The New Raith Rovers Thread

[SerieA]

3 minutes ago, SerieA said:

Thought Connolly was dead on his feet with 15 to go and should’ve been subbed

Had a really good game as did Smith who was a bit exposed 2 on 1 at times in the 1st half 

[Scary Bear]

14 hours ago, SanStarko said:

The same midfield and forwards that have bailed out the defence time and time again this season?

I think we’ve kept a grand total of 7 clean sheets in all league and cup games this season.   We’re pretty much going into games knowing that we need to score at least 2 goals to even have a chance of getting something out of a game.  That’s not really sustainable in any shape or form.

If we can only score one goal from all the chances we make, that’s not good. The game of football is all about putting the ball in the net.

In games where we have a makeshift defence the star turns have to show their quality and score some goals.

Edited January 21 by Scary Bear

[stevoraith]

Absolutely mental that some folk think that Murray doesn’t realise that defence is our main problem, and possibly even more mental that folk think he realises but just isn’t doing anything about it. 
 

There are two important factors at play. One is that we can only sign players who are available to be signed. We can’t conjure a player out of thin air. 
The second is that we have a board who want to do what’s best for the long term strategy of the club. 
Being outbid for O’Reilly proved that they won’t just chuck money at a player if they don’t think it’s the right thing for the long term of the club.  
That might well prove to be a mistake but they’ve clearly got their heads screwed on and won’t let emotions cloud their judgement. 
If folk prefer we could always see if the board/management team from 2 years ago want to come back and panic sign players in the January window regardless of how it will affect the club. 

[mrraith71]

On another note let’s get behind the kids and boost the morale they are obviously lacking. 
 

we are seriously missing Stanton in the team 

[SerieA]

14 hours ago, foreverarover said:

I'm sorry but appart from the first 20 minutes we never looked like scoring. Smith with a free header in the Bix decides for what ever reason to try a cushioned header to Vaughan instead of heading for goal himself was baffling. 

Away.We had some really good chances in the 2nd half 

[RoversNProud]

The hot topic atm is the defence. 
However let’s not forget when all was going well and we were scoring our late winners, it was merely papering over the cracks. We were still conceding stupid goals. When you win you forget everything else, thats football. At that time it was Murray and Watson as the 2 cb’s. Both made loads of errors but because they are experienced laddies, they didn’t get dropped. 
Ross is never a cb.Playing him in there takes away so much of his positive play and Dicko is really needing to be removed from the starting team for a break. Having 3 cbs on the bench yesterday was in hindsight, madness.

Murray I understand if not quite fit  but IM clearly doesn’t trust Masson 18 and Corr 20. Corr had a really good performance last week and will Feel hard done to but the manger has got us to the top of the league so we can’t be too critical 

[CountryBumpkin]

15 hours ago, SanStarko said:

The same midfield and forwards that have bailed out the defence time and time again this season?

I think we’ve kept a grand total of 7 clean sheets in all league and cup games this season.   We’re pretty much going into games knowing that we need to score at least 2 goals to even have a chance of getting something out of a game.  That’s not really sustainable in any shape or form.

Alright George Graham. Expecting to win regularly by only scoring 1 goal and a clean sheet is even less sustainable in this league. 

[Ding Dang Doo]

6 minutes ago, CountryBumpkin said:

Alright George Graham. Expecting to win regularly by only scoring 1 goal and a clean sheet is even less sustainable in this league. 

We're literally going up against a team who've only conceded 10 goals all season and 3 of them were in 1 game. Being solid at the back is the foundation for any successful team long term and unfortunately for us right now we are very soft. 

 

[pub car king]

We need to start winning again and if that involves winning "ugly" with disciplined performances getting the job done with no flair then sometimes it needs doing. 

Perfect example is United winning up at Inverness the other week. 

[Ding Dang Doo]

4 minutes ago, pub car king said:

We need to start winning again and if that involves winning "ugly" with disciplined performances getting the job done with no flair then sometimes it needs doing. 

Perfect example is United winning up at Inverness the other week. 

Exactly this. 

It's also been interesting that the last few games when we were trying to get the equaliser that the players seemed to lack energy. It's only so long you can do what we were doing during the first half of the season.

I'm not saying that this means it's all doom and gloom and we can't recover. There are definitely reasons behind the drop off, not least the loss of Stanton who's drive and energy in the middle of the pack cannot be matched by anyone else in the squad. But we need to find a way to be tighten up at the back and we massively need someone to be a commanding and leading presence. Yesterday we had a defence and keeper whereby only Millen wanted to shout commands at anyone. 

[SirJimmyofNic]

I only hope the 5th round draw is kind to us, and we haven't missed out on a big payday 

[SirJimmyofNic]

I'm beginning to think Watson is totally fecked, and Stanton is out for a lot longer than Murray's letting on, I hope I'm wrong and they'll both be back soon, also what's the problem with Mathews again 

[RRFC_Liam]

12 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

I'm beginning to think Watson is totally fecked, and Stanton is out for a lot longer than Murray's letting on, I hope I'm wrong and they'll both be back soon, also what's the problem with Mathews again 

Tbf wouldn’t be surprised if Stanton is out for the rest of the season remember Watson was only a few weeks turned out to be months 

[FitbaSupporter]

Just a thought, but would we have a better shot at the title or promotion through the playoffs by selling Easton in exchange for a decent centre half? Easton when on form is class but he can be inconsistent and we’ve got plenty of cover in that area. May be a stupid idea but if we keep shipping goals at the rate we have done then could see us ending up in third. 

[CrossgatesCynic]

I can only hope for a win against Inverness next weekend.

