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R.R.FC

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Everything posted by R.R.FC

  1. Given the way the previous match thread between these two sides went, Scott Brown scoring a late winner for the Rovers would be a good laugh. In reality, I expect a 2-0 Thistle win.
  2. I know the last few weeks have been a non event but I’m actually quite excited for the next couple of weeks. This season finally over, hopefully ownership situation finally resolved positively and sounds like we’ll see the new squad start to take shape for next season quite quickly too. I may take it all back when Connor McBride signs a new two year deal this time next week…
  3. Can this season not just be finished? That team is howling, no other option though, 10 players out. Centre of midfield should be fine but defence is weak and hard to see that front 3 offering any threat. It is what is is though, hats off to any Rovers fans who have made the journey.
  4. Amazes me that there have been people watching this saying Falkirk have been clearly the better team. They have had lots of possession but done very little with it other than a howler from Ridgers. Inverness much stronger defensively and carrying much more of a threat going forward. Falkirk’s defence of cross balls has been shambolic.
  5. I would go with: MacDonald Millen Masson Dick Ngwenya Brown Stanton McGill Connolly Akio Ross Assuming they are all available. If it’s the expected 12 outfield players fit, the only choice is who gets the nod out of Masson, Young and McBride. I’d go for Masson to see what he can do at centre back and it causes least disruption to the rest of the team. However, I can see Murray dropping Brown back and bringing in McBride instead of Masson.
  6. There has been a rumour about Mullin but I very much doubt it’s true, we don’t even know for certain who our owners for next season are yet. Would definitely tick a few boxes of what we need though and the facts he’s currently injured means he’d fit in very well! The suggestion that the only way we’d be able to tempt him from Ayr is to throw a huge amount more money at him is pretty wild though. Last two seasons they have been fighting relegation whilst we have been in or challenging for the promotion play offs. One season where they have a cheat code centre forward and still might only reach the heady heights of 6th, one place above us, does not suddenly make them a hugely desirable option at this level. It would be a sideways step which would be a bit of a weird move but also the type we see regularly at this level. Still don’t see it happening though due to the unresolved ownership and budget situation.
  7. What wing has Josh Mullin played off most often this season? I always thought he was a right winger but I’m sure I’ve read he’s also been used on the left this season?
  8. I personally think there has been a noticeable drop off in both quantity and quality of the Rovers based Courier coverage since Alan Temple went to cover Dundee United. However, I appreciate I’m probably in the minority, and it’s still miles ahead of the FFP which, as has been said, has been very poor since Matthew Elder left.
  9. Also be nice for Scott Brown to win supporters player of the year given the amount of times he should have won fans man of the match and hasn’t.
  10. Yeah, for all the criticism of the signing at the time as unnecessary, Matthews injury has made it essential. Without having Brown to add that steel and defensive balance to the midfield, which nobody else provides, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say we’d be deep in the relegation fight right now.
  11. I’m surprised any Rovers fans used the phrase ‘out his depth’ for Bene in the Championship. He’ll be fine. He’s a decent Championship centre back, nothing more, nothing less. With us, I always felt his biggest strength was also his biggest weakness, he was very aggressive at trying to win the ball, which can be an asset but also made him prone to a few errors. We also tended to have our centre backs on the ball a lot and play high up the pitch to try to dominate possession which would leave a lot of space in behind for him to be exposed. He’s definitely at his best just being asked to be a defender and defend his box. He’s not good enough to be a regular starter for a title challenging side in the Championship but he was the centre back that started most games when we finished 3rd two seasons ago so no reason he can’t play a part in a side aiming for the play offs. Would be stunned if replicated this seasons level of performance in the Championship but he’ll be fine.
  12. Where are people seeing we are close to signing an attacking midfielder? The only reference I’ve seen was in @Ro Sham Bo wind up post this morning?
  13. Let’s be honest nobody has any idea how this turns out. I’m quietly optimistic but I’m a self confessed happy clapper and don’t blame anyone who is cautious or concerned about the change. In my view, obviously the reason Kelty are where they are is because of the huge investment in the playing squad and the huge advantage that gave them compared to the other sides in the Lowland League and League Two. Even with some financial investment from this group, they won’t have the money required to achieve success that way with us. However, it is also clear that Kelty have made huge strides off the field as a club in the last few years. Probably not enough to be a League One club in their own right but the infrastructure they have compared to when McKenzie took over is night and day with excellent community engagement so I am hopeful this group has more to their plans than simply chucking money at the playing squad. I think they have enough about them to improve us off the field, particularly our commercial side which is miles away from where it should be. On another note, this is probably common knowledge but I had no idea that John Potter was the younger brother of Coca Cola Cup hero, Brian Potter.
