Rovers v East Fife - Christmas spectacular

[Scary Bear]

Having listened to McGlynn’s interview, I didn’t hear anything inflammatory. Another sensible interview from a top boy.

[Gordon EF]

1 hour ago, basher brash said:

How funny football is and how remarkable things change not so long ago Young was P...h! get rid of him ! I’m not going back! Now he’s Jurgen Klopp why? because you beat the Rovers again but yet you all claim we aren’t a big scalp. 

In terms of banter etc fair play there’s nothing better than beating your rivals on there own patch however nothing has been decided until May the Rovers could easily free fall out of the play offs or vice verse the same could happen to East Fife but your season isn’t defined on beating Raith Rovers 4 times in a season. Personally IMO the league was lost weeks ago and now we just have to hang on in there for a play off spot which we will lose anyway going by Previous form, where do East Fife fans see where they will finish in the league? and do you think you will get promoted through the play offs

Young's taken criticism in the past, no doubt about that but I think it's a small minority who've actually said they wanted him out. 

Of course taking 7/9 points from the derbies this season, rather than 0/12 last season is getting him a bit of praise from us but also, we're sitting 3rd, are looking a lot better than we have in a long time and have been on a long winning run this season, beating championship teams along the way. Rovers games aside, why wouldn't people be happy with Darren Young? The same way all those doubting McGlynn would change their tune if Rovers go on an enormous winning streak from now and nick the league from Arbroath.

I think we look good enough to get a top 4 spot. So barring injuries etc, I'm expecting us to finish 3rd or 4th I'd i'd be disappointed if we didn't from this position.

Play-offs aren't quite a lottery but anything can happen in them. Quite often it's not the team who's been better over the season or even who's on form that goes up. I think we're a better team than Brechin were two years ago but they went up. So if we get there, it's a 25% chance, like everyone else.

[Gordon EF]

4 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

Having listened to McGlynn’s interview, I didn’t hear anything inflammatory. Another sensible interview from a top boy.

I just enjoyed the wee lip wobble about "League One football" as if he's managing to play anything other than that with Raith, to be honest.

[WullieBroonIsGod]

Just watched McGlynn. Don't quite agree with his assessment of East Fife. They are due more credit than "typical league 1" "long balls to the big man". Thought we held our shape well and every player knew their job and stuck to it.   We were organised and professional and looked every bit as fit as Raith.

Thought we were well worth a 2 goal lead at HT. Second half Raith were better but until that goal I didn't really see too much to concern. Last 5 mins was nervy and I was might relieved to see FT. 

Looking forward to the highlights as all the goals were at the far end. 

 

[Scary Bear]

12 minutes ago, WullieBroonIsGod said:

Just watched McGlynn. Don't quite agree with his assessment of East Fife. They are due more credit than "typical league 1" "long balls to the big man". Thought we held our shape well and every player knew their job and stuck to it.   We were organised and professional and looked every bit as fit as Raith.

Thought we were well worth a 2 goal lead at HT. Second half Raith were better but until that goal I didn't really see too much to concern. Last 5 mins was nervy and I was might relieved to see FT. 

Looking forward to the highlights as all the goals were at the far end. 

 

From memory there was a couple of chances for Nisbet up at our end. There was a good shot low at the post which your keeper turned round for a corner and there was a shot that looked like it was heading in but crept agonisingly over the bar. Think Vaughan ballooned a decent chance over the bar. Think that’s about it for decent chances we had.

People were saying the first EF goal was offside but I didn’t think that. Second one was a personal disaster for Davo.

From our end there didn’t look anything wrong with Nisbet’s ‘goal’ up at your end of the ground. What was up with it? Was it offside he was given? Was he offside?

The ref wasn’t well thought of in our end of the ground.

It’ll be interesting to see the highlights.

[Scottydog]

2 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

From our end there didn’t look anything wrong with Nisbet’s ‘goal’ up at your end of the ground. What was up with it? Was it offside he was given?

Zen Archer said in the 200 club after the game that they'd watched it back on Raith Tv and there was no offside, so it'll be interesting to see the edited Lowlights when they appear.

Not that it matters now anyway.

