The New Raith Rovers Thread

[RAITHROVERS84]

Really really enjoyed that especially the second half and should’ve won in 90.

Both the Murray and McInnes interviews on BBC Scotland were interesting.

Murray - ‘we’re a different animal this season’. McInnes thought we were the better team and was surprised at the pace we broke on them. 
 

They played a back 3 and looked nervy several times, a fit Hamilton and that’s 3 points. 
 

Great atmosphere at the end and a good night on a wet Wednesday.

On to Annan.

[Poet of the Macabre]

17 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

Aye. They're out. No chance they'll go through given the number of teams near that with a game to play. 

Jokes on you when Annan and Albion both win on Sat and we end up through as group winners...

In all seriousness, I'd be surprised if a win for you guys at the weekend wasn't enough to see you into the last 16. Second placed sides in Groups C, D and E look most likely to potentially edge you out though. 

[Specky Ginger]

Have to be chuffed with that.

The only negatives were the goals conceded, but overall we were the better team and fair play to MacInnes for acknowledging that.

It would be peak Rovers to fall flat on our pusses on Saturday, but thoroughly looking forward to it.

[MICMAC]

12 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Barring an extremely unlikely set of results, a win by a couple of goals should hopefully be enough, but obviously the bigger the win the more likely it is we'll go through.

Given our chance conversion ratio we might need to create at least 20 chances to get the goals we need. 

Aye, looking at the fixtures, points and goal difference, it basically pans out that Least Fife have to beat M'well by one goal more than us, Dundee have to beat Inverness by one goal more than we do, stirling have to beat St Johnston, Spartons have to beat Partick. This is if we win on Saturday.

[Beastie Russell]

Great team performance - Liam Dick man of the match 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Beastie Russell

[roverthemoon]

2 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

Jokes on you when Annan and Albion both win on Sat and we end up through as group winners...

In all seriousness, I'd be surprised if a win for you guys at the weekend wasn't enough to see you into the last 16. Second placed sides in Groups C, D and E look most likely to potentially edge you out though. 

Probably need Cove to beat Hamilton or Inverness to take something off Dundee. That or a good few goals might do it. 

[Stardog_champion]

So it looks like Gullan is injured again. Fuckin f**k sake

[Specky Ginger]

Just now, Beastie Russell said:

Great team performance - Liam Dock man of the match 

Agree with that.

Thought he stood off Armstrong a bit too much in the first ten minutes, but kept him quiet thereafter.

Unlucky not to bag a double - the Killie TV stream couldn't clear up the offside.

[Broken Algorithms]

I thought the Killie stream was excellent btw. They were both very complimentary about our style of play and how the game went overall.

[RAITHROVERS84]

6 minutes ago, Stardog_champion said:

So it looks like Gullan is injured again. Fuckin f**k sake

Confirmed? He walked off gingerly but was applauding the support so didn’t appear to be in pain.

Easton only does sexy goals so absolutely no surprise to see him ballon over from 12 yards out. He’s a very very good player, just needs to tidy up some of the ball retention.

[R.R.FC]

Worth noting as well that’s 2 games already we have gone behind and managed to get something out of.

It was February last year before we managed our second result from behind (at Gayfield). Previous to that game we had lost 10 and drawn 1 of the games we fell behind.

Can see the clear difference Watson makes in there, as soon as the goal went in, he was straight round encouraging everyone and making sure the heads didn’t drop.

Nice for us to be the ones scoring just after half time too!

[Stardog_champion]

So injuries mount up already, Gullan especially, this is why the loan market is imperative 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Stardog_champion

[HIT THE CHANNEL]

Not as polished as I’d like it but on my iPhone. Looking at the groups and second places:

Stirling on 7 - away at st Johnston. - we finish above Stirling if saints win or win on pens.

Partick v Spartans - both on 6 so guaranteed to be above. 

Hamilton and livi both look set to win and get to 10 and 11 points. 1 runner up likely here. Unless Hamilton lose to cove or lose on pens AND we win by 2 clear goals. 

Morton home to Edinburgh city so look set to win easy and get to 9 (and currently 2 goals better already). 1 runner up here.

Dundee can get to 9 in second. Home to Inverness on Sunday. Same GD as we are (+2), so it who scores more if they win. 

East fife on 7. Away to Motherwell. ‘Well win or pens win and we are above them.

Forfar currently on 9 (+4) st Mirren on 6. Game is st mirren v Forfar. If st Mirren don’t win, we are good. If st Mirren win by 2, we are good.

