Scottydog

We all see things differently I suppose, in my eyes SAndo was the worst defender on the park for us and by some margin. His distribution was awful, not that Bene's was great either to be fair.

^^^^^^this! Anything over waist height and it's usually no good to Allan. When teams camp on the edge of the box to prevent us playing it out we need someone who can adapt to the long/high ball,I think this has to be Anderson in that role as neither Allan nor Bowie are too good (and that's being kind) with anything above waist height. Mind you Munro, SAndo and Bene's inability to get any real distance on the ball renders the whole point moot.

He's second top scorer after Bowie.

In the cold light of day having watched the highlights, yup! that's still pish! Obviously having 5 1st team regulars missing at kick off and 6 once Bowie departed was too much, they were all sorely missed but Bowie was missed as I thought our attacking threat mostly went with him. What was that line up all about? 4 across the back at home against the bottom of the league, surely play McKay as part of a 3 with 2 wingbacks would have given us more options in the middle and more critically more width. Maybe I'm wrong but every time we revert to a back 4 we look a shadow of the 3-5-2 formation. Actually didn't bother to vote on the app last night as I felt I couldn't pick a deserved candidate, yes young Tait did ok but in reality was he any better than Munro, MacDonald or even Bene? Sorry but not for me he wasn't. I thought we really missed Davo last night, for all his faults he is our only central defender who can actually play a long pass (ok, short ones not so much!!) SAndo couldn't kick his own arse! that was another abject performance from a guy that started out so well, seems we have well and truly Roversed him! Now I'm not advocating the big punt up the park (though many in the South stand seem to be) but John McGlynn and Paul Smith have to come up with a new strategy for getting the ball out of defence when the opposition have all got us sussed and sit on the 18 yard line anytime Munro has the ball who it seems also hasn't the strength to kick it long btw. Tait might have been ok but boy did we miss Spencer, he might have been fairly poor these last 2 or 3 games but last night showed even when he's playing poorly it's still better to have him there than not. John Baird of a season ago just might have buried that last chance but not these days it'd seem. On the subject of forward's is there one in the side that can actually hearer a ball? Neither Allan nor Bowie can time a jump and a header and Baird never wins anything nowadays when closely marked. Surely Anderson would be a better option through the middle for knockdowns and flicks? In short we lacked any quality where it counted, too many misplaced passes and stopped runs, can't wait to see Hendry and Spencer back in the midfield. Also if Victoria isn't good enough we'd be as well to get rid of him in January (a loan or whatever) as we have enough abject midfielders already in Armstrong and Dingwall without holding on to one that cant even get a run out off the bench.

Just Fucking awful to watch. Any team missing 5 first team regulars will toil I suppose but against a team without a point from 21 we should be better and should be able to get the job done at home. Though Forfar were cynical with fouls to break any play up and seemed happy to sit deep and not even try to attack, sad that we are supposed to be promotion candidates yet cannot devise a plan against such a ploy. The way Bowie was chopped down was awful, it looked a sore one and I wouldn't be surprised if he will be out for the next few games.

What we heard immediately after the P’head game was Ziggy had a knock but would be fine, even though McGlynn was more circumspect in the post match interview I still think he will start. Who only knows what the midfield will be but I wouldn’t be all that surprised if it was Matthews, Dingwall and Armstrong. Another option might be Baird as I’m sure he was deployed as an attacking midfielder for Forfar at times. back line 3 of McKay, SAndo and Bene, MacDonald utilised with Watson or Milller in the wing back roles and 3 in midfield with 2 up top.

Too many of us at the time just thought Graham was a poor replacement for Brewster and as such he was unfairly judged, he was a different type of player. Brewster was a real class act, really special.....what you might call a special brew.......I'll get my coat.

Almost certainly this..... but I livi in hope!

Shankland went to Dundee Utd, Callachan to Hearts neither for a fortune as far as I know, had they gone to say eg Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wed or Luton Town they'd have gone for a sight more. As things stand there's a rake of English league scouts attending Bowies every game, that is to say it is not out with possibility that he will stay in Scotland but if English clubs are offering better deals I'd doubt it. As far as I know no club has made any offer known as far but I very very much doubt the board will take the 1st packet of shiny baubles on offer. £200k is speculative on my part but I'll be very surprised if he goes for less when it does happen.

