The New Raith Rovers Thread

[RAITHROVERS84]

51 minutes ago, TxRover said:

I’m afraid that Sam’s return will not be the panacea some believe simply because he is but one player.

I’d wager the opposite and that whilst no guarantee of winning we’ll be transformative with him back in the side.

Might be one player but seems to play like there’s two of him on the pitch. If he’s not making numerous interceptions every game he’s bounding forward with decisive passes.

Really hope he starts against Utd.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, RAITHROVERS84 said:

I’d wager the opposite and that whilst no guarantee of winning we’ll be transformative with him back in the side.

Might be one player but seems to play like there’s two of him on the pitch. If he’s not making numerous interceptions every game he’s bounding forward with decisive passes.

Really hope he starts against Utd.

I wish I shared your optimism. The problem I see is the players he is rejoining are now a significantly different bunch than when he left. They’ve put in a couple of terrible performances versus Arbroath and Airdrie, plus a number of ones where the effort seemed aimless. To expect adding back in a player, even one as versatile as Sam, will somehow result in the helmsman regaining control of the a boat that is drifting wildly in heavy seas is a big ask.

If we buy that Sam was the difference, then Easton’s collapse of form is due to Sam being out…Murray’s recent lackluster showing is on Sam’s absence…Smith, Vaughan, Hamilton and Connolly, to name a few, are all less effective without Sam playing. Let’s consider what Sam brings to the team, he connects the front and back…he doesn’t pile into tackles like a ton of bricks…he doesn’t wildly throw himself in front of shots…he doesn’t lay perfect crosses onto the head of a small guy hidden between two giants…all those things happened independently of Sam, and have dried up. Could Sam’s return result in a resurgence, we can certainly hope so, but that’s a lot to pile on one lads shoulders.

If it was all down to missing Sam, it will probably take 4-6 games to get things back in line….by that time, we could be third, just in front of a charging Morton. That’s the reason I hope it wasn’t just missing Sam, but instead something else we all can’t see for whatever reason.

Perhaps his return can spark it again…after all, Samwise was the one who got Frodo to the Crack of Doom…but it might take something or someone else to toss Dundee United into the flames.

[Michael W]

Sam Stanton is our best player, so I expect that his return will have an impact on the team. It is too simplistic to say that his injury is the reason that our form has gone down the pan, but he is a big miss there and the midfield has just seemed to lack structure without him. We need him back in there - he puts in a lot of work and contributes a lot in both an attacking and defensive sense. The 4-1-3-2 was always gung ho and a bit too much, but it completely and utterly collapsed without Stanton. He was the one that held it together. 

What he can't do, is bring the likes of Brown/Easton/Byrne/Connolly back to their best. But having out most influential player back in there can only help them.  

 

[Raith Against The Machine]

What Stanton brings, moreso than anyone else, is a dynamism. And I know that can often just be a buzzword, but it really applies here. A lot of our players, as with most players at this level, are relatively 'one-note'.

On the podcast, there was talk of Ross Millen and his penchant for only delivering crosses from deep, but that same thing exists across most players. If you played "What Happens Next?" with a freeze frame of a lot of Rovers attacks, you'd have a fair idea with a lot of players. And that's not a criticism, it's a reality of most footballers at any level. If it's Aidan Connolly, you know he wants to come inside to cross or shoot, although he may go outside. If it's Easton, you know he's going to try and run at you until he can get a shooting angle. When the ball comes back to Byrne, he's going to look for a pass. I'm simplifying massively, but you take the point. 

Stanton is a sort of free radical that you can throw into that mix. If you imagine the same scenarios but picture Stanton as the next nearest player. He might drop deep for the pass, he might go outside and try to deliver a cross, he might drive direct and go for goal, he might take a shot. That not only creates a huge advantage in-and-of-itself, it also opens up new angles and space for the likes of Connolly and Easton to exploit. 

Without Stanton, we're quite prosaic. If you take the Airdrie game there, if you're a defender you know what your jobs are before you begin. Don't let Connolly inside, don't let Easton in behind, don't let Hamilton get a free header etc etc. Stanton doesn't have that label. And it's not an immediate fix or a magic bullet, Stanton played the full 90 minutes in the first 1-0 defeat at Broomfield, but unlike anyone else in the squad, Stanton brings a "be anywhere, do anything" quality that pays dividends again and again. 

It's funny the way these things work in football. If you go back a week I'm pretty sure there's a post of approximately this length where I write Jamie Gullan off for being a jack of all trades and a master of none, but that's exactly what Stanton is, albeit covering different positions. 