 

so that means that we need the big favourites to win in a few places and need an upset, likely at Hamilton OR to outscore Dundee. Going to be very close

[HIT THE CHANNEL]

Really enjoyed that tonight. Felt we deserved to win and with a bit of luck or bounce of the ball to clear their second goal, I think we would have. But can’t grumble about going away and fully matching a premier league side. Win on pens keeps us right in it. Need to go down to Annan and batter them!!!

[Jilted John]

Murray’s ‘We are a different animal this season’ comment is very true. I just hope for our sake we can clear these injuries up!

[pub car king]

16 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

I thought the Killie stream was excellent btw. They were both very complimentary about our style of play and how the game went overall.

100% decent coverage, also liked how they chucked in an interview with their captain at ht very professional. 

2 minutes ago, HIT THE CHANNEL said:

so that means that we need the big favourites to win in a few places and need an upset, likely at Hamilton OR to outscore Dundee. Going to be very close

I think we just need to pump Annan and see what happens.

 

Very good 2nd half and an entertaining evening Killie dominated possession especially 1st half but we were so much more efficient up front and looked good despite being short of key players. 

 

I think Watson has had to work hard in this group so far, he's doing his job, talking Corr through games and helping McGill (who isn't a right back) that he's getting pulled about the park a bit. 

Big Kev looks fine, good shot stopper has some foot on him, he was sending it 70 odd yards with ease. I think he needs a settled defence in front of him and he'll be more confident to come off his line. 

Vaughan is doing a power of work and just needs a goal.  

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Ebanda's Handyman Services said:

Bobby Dabro

Well then…

1 hour ago, grumswall said:

Please delete before tx comes in with his own version... 

Too late…

1 hour ago, Ebanda's Handyman Services said:

That'd just be delaying the inevitable. 

Indeed…with a play on Bobby…Konstabl Kev?

[TxRover]

Shamelessly stolen from @Skyline Drifter in the Domestic Cup forum:

So here's where we are:

Group A
Ayr United will win the group if they beat Alloa at home. In practice, unless Stirling can go to St Johnstone and win, they've won it anyway, and the runner up won't be in the next round unless Stirling win either.

Group B
Tight group but Thistle remain favourites. They meet Spartans in the last game at Firhill and outright winners win the group. If it's a draw then, regardless of who wins the shoot out, Falkirk would win the group if they beat Peterhead! Runner up can't get more than eight and will almost certainly not go through.

Group C
If Hamilton beat Cove outright they win the group. If they win on pens and Livi beat Clyde outright then Livi will win the group. If Cove beat Hamilton then they will reach 9 points. Unless Clyde beat Livi then the runner up will either get 10 points or 9 points with a decent GD.

Group D
Ross County have almost certainly won the group. 1 point v Kelty confirms it. If Morton beat Edinburgh outright at home, as they certainly should, they'll make 9 points and at least a +5 GD. That will be good enough. If Kelty beat Ross County outright all three teams likely finish on 9 but unless Kelty win by three clear goals they still won't go through.

Group E
Airdrie need a point v Bonnyrigg to clinch the group. Dundee can beat ICT at home to get 9 pts and at least +3 GD.

Group F
Kilmarnock blew it tonight but still win the group with an outright win at Albion Rovers Saturday. Raith can win at home to Annan to finish on 9 pts and a GD of at least +2

Group G
Motherwell win the group with a point against East Fife. A penalty win would take East Fife to 9 points with a +2 GD but it won't be good enough unless either Dundee, Morton or Hamilton drop points. Queen of the South might pinch 2nd with 8 points if they win at Queen's Park and Motherwell win or East Fife outright but that's likely not enough anyway.

Group H
St Mirren v Forfar will sort out the group. Forfar need to hold on for a draw to win the group. Losing on penalties is fine. If St Mirren win they'll win the group and Forfar will finish on 9 pts and a GD of +3 or less. It might be enough, it likely won't.

So for best runners up:
If Hamilton win then Livingston will be one assuming they beat Clyde (10 points)
Morton look likely to get one. A home win over Edinburgh will get them 9 points and a GD of +5 or more.

The last one is more up in the air after Raith's penalty win tonight. If they beat Annan they'll get 9 pts and a GD of at least +3. Dundee if they beat Inverness will have 9 pts and a GD of at least +3. It would come down to which can win by more but Raith have scored a goal more so Dundee need to outscore them. Unless two of the above don't happen Forfar won't make it as a runner up (they'll have to win the group). Neither will East Fife, if they finish on 9 pts it will be with a +2 GD. And Stirling Albion have it their own hands to get to 10 points and go through of course but they'd need to win outright in Perth.

Any errors?

