The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Brashy's Boots]

20 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:

To be fair, if it wasn't for his gingerness, I might not have even rated him as high as a 6/10.

 

Heavy bias on display here.

[Beastie Russell]

10 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Was looking through these for Saints players and interesting that Brown remains unable to contribute in attack, and is still poor in defence.

Has he been this bad? And do you have people convincing themselves hes good defensively entirely because hes not good offensively and they're deluding themselves?

Far better defensively than his predecessor, but no where near as effective as him in an attacking sense.

Disappointing that he is being 'airbrushed' out of this season 

[Heid_The_Baw]

In the upcoming close season, we need to get the defence sorted.  Thats a given.  Lewis Stevenson has been joining the Rovers every pre season for the last 7 years......
Him and Hanlon I would agree though will certainly give us the experience and strength at the back we are lacking.  Its the defence that have cost us the title this season.  No two ways about it.

After the playoffs (which unfortunately I don't think we will win - prem teams too strong and too much advantage), we need to be getting the business done with prioritisation and the defence is n.o 1.
 

The only player I would be scrambling to re-sign would be Matthews.  He is the ideal engine room player.  Not fancy but does the hard work.  As for the rest, I'm ho hum.  Easton last played at Tannadice.  Since then I have no idea what has distracted him but he looks like a squad player, not even really an impact sub.  
Dunno the full list of potential departures though so might be another one or two that would be handy to keep....

[RR #1]

On 23/04/2024 at 21:37, RandomGuy. said:

Was looking through these for Saints players and interesting that Brown remains unable to contribute in attack, and is still poor in defence.

Has he been this bad? And do you have people convincing themselves hes good defensively entirely because hes not good offensively and they're deluding themselves?

Yes and yes.

[Brashy's Boots]

2 hours ago, Heid_The_Baw said:

In the upcoming close season, we need to get the defence sorted.  Thats a given.  Lewis Stevenson has been joining the Rovers every pre season for the last 7 years......
Him and Hanlon I would agree though will certainly give us the experience and strength at the back we are lacking.  Its the defence that have cost us the title this season.  No two ways about it.

After the playoffs (which unfortunately I don't think we will win - prem teams too strong and too much advantage), we need to be getting the business done with prioritisation and the defence is n.o 1.
 

The only player I would be scrambling to re-sign would be Matthews.  He is the ideal engine room player.  Not fancy but does the hard work.  As for the rest, I'm ho hum.  Easton last played at Tannadice.  Since then I have no idea what has distracted him but he looks like a squad player, not even really an impact sub.  
Dunno the full list of potential departures though so might be another one or two that would be handy to keep....

Sam Stanton, ho hum? Lewis Vaughan, top scorer, ho hum?

You, sir, are ho hum

[Ex Machina]

8 minutes ago, Brashy's Boots said:

Sam Stanton, ho hum? Lewis Vaughan, top scorer, ho hum?

You, sir, are ho hum

Both Stanton and Vaughan are already signed up for next season, I'm sure they were referring to those out of contract.

[FitbaSupporter]

Would happily ditch Dick, but he’s probably done enough to convince Murray he’s worth another contract. If not then the possible number of another Dick extension social media hits might get him over the line. 

[Halbeath Raith Rover]

2 minutes ago, FitbaSupporter said:

Would happily ditch Dick, but he’s probably done enough to convince Murray he’s worth another contract. If not then the possible number of another Dick extension social media hits might get him over the line. 

I would offer Dick a new deal as he can play LB or CB and has played almost every game. Signing another LB to provide competition should be a priority though, ideally one that can get forward. 

[Ex Machina]

For next season, I'm sure Tx will be along to correct me if I'm wrong on anyone but we're currently looking at:

Out of Contract

Robbie Thomson

Andy McNeil

Keith Watson

Dylan Corr

Adam Masson

Liam Dick

Ross Millen

Ross Matthews

Aaron Arnott

Scott McGill

Dylan Easton

Ethan Ross

End of Loan

Lee Ashcroft 

James Brown

Shaun Byrne 

Kyle Turner

Zak Rudden

For me, I'd keep both goalkeepers and Matthews. If McGill is on a relatively low wage, I'd keep him around as a useful utility player. With Watson, I rate him but it's hard to look past his injury record this year. If another experienced centre back is available, I'd be inclined to look in that direction. I imagine Easton is already away. 

