The New Raith Rovers Thread

[grumswall]

3 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

Yeah unfortunately Ross hasn't worked out the way I had hoped, ( i.e. a big sell on fee ) the money Mcglynn wasted on him . Gullan so much promise but cant stay clear of injury, if we cant move them on in Jan we need to get them loaned out till their contracts end in the summer, and with the lack of game time Mathews kinda falls into that category as well

At least 1 CB and 1 CF needed for the run in, cause we're very light in both positions and if we cant get a CB get a left back in and put Liam Dick there

For all the supposed promise gullan has, I still have no idea what his natural position is. He is similar to Wighton, in that, he has a certain level of ability that he shows in flashes, but I just can't see him being more than a lower championship/ upper l1 level player. Works his arse off every time he steps on the pitch for us but I just don't see him being capable of being a regular starter at the level we are trying to attain. 

[Offshore Rover]

17 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

 

Yeah unfortunately Ross hasn't worked out the way I had hoped, ( i.e. a big sell on fee ) the money Mcglynn wasted on him . Gullan so much promise but cant stay clear of injury, if we cant move them on in Jan we need to get them loaned out till their contracts end in the summer, and with the lack of game time Mathews kinda falls into that category as well

 

I can’t see anyone willing to buy Gullan or Ross. Why would they? They have six months left of their contract, who on earth is going to buy that out, even more so considering their injury’s. Maybe £10 and a packet of crisps is the best offer we will get for them. Best outcome I see is keeping Ross out on loan and keeping hold of Gullan for the rest of the season. Then probably not renew their contracts in the summer. 
 

You can’t be serious about shipping Mathews out on loan surly ? 

[SirJimmyofNic]

5 minutes ago, Offshore Rover said:

I can’t see anyone willing to buy Gullan or Ross. Why would they? They have six months left of their contract, who on earth is going to buy that out, even more so considering their injury’s. Maybe £10 and a packet of crisps is the best offer we will get for them. Best outcome I see is keeping Ross out on loan and keeping hold of Gullan for the rest of the season. Then probably not renew their contracts in the summer. 
 

You can’t be serious about shipping Mathews out on loan surly ? 

Was just a thought with his lack of game time, I mean how long has he been out albeit for the cameo appearance, unless he's working his socks off in training of course, then theres no need for him to go out on loan

[San Starko Rover]

I’d pretty much forgotten Corr and Mathews were even in our team they seem to have been out forever.  Actually amazing how well were doing with Mathews, Corr, Watson and Gullan all still injured. No idea what the plan is with Ross how’s he doing at Falkirk? Great player on his day but another who can’t seem to get fit. 

[SirJimmyofNic]

11 minutes ago, San Starko Rover said:

I’d pretty much forgotten Corr and Mathews were even in our team they seem to have been out forever.  Actually amazing how well were doing with Mathews, Corr, Watson and Gullan all still injured. No idea what the plan is with Ross how’s he doing at Falkirk? Great player on his day but another who can’t seem to get fit. 

Hes played about 240 mins out of 520 mins wi McGlynn,  never had the full 90, whether that's down to us or McGlynn or hes not performing to his ability along there , is anybody's guess 

[pub car king]

Ross Matthews has had years of service with us the injuries are recent. 

Agree about Gullan he has the talent but no idea what (position) he is. The only consistency he provides are the injuries sadly. 

[SirJimmyofNic]

38 minutes ago, pub car king said:

Ross Matthews has had years of service with us the injuries are recent. 

Agree about Gullan he has the talent but no idea what (position) he is. The only consistency he provides are the injuries sadly. 

Mathews has been out injured for a while maybe the setback is recent but hes not played a game since 11th May 2022 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 minute ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

Mathews has been out injured for a while maybe the setback is recent but hes not played a game since 11th May 2022 

He played the full 90 minutes against Montrose in the friendly at the start of the season.

[Michael W]

The moment Ross Matthews is fit again, someone else will be out injured. You can pretty much guarantee it. 

[Kuma Power]

Have to say I feel conflicted about Jamie Gullan. Over the last few years, he's given us Rovers fans some great memories: the 5-3 at Bayview, the 5-1 vs the Pars, getting the party started with the penalty against Motherwell in the cup, the goal that broke the Inverness curse... I really hoped that this season he could put his injuries behind him and kick on, but sadly he hasn't yet managed to do that. Agree that we still don't really know what his best position is, but I do wonder if that's a result of him only managing 4-5 games at a time before he breaks down again - which makes it very, very hard to get a clear picture of what he can do and how he fits into the team.

It's a difficult one and I hope I'm proven wrong, but it is hard to justify offering Gullan a new deal if he can't manage an injury-free and effective run between now and the end of the season - especially if that frees up funds to, say, offer Sam Stanton a new deal.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Kuma Power said:

Have to say I feel conflicted about Jamie Gullan. Over the last few years, he's given us Rovers fans some great memories: the 5-3 at Bayview, the 5-1 vs the Pars, getting the party started with the penalty against Motherwell in the cup, the goal that broke the Inverness curse... I really hoped that this season he could put his injuries behind him and kick on, but sadly he hasn't yet managed to do that. Agree that we still don't really know what his best position is, but I do wonder if that's a result of him only managing 4-5 games at a time before he breaks down again - which makes it very, very hard to get a clear picture of what he can do and how he fits into the team.

It's a difficult one and I hope I'm proven wrong, but it is hard to justify offering Gullan a new deal if he can't manage an injury-free and effective run between now and the end of the season - especially if that frees up funds to, say, offer Sam Stanton a new deal.