PS - For seeding if anyone cares, Ross County, Airdrie and Stirling Albion have it in their own hands to reach 12 points and get seeded but again that means Stirling winning away at St Johnstone. Can the Saints continue to be as bad? Motherwell, Hamilton and Ayr are all liable to reach 11 points also if any of them stumble.

[Raith Against The Machine]

That was really good fun. Really quite impressive, too, given we've still got two defenders and a proper holding midfielder to come into the starting eleven. 

Killie played into our hands somewhat, making it an open, back and forth game. They'd have gotten on better just holding the ball and probing for openings against us, but as it was they had their chances but no more than we created at the other end. As the understanding increases there's going to be some unbelievable flashes of football out of our forward line. 

It's definitely going to be interesting to see just how quickly, and to what extent, Jack Hamilton can click with that existing unit. There are a lot of ingredients there for a really good football side. 

Far from perfect, of course, and there will always be weaknesses. Kevin Dabrowski isn't the finished article, but by God I'm enjoying having him in goal so far. Euan Murray should held settle things down at the back, too, and of course having an actual right back will improve the defence. 

I've no idea what this season will bring, almost certainly it'll be another season in the Championship again next year, but I get the feeling we're all going to enjoy the journey more than last time. 

[MICMAC]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

Shamelessly stolen from @Skyline Drifter in the Domestic Cup forum:

 

So here's where we are:

Group A
Ayr United will win the group if they beat Alloa at home. In practice, unless Stirling can go to St Johnstone and win, they've won it anyway, and the runner up won't be in the next round unless Stirling win either.

Group B
Tight group but Thistle remain favourites. They meet Spartans in the last game at Firhill and outright winners win the group. If it's a draw then, regardless of who wins the shoot out, Falkirk would win the group if they beat Peterhead! Runner up can't get more than eight and will almost certainly not go through.

Group C
If Hamilton beat Cove outright they win the group. If they win on pens and Livi beat Clyde outright then Livi will win the group. If Cove beat Hamilton then they will reach 9 points. Unless Clyde beat Livi then the runner up will either get 10 points or 9 points with a decent GD.

Group D
Ross County have almost certainly won the group. 1 point v Kelty confirms it. If Morton beat Edinburgh outright at home, as they certainly should, they'll make 9 points and at least a +5 GD. That will be good enough. If Kelty beat Ross County outright all three teams likely finish on 9 but unless Kelty win by three clear goals they still won't go through.

Group E
Airdrie need a point v Bonnyrigg to clinch the group. Dundee can beat ICT at home to get 9 pts and at least +3 GD.

Group F
Kilmarnock blew it tonight but still win the group with an outright win at Albion Rovers Saturday. Raith can win at home to Annan to finish on 9 pts and a GD of at least +2

Group G
Motherwell win the group with a point against East Fife. A penalty win would take East Fife to 9 points with a +2 GD but it won't be good enough unless either Dundee, Morton or Hamilton drop points. Queen of the South might pinch 2nd with 8 points if they win at Queen's Park and Motherwell win or East Fife outright but that's likely not enough anyway.

Group H
St Mirren v Forfar will sort out the group. Forfar need to hold on for a draw to win the group. Losing on penalties is fine. If St Mirren win they'll win the group and Forfar will finish on 9 pts and a GD of +3 or less. It might be enough, it likely won't.

So for best runners up:
If Hamilton win then Livingston will be one assuming they beat Clyde (10 points)
Morton look likely to get one. A home win over Edinburgh will get them 9 points and a GD of +5 or more.

The last one is more up in the air after Raith's penalty win tonight. If they beat Annan they'll get 9 pts and a GD of at least +3. Dundee if they beat Inverness will have 9 pts and a GD of at least +3. It would come down to which can win by more but Raith have scored a goal more so Dundee need to outscore them. Unless two of the above don't happen Forfar won't make it as a runner up (they'll have to win the group). Neither will East Fife, if they finish on 9 pts it will be with a +2 GD. And Stirling Albion have it their own hands to get to 10 points and go through of course but they'd need to win outright in Perth.

Any errors?

PS - For seeding if anyone cares, Ross County, Airdrie and Stirling Albion have it in their own hands to reach 12 points and get seeded but again that means Stirling winning away at St Johnstone. Can the Saints continue to be as bad? Motherwell, Hamilton and Ayr are all liable to reach 11 points also if any of them stumble.

Falkirk will not necessarily win the group if Partick v Spartans draw. They need to win by 2 goals as they're sitting on +/- 0 goals and 5 points

Edited July 26, 2023 by MICMAC