The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Frank conner]

As bad as the Forfar pitch is supposed to be they don't seem to get as much injuries as we do. The same can be said for the Stenhousemiur pitch but their players seem fine.

 

 

[Tony Stark(s Park)]

Another day and another social media Advent Calendar. Today Number 5 is Super Marvin Andrew! What a man, true club legend imo

[GhostZapper]

8 hours ago, Scottydog said:

I’m still not a fan of artificial surfaces and won’t hide it.

Ours my be of a higher standard than some others but we have been training on plastic up at a Michael Woods for 3 seasons and in that time I feel we have suffered more from injuries than we ever used to. 

Correct me if I’m wrong but there are no artificial surfaces in the English Prem or Championship, I wonder why? I also heard recently that the 4 big Dutch teams are donating their European takings to subsidise the Clubs in Holland with plastic to replace with grass again.

Alex McLeish bemoaned that after the Livvi game all the Celtic boys were “tight” when they last reported for international duty, not the first time we have heard such like.  Hammys and groins seem to be very much the in vogue injury.

Every SPL manager has slated the artificial surfaces up there, ours may be of a higher quality but I wonder what those managers would have to say about it if they visited?

Lastly much is being made about the £40,000 from the Fife Elite deal but is that over 1 season, 2 or more? Not that it matters a jot as that money surely has to be going into SP Properties to repay the outlay cost.

Do Arsenal not have some kind of synthetic / hybrid pitch? The World Cup was played on pitches with artificial/synthetic surfaces - The Luzhniki where the final was played I'm certain has a synthetic surface -  and we didn't hear any complaints about the pitches over there.

There have been a number of studies in Europe and the US/Canada, an no survey has ever returned any result suggesting plastic pitches cause more injuries than normal surfaces, but yeah - the high profile slating of Livi's poor pitch this season probably isn't helping matters in Scotland. However, the club financially is struggling. £40k may sound like nothing, but the budget we are operating on, £40k could cover a bit of the repair work required to the stadium, or could essentially be 2 players!

 

[Beastie Russell]

51 minutes ago, Tony Stark(s Park) said:

Another day and another social media Advent Calendar. Today Number 5 is Super Marvin Andrew! What a man, true club legend imo

Should have been Shaun Dennis, no one else has won as many medals with the Rovers.

[MoanEhRaith]

Personally, McGlynn has done more for the general direction of the Rovers than Smith ever did, even if he has only been here for a fraction of the time. Well done the board and McGlynn for getting these deals done and here's hoping for much more!

[L. Brilliant]

Do Arsenal not have some kind of synthetic / hybrid pitch?
 

I think those hybrids are 95% grass (or more)

[1320Lichtie]

I think those hybrids are 95% grass (or more)

They're most certainly not comparable to the plastic pitches we have up here anyway. They cost a fucking fortune.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

35 minutes ago, L. Brilliant said:

 

 

 

I think those hybrids are 95% grass (or more)

 

If that's the case, you don't get much plastic for £1M

[Specky Ginger]

11 hours ago, Scottydog said:

I’m still not a fan of artificial surfaces and won’t hide it.

Ours my be of a higher standard than some others but we have been training on plastic up at a Michael Woods for 3 seasons and in that time I feel we have suffered more from injuries than we ever used to. 

Correct me if I’m wrong but there are no artificial surfaces in the English Prem or Championship, I wonder why? I also heard recently that the 4 big Dutch teams are donating their European takings to subsidise the Clubs in Holland with plastic to replace with grass again.

Alex McLeish bemoaned that after the Livvi game all the Celtic boys were “tight” when they last reported for international duty, not the first time we have heard such like.  Hammys and groins seem to be very much the in vogue injury.

Every SPL manager has slated the artificial surfaces up there, ours may be of a higher quality but I wonder what those managers would have to say about it if they visited?

Lastly much is being made about the £40,000 from the Fife Elite deal but is that over 1 season, 2 or more? Not that it matters a jot as that money surely has to be going into SP Properties to repay the outlay cost.

If lower league clubs in Scotland were earning similar television revenues to those in England, they could possibly afford high quality grass / hybrid pitches (I'm sure Celtic Park is hybrid). As for McLeish, Gerrard and Rodgers complaining about Livi's pitch - I couldn't give a flying Donald Duck. A deflection tactic to divert attention from the bigot brothers inability to beat Livingston. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Specky Ginger

[Broken Algorithms]

Surely SP Properties being as financially profitable as possible is beneficial to the club as it means that Sim has more of an interest in maintaining the stadium, and by proxy, the club.

29 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:

If lower league clubs in Scotland were earning similar television revenues to those in England, they could possibly afford high quality grass / hybrid pitches (I'm sure Celtic Park is hybrid). As for McLeish, Gerrard and Rodgers complaining about Livi's pitch - I couldn't give a flying Donald Duck. A deflection tactic to divert attention from the bigot brothers inability to beat Livingston. 

Worth noting the player who suffered the injury (Tiermey) came out and said the pitch wasn't to blame in the slightest. The only problem with Livi's pitch was that they put down too many black pellets. It's exactly the same surface as we have from the same company afaik.

[WSDR 88]

That’s not entirely true about the English Premiership & Championship clubs regarding their pitches, as almost all of them have the hybrid pitches, same as what both Celtic & Hearts have. Which is why during the winter they still look the business.

