Jilted John

Absolutely shambolic today. Particularly in that first half. Our next two league games are against Partick and United. For all the plaudits Murray got pre Christmas with his bold selections, he’s completely messed it up since.

Tx, can you draw up a formation that includes a front three of Vaughan in the middle, benefiting from the knockdowns from Hamilton and Rudden? Ideally with Masson and Corr delivering pin point accurate long balls from the back?

I think what you’re missing is that Gullan has left and has been replaced with another striker. Striker=Striker.

I don’t actually disagree with the fact that Vaughan is off form just now, well he’s not scored in his last 5 games if that constitutes being off form. It might actually be the longest he’s gone without scoring since he’s been with us! Who do you drop him for though? Smith/Gullan? Neither of them have been setting the heather alight either.

You’re right, it was! https://www.thefreelibrary.com/YOU+BETCHA%3B+Airdrie+1%2C+Raith+Rovers+4.-a061115606

Yes. Someone won a massive accumulator as well on the back of it if I remember rightly. I’m sure we lost 4-1

It looks as though Ashcroft has played his way back into Dundee’s plans. Even if they get a centre half in, I can’t imagine him dropping down to the bottom of the pecking order.

Well done to everyone involved in this photo. I did have to look twice though, I thought for a split second it was Tx’s choice for our starting back four on Saturday!

Are Raith TV streaming video for overseas viewers?

I think Renton’s point about being a ‘badged’ centre half is a good one. People might look at the situation and question that Murray playing a midfielder ahead of a ‘recognised’ centre half is in some way mismanaging Masson. The reality is that Scott Brown has probably played more competitive minutes as a Championship centre half than Masson. At some point Broony must become badged in that position too?

I’m happy to put my neck on the line and say that Masson won’t ever be a central defender in the professional leagues. He’s nowhere near big enough. Theres a good player in there but if he’s going to make it at any semi decent level, he will probably need to think about a positional change to either full back or midfield.

Murray said in yesterdays courier that he was looking at defenders and expected more movement next week after the Premier league clubs return and know their fate in the cup. I think it’s probably just spun slightly differently depending on which paper you read.

I don’t mind Si Ferry’s interviews, I actually think he’s really good at them. It’s his entourage I can’t stand. Folk like Slaney, Ferguson etc. thankfully this one looks like it’s just him and Murray.

I just don’t like the 442, it doesn’t work. When we play a front 3 we have Easton and Connolly further inside where they can be effective. When they are pushed out on the touch line they don’t make much of an impact. In other news, word on the street is that Vaughan has signed a two year extension!

Both him and Bird haven’t played in the same side since the incident. He played against us the week after because they had no one else. Since Bird came back from his suspension it’s been him that’s played and Hylton has been missing, then all of a sudden they part ways. Is that really a coincidence?

Hylton got punted from Arbroath following his sending off for fighting his own teammate. While it may have only been handbags at dawn, I’d rather avoid that sort of disruptive influence in our squad.

My lasting memory of Bill Clark was how he used to ‘behave’ in the directors box. He’d shout and swear as if he was on the terraces! A fan at heart.

In the days of social media, you’ll never shut down these kind of leaks. All it takes is for the player to tell his wife/friends then they tell someone else and before you know it, it’s all around the houses.

I think so. I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by him so far compared to the dominant displays he produced for Dunfermline and Killie. I can only assume his shoulder injury keeps niggling away and is stoping him from being 100%

Stevenson is in Dubai with Hibs for winter training just now so he won’t be signing any time soon. Kyle Turner on the other hand… let’s see what the next hour or so brings!

I’d be interested to know, if you asked Murray the same question now, if he would still say a pacey winger was top of his shopping list. I’d take a guess that it won’t be.

Wrong formation/lineup today for me and Murray hasn’t learned his lesson from previous meetings. Two centre midfielders isn’t enough when Airdrie are a team who like to play the ball around. We had four forward thinking players standing around wondering why they weren’t getting any decent service. Next time, we need a third player in the middle against them.

I think in football, players stock goes up and down. When he didn’t have a club, he was part of a defence that had been relegated. Now, in his short spell with us, he’s impressed in a defence that’s top of the championship and has scored 3 goals from set pieces. Being a goal scoring centre half for a team top of the championship will have seen his stock rise considerably (whether it’s justified or not)

I thought we were outstanding today. We clearly had to play a very deep back line so as not to expose Kevin, this probably meant we suffered a bit from an attacking sense as a result though. Had he been fully fit, I think we would have blown them away today. Scott Brown was an absolute warrior today and I hope that we continue with that formation. Him and Byrne are a joy to watch.

There’s a money aspect for every game though isn’t there? And we have managed record season ticket sales and also took a healthy away support to Tannadice the week before Christmas when money would have been tight (if you want to continue to focus on that aspect). It’s the holidays, most people are at a loose end and will do anything to get out the house at this time of year. We have a local game that’s fairly easy to get to against the team we love to hate. I’d have expected nearer to the three thousand had we won the previous two games.