Raith Against The Machine

Some nerd will be along with actual facts in a minute, but wasn't it 15 unbeaten when we went to Firhill in the fog?

I think this is the best episode of the podcast so far, if anyone hasn't listened yet but is considering jumping in.

Good God, that's exceptionally cool.

Tonight on Film4, The East Kilbride Chicken Mutant, 11.40pm [18].

In the games so far, I think McPake has had the upper hand tactically, but largely by default. With the players each manager has at their disposal, McPake's usual 3-5-2 versus Murray's usual 4-2-3-1 (or similar) has led to huge amounts of time and space for Edwards and Comrie to get forward, with little risk of anyone getting in behind them. It was particularly apparent in the last game at Stark's with Murray's inverted wingers - it was only when Dylan Easton came on late in the game that the Pars suddenly had to worry about going backwards in their own channels. Despite that slender tactically advantage, there's more quality in the Rovers squad and that has been the difference in two very tight games. Last night, Murray (having had his hand forced by Liam Dick's late absence) made a huge call tactically and McPake completely failed to handle it. In the opening period, as you'd expect with a 3-6-1, the Rovers were dominating the middle of the park, but there were huge swathes of space on the wings. Connolly and Callum Smith were set for a long, long night having to cover essentially the entire length of the park on either side. When the goal goes in, McPake panics. It's as simple as that. At that point, the Rovers had all the middle but were vulnerable out wide. Nothing had come of it yet, but if the Pars were going to get anything, that's where it was going to come from. You've got two unfamiliar centre halfs (one who's been with the club a handful of days, the other a right back), protected by two non-defenders. McPake essentially chooses not to exploit that when he switches to the back four. He's giving the Pars a better chance in the midfield battle, but in doing so he negates the one real avenue they have to create something. What was shaping up to be a real end-to-end clash then becomes bogged down in the middle, but the Rovers are already 1-0 up. And if we've learned anything from the derbies so far this season, it's that when these games are tight, the Rovers have that clinical edge to grind out goals which the Pars don't have. During games, I often wonder how interesting it would be if you could stop the game and run down to the dugouts to ask a manager, "What's your route to goal here? If you score in the next ten minutes, how is going to happen?". How would McPake have answered that at any point after he switched his formation last night. Owen Moffat beats four men by himself and sticks it in the top corner? He nearly did it once but it's hardly a sustainable strategy. Waiting for Willie Collum to give a penalty for nothing nearly paid off, but that's not exactly total football. I don't mean to take anything away from Ian Murray or the Rovers. It was an incredibly bold decision to go with that formation, but McPake really played into Murray's hands. Aidan Connolly managed to play basically the whole game as a winger. Callum Smith did the same until Kane Ritchie-Hosler came on. But that formation doesn't work without an incredible amount of hard work, and a lot of quality. Everyone in that Rovers side did the job asked of them, and more, and for a lot of them it's a job that's completely unfamiliar to them. To be that dominant in a derby with such a cobbled together defence is a huge achievement, and I think you really start to see the gulf in quality between the sides. The Pars need to get their tactics right, they need players to show up and perform, and they need a good slice of luck to be in with a shout. When Murray gets his tactics right, and the players buy into it, it's a walk in the park.

The Pars would be getting on a lot better if they didn't insist on kicking the ball out the park so much.

This observation was so astute that McPake has abandoned it and gone to a back four.

Think we're into a hiding to nothing here. We've matched up to McPake's formation, but we've got two non-wingbacks up against two dedicated wingbacks. That's going to be your key battles and I just can't see us coming out on top. A huge ask to win the game relying just on the other areas.

I'm out the back warming up in case I need to play left back.

I think I'd probably best categorise him as "had a mistake in him", from pre-season and the League Cup. What you'd expect from a teenage defender, really. If I remember rightly, he was specifically at fault for a goal down at Annan. He did look much more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Adam Masson, though. It'd certainly be a big ask to throw Dylan Corr into a Fife derby, again, but he would at least benefit from Scott Brown's protection in front of the defence. I think Murray will stick with Brown in the back line, but it's asking a lot of Sam Stanton to hold that midfield together by himself.

