CALDERON Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Here we go….. Assuming Ayr’s game at Albion is off, then we go into this game in a better position than I feared. There was a real chance we went into this with our lead cut even more, or having played another game and dropped more points. As it stands, whilst a defeat takes it out of our hands, it’s not as bad as it could have been – although the fact we don’t play til the Sunday the week after could heap a bit of pressure on us. Anyway, I’m not particularly confident of a result. For a team that has got where they are for defending well, we have started to concede soft goals. We generally aren’t good enough to outscore teams whilst giving goals away, and tend to win games by narrow margins. When the defence starts to creak, it puts pressure on us in an attacking sense where we are lacking. I’d imagine if Mchattie is anywhere near fit Smith will chuck him in a left back, moving Murray in the middle. Smith seems to prefer playing part-fit senior players over youth players. I’d generally be happy with Mackay playing, but I think he struggled a bit against Shankland in the last game. That said, I don’t Benedictus is fit and I think we have looked poorer in defence since he came back. We need to see more from pretty much every attacking player. Barr and Zanatta have flattered to deceive, Matthews hasn’t looked anywhere near the player of other seasons, Buchanan just doesent work in the current set up and Vaughan is wasted in midfield, and actually hasn’t played well at all of late. Furtado at least gives us some kind of out ball to the keech that gets punted long. Frustrating that we have signed a centre midfielder from Celtic on loan yet we play our best striker in midfield. Could be this guy is actually utter keech, could be Smith is just stubborn and trying to shoe-horn certain players in the side – probably a bit of both. Thomson is off the pace of late, and whilst Murray has been very solid at Left back defensively – he doesn’t offer much going forward. Means that if Barr/Zanatta is having an off day, there isn’t much support going forward. Would take a draw right now, and whilst I don’t think we will be sticking 10 men behind the ball, I reckon we will be set up with a draw in mind. Ayr are fantastic going forward and we will need a very organised and disciplined defensive performance to get a result here. Sounds negative, but there is such a lack of creativity and cutting edge going forward that we have to build on a solid defensive foundation. Don’t know how close Robertson is to fitness but it would be fantastic if he was fit for this, playing him in midfield and Vaughan up front is pivotal (in my opinion) if we are going to win the league. A draw keeps things tight, a win puts us in a great position..but a defeat puts Ayr in the driving seat in my view. Ayr are beginning to score freely and now without the stupid goals being lost. I thought that after the game at Starks that Ayr were a better side if the sides played head to head but were more prone to dropping stupid points. They have cut that out in recent weeks so there is massive importance that we get a result here. We haven’t kept a clean sheet for 4 games now, and haven’t created a whole load of chances in those games. One positive is that for as uninspiring as we have been this season, we have only lost once since Ayr beat us in November (in the league). So far, we have been poor but still good enough to pick draws up. Nothing is won on Saturday, but if one side wins this game they take a massive chunk of the momentum and would probably be fair to class them as favourites for the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpInTheAyr Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, CALDERON said: Ayr are beginning to score freely I'm so glad we've got our goalscoring problem sorted out now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALDERON Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 11 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said: I'm so glad we've got our goalscoring problem sorted out now. Poorly worded on my part. I meant without also losing daft goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Jaffo Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Tomorrow night would’ve been good to let Doc and Crawford get a bit more game time but regardless I think we’ve got to play both of them here. RuddyGegganBellRoseBoyleMcDaidDochertyAdamsCrawfordMoffatShanklandThe big call for me is between Forrest and McDaid. I’ve gone for McDaid purely on his ability to track back and help out his full back which could be important if Vaughan or Furtado end up playing there. I’m quietly confident of a win here. I’ll say 2-0 Ayr with Shankland scoring both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Unfortunately I have a feeling similar to the first game at Ayr. I expect Ayr to win, and win comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lochwood Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Looks like the plan to get his booking at Albion rovers before the Ayr game has backfired on Davidson , and then raith trying to get the game against Forfar rearranged has also failed. they will miss Davidson badly as he is the rock in defence, seems the boy Robertson is struggling also and he will also be a big loss if he doesent make it, they still have the very talented Vaughan who can win a game with his skill, but ayr must be big favourites for this one and hoping we don't pick up any stupid injury at this weeks training, pitch is good and no weather worries lie ahead so it's game on but very confident based on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIT THE CHANNEL Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Will be heading through but fully expect an Ayr win. Would be pleased with a draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Rovers 0 2 Andy Geggan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithie Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Quietly confident we'll win this if I'm honest. As I said in our own thread....it'll be very Raith Rovers of us to win this game then toil against some other dross in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Ayr’s to loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paco Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 I’m not sure I’d have us down to win even at full-strength, but if Vaughan is in midfield, we have a rearranged back line minus Davidson, and Barr and Buchanan who have been passengers for months are both in the starting line up? If Robertson does indeed miss out then Smith has no real option but to do all of the above. Hard to see us getting anything. Feels like the last game at Somerset. Feels like St Mirren last season. Prove us all wrong Rovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALDERON Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 minutes ago, Paco said: I’m not sure I’d have us down to win even at full-strength, but if Vaughan is in midfield, we have a rearranged back line minus Davidson, and Barr and Buchanan who have been passengers for months are both in the starting line up? If Robertson does indeed miss out then Smith has no real option but to do all of the above. Hard to see us getting anything. Feels like the last game at Somerset. Feels like St Mirren last season. Prove me wrong Rovers. I’ve got that horrible feeling too. Difference being I guess is that we will still be top on Saturday regardless and have time to retrieve the situation, all be it with it out of our hands. It’s a crunch game and we historically don’t do crunch games. Question is how to approach it, if we go too attacking Ayr will pick us off – but we don’t look good enough to sit back and absorb pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, Paco said: I’m not sure I’d have us down to win even at full-strength, but if Vaughan is in midfield, we have a rearranged back line minus Davidson, and Barr and Buchanan who have been passengers for months are both in the starting line up? If Robertson does indeed miss out then Smith has no real option but to do all of the above. Hard to see us getting anything. Feels like the last game at Somerset. Feels like St Mirren last season. Prove us all wrong Rovers. Yep, for me it's that same sense of having been sleepwalking towards it, doing just enough to stay competitive without ever being convincing and now up against the real thing and just waiting for the boot to go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Can't see anything other than an Ayr win, how that comes about might be interesting though. With so many games left to play it's not as big a game as it seemed it was going to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Rovers 0 2 Andy Geggan Pedantic I know, but Andy Geggan is playing at Home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nickydevlin Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 I wonder if club will open railway end for this one .will raith bring a big support ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckfast Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 20 minutes ago, 1nickydevlin said: I wonder if club will open railway end for this one .will raith bring a big support ? Do Raith ever bring a big support? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nickydevlin Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Not really but as its a big game I thought they would bring at least 500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckfast Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 250 at the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Not really but as its a big game I thought they would bring at least 500 I can't see there being more than 200-300. It doesn't have a big match feel about it. We're not playing well, haven't won for a month and generally bottle this sort of match. I also don't think there is the bond between players and fans there was during the McGlynn title charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.