Increasingly, less to do with the three points & everything to do with ramming a cork in the congregation who appear to have lost their minds since Christmas.

[Specky Ginger]

Just now, FitbaSupporter said:

Just a thought, but would we have a better shot at the title or promotion through the playoffs by selling Easton in exchange for a decent centre half? Easton when on form is class but he can be inconsistent and we’ve got plenty of cover in that area. May be a stupid idea but if we keep shipping goals at the rate we have done then could see us ending up in third. 

Can't see any club willing to pay any sort of decent money for Easton given that he's out of contract in a few months.

And if we did that, other clubs would basically up the price for any centre half we might be interested in.

I noticed Dundee have told Zak Rudden and Cammy Kerr that they're free to find another club, but no mention of Ashcroft.

[FitbaSupporter]

Just now, Specky Ginger said:

Can't see any club willing to pay any sort of decent money for Easton given that he's out of contract in a few months.

And if we did that, other clubs would basically up the price for any centre half we might be interested in.

I noticed Dundee have told Zak Rudden and Cammy Kerr that they're free to find another club, but no mention of Ashcroft.

Wasn’t really thinking we’d get any sort of payday, more that we could offer him to a Premiership side now in exchange for a half decent defender. 

[CountryBumpkin]

1 hour ago, Ding Dang Doo said:

We're literally going up against a team who've only conceded 10 goals all season and 3 of them were in 1 game. Being solid at the back is the foundation for any successful team long term and unfortunately for us right now we are very soft. 

 

The main point is that we shouldn't be reliant on just scoring 1 a game and hoping for a clean sheet. 1-0 is not a comfortable scoreline at all. 

[TxRover]

26 minutes ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

I'm beginning to think Watson is totally fecked, and Stanton is out for a lot longer than Murray's letting on, I hope I'm wrong and they'll both be back soon, also what's the problem with Mathews again 

Watson was reported as returning in early to mid November early on. There is a habit of players getting surgery and then needing a second go or a clean up recently.

7 hours ago, RAITHROVERS84 said:

And was at fault for the goal by lunging out of position.

And our Captain have been at fault for more than one goal himself. The reality is defenders are noticed when they screw-up and attackers when they score.

4 hours ago, SanStarko said:

How do you know there's no plan?

We're not going to be paying transfer fees, and even if we were, the amount to get a quality defender is beyond us.  So just going out and buying a player to fix the issue isn't going to happen.

That leaves players out of contract or loans.  Yeah we managed to get O'Reilly on a free but there clearly isn't a lot of out of contract defenders who are actually decent, and we're sure as hell not the only team looking for one so if there was we'd probably know about them.  

So now you're left with the loan market, and you can have all the plans you like but you're fully reliant on when the other team decides they want to let the player go.  

Fair enough, but…

1) The plan has not yet borne fruit.

2) We found O’Reilly, the question becomes whose choice was a contract only until January? That’s the problem we have, we don’t have the necessary data, which does result in leaps to conclusions and sometimes erroneous takes.

3) When you have watched the problem for months, I feel it’s reasonable to suggest some plans have fallen through.

4 hours ago, Raithfan2711 said:

Ian Murray doesn’t have to put a player in front of us to prove if they are good enough. He knows what he needs and if someone isn’t giving it to him in training then they don’t deserve to play.

From what I see, Masson and Corr would not get a game for other teams in the top half of the Championship this season. I’m 100% ok with the time they’ve had. I think Corr would have played more if we were having a middling season, but he gave away the ball against Queen’s Park leading to their corner and made a mess of the goal at ICT away so that is likely why he is out. We need a centre half and a full back as a priority if we want to compete for the number one position.

On another note, our finishing and final ball yesterday was completely off it. I don’t know if it was because of the different system but if the final pass accuracy and choice was better we would be sitting in the pot for the next round, regardless of Livi’s two goals.

No, he doesn’t, but we also don’t only play someone who would be a starter on one of the top 5 Championship teams. It’s a team because you have to get 11 people to play well together, and how play solo may vary greatly from that. There are spots for players who are limited depending upon the system. Dick is a good example or a good defender who isn’t as strong as many would like going forward. Many would say he isn’t a starter on top Championship teams, but he’s a key starter for us because he can get forward, if not as much as some would like, he can cross, if not like Millen, and because he’s an excellent defender.

I’ve already said that Livi in the final third seemed to have some of what we had earlier this year. Some of our players seem to be stretching for that form instead of playing to the form we are currently meeting…

4 hours ago, RAITHROVERS84 said:

Just watched the game back and some poor finishing and decision making in the final third.

Connolly when clean through could’ve slid it to Smith for an easy chance.

Eastons ball across the box just needed prodded home. 

Wasteful free kick on edge of the box by Vaughan - hit the target and it’s a likely goal. A few other chances too.

Hamiton and Vaughan should be a lethal combination and hope they get it to properly click.

Ive said it, others have too but watching Rovers recently you just feel somethings missing and that missing thing is Stanton.

…this is where things have shifted. The small margins on crosses, the off target opportunities, the attempts to just beat one more player, the quick shot instead of the deliberate pass.

 

On the plans front again, if Masson had been loaned out earlier, would O’Reilly have perhaps been signed until June? Or did having Masson and Corr on the team make O’Reilly hesitant to sign beyond January because of the number of CB’s? Did expecting Watson back by November, then December, then January, now February influence their talks with O’Reilly? All these things we obviously don’t know right now, so it is all speculation. But the management team have known we were fragile in the back since at least September, and the “solution” worked for a while, but now has come a cropper, so questions can be asked.

[Broken Algorithms]