[sirscottyoung]

Zen Archer said in the 200 club after the game that they'd watched it back on Raith Tv and there was no offside, so it'll be interesting to see the edited Lowlights when they appear.
Not that it matters now anyway.

From my view there was a boy that went for the ball who was offside. Not a clue who but he went for it making himself active. Have to watch back to confirm that but it looked that way to me

[King Kebab]

From memory it was Buchanan who was offside and deemed "active" as he was standing in front of the goalkeeper!!!

Haven't watched the highlights yet so I will edit this if I'm wrong!!!

 

[King Kebab]

DY's Post Match Interview!!!

That's how you do one McGlynn!!!

[WSDR 88]

Skim read this thread, some howling posts. So I’ll join in...

That was identical to the Dumbarton game, absolutely dreadful, and was lucky on the day because Dumbarton shat the bed. Fair play to East Fife, the better team for 87mins, and deserving of the win.
2 long standing records beaten by you lot this season now.
Also peak Rovers winning last week to lose this week, fannies!

[Gordon EF]

50 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

From our end there didn’t look anything wrong with Nisbet’s ‘goal’ up at your end of the ground. What was up with it? Was it offside he was given? Was he offside?

The ref wasn’t well thought of in our end of the ground.

It’ll be interesting to see the highlights.

All happened pretty quickly so would need to see the highlights but I assumed it was for standing right in front of the keeper and blocking his view of the shot.

Sore one to take if it was us tbh but I suspect the highlights will show it was the right call.

[Scary Bear]

1 minute ago, Gordon EF said:

All happened pretty quickly so would need to see the highlights but I assumed it was for standing right in front of the keeper and blocking his view of the shot.

Sore one to take if it was us tbh but I suspect the highlights will show it was the right call.

From our end it looked like your keeper made an arse of it and Nisbet scored a good goal. As you say, need to wait and see the highlights. Remembering the various chances we could have escaped with a draw on another day. That said, we deserved the defeat. Better team won.

[Big Fifer]

OK, sobered up so time for an adult review. Thought we were the better side and deserved the win for sure. Passing was very strong in the first half and my christ what a difference it makes when Meggatt is in the starting line up. Mops everything up. Held our shape well, and the Currie/Tonks duo up front seemed to work with the big yin causing havoc and Currie being very good on the ball. I've no idea if the Raith goal was offside, not sure if the highlights will show it or not? And the handball shout almost definitely hit our players hand (didn't see who), but then it was absolutely lashed at him from about 4 yards and his hand was by his side I think. If its the other way around I'm shouting for it all day long but not sure it actually is a handball. Raith were misplacing passes left right and centre the entire half, very poor stuff from a FT side.

Second half Raith were the better team but to be honest didn't look like a "full time" team. The extent of their attacks seemed to be continuous long balls forward, or give it to Armstrong and hope he does something magical. He was clearly the best player on the park yesterday,  going forward and defending he was so good and physically looks far stronger than any one of our players despite his relative size difference. Rovers will be very lucky to keep him after his contract expires. Quite a few scary 6 yard box moments for us but again only from Raith pumping it into the box and hoping for the best.

Overall a happy day for us Fifers, and a decent day in the pubs in Kirkcaldy. Special mentioned to Dunsmore and Davidson for that game as they worked their arses off, and Agnew who's technically one of the best players I've seen in an EF jersey. Brett Long is the best keeper we've had for a long long time and in a way I see him as our Armstrong, teams will/should be looking at him if not in January at least in the summer. I'd be surprised if he doesn't move up a level.

Without  sounding like a complete dick I do have some genuine questions for Raith fans; how concerned are you by this seasons performances with the FT vs PT stuff? Because in all honestly I struggle to see a difference between the two sets of players, so I'm not convinced having a smaller FT squad is a great option here. Also, second time of me seeing Nat Wedderburn, he was murder in the 2-1 game and tbh I thought he was brutal again yesterday. My pals were saying "aye but he does his job" but to me it seemed the opposite, he was able to win the ball back because he's built like a brick shithouse but his ability on the ball looks so poor that even if he wins the ball a 5 yard pass looks a struggle.

