The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

 

 

[CALDERON]

What I would say, is that if Timmy Abraham is at the level of Fulham U23, then that's the very least you would expect Bowie to reach. 

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Zen Archer Esq. said:

 

 

Play Abraham some more and ask for a loan of Bowie next year?

[Paco]

Can someone please rescue Kieran Bowie from the children’s leagues.

If Abraham is a reasonable option in the u23’s, he has nothing to learn.

[CALDERON]

That midfield is weak as piss in the challenge. Shame we don't have any battling midfielders on the bench. 

This is a grim start. Can't see this setup working unless we stop shelling shit balls forward and actually have our two best attacking players on the pitch. 

[CALDERON]

King really is pish. 

[Raith Against The Machine]

4 hours ago, Duncypoo said:

Alright troops, I wrote something about the team, 

https://bbqlou.medium.com/adam-king-my-failed-defense-of-a-struggling-midfielder-143adb4ba53c

If you're interested in some of the stats behind our midfield you might like to read it. xx 

Really enjoyed reading this, and look forward to reading more from you. 

I do wonder if King has had enough minutes (prior to Tuesday) to really draw some of these conclusions with quite so much confidence, and that would certainly be my defence if I was his agent. 

That said, he didn't stand out at all against League Two opposition and he hasn't started particularly well tonight, so your analysis looks pretty spot on! 

[R.R.FC]

It’s amazing what a win can do. Whilst nobody can deny most of the recent performances have been pretty turgid with too many draws, the positive side is we have now only lost 1 of our last 7 and that loss was unlucky even after playing 80 minutes with 10 men.

Only 3 goals conceded in that time too. We need to find the right balance again going forward but there are positives to be seen. Bene and Musonda are developing a very good partnership.

It wasn’t pretty today but we were able to deservedly win whilst having the likes of Matthews, Kennedy, Gullan, Spencer and Vaughan all on the bench. I don’t think many people would have predicted that or being clear in 2nd place and pretty much safe from relegation with 6 games to go at the start of the season.

[CALDERON]

22 minutes ago, R.R.FC said:

It’s amazing what a win can do. Whilst nobody can deny most of the recent performances have been pretty turgid with too many draws, the positive side is we have now only lost 1 of our last 7 and that loss was unlucky even after playing 80 minutes with 10 men.

Only 3 goals conceded in that time too. We need to find the right balance again going forward but there are positives to be seen. Bene and Musonda are developing a very good partnership.

It wasn’t pretty today but we were able to deservedly win whilst having the likes of Matthews, Kennedy, Gullan, Spencer and Vaughan all on the bench. I don’t think many people would have predicted that or being clear in 2nd place and pretty much safe from relegation with 6 games to go at the start of the season.

Yeah. To be honest, imagine someone said 2 years ago that we would be clear in 2nd and Arbroath would be staring relegation in the face. 

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I’ve been very pleased to see the resurgence of Kyle Benedictus of late. I’ve been a defender of his, even through the bad spells where him and Davidson were leaking terrible goals every week. I’ve been steadfast in my belief that he’s a good Championship centre half and being paired with Musonda has brought out the best in him again.

[lellywong]

Musonda has been a revelation get him signed up for next season

[grumswall]

I’ve been very pleased to see the resurgence of Kyle Benedictus of late. I’ve been a defender of his, even through the bad spells where him and Davidson were leaking terrible goals every week. I’ve been steadfast in my belief that he’s a good Championship centre half and being paired with Musonda has brought out the best in him again.

Iv always thought bene has been a good cb but needed someone good beside him. He hasn't been the same player since the leg break but he has definitely picked up and is starting to play like the player he was before that, although musonda and macdonald bailed him out a little today from a mistake.

[Ro Sham Bo]

3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I’ve been very pleased to see the resurgence of Kyle Benedictus of late. I’ve been a defender of his, even through the bad spells where him and Davidson were leaking terrible goals every week. I’ve been steadfast in my belief that he’s a good Championship centre half and being paired with Musonda has brought out the best in him again.

