The New Raith Rovers Thread

[grumswall]

Must admit iv thought Smith has something about him when iv seen him. He needed a loan move to get regular games though for his development which unfortunately was cut short. I wouldn't be chucking him into the starting lineup at this stage of the season though.

[Hank Scorpio]

When do the play off dates get confirmed? Trying to get work booked off but without know exactly what days the games are on it’s pretty difficult. You’d think this would be sorted out by now given the first play off game is in less than a fortnight.

[grumswall]

When do the play off dates get confirmed? Trying to get work booked off but without know exactly what days the games are on it’s pretty difficult. You’d think this would be sorted out by now given the first play off game is in less than a fortnight.

I think Zen posted them on this thread a few days ago? Could be wrong.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

22 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

When do the play off dates get confirmed? Trying to get work booked off but without know exactly what days the games are on it’s pretty difficult. You’d think this would be sorted out by now given the first play off game is in less than a fortnight.

Wed 5 Premiership play-off quarter-final, 1st leg

Sun 9 Premiership play-off quarter-final, 2nd leg

Wed 12 Premiership play-off semi-final, 1st leg

Sat 15 Premiership play-off semi-final, 2nd leg

Wed 19 Premiership play-off final, 1st leg

Sun 23 Premiership play-off final, 2nd leg

[Specky Ginger]

I'd imagine those dates are subject to change. 

I'm pretty sure the first leg of the final has generally been held on a Thursday in recent seasons, although admittedly that was when BT Sport were the broadcasters. They're no longer involved in Scottish football so I take it Sky will cover the semi and final. 

[Wardy]

29 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:

I'd imagine those dates are subject to change. 

I'm pretty sure the first leg of the final has generally been held on a Thursday in recent seasons, although admittedly that was when BT Sport were the broadcasters. They're no longer involved in Scottish football so I take it Sky will cover the semi and final. 

Knowing sky they probably won’t even show it. Their coverage of Scottish football is pish.

[RRFC1989]

Mixed news on injuries.
On the injury front, Jamie Gullan is set to return and Kieron MacDonald might be ready to start after making the bench against Alloa.
McGlynn says Frankie Musonda remains a doubt, though, with Lewis Vaughan and Ross Matthews both ruled out.
https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/mcglynns-delight-as-raith-rovers-look-to-take-second-place-in-championship-3209121

McGlynn in pre-match interview now saying Vaughan is a maybe

[Enigma]

33 minutes ago, RRFC1989 said:

McGlynn in pre-match interview now saying Vaughan is a maybe

That’s really positive news.

[San Starko Rover]

That’s really positive news.

Would be brilliant news, Vaughan signs a new deal and is instantly injured. Not a shot a Vaughan just seems to be his luck, hopefully he’s fit for the playoffs. Tough game if we don’t have our full team out, Dundee are not playing well but they’ll throw everything at this one.

[grumswall]

Would be brilliant news, Vaughan signs a new deal and is instantly injured. Not a shot a Vaughan just seems to be his luck, hopefully he’s fit for the playoffs. Tough game if we don’t have our full team out, Dundee are not playing well but they’ll throw everything at this one.

He was out for over a year, it will take him a few months to get close to being fully fit to the point where he can play week in week out and that's assuming he doesn't get another big injury.

[Raith_Raver]

1 hour ago, RRFC1989 said:

McGlynn in pre-match interview now saying Vaughan is a maybe

Great if he makes it, probably on the bench if he does and brought on later. But JMcG now saying Musonda is definitely out - not so good. But defence should be stronger with KMcD back, and the prospect Spencer and Hendry feeding our strongest forward pairing Gullan and Vaughan things are looking promising.

[WSDR 88]

If we can get Macdonald back into the starting XI, that would be a huge boost. Hopefully Musonda is at least fit enough to make the bench, although if he's fit enough I'd start him. Really don't want to be going into this game with Armstrong at LB. 
It is a shame that Vaughan and Matthews both miss out. Hopefully we'll get them back for some game time against Hearts before the playoffs. 

Could be absolutely insane here, but I’m more comfortable with Armstrong at LB, than I am Davo at CB.

[Raith_Raver]

9 minutes ago, WSDR 88 said:

Could be absolutely insane here, but I’m more comfortable with Armstrong at LB, than I am Davo at CB.

Davo sometimes plays great, other times will give away a stupid goal, or get sent off; there is always a question mark about him. But who knows, McGlynn might play Mendy.

[grumswall]

Could be absolutely insane here, but I’m more comfortable with Armstrong at LB, than I am Davo at CB.

I'm probably Davos biggest critic and I can't agree with that. Armstrong is good defensively when he's tracking back but if he has to do it for 90 minutes against good opposition then I think he will struggle. Davo at least knows his position well and can use his experience in that role. Armstrong being at lb would also nullify a potential threat going forward.

