Airdrieonians v Raith

[grumswall]

1 minute ago, buchan30 said:

Well, that was shite. Felt we stood off Airdrie too much today. Gave them time to pass it about, but we when we got the ball (Easton especially) he had two players right on him. 

I think if we'd pressed them too much they would have played around it with their triangles that they did very well. I'd assume easton was moved in to the middle at ht because he was getting doubled up on first have and couldn't get going due to it. Was a bad angle to judge his penalty claim for watching Airdries streaming service, but that was the only thing he really did first half. 

[buchan30]

We were quite close to it and it certainly looked like a pen from where we were sitting. Not even talking about pressing them too intensely, just pit some sort of pressure on them, 

[ARaithFan]

This formation is the problem for me. Always looks like we have no midfield. 
 

think we’ve been treading the line and getting the luck in the previous few game - not really been playing “well”. Maybe a wee shake for them today.

[Mybitchunderprotest]

2 hours ago, Diamond1924 said:

Anything other than an Airdrie win would have totally flattered Raith. We were well in control of that game and competed very well. A good win  

There is absolutely no way that we were "well in control" of the game. There was very little between the sides in terms of possession and as far as chances created they definitely had the upper hand. That's not even including the long range shot off the post. Josh Rae had to be lively to get down to his left to turn away another shot from distance. I was also very concerned at that early first half challenge from Dycey that looked like he may well have taken the man before the ball when the Raith boy was running through on goal. I will be extremely happy take the 3 points though. 

 

Thought that Hancock did very well at left back but still have serious concerns about the centre of our defence and can only hope that the new laddie from Hibs can do a job there. 

Aiken and McMaster continue to excel in midfield and should be our first choice there going forward unless one or other has a massive dip in form or injury. 

[CountryBumpkin]

4 minutes ago, ARaithFan said:

This formation is the problem for me. Always looks like we have no midfield. 
 

think we’ve been treading the line and getting the luck in the previous few game - not really been playing “well”. Maybe a wee shake for them today.

We have a midfield but for me they're too similar in the job they're doing that they offer no support going forward and without fullbacks wanting to push up, two midfield destroyers limits our options massively. 

Couple that with a wish to play direct (route 1) onto Hamiltons head which means the 3 behind have to be more narrow, it's stifling anything else at the moment. We saw today that Hamilton was at his best when the ball was into his feet and he could get turned. 

How we play next week will show what lessons have been learned I hope. 

[Hank Scorpio]

I think saying we go route 1 is wrong. We certainly do it more this season than last, but that’s because we have someone up there who wins a lot of headers. We still get it wide and try work it into the box more often than not. 

[CountryBumpkin]

2 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I think saying we go route 1 is wrong. We certainly do it more this season than last, but that’s because we have someone up there who wins a lot of headers. We still get it wide and try work it into the box more often than not. 

Wins headers but the majority of the time they don't fall to anyone in a Rovers shirt because none of the guys behind Hamilton are quick enough or close enough to get in and take advantage of it. We saw that in abundance against Inverness last week too. Get the ball into Hamiltons feet, let him give it to his team mates and look to get it wide and into the box, or in behind then. 

[grumswall]

Just now, CountryBumpkin said:

Wins headers but the majority of the time they don't fall to anyone in a Rovers shirt because none of the guys behind Hamilton are quick enough or close enough to get in and take advantage of it. We saw that in abundance against Inverness last week too. Get the ball into Hamiltons feet, let him give it to his team mates and look to get it wide and into the box, or in behind then. 

Callum smith is quick enough to do that and has had joy from it. We do mix it up with that though but I actually thought Airdrie did that very well today. They played direct passes between the lines and with their movement it was creating gaps in our defence. Hamilton is getting better the fitter he gets Imo. I'd expect him to score that chance today and I think once he's fully firing he will start banging them in. 

[*marko*]

Whilst I don't think we were at our free flowing best today, that was a million miles better than last week's 'performance'. 

Fair play to McCabe for having the humility to drop himself in favour of Aiken this week. I'm a huge fan of Rhys but I think the trio of Aiken, McMaster and Frizzell is our best midfield partnership.

Cammy was a rock for us at the back and very deserving of him MOM award. Hancock was solid too. 

I'm a big fan of Scott Brown but he looked miles off it today against our young 'uns in the middle of the park. Easton was fairly invisible for most parts too but I liked the look of the boy Stanton.

Happy to scoop up the 3 points in what I thought was a fairly even contest.

[Hank Scorpio]

6 minutes ago, *marko* said:

I'm a big fan of Scott Brown but he looked miles off it today against our young 'uns in the middle of the park. 

Going to be totally fair to Scott Brown here and say that that’s probably the first ‘bad’ performance he’s had for us since he joined at the start of last season. He’s usually buzzing around flying into tackles and driving us forward. Just not at the races today. I’ll allow him one! 