Agree. Have never understood folk saying we need to get rid in the summer. Him and Frankie barely put a foot wrong today. 

 

[Duncypoo]

6 hours ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

Really enjoyed reading this, and look forward to reading more from you. 

I do wonder if King has had enough minutes (prior to Tuesday) to really draw some of these conclusions with quite so much confidence, and that would certainly be my defence if I was his agent. 

That said, he didn't stand out at all against League Two opposition and he hasn't started particularly well tonight, so your analysis looks pretty spot on! 

Thanks very much neeber. 

 

Some game the day, the tensest I've been watching a match for sometime. The rest of the table being so tight is really not helping my nerves. To add to what yous are all saying, Bene and Frankie are immense, considering how slow we are at trying to carve out attacks, having that pair in the back (and J. Mac) is undoubtedly the reason why we're still second imo. x 

[steakngravy]

Confidence is a great thing if you don't have it you will struggle.

[CALDERON]

I have been a harsh critic of Benedictus, but he has been superb lately.

I would party put that down to the partnership with Musonda, who is frankly a class act.

[Roath Raver]

We've just put up the extended version of the Brian Graham interview (with John Baird surprising him around ten minutes in).

Well worth a watch or listen, I thought this was one of the best extended interviews RaithTV has done so far. Also available on Podcast here - https://anchor.fm/raithtv/episodes/Brian-Graham-Interview-with-John-Baird-etm9bd)

 

[Jilted John]

I would party put that down to the partnership with Musonda, who is frankly a class act.

I see what you did there

[Broken Algorithms]

The interview with Graham (and Baird is superb). Fascinating to hear them to chat about McGlynn and the tactical side of the game. Hilarious to hear Baird say he stopped watching the end of the challenge cup semi final to just focus on Graham going mental at his team mate for missing a sitter. 

[TxRover]

19 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I’ve been very pleased to see the resurgence of Kyle Benedictus of late. I’ve been a defender of his, even through the bad spells where him and Davidson were leaking terrible goals every week. I’ve been steadfast in my belief that he’s a good Championship centre half and being paired with Musonda has brought out the best in him again.

 

18 hours ago, grumswall said:

19 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I’ve been very pleased to see the resurgence of Kyle Benedictus of late. I’ve been a defender of his, even through the bad spells where him and Davidson were leaking terrible goals every week. I’ve been steadfast in my belief that he’s a good Championship centre half and being paired with Musonda has brought out the best in him again.
 

Iv always thought bene has been a good cb but needed someone good beside him. He hasn't been the same player since the leg break but he has definitely picked up and is starting to play like the player he was before that, although musonda and macdonald bailed him out a little today from a mistake.

 

15 hours ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Agree. Have never understood folk saying we need to get rid in the summer. Him and Frankie barely put a foot wrong today. 

 

While I never suggested binning Bene in the summer, I was feeling pretty certain early in the year that Bene would be dropped to the bench next year. His recent form has shown that he can play at the Championship level, and his earlier missteps were more likely the inconsistent defensive lines (and possibly compensating for Davo’s ponderous dexterity). The importance of a bonded pairing of CB’s at this level has been emphasized this year, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Bene and Lang, as I expect Lang was signed with the expectation that Frankie is departing, hopefully not at our choice.

So next year we have Bene, Lang and McKay. If we can sign Frankie, and assuming McKay is looking OK in workouts, that should be the four CB’s we need, and would be a plethora of choices for a Championship team...if Frankie leaves, we’ll need to at least either re-sign Mendy (or Davo, just stating facts, not pushing that insane thought) or find another body.

Reading the attempted defense of Adam King, it seems he only really fits into Hendry’s preferred role of deep-lying CM/DM, and even there is of doubtful use. Makes me wonder what we were thinking with that loan.