The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Ro Sham Bo]

That was a pretty decent day, all in all.. 

I said in the match thread that we'd find out today if this side were a different animal from last season, and it looks like they might well be. 

[Scary Bear]

15 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

6000 pages reached, there must be a reason Jakubiak is still without a club, but I wouldn't say no   

He didn’t look great with Dundee. There really is a very limited pool of forwards up here. I wonder why that is? Is Scotland just pish at producing decent forwards?

[raith1974]

47 minutes ago, philpy said:

I'd be surprised if we sign jakubiak. It's not like we're short on attacking options...

Not sure if he's coming to us but we need cover in all positions. Smith looks decent but can play out wide Vaughan again can play up top but is better as a 10. Gullan can cover but again better slightly deeper. The only out and out striker we have is Hamilton.

[Ro Sham Bo]

A few folk have touched on it in the match thread but that was Dabrowski's best performance by far. 

He dealt better with crosses, kicked better, made a very good save in the first half and a sensational save in the second half (albeit the goal would not have counted).

Hopefully a sign of things to come. 

[Hank Scorpio]

One thing that is standing out to me is that we are looking increasingly like a team who is very hard to beat. I can confidently say that we would not have won that game yesterday with any of the squads I’ve watched over the last 3 or 4 years. I’ve seen us concede late goals in those types of games so many times. So what’s changed? 
 

We’ve got natural leaders in the centre half positions now. Euan Murray and Keith Watson are exactly the sort of centre halves we needed. They header away crosses and put their body on the line for 90 minutes. Undoubtedly they will pick up knocks due to the way they play the game, and whilst it’s one thing to show that leadership when playing beside one another, the true test of that really comes when they get an 18 year old centre half in Dylan Corr plonked in beside them. We saw a lot of Corr in pre season and in the league cup campaign and I think there’s a lot to be optimistic about in him. He has the physical attributes of being big and strong and extremely quick - but he’s raw, and will require coaching through the game.
 

Murray mentioned it after the game that we are light in that area, and he’s right. If we can get another centre half who can also cover in at left back who is of Championship standard, we’ll have assembled an incredibly accomplished squad. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Hank Scorpio

[Heid_The_Baw]

Looks like Jakubiak would fit in nicely.  Injury prone....

 

Dundee[edit]

In August 2020, Jakubiak signed a two-year deal with Scottish Championship side Dundee.^[33] Jakubiak picked up an ankle injury in a pre-season win against Peterhead that would sideline him for several weeks.^[34] Jakubiak would make his return from injury and first competitive appearance for Dundee as a substitute against Ayr United.^[35] In December, during a league game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Jakubiak picked up a tendon issue in his thigh, which would leave him out of action for a few months.^[36] He would once again return to the pitch in a home win against Raith Rovers.^[37]

After achieving promotion with the club, Jakubiak would score his first competitive goal for Dundee the following season in the Scottish League Cup in July 2021.^[38] In September, Jakubiak was injured once again in bizarre fashion, suffering a dislocated shoulder during an altercation at a Dundee nightclub.^[39] The injury would require surgery, which would again leave him out of action for the remainder of the year.^[40]

[Ro Sham Bo]

I'm hoping that some footage of the full time celebrations with the team will be put out at some point today. Wouldn't mind watching that back once or thrice. 

[SanStarko]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

One thing that is standing out to me is that we are looking increasingly like a team who is very hard to beat. I can confidently say that we would not have won that game yesterday with any of the squads I’ve watched over the last 3 or 4 years. I’ve seen us concede late goals in those types of games so many times. So what’s changed? 

Also helps that Murray is putting together a squad that can adapt to different things.  McGlynn put together a team that could only play one style of football.  When that worked it looked great, but when it didn’t work we were fucked. 

This squad though can still do the pretty passing stuff but also do the dirty throw yourself in front of everything defending stuff when needed.  And the result is we pick up points even if we’re not playing all that well.

[R.R.FC]

As others have said the clearest change is the character and leadership in the side. It felt like we had to play well and be close to our best to get anything in games last season and even then we didn’t always get the points we should.

This season, I don’t think we have been anywhere near our best in the first 3 games yet we have 7 points. I genuinely think last seasons team would have had 1 or 2 points at best from the same performances.

Passing and fluidity will come as the team start to gel (8 of the starting 11 yesterday were summer signings) but the thing you can’t really coach is the togetherness, determination and character in a squad to grind out games and not give up, we didn’t have that last season but evidence for this season so far looks very promising.

[Stardog_champion]

Can I be honest after yesterdays match I was literally high as a kite, a team of players fighting for each other. Scott McGill is fast becoming one of my favourite players, a versatile player who gets stuck in. When was the last time we had players like that. We didn’t really get out of second gear yesterday, but we didn’t have to. The fans were superb and it felt like a togetherness we haven’t felt for ages either. This new board have rejuvenated us, long May that continue. 

[Broken Algorithms]

2 hours ago, R.R.FC said:

As others have said the clearest change is the character and leadership in the side. It felt like we had to play well and be close to our best to get anything in games last season and even then we didn’t always get the points we should.

