The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Rovers1992/1993]

I've not rated Raith all season, any concerns I've had were centred around our generosity at the back.
Go back to the 1st game against you at Somerset and read what I said pre match, something along the lines of "if we turn up we'll hammer them", we turned up for the 1st half an hour then happily took the easy win.
Every time I've mentioned to a non Ayr fan that Arbroath are a better side than Raith, the response has always been the same, "someone else has said that as well".

That wasn’t why I quoted your posts.

The first post I quoted, you’ve said you haven’t been that bothered about us yet you then continued to post on a part of the forum dedicated to speaking about the Rovers [emoji23]

[basher brash]

3 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

I've not rated Raith all season, any concerns I've had were centred around our generosity at the back.

Go back to the 1st game against you at Somerset and read what I said pre match, something along the lines of "if we turn up we'll hammer them", we turned up for the 1st half an hour then happily took the easy win.

Every time I've mentioned to a non Ayr fan that Arbroath are a better side than Raith, the response has always been the same, "someone else has said that as well".

It’s easy saying that now considering we have gifted you the title, likewise I don’t rate Ayr however the league doesn’t lie and teams finish in the league  where they deserve to finish so the Arbroath argument is pointless considering we have taken 8 points off them and still remain unbeaten against them

[ayrmad]

4 minutes ago, Rovers1992/1993 said:

That wasn’t why I quoted your posts.

The first post I quoted, you’ve said you haven’t been that bothered about us yet you then continued to post on a part of the forum dedicated to speaking about the Rovers

I thought you were another of those that have popped in to our threads to gloat at every opportunity, I'm different, I'll take it as done when the calculator says it is.

Edited April 8, 2018 by ayrmad

[Rovers1992/1993]

I thought you were another of those that have popped in to our threads to gloat at every opportunity, I'm different, I'll take it as done when the calculator says it is.

I don’t think I have been on the Ayr threads to gloat at all this season, mainly due to the fact that Ayr don’t bother me like they do some Rovers fans.

[ayrmad]

4 minutes ago, basher brash said:

It’s easy saying that now considering we have gifted you the title, likewise I don’t rate Ayr however the league doesn’t lie and teams finish in the league  where they deserve to finish so the Arbroath argument is pointless considering we have taken 8 points off them and still remain unbeaten against them

I'm not saying it now, I said it at the 1st Somerset game and I also said that IF we all had everyone available we'd win the league comfortably or something similar, as far as I can recall that's the only 2 times I've compared Ayr and Raith.

As for Arbroath, I'd be worried in the playoffs if that's where you end up, that'll be the games against them that count.

[btb]

21 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

I've not rated Raith all season, any concerns I've had were centred around our generosity at the back.

Go back to the 1st game against you at Somerset and read what I said pre match, something along the lines of "if we turn up we'll hammer them", we turned up for the 1st half an hour then happily took the easy win.

Every time I've mentioned to a non Ayr fan that Arbroath are a better side than Raith, the response has always been the same, "someone else has said that as well".

Pretty football is not the same as effective football - the league table clearly shows Raith are a better team than Arbroath.

[UpInTheAyr]

16 minutes ago, basher brash said:

It’s easy saying that now considering we have gifted you the title, likewise I don’t rate Ayr however the league doesn’t lie and teams finish in the league  where they deserve to finish so the Arbroath argument is pointless considering we have taken 8 points off them and still remain unbeaten against them

You haven't gifted us anything, you've got no divine right to be champs.

[ayrmad]

12 minutes ago, Rovers1992/1993 said:

I don’t think I have been on the Ayr threads to gloat at all this season, mainly due to the fact that Ayr don’t bother me like they do some Rovers fans.

Apologies, both have had a fair few roasters this season.

[ayrmad]

4 minutes ago, btb said:

Pretty football is not the same as effective football - the league table clearly shows Raith are a better team than Arbroath.

The league table means nothing if you're 2nd, 3rd or 4th.

I certainly don't fancy seeing Ayr in the playoffs and we've a great record when in this division.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

2 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

The league table means nothing if you're 2nd, 3rd or 4th.

I certainly don't fancy seeing Ayr in the playoffs and we've a great record when in this division.

League 1
1st - £119,000 (0.50%)
2nd - £102,000 (0.43%)
3rd - £83,000 (0.35%)
4th - £81,000 (0.34%)
Read more at https://spfl.co.uk/news/article/record-prize-money-for-spfl-clubs/#5R5KuGUoQTqtVmDU.99

[basher brash]

31 minutes ago, ayrmad said:

I'm not saying it now, I said it at the 1st Somerset game and I also said that IF we all had everyone available we'd win the league comfortably or something similar, as far as I can recall that's the only 2 times I've compared Ayr and Raith.

