The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Michael W]

Whilst McGlynn didn't come across as angry in his interview, I would have said shell-shocked would be a better description of his manner. 

He also made a point of saying that we had several opportunities to make it 5. 

[Ebanda's Handyman Services]

As bad as the implosion was, how good was some of the football that we played? 

If I'm honest, before the game I didn't think we'd make the playoffs as comfortably as we did last season (if at all) but if we play like we did yesterday without the obvious downsides I can't see many teams in our league taking much off us. 

We are brilliant to watch going forward. 

[Raithie]

20 minutes ago, Ebanda's Handyman Services said:

As bad as the implosion was, how good was some of the football that we played? 

If I'm honest, before the game I didn't think we'd make the playoffs as comfortably as we did last season (if at all) but if we play like we did yesterday without the obvious downsides I can't see many teams in our league taking much off us. 

We are brilliant to watch going forward. 

That, on top of the implosion, is one of the most frustrating things about yesterday. We looked ridiculous at times and were running rings around Hamilton for large parts of the game and bullying them off the ball with ease. As weird as it will sound I didn't feel fully confident, even at 4-0 and the way we were playing, and couldn't quite put my finger on why. Once their 2nd goal went in and we threw away glorious chances it just felt inevitable we'd collapse. My laddie chummed me to the game having caught the football/Rovers bug - never seen him so fuming and I think even 9 year old me back in the day didn't lose the plot as much as he did after the game yesterday 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Raithie

[R.R.FC]

47 minutes ago, Ebanda's Handyman Services said:

As bad as the implosion was, how good was some of the football that we played?

Agreed, we were excellent going forward yesterday. The thing that pleased me most was the variety in our attacking as seen by the different types of goals we scored.

Last year, we were obviously excellent to watch but if I had to be critical in any way, we were at times guilty of over playing even if it wasn’t on (see the two home games against Hearts as best examples). Sometimes if the short pass isn’t on and you can’t beat the press a more direct pass isn’t a bad option.

Yesterday, we saw chances created from our usual nice interplay between the midfield and front 4 with quick passing football in addition to wing play/crosses which was another regular threat last season. However, as well as that we were not scared to go long to Poplatnik for flick ons or running into the channels when it was on. I’m not sure we score the 2nd or 4th goals last season. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by R.R.FC

[raith1974]

After reflection it has to be said that at 4 nil or 4 - 1 McGlynn got so much wrong. We should have settled for a win, however McGlynn got every sub wrong whilst Hamilton got there's right along with a change of tactics.

First sub should have be to replace a forward thinking player with either McKay or Lang. We should have put our 2 fullbacks tight onto McDonald and the sub I think Mcmann and stopped them getting the ball and stopped crosses into the box. 

Riley Snow showed nothing when he was on. Easily beaten on the ground and in the air. Tells me that he is not the answer.

On the plus side Spencer is very good and I thought the forward 4 all played very well.

If someone said before the game we would draw I would maybe have accepted, however Hamilton looked for a large part of the game to be very poor, especially at the back and to be 4 up and cruising to drawcord just unacceptable. 

[Halbeath Raith Rover]

Whole the collapse was awful and it feels like 2 points dropped, but have to say three of the goals were absolutely class

[Sortmeout]

4 minutes ago, raith1974 said:

After reflection it has to be said that at 4 nil or 4 - 1 McGlynn got so much wrong. We should have settled for a win, however McGlynn got every sub wrong whilst Hamilton got there's right along with a change of tactics.

First sub should have be to replace a forward thinking player with either McKay or Lang. We should have put our 2 fullbacks tight onto McDonald and the sub I think Mcmann and stopped them getting the ball and stopped crosses into the box. 

Riley Snow showed nothing when he was on. Easily beaten on the ground and in the air. Tells me that he is not the answer.

On the plus side Spencer is very good and I thought the forward 4 all played very well.

If someone said before the game we would draw I would maybe have accepted, however Hamilton looked for a large part of the game to be very poor, especially at the back and to be 4 up and cruising to drawcord just unacceptable. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If you are 4-0 or 4-1 up and have dominated the entire game the way Raith fans are describing it then you probably aren’t too worried about tightening up.

Then once it does to 4-2 you are left in a bit of a difficult scenario where you know that by sitting back a bit and inviting pressure you could make it worse.

Obviously McGlynn and the players have got it wrong but (as a bit of a happy clapper when it comes to my club) you sometimes need to just say that’s football and move. 99 times out of 100 you take the 3 points in that situation.

[Ro Sham Bo]

26 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If you are 4-0 or 4-1 up and have dominated the entire game the way Raith fans are describing it then you probably aren’t too worried about tightening up.

Then once it does to 4-2 you are left in a bit of a difficult scenario where you know that by sitting back a bit and inviting pressure you could make it worse.

Obviously McGlynn and the players have got it wrong but (as a bit of a happy clapper when it comes to my club) you sometimes need to just say that’s football and move. 99 times out of 100 you take the 3 points in that situation.

Yeah. At 4-0 up with less than 25 minutes to play and 4-1 with less than 15 minutes to go we should've been able to see the match out regardless of any of the changes we made. 