I'd expect around about the £200,000 to £250,000 mark, with some delicious add on too! (unlike Bates and Callaghan's transfers) Yes Ziggy signed as an apprentice in the summer (along with Tait, Smith and Watson) but has since been awarded an enhanced contract (mostly to protect the club from derisory offers). All of which is pretty irrelevant as the interest in him continues to develop so does his price tag. I know he is already already out of Dundee Utd and any other club in Scotlands price league as I cant see them matching the above valuation, I also don't see the club selling him on the cheap, they have a prime asset and want to maximise the potential sale value, that all spells a sale to an English money with more money to speculate with than an SPL or L1 side north of the border. Rovers may need money (we always will) but the board know the value and potential value and as there isn't (to the best of my knowledge) a BIG creditor battering any doors down at SP just now, therefor I'm fairly confident the club will be happy to be biding their time to maximise any deal to the best ends for both club and player, and that will mean a big offer well in excess of anything even Celtic would be willing to offer. It'd be nice not to put extra pressure on him but regardless about what we say on here I think the media will do what they do anyway and in any case the lad himself already knows there is a lot of interest in him, so far he seems to be taking it all in his stride. His mum, dad and grandad will keep his feet firmly planted from what I've seen so far. I think I'm right in saying that so far he has played around 20 1st team games for the club and has an almost 1 in 2 goal to game ratio in all 1st team games. I think he will finish this season with us and it will be as top scorer but I seriously doubt he will still be here to make 50 appearances for us let alone 100 before someone steps in with an offer that neither club nor player can resist.

Well yes, in a manner of speaking you great nit picking Stella guzzling oaf!

Only 3 positives to take from that dross yesterday. 1. We are (some how, incredibly) in the next round. 2. Great finish from the ever improving Bowie (there’s another £25k on his price tag). 3. A clean sheet with some players putting bodies on the line to make blocks. i have little sympathy for the Bloo toners, yes the better team lost but we’ve been there more times than I’d care to count. The ref was an absolute joke although he maybe did let us off the hook with the penalty decisions, even then though we have had our own share of non awards too. Munro dealt with anything they threw at him, only Spencer’s header off the line (his only plus point) and Conroys free kick had him beaten boy the woodwork came to the rescue there. McKay played well as did MacDonald and Bene, S Anderson did not have a great game. I actually thought Davo had an excellent game, yes his legs don’t allow him to be a box to box midfielder but I thought he read the game well made some great interceptions and his distribution was better that anyone else in a blue shirt, unlucky with that pile driver he hit from the edge of the box, I was right inline and it would have been a beauty. Other than 10 first half minutes Armstrong was disappointing but not as much as Spencer who had an awful game. Matthews did ok and Baird had a good game with little help from around him. Great headed finish from Ziggy who was our best player in the 1st half. I thought Allan, Anderson and Dingwall were all ok but like the rest this was generally a very poor display from the Rovers. That’s twice that Peterhead have got right in our faces and stopped us on the 18 yard line, McGlynn and Smudger need to work on a counter plan to teams that do that. Playing it out from the back is fine if you are allowed space to do so, if not we are simply putting ourselves under pressure.

Dundee Utd cant afford him! None of them can he’s already priced out with their budgets. I think Ziggy will be going south when the time comes, he’s attracting a lot of interest from down south and financially that rules out every club in Scotland. This isn’t a David Bates scenario either as far as I know Rangers/Celtic aren’t the only club he ever wanted to play for, like his grandfather Joker he’s a Rovers fan, and so he has already achieved that particular life’s ambition. Next stop English league and International honours.

To add to that who have the townies got in the next round of the Scottish cup? Tune in next October to find out.

Aye? I bet you wouldn't have told him so at the time

Could we have a retro scarves day? Seems I have a few to choose from!

A midweeker up there doesn't bear thinking about. Yes I'd settle for an unchanged side and a similar outcome wouldn't go amiss either.

Going out at the semi final stage means a cheque for £20k, Doesn't really make up for losing hospitality (£3k) and an enhanced gate (take 300 off the gate at at an average £10/head) and there's £6000 that we could have had as well if the tie had just fallen a week earlier. Thats twice in this poxy cup where we have lost out through being at home and had to play midweek to a smaller crowd and reduced or cancelled hospitality. Add the lost revenue for both Forfar and Falkirk and there's not a lot of cash to show as a profit if we bomb out at Firhill.

Worse! BBC Alba money is pooled into the sponsors pot and distributed as part of the prize money as far as I'm lead to believe.

Bummer, it'd have been better if we'd been away from home as it will seriously impinge on the gate and corporate hospitality incomes in what would otherwise have been a potentially lucrative top of the table clash. I'll be at Firhill (unless I'm working) and would urge everyone to do the same but hopefully the Raith Suite will be open for those that cannot make it through.

Beating Rangers in two cup finals Colts or no? Nah I'd take that any day. I have preferred a home tie, but this isn't the worst, ICT away would have been though imo.

Gary F locke was an incompetent who somehow managed to get not 1 but 4 jobs in football management, an uninspiringly baffling and truly catastrophic appointment by the Raith BoD. But taking Clod Anelka was a bigger error, he gets my vote. Top 5 Worst managers (IMO that I've seen) in order. Anelka, Locke, Hughes, Wilson, Munro. All 5 were in charge in seasons where we were relegated. But only 2 make it into my personal most disliked top 5 McKinnon (the snake), Hughes (the neep), McLean (the hamster), Munro (the Townie), McVeigh (the bully... allegedly).

Probably just a random who's training with us. Either that or it's the ready made replacement for Ziggy when he moves to Barcelona in January.

Curly blond hair??

Indeed, if I wasn't already at Hampden then I'd be at SP.