[Kenny_m]

Raith shaded it on chances and Hamilton really should have scored but it was actually a great save from big Josh who was excellent, but it's not often we don't create chances and it was all about taking one when it came along. (25 passes for the goal according to a twitterer)

 Not a lot wrong with Raith to me and I'm sure they'll be stick on's for the top 4 although there full backs looked a little weak to me.

[Diamond1924]

46 minutes ago, Mybitchunderprotest said:

There is absolutely no way that we were "well in control" of the game. 

Wholly disagree and so does McCabe. Think I know who’s opinion I’ll side with

[++Ammo - Airdrie++]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Thought we were poor, but easily could’ve won. Millen and Brown had uncharacteristic off days and Mullin was anonymous. I know he does a power of work but when Stanton goes off it just killed us. Him and Hamilton going off at the same time basically ended any hope of getting a goal. 
 

Masson, it’s a hard one. He needed to come on today but the downgrade from Watson to him is mammoth. He was at fault for the goal, trying to win the ball way too high up the park and leaving a gaping hole he never got back into to allow Gallagher to score. Wasn’t surprised he was a subbed sub. And therein lies our weakness. You can have all the forward players you want but if you lose a centre half in a game and don’t really have an adequate stand in it’s going to be difficult to win football matches. 
 

Not too disheartened. Airdrie did well, played their little triangles to get out of the press in their own half and scored when they got the chance. Be really interested to see the foul not given on Stanton when he’s in in the first half. Seen those (and a lot less) given and red cards shown. Equally thought Easton could’ve had a penalty in the first half. Stanton’s effort off the post almost goal of the season. Any one of those goes our way it’s a different game. Never mind, onto next week, still been a great start to the season. 
 

Edit: I actually thought it looked like Brown and Millen were unwell. Never seen Brown so lethargic and lacking in energy. Wouldn’t be surprised at all to hear that was the case. 

Really good post.

I thought that was 2 fairly even teams that were going to be separated by a nice bit of play or a horrible mistake but fair play to both sides, there wasn't a lot of "errors" in the game.

I was disappointed we never got at Millen a bit more especially after taking the earlyish booking.

Big Hamilton upfront put a real shift in and his touch and movement are excellent but it seemed he never had much support there.

We'll play better and lose for sure at some point, so, happy to take the 3 points and move on satisfied.

[David Fernández]

Thoroughly enjoyed the game today thought we were excellent defensively and especially with how we moved the ball in midfield.

Mason Hancock and Ballantyne were both superb, hard to call a man of the match between the two of them.

Their must've been well over 20 passes for our goal as well, great movement and a great finish.

Delighted at the reaction from the team to be able to bounce back from last week, massive 3 points today.

I did think it was a pretty even game, Easton was completely wasted out wide and that's the poorest I've seen him, he's so much more effective playing as a number 10 through the middle, the triple substitutions were also completely ineffective too towards the end of the game.

I still think Raith will be up there in the play offs towards the end of the season, wouldn't massively panic if I was a Raith fan.

We played well against Dundee United and Dunfermline and got nothing so it's nice to be on the end of a victory in a fairly even game.

Edited September 23, 2023 by David Fernández

[Mybitchunderprotest]

28 minutes ago, Diamond1924 said:

Wholly disagree and so does McCabe. Think I know who’s opinion I’ll side with

Because a manager has never come out after a match and talked of a game in such a way that it barely resembles the 90 minutes watched by fans. No bother.

 

We were not well in control, it was a pretty even match if you were to look at possession and although they had more shots, more on target we scored and they didn't which is the only stat that matters. So forgive me if I'm more inclined to believe what I saw rather than the words of a manager.

[Hank Scorpio]

I like the idea that a manager’s word should be taken as gospel at all times. Especially directly after a game of football. Mind when McGlynn said no one had died? He was right. 

[TxRover]

I think that Brown’s being a bit off, combined with both Millen and Masson being on yellows, might have influenced Airdrie’s efforts to their left, and in the end that’s where it came from. Overall the game was two midfields struggling to find a quality pass forward, and both sides missed their gilt edged chances (Airdrie the cross deflected a little too far out and missed, Raith the Hamilton ball tangled in feet), so a draw would have been fair enough, but Airdrie did enough to get that win. Fair play.

[TxRover]

1 minute ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I like the idea that a manager’s word should be taken as gospel at all times. Especially directly after a game of football. Mind when McGlynn said no one had died? He was right. 

Can you count how many times he said that?

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Can you count how many times he said that?

Bloody Boris Melingui.

[pub car king]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Going to be totally fair to Scott Brown here and say that that’s probably the first ‘bad’ performance he’s had for us since he joined at the start of last season. He’s usually buzzing around flying into tackles and driving us forward. Just not at the races today. I’ll allow him one! 

Despite the brilliant business done this summer Scott Brown is still the most important player that Murray has signed. 

He is more than anyone deserving of a pass he has been immense for us.