[stevoraith]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If you are 4-0 or 4-1 up and have dominated the entire game the way Raith fans are describing it then you probably aren’t too worried about tightening up.
Then once it does to 4-2 you are left in a bit of a difficult scenario where you know that by sitting back a bit and inviting pressure you could make it worse.
Obviously McGlynn and the players have got it wrong but (as a bit of a happy clapper when it comes to my club) you sometimes need to just say that’s football and move. 99 times out of 100 you take the 3 points in that situation.

This is spot on.

Obviously in hindsight the subs were wrong, but how many of us were sitting there after 65mins thinking that we better tighten up because Hamilton were still in it?

At the time, getting the younger lads involved when there’s “no danger” of losing the game seems like exactly the correct move to make.

And if Verian or Fotheringham scores their fantastic chances they had, then we win the game, the youngsters gain confidence and it’s absolutely the correct decision.

Fine margins....

[Raith_Raver]

As bad and infuriating as yesterday was we need to take that as a sharp lesson in a positive way and correct the errors in tactics and attitude which caused it, without losing sight of how good we actually are when we play.

[Been going too long]

5 minutes ago, Raith_Raver said:

As bad and infuriating as yesterday was we need to take that as a sharp lesson in a positive way and correct the errors in tactics and attitude which caused it, without losing sight of how good we actually are when we play.

Hopefully we do learn the lesson because we made them look like a league 2 side for most of the game

[TxRover]

50 minutes ago, Been going too long said:

Hopefully we do learn the lesson because we made them look like a league 2 side for most of the game

There’s an important point there. This is a freshly relegated side, with the concurrent budget, and who turned over less than half a Premiership side. Yes, they were bad at the level above us last year, but they are still a side with some quality, as we saw with MacDonald, Ryan and Templeton. We are a team playing the first “real” competitive match of the season, with young players, and seeking to replace our League PotY quality midfielder. Our team average age is 24.5, and that includes MacDonald, Berra, Poplatnik, Bene, Keatings and Thomson (36, 35, 29, 29, 29, 28), and Tait is only 19 and our primary CM.

The fact that a pair of experienced CB like Berra and Bene were present for that comeback says something about the quality Hamilton found and used after their substitutions. In hindsight, not adding a third CB when subbing Vaughan or Zanatta was the worst error. Fotheringham caused issues/concerns for Hamilton and damn near scored, Varian showed skills and damn near scored, but Riley-Snow was not the correct choice, as his somewhat adrift play seemed to show. Blaise hasn’t had enough time with the team to be helpful in that situation as he isn’t a DM, but more attacking.

[grumswall]

Iv not seen anything from snow to suggest he's good enough for this level. I didn't see the livi game where he apparently played well though. Whether it is a lack of ability or just not used to the pace the game was played at when he came on yesterday, it just seemed to pass him by.

[HoBNob]

1 hour ago, Raith_Raver said:

As bad and infuriating as yesterday was we need to take that as a sharp lesson in a positive way and correct the errors in tactics and attitude which caused it, without losing sight of how good we actually are when we play.

Alright pal, you've been conspicuous by your absence on the Dunfermline match thread, where'd you go? You were giving such regular updates on the Rovers score remember? 

[Raith_Raver]

1 hour ago, Grant228 said:

Alright pal, you've been conspicuous by your absence on the Dunfermline match thread, where'd you go? You were giving such regular updates on the Rovers score remember? 

I did gleefully comment on relegation favourites Morton's equaliser against the team that should have been handed the title before kick off.

PS

On 31/07/2021 at 15:25, Raith_Raver said:

PS Rovers 2 - 0 Accies 

 

Grant 228 : Absolutely no one cars pal x

Edited August 1, 2021 by Raith_Raver

[HoBNob]

42 minutes ago, Raith_Raver said:

I did gleefully comment on relegation favourites Morton's equaliser against the team that should have been handed the title before kick off.

PS

Grant 228 : Absolutely no one cars pal x

What made you stop mate? Last I heard you were up 4-0 with 25 to play, did it stay that way? Without your regular score updates how was anyone to know the score! 

[Raithie]

6 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Last I heard you were up 4-0 with 25 to play, did it stay that way?

It did. Whatever you heard/read/seen to suggest otherwise is false.

[Raith_Raver]

18 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

What made you stop mate? Last I heard you were up 4-0 with 25 to play, did it stay that way? Without your regular score updates how was anyone to know the score! 

Matters beyond my control. However, if we'd been seven goals up before we took off our most effective players it would not have been an unfair reflection on our play.

But remind us how did you do against the relegation favourites?

 

[HoBNob]

2 minutes ago, Raith_Raver said:

Matters beyond my control. 

Saying this like there's posters on here postingthrough the game yesterday who could influence proceedings, jesus christ. 

[Raith_Raver]

1 minute ago, Grant228 said:

Saying this like there's posters on here postingthrough the game yesterday who could influence proceedings, jesus christ. 

Exactly what you've been uggesting, that I could somehow be responsible for how the game went.

Still, we played an ex Premiership team off the park for 70 minutes, and still should have scored another two or three after that, but you're still quiet on how your dream team did at Greenock....