  14. I’d be surprised if Arbroath don’t win, I also expect at least one of their goals to be from a set piece.
  15. A fit Ross Matthews could do that job IMO. Getting him fit for next season is obviously the unknown.
  16. https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/raith-rovers-boss-ian-murray-reveals-positive-development-in-contract-talks-with-top-scorer-aidan-connolly-4101236?fbclid=IwAR172hOeGlS8KcLIRrVydtF7mGvELo9ij30aVPK8eJlAUPrbX3QAfayZ3Xs Looks like contract talks are starting to get underway. Murray says Connolly has indicated he wants to stay but up to us to put together a package to keep him so still sounds a bit away from a done deal.
  17. Interview with Jamie MacDonald which is worth a listen. Listed as a look at the end of the season in the Championship but most of it is a discussion about himself and the club. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fg8q2f Confirms that he will be playing next season but he’s not had any discussions with the club yet to know if it will be with us. Admits the takeover talks and behind the scene stuff is probably delaying it and will possibly have had an effect and unsettled some of the younger players this season.
  18. Almost a half decent 11 for this league missing last night: Jamie MacDonald Ross Millen Adam Masson Tom Lang Liam Dick Ross Matthews Brad Spencer Jamie Gullan Isma Goncalves With Ethan Ross apparently only fit for an appearance off the bench. Sounds like we might have 2/3 back for Saturday though. If we have Dick or Lang back and are able to play 2 centre backs and have Brown in midfield I’d be reasonably confident but doesn’t sound likely.
  19. That’s harrowing. If we take out the players who came through our youth team, I think half of the strikers signed across the last 4 seasons could be put in an all time worst Rovers XI without too much complaint.
  20. Good point. This also proves there isn’t any guarantees when it comes to getting a quality striker for a club like ours. It’s an easy problem to identify but a very difficult one to fix and requires a great deal of luck as much as anything else. Look at 3 strikers signed by Barry Smith, Liam Buchanan signed with 27 goals and player of the year for the level the season before, Spence scored 26 goals the season previous. Neither delivered to the expected level for us. Nisbet arrived with 1 goal in his last 30 games and as a bit joke figure and was a revelation. Also worth remembering we only got Nisbet because we missed out on Rory Loy who looked a much better signing on paper but ended up retiring after 0 goals in 12 games for Dumbarton whilst Nisbet scored 34 goals for us.
  21. FWIW over the last 19 games of last season we were the worst team in the league. That isn’t some sort of temporary drop off, that is a sustained period of being awful. Who knows where we’d have been without Zanatta’s purple patch in the first half of last season. So if anyone has taken us backwards in the last 2 years it was McGlynn from December last season. And I say that as someone who thinks McGlynn was/is a good manager. The point is, Murray didn’t take over a side that finished 5th in fantastic form where the expectation was for us to go one step further this season. He took over a side that ended the last half of the season as the worst in the league, then had his budget reduced, a mess off the field and then has faced a whole load of injuries so I think being safe from relegation at this stage, a Scottish Cup quarter final and Challenge Cup final is a good first season. He’s definitely not perfect and has made mistakes, like any manager, but I just can’t understand how anyone who watched us from late December last season could possibly think we’ve gone backwards from then. Table from last 19 games of 21/22 which I referenced at start of my post: # Club W D L Goals +/- Pts 1 Kilmarnock FC 19 11 5 3 30:16 14 38 2 Arbroath 19 9 7 3 26:15 11 34 3 Morton 19 7 6 6 21:19 2 27 4 Inverness CT 19 6 7 6 28:22 6 25 5 Hamilton Acad. 19 6 7 6 23:23 0 25 6 Ayr United 19 6 6 7 23:23 0 24 7 Partick Thistle 19 6 6 7 17:24 -7 24 8 Dunfermline A. 19 5 6 8 18:25 -7 21 9 Queen o. t. S. 19 5 4 10 20:28 -8 19 10 Raith Rovers 19 3 8 8 17:28 -11 17
  22. Penman was the main one. The rest individually aren’t too surprising but I’d be surprised if they were all involved together at once. Given the rumours the two from Kelty seem likely, particularly thought one of the people Sim described sounded like Barrowman. Likewise, from one of his descriptions I wouldn’t be surprised if the younger person joining the board was either Graeme or Ruaridh Kilgour. I’ve got no inside info though so hope I am wrong and all the names are correct as they would certainly have the finance and expertise to make a real difference.