As for Arbroath, I'd be worried in the playoffs if that's where you end up, that'll be the games against them that count.

Why are you worried about Rovers predicament Ayrs  won the league?

[btb]

1 minute ago, ayrmad said:

The league table means nothing significant if you're 2nd, 3rd or 4th.

I certainly don't fancy seeing Ayr in the playoffs and we've a great record when in this division.

FIFY!

**************

You're suggesting just because they all qualify for the play-offs there's no difference, that's wrong Raith have clearly been better than Arbroath.    

The play-off system is used to keep the season meaningful for as long as possible for the majority of teams but that's a different point!

[ayrmad]

3 minutes ago, basher brash said:

Why are you worried about Rovers predicament Ayrs  won the league?

Where have I heard that before?

[ayrmad]

17 minutes ago, Zen Archer said:

League 1
1st - £119,000 (0.50%)
2nd - £102,000 (0.43%)
3rd - £83,000 (0.35%)
4th - £81,000 (0.34%)
Read more at https://spfl.co.uk/news/article/record-prize-money-for-spfl-clubs/#5R5KuGUoQTqtVmDU.99

I've never attended a match thinking if we win today we win £17k, £19k, £2k or any other financial sum, that's for those that pay the bills.

[Michael W]

The extra £19k (over 3rd place) is a lot of money, particularly in the event of another play-off failure. 

You also, in theory, get an easier semi-final in the play-off and home advantage in the second leg. 

[callum-ayr]

4 minutes ago, Michael W said:

The extra £19k (over 3rd place) is a lot of money, particularly in the event of another play-off failure. 

You also, in theory, get an easier semi-final in the play-off and home advantage in the second leg. 

Only if you don’t play 9th from the Championship. 

[SanStarko]

Decided to go back and have a listen to the Alan Young interviews from the end of last season (just before and after we appointed Smith) where he was talking about what they wanted from a new manager.   Picked out the main things they wanted from the new manager and how Smith has done based on them.

 

Stabilize the progress of the club over the medium term, be here for the next 3-4 years - Well I guess Smith could be here for the next 3-4 years, but I worry about position we'll be in if that's the case.  Mind you, if we blow it in the play offs and stay in League 1, does that count as stabilizing?

Manager who'll work within the infrastructure - Yeah, fair enough, he's done that with the promotion of Cuthbert and Robertson to his coaching staff, etc.

Manager who could blend players with new players coming in - He brought in Spence and Buchanan but without any clue of how to play them to their strengths.  Brought in Hendry from Celtic but took ages before he bothered playing him, instead sticking with playing Vaughan out of position.  The players might well get on well together but I wouldn't say he's blended them well on the pitch.  Also pretty concerning that he keeps claiming he doesn't tell the players to hit it long, but they do it constantly.  So either he's lying or, more worrying, the players don't listen to him.  

Manager who would bring through our young players into the First Team - He seemed determined not to play McKay after Bene got injured.  When he finally did give up with the Robertson at CB idea and put McKay in, he did absolutely fine.   But as soon as Bene was free to play again (even though he clearly wasn't fit) then McKay was immediately dumped back on the bench.   When we've suffered injuries it seems he'd much rather play more experienced players out of position rather than give a youngster a chance in the First Team.  Now yes, it could be that our young players aren't good enough.  But then Smith clearly didn't think McKay was good enough either, and it turns out he was more than decent enough for the First Team.  

Manager who could help lift the spirits and build confidence - At the start of the season yeah.  Less so as the season has went on though.

Manager who can have us challenging for promotion - Well he has managed that, but to go from being 8 points ahead to 5 points behind is still ridiculous.  Mind you, Young did say his target for Smith was not for him to win the league but to get promotion, so we'll see what happens in the play offs.

 

He's not exactly done well against what the board wanted based on that.  To the point that even if we did make it through the Play Offs you could still make the argument that he should go.

 

[Ro Sham Bo]

You would assume if we fail in the play offs then Smith will be gone but I wonder if it's quite as clear cut as that. For example, if we were to put in a decent performance in the semi finals and knock out Alloa or Arbroath convincingly but then say lose in extra time or on penalties to Dumbarton, would the board consider that enough of a failure to warrant dismissal or would they give him another shot at it?
Possibly the boards hand would be forced by supporter opinion because regardless of how we fail in the play offs I doubt many of us would be enthused by more of the same under Smith next season.

[Big Berk]

It took a lot to persuade them to get rid of Bert Murray. Locke was so bad they didnt need much prompting. I think Smith isn't quite as bad as Murray and there isnt the same level of protest so I wouldnt be surprised if he hangs on.

[North Terrace Gazza]

For such a bad manager he’s won a fair number of manager of the month awards this season, probably more than any other manager.