Dumbarton -v- Raith

[North Terrace Gazza]

Well done Sons safe from 10th for sure now. I have to admit a tad of jealously

[Frank conner]

13 minutes ago, Wee Sandy said:

Some fans are blaming Hughes already!!

The guy's in the door 5 minutes and some conveniently forget that the real reason for this car crash of a season is Locke.

.Locke took over a decent squad of players and within weeks had reduced them to a shadow of what they were  with McKinnon.

Locke should be ashamed of what he's done at Raith.

I doubt he will though!

Locke is ultimately  to blame but its getting  to the stage where  its down to the players and lets be honest  yogi seems devoid  of ideas.

[Wee Sandy]

1 minute ago, Frank conner said:

Locke is ultimately  to blame but its getting  to the stage where  its down to the players and lets be honest  yogi seems devoid  of ideas.

I agree in part, however he has to find out what the players have to offer and, sadly it was all too apparent today!

He can only try to salvage something for us from what is ENTIRELY Locke's signings, Hughes was unable to bring in anyone after the January window.

PLUS, even as many did not want Locke he was still given time...that is not happening with Hughes.

The players we have need to man up.

[CALDERON]

20 minutes ago, Wee Sandy said:

Some fans are blaming Hughes already!!

The guy's in the door 5 minutes and some conveniently forget that the real reason for this car crash of a season is Locke.

.Locke took over a decent squad of players and within weeks had reduced them to a shadow of what they were  with McKinnon.

Locke should be ashamed of what he's done at Raith.

I doubt he will though!

 

12 minutes ago, Wee Sandy said:

Hughes can only play what he was left by Locke. Dross,

Did Locke take Hardie off for Skacel?

Anyone who saw the game today would have seen the lack of tactical awareness.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I agree in part, however he has to find out what the players have to offer and, sadly it was all too apparent today!
He can only try to salvage something for us from what is ENTIRELY Locke's signings, Hughes was unable to bring in anyone after the January window.
PLUS, even as many did not want Locke he was still given time...that is not happening with Hughes.
The players we have need to man up.

Are half your squad not actually McKinnon's signings?

[Jimmy85]

Rovers and East Fife swapping places in the play offs would be amusing tbh. 

[RR #1]

1 minute ago, Jimmy85 said:

Rovers and East Fife swapping places in the play offs would be amusing tbh. 

Like when the pars got relegated by Cowdenbeath? That was amusing.

[Scary Bear]

No thanks to Toshney. Did you see him last night!? 
Sack everyone. Start again. 

Was he playing right back again?

[Jimmy85]

2 minutes ago, RR #1 said:

Like when the pars got relegated by Cowdenbeath? That was amusing.

 

There's no need to be so defensive. 

[Raith Against The Machine]

 
There's no need to be so defensive. 

What's 'defensive'?

[DumbartonTheSons]

Aye a 10 man Ayr team. Btw how many times have you beaten us this season... zilch!

Hate to do a VT here but, ^^^ utterly obsessed.

[pleslie99]

Just seen Dumbarton team for today. What is it with Aitken, he starts Thomson and nade again who have done f**k all lately, what has Fleming got to do to get a start, tommo is a big Jessie when it comes to a 50/50 and is a waste of space, nade is no where near fit enough to lead the line and I am afraid the team selection is not good enough to beat raith today. This is a must win game today and if Ayr win we are doomed

Think you owe mr Aitken an apology

[Jan Vojáček]

That was genuinely excellent from us today. We controlled the game, scored some lovely goals, kept a clean sheet and (certainly in the second half) barely broke sweat,

Alan Martin made two wonderful first half saves, and then an excellent stop in the second to pounce on a deflected effort, but apart from that Raith barely threatened. McManus looked a shadow of the player who tore us a new one for Morton last year, and was lucky one of his teammates didn't stick the nut on him for his persistent moaning. He has a gurny wee face, but if he put half as much effort into football as he did into complaining he'd be some player. As it is he's a League 1 player.

When Skácel came on I knew it was game over. Truly baffling decision by Hughes to take off Hardie (who was at least showing some smart movement) for him, and he was fortunate not to be sent off for a weird attack thing on Carswell.

The first goal was wonderfully created by SeaGal. I've been saying he deserves a start for weeks now, and today he proved me right. The goal was as the result of strong running and a good cross, but his defensive movement throughout the whole game was very strong too. Nice finish by Thommo, the sort of thing he's been needing to do more of, scoring the good chances. 

Fair to say he silenced my criticisms today with his second! And don't forget it came after a corner he won with a wonderful trick and then shot. His finish was sublime. Unbelievably good, and I can't wait to see it again on SonsTV.

Stanton's goal killed the game, and again Thomson was heavily involved. The two of them were the best players on the park. No idea why Penska was so confused by the cross, but there you go. As I said I thought he looked nervous all game.

After that Raith went full on John Hughes. Plenty of passes without actually ever really doing...well...anything. 

We punted on Gaz and a couple of youth teamers (I really like the look of Lyden by the way, he was quite Andy Stirling-esque with his low centre of balance and direct running) to just see the game out, yet low and behold manage to get a fourth after some laughable Raith defending.

If you weren't there today catch it on the highlights. The bot goes to take the ball into the corner, changes his mind, runs past Benedictus (who really struggled today, first time I think I've said that) across the face of goal, 'vers bodies falling all over the place, before just booting it into the net. He made it look so easy - and to be honest it was. That goal sums up Raith's season.