[CALDERON]

5 minutes ago, Big Fifer said:

OK, sobered up so time for an adult review. Thought we were the better side and deserved the win for sure. Passing was very strong in the first half and my christ what a difference it makes when Meggatt is in the starting line up. Mops everything up. Held our shape well, and the Currie/Tonks duo up front seemed to work with the big yin causing havoc and Currie being very good on the ball. I've no idea if the Raith goal was offside, not sure if the highlights will show it or not? And the handball shout almost definitely hit our players hand (didn't see who), but then it was absolutely lashed at him from about 4 yards and his hand was by his side I think. If its the other way around I'm shouting for it all day long but not sure it actually is a handball. Raith were misplacing passes left right and centre the entire half, very poor stuff from a FT side.

Second half Raith were the better team but to be honest didn't look like a "full time" team. The extent of their attacks seemed to be continuous long balls forward, or give it to Armstrong and hope he does something magical. He was clearly the best player on the park yesterday,  going forward and defending he was so good and physically looks far stronger than any one of our players despite his relative size difference. Rovers will be very lucky to keep him after his contract expires. Quite a few scary 6 yard box moments for us but again only from Raith pumping it into the box and hoping for the best.

Overall a happy day for us Fifers, and a decent day in the pubs in Kirkcaldy. Special mentioned to Dunsmore and Davidson for that game as they worked their arses off, and Agnew who's technically one of the best players I've seen in an EF jersey. Brett Long is the best keeper we've had for a long long time and in a way I see him as our Armstrong, teams will/should be looking at him if not in January at least in the summer. I'd be surprised if he doesn't move up a level.

Without  sounding like a complete dick I do have some genuine questions for Raith fans; how concerned are you by this seasons performances with the FT vs PT stuff? Because in all honestly I struggle to see a difference between the two sets of players, so I'm not convinced having a smaller FT squad is a great option here. Also, second time of me seeing Nat Wedderburn, he was murder in the 2-1 game and tbh I thought he was brutal again yesterday. My pals were saying "aye but he does his job" but to me it seemed the opposite, he was able to win the ball back because he's built like a brick shithouse but his ability on the ball looks so poor that even if he wins the ball a 5 yard pass looks a struggle.

There's different opinions in the support. Full time football done properly will win this league. The stats and history books show that. 

My own personal opinion is that there is a point when sacrificing squad depth just to be full time is actually harmful, and I think we are at that point this season. We aren't seeing the "traditional" benefits of increased fitness or organisation (things that McGlynn brought us last time we won this league) so in fact I fear we are just a more expensive League 1 side. 

We had some players already on full time contracts and going part time would have meant losing the likes of Vaughan, so it's not that simple. However we went for quality over quantity and I don't think we really have either right now, a few obvious exceptions aside. 

McGlynn hasn't covered himself in glory, we have defensive and goalkeeping options on the bench (3 senior goalies!!) and they have been an obvious weakness for weeks, but Smith really did leave us with an awfully unbalanced squad. 

[basher brash]

8 minutes ago, Big Fifer said:

OK, sobered up so time for an adult review. Thought we were the better side and deserved the win for sure. Passing was very strong in the first half and my christ what a difference it makes when Meggatt is in the starting line up. Mops everything up. Held our shape well, and the Currie/Tonks duo up front seemed to work with the big yin causing havoc and Currie being very good on the ball. I've no idea if the Raith goal was offside, not sure if the highlights will show it or not? And the handball shout almost definitely hit our players hand (didn't see who), but then it was absolutely lashed at him from about 4 yards and his hand was by his side I think. If its the other way around I'm shouting for it all day long but not sure it actually is a handball. Raith were misplacing passes left right and centre the entire half, very poor stuff from a FT side.

Second half Raith were the better team but to be honest didn't look like a "full time" team. The extent of their attacks seemed to be continuous long balls forward, or give it to Armstrong and hope he does something magical. He was clearly the best player on the park yesterday,  going forward and defending he was so good and physically looks far stronger than any one of our players despite his relative size difference. Rovers will be very lucky to keep him after his contract expires. Quite a few scary 6 yard box moments for us but again only from Raith pumping it into the box and hoping for the best.

Overall a happy day for us Fifers, and a decent day in the pubs in Kirkcaldy. Special mentioned to Dunsmore and Davidson for that game as they worked their arses off, and Agnew who's technically one of the best players I've seen in an EF jersey. Brett Long is the best keeper we've had for a long long time and in a way I see him as our Armstrong, teams will/should be looking at him if not in January at least in the summer. I'd be surprised if he doesn't move up a level.