[Wardy]

Any stattos out there to see how many points we’ve picked up having Davo and Bene at the back compared to Musonda and Bene? If MacDonald is back for Saturday, it’ll be Davo and Bene at CB. I’d definitely rather it was Davo over Cooney or Mendy. Yes he has mistakes in him but he definitely is better equipped to deliver a great performance over the other two. He was immense down at Palmerston, same again at Dens and Dundee will struggle to get past. 
 

They know they have to win so it definitely makes the game plan quite straight forward. Obviously it’ll change depending what’s happening during the 90 minutes. But I still think John Will set up to try and win the game as well. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Wardy

[Broken Algorithms]

1 hour ago, grumswall said:

1 hour ago, San Starko Rover said:

Would be brilliant news, Vaughan signs a new deal and is instantly injured. Not a shot a Vaughan just seems to be his luck, hopefully he’s fit for the playoffs. Tough game if we don’t have our full team out, Dundee are not playing well but they’ll throw everything at this one.

He was out for over a year, it will take him a few months to get close to being fully fit to the point where he can play week in week out and that's assuming he doesn't get another big injury.

We won't see the best of Vaughan until he's had a full pre-season behind him. 

[TxRover]

43 minutes ago, Wardy said:

Any stattos out there to see how many points we’ve picked up having Davo and Bene at the back compared to Musonda and Bene? If MacDonald is back for Saturday, it’ll be Davo and Bene at CB. I’d definitely rather it was Davo over Cooney or Mendy. Yes he has mistakes in him but he definitely is better equipped to deliver a great performance over the other two. He was immense down at Palmerston, same again at Dens and Dundee will struggle to get past. 
 

They know they have to win so it definitely makes the game plan quite straight forward. Obviously it’ll change depending what’s happening during the 90 minutes. But I still think John Will set up to try and win the game as well. 

Right, these are rough numbers, but using the game where each player got at least 60 minutes as a CB:

Bene - 23 of 25 games, 11-7-5 or 40 points of a possible 69, or 58% of possible points

Davo - 12 of 25, 8-2-2 or 26 of a possible 26, or 75% of possible points

Musonda - 14 of 25, 5-5-4 or 20 of a possible 42, or 48% of possible points

Mendy - 4 of 25, 3-0-1 or 9 of a possible 12, or 75% of possible points

So, what does that mean, that its a bullshit statistic. Frankie faced a murders row of top teams as a CB when Mendy faced the bottom end. Davo left us scrambling to fill his spot when he blew his lid, Frankie calmly played where ever he was needed. Now, on to the specific question...

Bene never missed a game that Davo played in, so Davo and Bene at CB were 8-2-2. Frankie and Bene were 4-5-3 together at CB. We must also note we were 4-5-2 when Davo was out, so there's a 3 CB game in there somewhere, but it suggests that Davo has value going forward, be it his passing or whatever.

[grumswall]

We won't see the best of Vaughan until he's had a full pre-season behind him. 

Agreed. It may even take longer as his body will need to be protected for a while to get it up to speed with the rigors of ft football. That's all that is happening right now.

[R.R.FC]

12 hours ago, Wardy said:

Any stattos out there to see how many points we’ve picked up having Davo and Bene at the back compared to Musonda and Bene? If MacDonald is back for Saturday, it’ll be Davo and Bene at CB. I’d definitely rather it was Davo over Cooney or Mendy. Yes he has mistakes in him but he definitely is better equipped to deliver a great performance over the other two. He was immense down at Palmerston, same again at Dens and Dundee will struggle to get past. 

Quiet day at work so thought I’d have a look at this. Difficult to do a fair comparison on the centre back partnerships because many of the games Davo and Bene have been together, Musonda has still been in the team but at left back. So I did a comparison on our 4 centre back option based on the minutes they have played and goals we have conceded whilst they’ve been on the park. To keep it straight forward, I’ve included games where Musonda has been at left back. I have based it on appearances in all competitions.

Kyle Benedictus

2501 minutes played    
35 goals conceded   
Goal against every 71.4 minutes

Iain Davidson

1275 minutes played    
18 goals conceded    
Goal against every 70.8 minutes

Frankie Musonda

2125 minutes played    
31 goals conceded    
Goal against every 68.5 minutes

Fernandy Mendy

597 minutes played    
9 goals conceded   
Goal against every 66.3 minutes

Controversial shout here but I genuinely think Bene has been our best centre back this season. Certainly in the second half of the season anyway. Musonda has huge potential and is definitely the more eye catching of the two due to being so comfortable on the ball. However, he is still learning and has made more mistakes and been less consistent than Bene at centre back IMO. Both have had very good seasons though.

To back up my point regarding Bene’s second half of the seasons form the difference is incredible:

His first 1243 minutes of the season    
24 goals conceded    
Goal against every 51.8 minutes

His last 1258 minutes of the season   
11 goals conceded     
Goal against every 114.4 minutes

 

[Ro Sham Bo]

Speaking of Benedictus, I see Lewis Toshney has had to retire and has been appointed manager of Downfield Juniors.