I'd be very, very surprised if O'Reilly doesn't start.

I can totally understand anyone choosing not to go to this, given that it's on free telly, but I don't think the atmosphere on the night is going to reflect that. Once everyone's in the ground, there'll be a decent buzz, and I'm sure once the first goal goes in the respective support will be bouncing. I don't think the derbies so far would have made great viewing for the neutral, so hopefully there are a few more goals in this one. If they could all go to the away side, that'd be lovely.

Is there a source for Watson being out for 4-6 weeks, beyond a post here?

Aidan Connolly with the headed assist for the first. Phenomenal aerial prowess.

What? Of course they should. With your home fans, there's a lot to think about. There's getting young kids in, subsidising families, incentivising season tickets, all that stuff that goes into building a really complex pricing structure to maximise your short term and long term revenue. With away fans? None of that. It's a simple collision of two factors. How many people are coming, how much will they pay? If you charge £1 the stand sells out but you make no money. If you charge £1000 nobody comes. Somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot where revenue is maximised. That's all you're aiming for. They're away fans. There's no loyalty, they're not going to come back again next week. Like it or not, every club in the country is using away supports as a pure revenue generator to subsidise their entire operation. It would be ridiculous to do otherwise.

Correct. Falkirk v Dundee United is the TV game. We're playing on Friday because Clyde are at 'home' to East Fife at New Douglas Park on Saturday.

If Dom Thomas finishes the game on the park, the Rovers don't win it. It's as simple as that, for me.

I'd hope everyone is listening to all of every episode, but if not, at least listen to the first four seconds of this one. An absolutely fantastic wee burst of Jim Clark

The defensive shape is absolutely mad. There are four Queens midfielders spread across the span of Easton and Stanton, about fifteen yards. Ten yards to the right, from a defensive viewpoint, not only is Scott McGill not picked up, he's got a full channel of clean air to run into. Once that mistake is made, there's only a vague attempt to stop him getting onto his right foot. It's so, so lazy (mentally, as much as anything) to give him that chance to cross with his left foot.

Four separate stoppages. Doesn't seem right.

That's a pretty fair assessment, yeah. But for me - and this is being pretty harsh, which I recognise - the gap between Dick and the rest is bigger than the gap between the next lowest (probably Millen) and the best. Liam Dick doesn't look out of place. He's solid. He's not throwing goals in every week, and I do think he'd be significantly better as a centre half. But as a full back, his ceiling is Championship playoffs. If you parachuted him into the Dundee United best XI, he'd stand out. Very, very quickly I think their fans would be all over him for not contributing enough. I don't think that's true of anyone else in our starting line up. As individuals, they'd all at least hold their own, including Ross Millen.

In a world where Liam Dick exists, this is an insane take.

Mystery solved. Aaron Taylor-Sinclair stole it.

Look at the players we've got on the park and it's no surprise that set pieces aren't our strong suit. It was particularly apparent on Tuesday night. Morton had Jack Baird, Kirk Broadfoot, Tyler French as a back three, Iain Wilson in midfield, and George Oakley and Robbie Muirhead up front. All six of those are 6 foot plus, big units who'll win headers all day if you let them. We've got Euan Murray. If you want to stretch it, Liam Dick and Scott Brown are fine in the air, but to borrow a phrase from Euan Murray himself, they're not meatheads. Even if Keith Watson is still out, just having Jack Hamilton on the park to dig in at set pieces would be a huge help. It's just a reality of the squad we've got. You can't be all things at all times, and we're understandably vulnerable at set pieces at the time being.

This would be my view as standard, but the guy was posing with this flag alongside a UVF flag just a few weeks ago. On that basis alone, I'd like to see him and it jettisoned into the Forth at the first opportunity.