When you play Stanton in the midfield, it almost doesn't matter what the "system" or the "role" you give him is. To use the number shorthand, he's essentially a hybrid of a 6, an 8 and a 10 at all times. As touched upon above, that's why the 4-1-3-2 works with Stanton and nobody else. He's good enough, and dynamic enough, to fill all the various parts you need in that midfield. There are a lot of things he's not individually as good as some other players at, but as a total package he's unmatched. You basically need a Venn diagram of two players to cover all of Stanton's roles. And most teams do use two players. It's why nobody plays 4-1-3-2. 

[AllanJM]

2 minutes ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

What Stanton brings, moreso than anyone else, is a dynamism. And I know that can often just be a buzzword, but it really applies here. A lot of our players, as with most players at this level, are relatively 'one-note'.

On the podcast, there was talk of Ross Millen and his penchant for only delivering crosses from deep, but that same thing exists across most players. If you played "What Happens Next?" with a freeze frame of a lot of Rovers attacks, you'd have a fair idea with a lot of players. And that's not a criticism, it's a reality of most footballers at any level. If it's Aidan Connolly, you know he wants to come inside to cross or shoot, although he may go outside. If it's Easton, you know he's going to try and run at you until he can get a shooting angle. When the ball comes back to Byrne, he's going to look for a pass. I'm simplifying massively, but you take the point. 

Stanton is a sort of free radical that you can throw into that mix. If you imagine the same scenarios but picture Stanton as the next nearest player. He might drop deep for the pass, he might go outside and try to deliver a cross, he might drive direct and go for goal, he might take a shot. That not only creates a huge advantage in-and-of-itself, it also opens up new angles and space for the likes of Connolly and Easton to exploit. 

Without Stanton, we're quite prosaic. If you take the Airdrie game there, if you're a defender you know what your jobs are before you begin. Don't let Connolly inside, don't let Easton in behind, don't let Hamilton get a free header etc etc. Stanton doesn't have that label. And it's not an immediate fix or a magic bullet, Stanton played the full 90 minutes in the first 1-0 defeat at Broomfield, but unlike anyone else in the squad, Stanton brings a "be anywhere, do anything" quality that pays dividends again and again. 

It's funny the way these things work in football. If you go back a week I'm pretty sure there's a post of approximately this length where I write Jamie Gullan off for being a jack of all trades and a master of none, but that's exactly what Stanton is, albeit covering different positions. 

When you play Stanton in the midfield, it almost doesn't matter what the "system" or the "role" you give him is. To use the number shorthand, he's essentially a hybrid of a 6, an 8 and a 10 at all times. As touched upon above, that's why the 4-1-3-2 works with Stanton and nobody else. He's good enough, and dynamic enough, to fill all the various parts you need in that midfield. There are a lot of things he's not individually as good as some other players at, but as a total package he's unmatched. You basically need a Venn diagram of two players to cover all of Stanton's roles. And most teams do use two players. It's why nobody plays 4-1-3-2. 

Agree with absolutely all of this.  It's no coincidence that Easton's performances have dropped off without Stanton in the team.  With him back, Easton doesn't need to track back as much, freeing him up to do what he does best at the other end.  Stanton also links really well with Hamilton and Vaughan.  

I'm not saying I expect everything to go back to the way it was when Stanton returns but I do believe we have a much better chance of turning our form around with him in the team.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

What Stanton brings, moreso than anyone else, is a dynamism. And I know that can often just be a buzzword, but it really applies here. A lot of our players, as with most players at this level, are relatively 'one-note'.

On the podcast, there was talk of Ross Millen and his penchant for only delivering crosses from deep, but that same thing exists across most players. If you played "What Happens Next?" with a freeze frame of a lot of Rovers attacks, you'd have a fair idea with a lot of players. And that's not a criticism, it's a reality of most footballers at any level. If it's Aidan Connolly, you know he wants to come inside to cross or shoot, although he may go outside. If it's Easton, you know he's going to try and run at you until he can get a shooting angle. When the ball comes back to Byrne, he's going to look for a pass. I'm simplifying massively, but you take the point. 

Stanton is a sort of free radical that you can throw into that mix. If you imagine the same scenarios but picture Stanton as the next nearest player. He might drop deep for the pass, he might go outside and try to deliver a cross, he might drive direct and go for goal, he might take a shot. That not only creates a huge advantage in-and-of-itself, it also opens up new angles and space for the likes of Connolly and Easton to exploit. 

Without Stanton, we're quite prosaic. If you take the Airdrie game there, if you're a defender you know what your jobs are before you begin. Don't let Connolly inside, don't let Easton in behind, don't let Hamilton get a free header etc etc. Stanton doesn't have that label. And it's not an immediate fix or a magic bullet, Stanton played the full 90 minutes in the first 1-0 defeat at Broomfield, but unlike anyone else in the squad, Stanton brings a "be anywhere, do anything" quality that pays dividends again and again. 

