they are bad players but we can't carry passengers.

Agree with this. And I hate myself for it, but I find myself adding Vaughan into this list. No question at all regarding his ability and you can see he's put together a reasonable return from the games he has played this season under the circumstances, but can we actually keep him fit for the majority of a season? We have a lot of money being tied up in players that are often not available and that simply cannot continue, especially if we are no further forward in the ownership situation. The tie at Ibrox ought to give us a profitable season, but Sim's clearly done and the income from games like that is never guaranteed, as Sim himself was at pains to point out during his RaithTV interview. 

Retaining out of contract players will almost certainly see a couple that we want to keep leaving the club, unfortunately. It's the harsh inevitably of playing at this level and having a mediocre season. 

[roverthemoon]

1 hour ago, Rover the Moon said:

Val clearly did. Brown talks a good game and makes assurances but I’m pretty sure he never actually puts his hand in his pocket.

He did during Reclaim the Rovers. Put in 5k and persuaded a few contacts to do the same if I remember correctly.

[roverthemoon]

Maybe it’s the disappointment of last night but it’s the stat that we’ve not won three league games in a row since Gary Locke that keeps playing on my mind. Even under McGlynn doing well or when Murray has us playing well or even when we were in League One playing much poorer teams - we couldn’t string three wins together. That shows that we just can’t afford the quality of players to give us any sort of consistency. Hard not to conclude that we’re always going to be a mid-Championship side at best. The odd year we might make the play offs but will likely never find the consistency to get through them. And we’re just as likely to slide into League One. Bit of a depressing thought. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by roverthemoon

[Broken Algorithms]

3 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Maybe it’s the disappointment of last night but it’s the stat that we’ve not won three league games in a row since Gary Locke that keeps playing on my mind. Even under McGlynn doing well or when Murray has us playing well or even when we were in League One playing much poorer teams - we couldn’t string three wins together. That shows that we just can’t afford the quality of players to give us any sort of consistency. Hard not to conclude that we’re always going to be a mid-Championship side at best. The odd year we might make the play offs but will likely never find the consistency to get through them. And we’re just as likely to slide into League One. Bit of a depressing thought. 

We're in a perpetual state of keeping our head just above water and its understandably frustrating. We've a stadium that is far too big for us,  a fan base which always remains about 1400 to 1800 core and you can pretty much guarantee it'll be more cutbacks in the summer unless there's changes at a boardroom level. Each season it feels like we start with the bare bones and then add as we go on.  I'm sure it's the same for most clubs at our level, and it's a situation where its easy to spot the issues but very hard to fix them.