Today is the sort of day that makes being a Sons' fan great. We go through what Raith went through about ten times a season for a few days like this - makes the league table look a lot better too. 

Edit: Forgot to say, I thought Barr and Lang worked well together today. Considering it was the Lang's full senior debut, on a very tricky pitch, I thought he strolled it. 

[pleslie99]

Not that it makes any difference but did anyone see the lino call an offside against in our own half? The ref then allowed the free kick to be taken... in our half [emoji38]

By the way, the rules regarding this have changed. If the player is in an offside position when the ball is played and runs back onside to collect the ball, the linesman flags once the player touches the ball and the free kick is now taken from where the ball was touched. If this happens inside their own half then that is the case, bizarre but that's the rules.
Not sure if this was the case in the situation you were talking about but would explain it

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

By the way, the rules regarding this have changed. If the player is in an offside position when the ball is played and runs back onside to collect the ball, the linesman flags once the player touches the ball and the free kick is now taken from where the ball was touched. If this happens inside their own half then that is the case, bizarre but that's the rules.
Not sure if this was the case in the situation you were talking about but would explain it

Indeed, but it looked like Nade was in our half when the decision was made.

[Pride of Fife]

Well done to Dumbarton and no disrespect but what a complete joke we are.

Scary bear, you would keep Callachan? Davo? Stewart? Really? 

Would be three of the 1st names on my long list to get rid. Callachan is getting worse, has a good game every 10 or so, how much longer can we use the "he's still young, he's still learning" crap? Another year? Two? Davo was never my fav player but at least back in the day he offered a bit of bite and passion, these days he is slower, more negative and less aggressive. I like Stewart, if we are relegated then he could score plenty goals in League One however in this division he is a current day Graham Weir, just not good enough and far from prolific in terms of goals.

Bobby Barr and Jason Thomson have come back from injury and been shadows of player they were, no improvement and they can go too. Mvoto is handy for defending high balls and set pieces but he is no Cannavaro, bomb scare with ball at feet. C Barr is injured 3/4 of every year, McHattie and Chris Johnston have been average at best, our loan players have been crap yet Locke signed one of them!  Only players from our 1st team regulars I would be happy at retaining would be Benedictus and maybe Cuthbert

[The Moonster]

1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said:

Nade didnt have the best of games for us, but thats partly down to Mvoto who played him very well. 

When Nade was subbed the two of them gave quite a heartfelt hand shake, you could tell they both enjoyed the battle. I think even when Nade doesn't play well he gives us an out ball and a presence that no one else can. I understand why he can't be dropped and to be honest, today we saw why Stevie hasn't dropped Thommo. He's also an out ball, but he unquestionably gives us a unique option out wide and if he can bang another 5 or 6 in before the seasons out then he'll be fully deserving of his deal at Morton. 

We have great competition in this tiny wee squad and it seems to be keeping our players with the most quality on their toes (minus last weeks collapse). Pleasing.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Think you owe mr Aitken an apology

Wouldn't be surprised if he's one of those Facebook dafties who only appear when we lose.

Aka that Craig Couper or the likes. Utter roaster.

[Frank conner]

2 minutes ago, Pride of Fife said:

Well done to Dumbarton and no disrespect but what a complete joke we are.

Scary bear, you would keep Callachan? Davo? Stewart? Really? 

Would be three of the 1st names on my long list to get rid. Callachan is getting worse, has a good game every 10 or so, how much longer can we use the "he's still young, he's still learning" crap? Another year? Two? Davo was never my fav player but at least back in the day he offered a bit of bite and passion, these days he is slower, more negative and less aggressive. I like Stewart, if we are relegated then he could score plenty goals in League One however in this division he is a current day Graham Weir, just not good enough and far from prolific in terms of goals.

Bobby Barr and Jason Thomson have come back from injury and been shadows of player they were, no improvement and they can go too. Mvoto is handy for defending high balls and set pieces but he is no Cannavaro, bomb scare with ball at feet. C Barr is injured 3/4 of every year, McHattie and Chris Johnston have been average at best, our loan players have been crap yet Locke signed one of them!  Only players from our 1st team regulars I would be happy at retaining would be Benedictus and maybe Cuthbert

Callachan  and stewart have to go callachan  cant pass shoot or tackle and stewart thinks a few goals a season is ok

[roverthemoon]

Raith were fucking atrocious. Worse than anything under Locke. Players looked totally devoid of confidence despite coming off the back of a win. This is a team who will take us down if they don't change their attitude. No one deserves pass marks but Chris Johnson and Declan McManus were particularly woeful.  McManus more interested in fouling than trying to win the ball. Absolutely useless. Bobby Barr getting involved with the crowd too. Focus on what you're doing on the pitch. 

HUGHES REPLACING HARDIE WITH SKACEL?!?!?! WTF. Terrible decision. No amount of cheeky chappy crap in his interview will excuse that performance. He should apologise to every single fan that witnessed it today. 

Some say he is an easy target but the fault for where we are today lies squarely at the feet of Eric Drysdale and the Board. Being seduced by Gary Locke's interview patter meant we appointed a woefully inadequate manager who has lumbered us with a squad made up of his dreadful second rate choices and decent players we know can play but who have had all their confidence sucked from them during his tenure. 

Well done Dumbarton. Good performance. Deserved the win.