 

[R.R.FC]

Seen it posted elsewhere but it really is as simple as this on the grass vs astroturf debate:

Good grass pitch>good astroturf pitch>bad grass pitch>bad astroturf pitch

Unfortuantely, due to various different issues we haven’t really had a good grass pitch for quite a while so I think the astroturf is beneficial to us in that respect. It will also hopefully help cut down postponements with a bad winter, although I acknowledge quite a few astroturf pitches suffered postponements with frost last season.

Further to all of this, an astroturf pitch can allow the first team, youth teams and women’s team all the train at the same place. Fairly crucial when you’re looking to be a community club and also eliminates the cost of expensive training facilities. Once we’re in a position to rent out the use of the pitch we will then be able to generate income from the stadium 5/6 days a week as opposed to twice a month.

I understand there will be costs to go along with that but from a cash flow point of view that is a big help, particularly in the summer or recently where we’ve only had 2 home games in 6 weeks.

Obviously the pitch is great just now because it is new. As rightly pointed out, the true test will come when it gets a bit older. Ensuring it is replaced at the correct time and replaced properly. However, the extra investment the club put into the initial installation should stand us in good stead.

 

[CALDERON]

5 hours ago, MoanEhRaith said:

Personally, McGlynn has done more for the general direction of the Rovers than Smith ever did, even if he has only been here for a fraction of the time. Well done the board and McGlynn for getting these deals done and here's hoping for much more!

Yep Mclgynn certainly has us better. Strange statement in a way given that Smith left when we were level with Arbroath, Mcglynn came in when we were 4 points behind and we are now 10 behind – but that’s probably testament to Arbroaths form than anything else – they have won every game since they played us which is superb.

The injuries hampered us, and the period between the Forfar game and East Fife game we were just cut too deep – and even then we played well in those matches in spells.

Im absolutely certain Smith would have had us further back given the same circumstances. I’ve seen enough to suggest that we are in a better place squad wise, performance wise and footballing wise – but we have the issue of Arbroaths unbelievable form – that has to change for us to win this league and as of yet it doesn’t really look like it. Early days of course, but I really would like to see them drop points sooner rather than later – and any side who are 10 points ahead in December should have aspirations of collecting the trophy at the end of the season. 

Only real concern area is Right Back. I wasn’t too gutted to see Thomson leave, but that was on the provision we replaced him properly or that young Watson was able to slot in seamlessly – neither of which has really happened. Gillespie has done well there, but the real test will be against Arbroath and the best wide player in the league. 

I’d like to see the young players go out on loan if squad depth allows – we haven’t seen a huge amount from most of them, but I don’t think they look quite ready yet. For all the plaudits Easton got, still think there was a lot of work for him to do there. 

We really need to be leaving Gayfield with the gap at 7 points maximum – which means we probably have to beat them and not lose any ground before then. Tall order. 

However, two young players who are having good seasons have committed their immediate future to the club – that can only be a good thing.

 

[pub car king]

I think Arbroath are on an incredible run but they are due a rough patch  and I think we'll come on strong in the second half of the season. Don't know if there will be enough of a swing either way 10 pts is a great lead but it will be close. 

[grumswall]

Arbroath have strength in depth so while I'm hoping they do hit a rough patch I reckon they have the squad to cope with it.

On the gap being bigger since mcglynn came in, it was always going to take him and Smudger a few weeks to get the players fitter and used to tactics, something that was lacking under Smith.

[1320Lichtie]

Arbroath have strength in depth so while I'm hoping they do hit a rough patch I reckon they have the squad to cope with it.

On the gap being bigger since mcglynn came in, it was always going to take him and Smudger a few weeks to get the players fitter and used to tactics, something that was lacking under Smith.

To be fair we have released Finn Graham and Callum Smith has been injured for a while. Our bench on Saturday past included Danny Denholm, Ryan Wallace, Ryan McCord and Tam O'Brien though, which is pretty fucking good for L1. Heard we will be bringing in a few players too so look forward to January. I keep thinking we're going to slip up too but every week we look solid at the back and score goals out of nothing, it's great.

[grumswall]

To be fair we have released Finn Graham and Callum Smith has been injured for a while. Our bench on Saturday past included Danny Denholm, Ryan Wallace, Ryan McCord and Tam O'Brien though, which is pretty fucking good for L1. Heard we will be bringing in a few players too so look forward to January. I keep thinking we're going to slip up too but every week we look solid at the back and score goals out of nothing, it's great.

When you compare that to us, who at times, haven't had a single recognised first team player on the bench and have struggled to fill the bench some weeks. It's not bad going. We are slowly getting players fit now which surely can't be a coincidence that it's happening with the way the players are now being managed. Hopefully our bad run is over and we can continue to pick up the pace and put some pressure on you to make it at least interesting for the rest of the season.

[stevoraith]

Hearts hybrid pitch is apparently 2% synthetic and cost in the region of £1million, so not a massive amount more expensive than ours but I think the upkeep is more as you need to UV lights etc to ensure the grass continues to grow in the winter.
As has been said, our surface is definitely better than a poor grass surface which is what we’ve had for large chunks of the season over the past few years.

[donny86]

I think ours is very similar to Falkirk’s and that seems to be holding up alright

[Daz80]

14 hours ago, Beastie Russell said:

Should have been Shaun Dennis, no one else has won as many medals with the Rovers.

Big Shaun mostly wore no 4