It's funny the way these things work in football. If you go back a week I'm pretty sure there's a post of approximately this length where I write Jamie Gullan off for being a jack of all trades and a master of none, but that's exactly what Stanton is, albeit covering different positions. 

When you play Stanton in the midfield, it almost doesn't matter what the "system" or the "role" you give him is. To use the number shorthand, he's essentially a hybrid of a 6, an 8 and a 10 at all times. As touched upon above, that's why the 4-1-3-2 works with Stanton and nobody else. He's good enough, and dynamic enough, to fill all the various parts you need in that midfield. There are a lot of things he's not individually as good as some other players at, but as a total package he's unmatched. You basically need a Venn diagram of two players to cover all of Stanton's roles. And most teams do use two players. It's why nobody plays 4-1-3-2. 

True, but, as you effectively point out, simply adding Sam back in isn’t a “magic” solution. The other players now have to readjust to playing in the manner they did two to three months ago after a month and a half plus of playing differently. It’s easy to say, for instance, Easton will do this and suggest he hasn’t changed any. He has attempted to keep doing this or that, but he has changed how he goes about it in response to the change in how and where the ball gets to him and where his options are. It’s very much a position on the pitch, confidence and repetition thing. It will take a bit of time to see if we can regain the previous form or if some other dynamic will emerge…and first game with Sam is liable to be a bit Keystone Koppish.

[AllanJM]

So, how's everyone voting on giving United fans the SM Lighting Stand then?

[Beastie Russell]

4 minutes ago, AllanJM said:

So, how's everyone voting on giving United fans the SM Lighting Stand then?

Is that instead of the North Stand ?

[AllanJM]

1 minute ago, Beastie Russell said:

Is that instead of the North Stand ?

Now that would've been funny.

To be fair, I'm genuinely surprised at how quickly they've almost sold it out.  Clearly recognise the importance of a win in this game.

[SirJimmyofNic]

I think selling them tickets for the KM stand is a no brainer, we'll need every penny we can get for the rebuild for next season, no matter what division we're in  

[AllanJM]

1 minute ago, SirJimmyofNic said:

I think selling them tickets for the KM stand is a no brainer, we'll need every penny we can get for the rebuild for next season, no matter what division we're in  

That was pretty much my thinking to be fair.

Better to have people in there instead of leaving it empty.  Make money on the tickets and on the catering.

I doubt an extra few hundred fans would make a significant difference to the atmosphere either.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

 

 

[CountryBumpkin]

36 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

 

 

Who used to be in that position? Didn't know anyone had stepped down.

[pub car king]

Funnily enough Ian Murray has not retained his manager of the month crown. Hopefully that's that particular cursed monkey paw out the way. 

[Offshore Rover]

Excellent to hear that other clubs were willing to pay more money for our loans. Will other fans believe it? Probably not 

[chris1883]

6 hours ago, TxRover said:

True, but, as you effectively point out, simply adding Sam back in isn’t a “magic” solution. The other players now have to readjust to playing in the manner they did two to three months ago after a month and a half plus of playing differently. It’s easy to say, for instance, Easton will do this and suggest he hasn’t changed any. He has attempted to keep doing this or that, but he has changed how he goes about it in response to the change in how and where the ball gets to him and where his options are. It’s very much a position on the pitch, confidence and repetition thing. It will take a bit of time to see if we can regain the previous form or if some other dynamic will emerge…and first game with Sam is liable to be a bit Keystone Koppish.

For me, the return of Sam could be more psychological than anything. We need something to get the players minds back in the game and this could be it. If the thought process goes "We were great with Sam, when he was injured we lost our way. Now he's back we are a winning team again". 

[TxRover]

3 hours ago, CountryBumpkin said:

Who used to be in that position? Didn't know anyone had stepped down.

Was that the Supporters Director?

[renton]

14 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Was that the Supporters Director?

No, was Margie Robertson until she stepped down. Don't think there has been anyone since.

[Surely No]

26 minutes ago, renton said:

No, was Margie Robertson until she stepped down. Don't think there has been anyone since.

Seems there had been one since Margie.

[McGuigan1978]

22 minutes ago, Surely No said:

Seems there had been one since Margie.

Aye, funny you should say that, but David popped up on my Twitter feed recently and when I clicked on his profile it said he was our SLO. 

Was the first of me realising, but that to be fair, that might have been down to my ignorance rather than it not being well publicised.