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The New Raith Rovers Thread


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There's still a real issue in this squad. I've really enjoyed our attacking football in general, however this team is almost completely incapable of grinding things out. We seem to be either very good, or very bad. That's 3 games in the last 5 where we have absolutely insipid. If we don't have time to pass the ball, we look awful.

I'm happy with our recruitment in January generally, but bringing in 4 players, none of them being a defender, and persisting with Davidson and Benedictus..... that is hard one to take. Musonda was awful tonight, but he looked good in general. 

We will be fine, but the manner in which we simply cannot grind results out is concerning. 

Also, not too long ago we had a great goal difference. Its taken an absolute doing in the past week. 

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1 minute ago, CALDERON said:

There's still a real issue in this squad. I've really enjoyed our attacking football in general, however this team is almost completely incapable of grinding things out. We seem to be either very good, or very bad. That's 3 games in the last 5 where we have absolutely insipid. If we don't have time to pass the ball, we look awful.

I'm happy with our recruitment in January generally, but bringing in 4 players, none of them being a defender, and persisting with Davidson and Benedictus..... that is hard one to take. Musonda was awful tonight, but he looked good in general. 

We will be fine, but the manner in which we simply cannot grind results out is concerning. 

Also, not too long ago we had a great goal difference. Its taken an absolute doing in the past week. 

Even in the games we've won the attacking play has taken your eye off how painfully bad we are defensively. Literally all over the show. I don't want to hammer the team but the lack of effort and fight shown tonight isn't acceptable in any game let alone a derby. Almost getting a pass for the recent surprise results against Hearts and Dundee, again the home performance against Hearts just wasn't acceptable.

Like you it's great we've got attacking options but we need to find some sort of structure defensively and when things aren't going our way show a greater willingness to grind out a point or at least not just fold. Again don't want to muller the players are we are in an unbelievable position but I'm pretty annoyed at what I've just watched from an effort standpoint.

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I didn't watch the match tonight but 11 goals conceded in 4 games is more than a tad concerning, even though these matches have been against the other sides in the top four. 

It's hard to see us maintaining a challenge for the top 4 because of this, although our capacity for goals at the other end should ensure we aren't sucked into a relegation battle (I hope). 

It's weird, because we've become the polar opposite of how we played under McGlynn in our last spell in the Championship. 

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1 minute ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

I didn't watch the match tonight but 11 goals conceded in 4 games is more than a tad concerning, even though these matches have been against the other sides in the top four. 

It's hard to see us maintaining a challenge for the top 4 because of this, although our capacity for goals at the other end should ensure we aren't sucked into a relegation battle (I hope). 

It's weird, because we've become the polar opposite of how we played under McGlynn in our last spell in the Championship. 

The only thing I guess is that Morton, Ayr, ICT, Dundee and Queens are as likely to drop daft points as us. 

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If we can get a midfield 3 of Matthews, Hendry and Spencer I'd be happy. Give us a bit more solidity and shape in there for a while. Tait will be carrying a knock so easy call to make.

Get Abraham out of the starting 11 for now. Just kept losing the ball cheaply in bad areas where the Pars were able to turn the ball over quickly.

Get Davidson out of there pronto. Great servant etc. But too slow, although Musonda didn't exactly exude lightning pace tonight.

Hoping we can get to a place where the heads don't just drop in adversity. The second goal felt harsh with our midfield apparently pausing when Dow went down but it seemed to suck the air out of us.

Unimpressed by this second instance of Lockian "throw on forward thinking players"... granted his options for change were limited, but if you cant even hold a ball up, what does it matter how many forwards you have on, especially if your midfield loses what is left of its shape?

Edited by renton
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Yeah, that was mince tonight. No two ways about it. 

The midfield was always going to struggle. Two starters out and if we're honest, it was imbalanced and too attacking. Playing one of the better teams in the league and in those conditions are not conducive to playing in that manner. That said, Vaughan, Armstrong and also Kennedy too were below par. 

Defensively there is an issue and that's been clear for some time now. Bene is the better choice alongside Musonda, though granted I've been questioning Bene as well. No silver bullet here and cloning Musonda wouldn't resolve everything based on tonight either. 

Abraham put himself about a bit, but he should've been subbed at the 60 mark and was a huge red card risk. Probably would've been dismissed of he hadn't faded out the game and reduced the opportunities for it. 

I think he offers more as a "hold it up" player than Duku does, but really our top scorer should be starting games. Doubt it would improve the outcome tonight but he should've been given 30mins at least. 

Edited by Michael W
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As disappointing as tonight was, I don’t think there’s a huge need to panic. The club has had a fairly rocky season with McGlynn’s illness and then the COVID outbreak. Yes, our defence is prone to shipping goals if the midfield don’t click, but if anyone had told me at the start of the season we’d still be in third challenging for a play-off spot at this stage, I’d have been delighted.  Hearts were always winning the league and Dunfermline and Dundee were always going to challenging for the PO spots.  To be one of the teams even considering taking that 4th spot is a huge sign of progress.  The next four matches will determine whether our challenge is real. All winnable ties.

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12 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

The next four matches will determine whether our challenge is real. All winnable ties.

Except...Tait is likely out for a couple, Vaughan is nicked, Ugwu and Matthews are getting better but may not be ready to play, Bene is questionable and Davo is, unfortunately, mince.

I fear we are now really looking at Tumilty/Mendy/Musonda/KMac as our starting back four. While I like Mendy and feel he's better than many give him credit, I'm not sure he's really ready for this level (and may never be). Bene is functional, if weak, at this level...Davo, as great as he has been for us for years, appears done. Not acquiring any CB assistance in the window was borderline criminal, and if they don't try to find a CB loan now, we are in deep trouble.

Edited by TxRover
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Hendry will return on Saturday which will help but it does seem Vaughan and Tait will be out. Starting to threaten another standard crisis with Benedictus, Matthews and Ugwu likely all out too.

We seem to be exclusively playing away games in dreadful conditions which doesn’t help with the style of football we play. QoS/Dundee/ICT/Ayr/Alloa/Pars all ‘weather warning’ kind of days. We just need to adapt a bit better I think - we did win (handsomely) at QoS and Alloa but I wonder if the pitches not becoming bumpy and heavy were a factor there.

Easy to blame the defence last night, and certainly for goals one and two it’s hard to understand how things went quite so wrong. But we didn’t see Kennedy at all, Vaughan/Gullan were both non-existent in their 45 mins, Armstrong was hardly on the ball. Spencer and Tumilty the only ones to get pass marks for me, and Abraham in the first half - the end product always went wrong but he had the defence a bit rattled. Should’ve been hooked early second half though.

Jekyll & Hyde is a bit of an understatement with this team. Is it our turn to win on Saturday?

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We are so Jekyll and Hyde it’s unreal. We were absolutely stunning on Saturday and yet again fall short midweek. Instead of building from the front, we should’ve concentrated at the back. Bene and Davo have been finished for years, and yet we plunder on with them. The “defence” have no answer to teams that press us. Easily beaten last night and Dunfermline taught us a real lesson. 

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