Of the loanees, I'd offer Byrne a contract. I think Turner would have something to offer but I don't think we'll ever see him in his best position with Stanton available - he's also under contract for another season at County.

One positive is we have a very real opportunity to rebuild the defence this summer which has been the weak link this season imo.

Edited 1 hour ago by Ex Machina

[FitbaSupporter]

15 minutes ago, Halbeath Raith Rover said:

I would offer Dick a new deal as he can play LB or CB and has played almost every game. Signing another LB to provide competition should be a priority though, ideally one that can get forward. 

Would be happy with him as a back up for LB/CB. Think if we’re going to compete for the title again then the first choice left/right backs need to be much better than Dick/Millen/Brown.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Ex Machina said:

For next season, I'm sure Tx will be along to correct me if I'm wrong on anyone but we're currently looking at:

Out of Contract

Robbie Thomson

Andy McNeil

Keith Watson

Dylan Corr

Liam Dick

Ross Millen

Ross Matthews

Scott McGill

Dylan Easton

Ethan Ross

 

End of Loan

Lee Ashcroft 

James Brown

Shaun Byrne 

Kyle Turner

Zak Rudden

For me, I'd keep both goalkeepers and Matthews. If McGill is on a relatively low wage, I'd keep him around as a useful utility player. With Watson, I rate him but it's hard to look past his injury record this year. If another experienced centre back is available, I'd be inclined to look in that direction. I imagine Easton is already away. 

Of the loanees, I'd offer Byrne a contract. I think Turner would have something to offer but I don't think we'll ever see him in his best position with Stanton available - he's also under contract for another season at County.

One positive is we have a very real opportunity to rebuild the defence this summer which has been the weak link this season imo.

Missing Arnott and Masson, otherwise matches what I show.

[Starkiplier]

Genuinely shocked to see people suggesting that Dick should be kept on. Not to come across all Ro Sham Bo but he’s woeful, he struggles to do the absolute basics such as pass the ball to a team mate, stop a cross or win a tackle. He offers us nothing going forward and is very poor defensively, constantly gives away fouls around the box as well. Not worth keeping even as a backup for me. It’s an area that we had to improve on last summer and didn’t, we can’t make that mistake again regardless of what league we’re in. 

[Ex Machina]

16 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Missing Arnott and Masson, otherwise matches what I show.

Knew I could count on you! List has been amended.

[Heid_The_Baw]

1 hour ago, Brashy's Boots said:

Sam Stanton, ho hum? Lewis Vaughan, top scorer, ho hum?

You, sir, are ho hum

Stanton and Vaughan are signed already for next year dumbass....

[Ro Sham Bo]

If we were to move to a back 3, Dick would be fine as a left centre back. We cannot go another season with him as our fist choice left back.

[TxRover]

Hummmmm…”Dickless in Kirkcaldy”, “Long Dick Gone”, “Dick Chopped”, “Without a Dick, Rovers have lost their Wang”…

The Social Media writes itself…but to get back to business:

-Dick has been our most played defender

-This defence has allowed joint third fewest goals in the Championship.

- Dick has played LB in over 90% of our matches.

-This offence has scored third most goals in the Championship.

All of you who slate Dick and demand we let him go are, in my opinion, fools. He is a perfect team player going forward, and with Hannah hopefully ready to start getting some time next season, would be absolutely critical to our success. The addition of a player like Stevenson could perhaps make Dick slightly expendable, but as a trusted member of IM’s defence, with the ability to play LB, CB and even RB, I’d still argue it would be important to keep him.

For instance, if we entered next year in the Championship with Corr*, Murray and Hanlon* signed at CB, Stevenson* as CB/LB and Hannah at LB, we would certainly still want our Dick* as another LB/CB/emergency RB player. With that group, I’d say a strong starting RB and another developmental CB/RB player and we’d be in pretty deep clover.

*Speculative signings in this context.