Without  sounding like a complete dick I do have some genuine questions for Raith fans; how concerned are you by this seasons performances with the FT vs PT stuff? Because in all honestly I struggle to see a difference between the two sets of players, so I'm not convinced having a smaller FT squad is a great option here. Also, second time of me seeing Nat Wedderburn, he was murder in the 2-1 game and tbh I thought he was brutal again yesterday. My pals were saying "aye but he does his job" but to me it seemed the opposite, he was able to win the ball back because he's built like a brick shithouse but his ability on the ball looks so poor that even if he wins the ball a 5 yard pass looks a struggle.

There is no difference between FT and PT when really there should be, that’s why I couldn’t understand why we stayed full time when we could have paid probably the best part time wages in the league. Daniel Armstrong had one of his poorer games yesterday imo so it shows what kind of form he has been in previously but most defo he will be away. Wedderburn is solid and rightly stated does his job however his team mates didn’t help him by gifting the East Fife midfield the freedom of Kirkcaldy.

East Fife to there credit did play well and out fought us however Rovers were poor throughout and made East Fife’s job a lot more easier which disappoints me more as they should have built on a great result last week and pushed on but like so many other games this season the team aren’t up for a battle and think pretty boy tippy tippy football wins them games when really they don’t when you face a well organised battling East Fife team

[Gordon EF]

For what it's worth, I think the FT/PT thing is a bit of a red herring. FT teams tend to win League One more often than not because they're the clubs with the most money and can generally afford better quality players and or bigger squads.

Of course, overall, being FT should be better than being PT but I think there is a question about whether being the lowest paying FT team or the highest paying PT team in the country is better. There are a lot of players out there who don't want FT football because they have jobs they want to keep or it just suits their lives better or they can just earn far more money with a normal job and PT football. Being FT stops you getting these players. Over the years, clubs have carved out a bit of a niche as being the highest paying PT teams in the country and hoovering up a good few of the best PT players. I'm sure QotS did that before going FT and Dumbarton more recently.

I don't think there's a right answer to that. Ultimately Rovers are not doing as well as they feel they should because they didn't make their bigger budget count during pre-season recruitment. If you were to make a L1 XI, in any given season the only FT team in this league should be looking to have five or six players in it who are the best in the league for their position. I think even the more optimistic Rovers fans would struggle to say Raith have that at the moment.

[Stevo Fife]

Oooooft! How will we ever top that for a day out in Lino Land. I'm just coming round now. 2 monkeys off the back in little over a month. Brilliant stuff from Young and the team.

Great day out before and after the game! No point in ripping the piss any further (subject to change) as I think the majority of our lino brethren have accepted that the better team won.

Looking at Young's post match interview its interesting to note hardly anyone trained ahead of this game yet you would not notice the difference between the teams as far as fitness was concerned. Personally I felt we should have been out of sight at half time and a good 3 or 4 would not have flattered. 2nd half a bit nervy but we held on for a thoroughly deserved win.

Watched McGlynns pre and post match interviews. He looks a man close to the edge and still has too high an opinion of himself. He's an outdated old fart.

Rovers you would think should still finish 2nd if Arbroath don't implode but on that showing who can tell.  I hope we make the playoffs just for the added value but doubt we'd survive the championship (a la Brechin) so content to be a decent 1st Division side. Its a good league to live in.

Well done Darren Young and well done East Fife. Great end to 2018.

ps

Horsed!

 

[CALDERON]

Tbh, other than a pretty crass reference to East Fife I didn't see anything wrong with Mcglynns interview. 

[liam_barnett]

15 hours ago, King Kebab said:

Did you boys no get pulled up for this sort of thing after the last game!!!

Did you not get pulled up for being a bit of a walloper after the last game, Teejay!

[King Kebab]

Did you not get pulled up for being a bit of a walloper after the last game, Teejay!

[emoji23]

No, pretty sure it was a good majority of your pals in Fife's Finest that were done for that Liam!!!

Eta and nice use of a mentally disabled fan's name in a childish attempt at an insult you utter bawbag!!!