Gullan is a confused player. He’s touted as a striker/forward, but naturally drifts wide. If he’s starting as our #9, there’s often no one in the middle to cross the ball to because Jamie is wide, possibly the one looking to cross it to someone. Maybe if he was played as a winger we’d get better results, but the times he’s been put in situations like that he hasn’t excelled either.

He has a great shot, and is a decent enough ball handler, but he seems loathe to break inside rather than outside. I’m just not sure he’s able to change anymore.

[CountryBumpkin]

7 hours ago, TxRover said:

Gullan is a confused player. He’s touted as a striker/forward, but naturally drifts wide. If he’s starting as our #9, there’s often no one in the middle to cross the ball to because Jamie is wide, possibly the one looking to cross it to someone. Maybe if he was played as a winger we’d get better results, but the times he’s been put in situations like that he hasn’t excelled either.

He has a great shot, and is a decent enough ball handler, but he seems loathe to break inside rather than outside. I’m just not sure he’s able to change anymore.

He could play in goals then?

There are a lot of strikers who naturally drift wide, one of the best in the world used to do it all the time, its where space is found and away from the more dominating centre-halfs. If they're being man marked then it can pull teams out of position, but it requires players moving around to fill the gaps created. For me, Gullan would be a good second striker alongside someone who can utilise the space he'll create. We've yet to see that though. 

[Broken Algorithms]

Strange situation where we're second top, well clear of third and only lost one game and folk are talking about ripping up contracts and loan deals for those on the fringes. 

I'd wait to see how Matthews does coming back from this injury. You really do worry if it flares up again then that will be it for him at this level. It's a shame as we all know how much quality he offers in his role. We've been told two or three times before that the issue was fixed, and it's recurred but as fans we'll never know the full details and it's very easy to jump up conclusions 

I'd keep Gullan for the rest of his deal. There's clearly a bit of proneness to injury but if we when he's fit he can have an impact. As touched on, he doesn't come across as an out and out forward - his best spell seemed to be in the COVID lockout season when he'd cut in from the left.

There's also a squad dynamic element to it - while you can't run a football club based on keeping people happy, he's well liked within the dressing room. 

With Ethan Ross, we don't have much option for the rest of his time. He'll either need to be with us at Starks or out at Falkirk. 

With Ross and Gullan it's very easy to forget the context in which they signed. We'd made a strong start to the season and Ross joined because nobody wanted to pay Aberdeen a hefty development fee. He spent most of that summer on trial at EPL clubs and was seen as a very highly rated prospect.

In the winter we're needing goals and still only marginally away from the top of the league so we get in touch with Hibs, who weren't using Gullan, and agree a similar deal where there's a large sell on clause if he kicked on and did well.

It's very easy to see how the old board would've bought into any sales pitch from the playing side about the potential of Ross and Gullan. Even at the time I think everyone knew it was always going to be a boom or bust situation. As it is, neither has been able to kick on unfortunately. 

Whatever decisions are to be made, I'm very comfortable that Murray, Mickey and Potter will do what's in the best interests of the club and make an informed decision.

[MICMAC]

On 29/10/2023 at 01:02, bobbykdy said:

Haud on, we had just had the Janny and Tam McLean for 7 days at that point, stock had never been higher is very much stretching it. I think we were going down from day dot that season, we were fucking awful.

Jimmy Thomson the Janny

[MICMAC]

I think Gullan is more like an old fashioned inside left and probably more suited to playing on the left side of 2 number 10s. But the formation we play doesn't suit him. We'd have to play a narrow game with a 4-3-2-1 to accommodate him.

[pub car king]

44 minutes ago, MICMAC said:

Jimmy Thomson the Janny

Here's a hot take from back in the day. I'd have given the janny longer. From memory we lost away to Rangers and Celtic in the league and Airdrie in the league Cup (which was no disgrace back then) we'd let him spend a shit ton of cash to build a team and never let him manage it. 

He should have at least got the home games against Aberdeen and Dundee United. I don't know if McLean was available and whoring himself around and ot prompted our board pull the trigger. 

That whole season was a cluster f**k.

[renton]

49 minutes ago, pub car king said:

Here's a hot take from back in the day. I'd have given the janny longer. From memory we lost away to Rangers and Celtic in the league and Airdrie in the league Cup (which was no disgrace back then) we'd let him spend a shit ton of cash to build a team and never let him manage it. 

He should have at least got the home games against Aberdeen and Dundee United. I don't know if McLean was available and whoring himself around and ot prompted our board pull the trigger. 

That whole season was a cluster f**k.

Aye, we had both halfs of the old firm, then got papped 3-0 by Motherwell as well. Looking back, it does seem like a knee jerk reaction.

[stevoraith]

Matthews is a strange one. 
On the face of it we don’t really need him back. We’ve got Brown and Byrne both playing well in the position that Matthews is best suited to. 
So on current form, if everyone is fit, a fit Matthews doesn’t get into the side. 
But…. if he’s fit it really makes it less imperative that we have cover for centre half. 
Because a fit Matthews allows us to drop Brown into CH and put Matthews in as a like for like replacement for Brown without disrupting the shape of the rest of the team. 
 

Fingers crossed he gets fit soon because a fit Matthews is a fantastic asset. 

Edited November 2, 2023 by stevoraith

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

 

 

[Michael W]

That's good for me that the game's on TV. Pretty shit for the club given the derisory TV fee at this stage of the competition, though. It'll probably knock enough off the attendance to make us worse off.