  23. Would be pleasantly surprised if all the names mentioned were correct but I just can’t see it. Could certainly see a couple being correct but not all. Can’t see a few of those mentioned being happy with just a seat on the board but no real power and ultimately still answering to Sim. Feel like they would need a stake in the club and an element of control but the interview suggested no huge investment and certainly seemed like Sim would retain his current level of shareholding in the club. I suppose there is the possibility it would be used as a foot in the door to assess the club from the inside with a potential to invest and take a larger stake in the club further down the road.
  24. Reasonably positive interview, I could sense a tinge of excitement in Sim’s discussions on the new additions…well as enthusiastic as you can get from Sim! I will admit to the mention of building a bigger squad of younger players giving me the fear. Just makes me think of a bloated squad filled with Connor McBride types rather than any real quality but hopefully it’s just misplaced pessimism on my part.
  25. I’d class myself as a bit of a happy clapper and I get we all want to cling on to something rather than end the season now but there is no chance we are making the play offs. We would need to win 5/6 of our last 8 games. We haven’t beaten a team above us in the league since Partick Thistle on 29th October. That was a Thistle side that had lost their 3 games previously, conceding 4 in each. We’re just not good enough to string 4/5 wins together in a row at the moment. That’s not a criticism of the manager, I like him and think he has done a good job in a transitional season. I feared given how the second half of last season went, we could be in the fight at the bottom of the league this season but that’s never really been close. If the League table wasn’t enough proof in of itself, our individual results show we are clearly better than the teams below but lacking against the sides above us. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, knowing what league we are going to be in at this stage gives us plenty time to plan ahead, it was all a bit rushed last season, given when Murray came in. We need the ownership situation resolved as soon as possible to set Murray a competitive budget for what looks a tough league next season. A number 9 is clearly top priority but we also need a bit of variety in the 3 behind the striker, it all feels a bit samey and when we get sussed out, we don’t really pose any different questions for teams. Murray himself commented on our lack of pace after the Rangers game so I think that is something he will be looking to address. Having Ethan Ross fit after a full pre season should also help. I like Spencer but can’t argue that he’s not been anywhere near the level of quality and influence he showed last season. It’s a cliche but having Matthews back will be like a new signing and gives us an option to mix it up in the middle of the park. Defensively, individually none of them are bad players but I can’t join the calls of keeping them all as our first choice back for next season. We have kept 2 clean sheets in our last 15 league games, whilst that isn’t all on the back 4, it’s not nearly good enough. I like Nolan and Dick and I’d keep them but not as automatic starters at this stage. An experienced centre back to challenge and help Lang/Nolan would really bring them on and a real attacking full back would offer a different dimension down the left in some games. Someone in the mould of Ngwenya but maybe a bit further ahead in their development. I would keep all 3 keepers, MacDonald had slightly shaky spell after his injury but is generally a good, reliable goalkeeper and the other 2 capable back ups and I can’t imagine McNeil is on much. Rolling the dice to improve this area is too risky given MacDonald is still solid, only have to look at Dundee United to see what happens when you get that position wrong. We aren’t very far away from being a good side at this level but it’s important to acknowledge our flaws and that we are 7th in this league (albeit with games in hand) for a reason. We have a decent base to build on but we have to be ruthless to improve for next season and Murray will have to make some tough decisions. It may mean losing a few players that will divide the support but retaining the majority of the squad and pinning our hopes on finally getting the right striker in to make the difference is too big a gamble for me. It may even be about changing some of the types of players we have rather than massively improving the individual quality just to give us a different dimension. Whether Murray is given the budget to make the moves required is obviously up for debate though. Tl;dr version - Seasons over, sort out the budget/ownership and back Murray to start planning for next season now to make the changes required to progress.
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