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The New Raith Rovers Thread


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I am pretty sure Smith is only signed until January as cover, either Lennox or Cuthbert​ will be back by then and Smith can be released freeing up a wage for an out field player.

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Are we sure Herron is a football player or is he a ringer along the lines of 'George Weah's cousin'? I'm developing an irrational dislike of him even when he's not involved in the same way a few fans had for Callachan.

Shudder to think at the money we wasted on him and Smith.

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I expect so. It may sound harsh but I don't think the club should've paid for his op.


If players are injured while playing for us, then we should probably pay for their operations.

Saying that, I'm not sure how many other lines of work pay medical expenses for employees.

I just see football as a bit different.
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I think I wrote earlier that with the current team set up we'd been getting away with it a bit, and so it proved on Saturday. The midfield balance is all wrong, and we'll be significantly weaker if we can't get Robertson back into midfield sharpish. There is some mitigating circumstances, neither of Saturday's central mids had much game time before the Ayr game, and Herron really didn't have a pre-season to get up to match fitness, but allowing for that neither guy is managing to fill in for the absent Robertson or departed Callachan, and it's really starting to show.

Robertson is the key, sitting deeper and recycling the ball, without him in there, to often the ball bypasses midfield entirely with hopeful punts over the full back's head, and hoping one of the forwards does something. Callachan also gave us a real dynamic presence in there, and he was good at pressuring defenders far up the pitch and recycling the ball in forward areas, that just allowed our forwards a bit more space to play in than they do currently. Matthews I think is actually a technically better player than Callachan, but is being used to sit more, when actually I think he'd be better off further forward. Herron is one of those typical lower league midfielders, tidy on the ball but passive with it. Also, with teams playing more 3 man midfields against us our midfield has to be in pretty top form all the time - I'd be tempted, If Robertson were available for Arbroath, to go for a lop-sided 4-4-2, drop one of the forwards for a more traditional two man forward line and play Barr as a winger on one side and Matthews out wide on the other, tucking in to make 3 in the middle with him, Herron and Robertson. Might give us a bit more of a solid platform to build from, at least to start with, and at least until Matthews and Herron can figure out how to play together.

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2 hours ago, renton said:

I think I wrote earlier that with the current team set up we'd been getting away with it a bit, and so it proved on Saturday. The midfield balance is all wrong, and we'll be significantly weaker if we can't get Robertson back into midfield sharpish. There is some mitigating circumstances, neither of Saturday's central mids had much game time before the Ayr game, and Herron really didn't have a pre-season to get up to match fitness, but allowing for that neither guy is managing to fill in for the absent Robertson or departed Callachan, and it's really starting to show.

Robertson is the key, sitting deeper and recycling the ball, without him in there, to often the ball bypasses midfield entirely with hopeful punts over the full back's head, and hoping one of the forwards does something. Callachan also gave us a real dynamic presence in there, and he was good at pressuring defenders far up the pitch and recycling the ball in forward areas, that just allowed our forwards a bit more space to play in than they do currently. Matthews I think is actually a technically better player than Callachan, but is being used to sit more, when actually I think he'd be better off further forward. Herron is one of those typical lower league midfielders, tidy on the ball but passive with it. Also, with teams playing more 3 man midfields against us our midfield has to be in pretty top form all the time - I'd be tempted, If Robertson were available for Arbroath, to go for a lop-sided 4-4-2, drop one of the forwards for a more traditional two man forward line and play Barr as a winger on one side and Matthews out wide on the other, tucking in to make 3 in the middle with him, Herron and Robertson. Might give us a bit more of a solid platform to build from, at least to start with, and at least until Matthews and Herron can figure out how to play together.

One of the major problems on Saturday was that as soon as Albion Rovers scored, we seemed to lose any composure. They sat back and caught us on the counter, but it was made easier for them with Graeme Smith started smashing the ball long (which, tbf, if better than his riverdance before the goal) and hoping for an awkward bounce. Jack Smith came on, but he seemed a little lost, which is understandable given it's his first senior action.  Court came on and gave us someone who can win a header and cause problems in defence. It's ridiculous how much our team has been offset by injuries in two positions. If we have McHattie and Lennox back, then we've got a reasonable back four and keeper, Robbo goes into midfield and we get someone who'll keep the ball ticking over. I feel we needed Herron to get his foot on the ball and to try to pull the strings.

I'd hope the board can find some way to free up the resources to get an additional body in. Week by week we're waiting for Bene, McHattie and Lennox to come back. I'm confident we'll get back to playing decent football once we get  . It's certainly a lot more difficult now teams are sitting in against us at the moment and waiting for counters.

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1 hour ago, rw89 said:

One of the major problems on Saturday was that as soon as Albion Rovers scored, we seemed to lose any composure.

Agreed, I thought we played the entire second half like it was the last 5 minutes, constantly taking the quickest option instead of the best option

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15 hours ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

Yeah! I bet there are loads of surgeons in Scotland who were totally ready to do it, but the club decided to use the one in Leicester just to... Eh... Oh wait, don't be so fucking ridiculous.

Cheers for your insight

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15 hours ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

Yeah! I bet there are loads of surgeons in Scotland who were totally ready to do it, but the club decided to use the one in Leicester just to... Eh... Oh wait, don't be so fucking ridiculous.

the surgeons in Scotland were all too busy 

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Airdrie away rescheduled to Sun 10 Dec at 4:10pm for live coverage on BBC Alba:

https://spfl.co.uk/news/article/bbc-alba-live-games-announced-40/


Good to see the BBC catering for all the Gaelic speaking Airdrie fans. Good to know I can also watch the game for free at home.
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