This season, I don’t think we have been anywhere near our best in the first 3 games yet we have 7 points. I genuinely think last seasons team would have had 1 or 2 points at best from the same performances.

Passing and fluidity will come as the team start to gel (8 of the starting 11 yesterday were summer signings) but the thing you can’t really coach is the togetherness, determination and character in a squad to grind out games and not give up, we didn’t have that last season but evidence for this season so far looks very promising.

Said this to Renton before the game, you feel like with the start we've had we'd not hit our best. Win the games and it papers over why cracks and we might improve. Had we lost two or three of our first few games and you've folk screaming at Murray that he should've fucked off to Dundee. 

As @Stardog_champion rightfully says, it does feel like there's a real sense of determination and resilience along with a great connection between the club and the fans. I think that Motherwell game last season was a huge turning point. 

[Richey Edwards]

This Raith Rovers side look capable of becoming a real force this season tbh.

[Stardog_champion]

3 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said:

This Raith Rovers side look capable of becoming a real force this season tbh.

I’ll be happy with a play off place (promotion play off place) it’ll be between Dundee Utd and Queens Park for first and second slots just my opinion. The championship throws up a lot of ifs and buts. Our bench alone can change games. What a good headache for our manager to have. 

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, Stardog_champion said:

I’ll be happy with a play off place (promotion play off place) it’ll be between Dundee Utd and Queens Park for first and second slots just my opinion. The championship throws up a lot of ifs and buts. Our bench alone can change games. What a good headache for our manager to have. 

Queens Park are an incredibly young side. I’ll be surprised if they don’t have a lull at some point. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them sneak into 4th but I don’t think they’ll challenge. 

[Broken Algorithms]

9 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said:

This Raith Rovers side look capable of becoming a real force this season tbh.

Honestly, I think a lot of the fans of the teams we've played so far will look at us and say "how didn't we win/draw?" but Ian Murray summed it up best post match against Morton. Imrie made a wee dig before the match saying "we are making a big noise" and after the match Murray said that we're just trying to get better as a club. Winning games under the cosh is brilliant and was a huge issue over the last two seasons, but you do get a feeling that if we click we can go up a gear or two.

 

 

[Stardog_champion]

Just now, Hank Scorpio said:

Queens Park are an incredibly young side. I’ll be surprised if they don’t have a lull at some point. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them sneak into 4th but I don’t think they’ll challenge. 

You could be right about that, just the way they’ve started the season was what I was basing my opinion on. They totally dominated ICT last week, but were well beaten yesterday. I want us to quietly do our own business, I don’t want to hype us up too hard, because pride comes before a fall and all that.  

[No_Problemo]

1 minute ago, Broken Algorithms said:

Honestly, I think a lot of the fans of the teams we've played so far will look at us and say "how didn't we win/draw?" but Ian Murray summed it up best post match against Morton. Imrie made a wee dig before the match saying "we are making a big noise" and after the match Murray said that we're just trying to get better as a club. Winning games under the cosh is brilliant and was a huge issue over the last two seasons, but you do get a feeling that if we click we can go up a gear or two.

 

 

I’ve got to be honest in terms of looking at Raith jealously all throughout pre season, seem to have had a very clear plan from the second last season ended and have put in place everything that was required to grow and improve this season within a certain style.

Ayr on the other hand, have made some good signings but generally appear to be scrambling about in the dark as opposed to having a proper coherent plan. 

[Broken Algorithms]

10 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I’ve got to be honest in terms of looking at Raith jealously all throughout pre season, seem to have had a very clear plan from the second last season ended and have put in place everything that was required to grow and improve this season within a certain style.

Ayr on the other hand, have made some good signings but generally appear to be scrambling about in the dark as opposed to having a proper coherent plan. 

I know the director of football role tends to get slaughtered, and John Potter had a reputation for being a pretty poor manager but everyone who has signed for the club has spoken about him glowingly. Given his coaching background he's helping Murray out in training too. It's easy to say it's too many people but they appear to make a great team and Murray said it lets him focus on the on field stuff rather than having to negotiate deals or look at scouting as much.

It's very hard for clubs at our level to get into this position. If you have a very good season, you'll likely be asset stripped of players given short term deals and clubs down south offering stupid money for players. After almost decades of being on the other side watching other teams look coordinated while we drifted season to season, it's nice to feel like we have more direction.

[Scottydog]

So far so good but I’ll refrain from bold statements until after the 1st quarter.
what I’m happy to say is that we look so much stronger in the front two thirds, and with a defensive acquisition or two we could be on to something. With that in mind unless Jakubiak has some serious defensive talents  the we need to look elsewhere.

Kudos to big Kev. Apart from one ropey punch early on this was perhaps the first really strong performance from the keeper. Defence was resolute throughout.

[CALDERON]

I would have been astounded if you told me at the 80 minute mark at Firhill, that we would be sitting here with 7 points from 9.  I don't think we've played particularly well over the 3 games, but I'm particularly encouraged by yesterday to be honest.  That was as solid a defensive performance as you will see, and showed a side that we have not seen much of under Murray.

There is a hell of a long way to go, and I personally need to see a wee bit more before getting too excited, but definite signs that things have moved on from last season.