The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Broken Algorithms]

Dylan Tait's pass in the build up to the free kick for our first goal is a thing of beauty. That lad has a talent for spraying incredible passes about.

[Scottydog]

5 hours ago, Raith_Raver said:

 

Fair dos to McGlynn, he kept the attacking line up when I expected him to bring on Lang or McKay after Aberdeen brought on their big subs.

Lesson learned?

[R.R.FC]

9 hours ago, RRFC1989 said:

Tumilty - Excellent. Has an unreal engine, absolute shitehouse and a priority to get tied down to a longer deal. 8/10

Big fan of him twice running off the pitch to kick on an extra ball from the sidelines just to give him enough time to get back into position after forward runs. As you say excellent shitehouse behaviour.

On that note, enjoyed Jamie MacDonald’s time wasting at the goal kick in stoppage time.

Edited August 16, 2021 by R.R.FC

[R.R.FC]

On the game itself I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I have probably been one of the more optimistic fans pre season but given the injuries to Spencer and Vaughan, I didn’t give us any chance of a win.

I realise that Aberdeen didn’t really carve us open but I thought we were quite poor first half. Let them control the game and gave them too much respect. The whole team played 5/10 yards further up the pitch second half and it helped immensely. We were superb after half time. Normally cup shocks tend to be backs to the walls or nervy moments but on the balance of play we were deserved winners and we saw the game out comfortably which will hopefully heal some of the Hamilton scars.

In terms of individuals, Zanatta was immense (again), impressed with the workrate of Tumilty and Connolly too. Berra strolled it, got his head on everything and handled JET very well overall. I actually quite liked Varian as well. I think if we are playing 1 through the middle without Vaughan in behind then he is better suited than Poplatnik.

Credit to BRS as well for his second half showing. I thought he was awful first half and miles off the pace. Poor on the ball and Aberdeen were passing around him at ease. There was one incident in the first half where a simple 1-2 took him clean out the game and but for an excellent block by Berra could have led to a goal. However, he got himself into the game second half and was much better, seemed to play further forward rather than just infront of the back 4 which helped. Still major doubts and overall performance of a 6/10 but I would have subbed him at half time so he deserves credit for an improved performance.

Hopefully he can kick on again from this but I do have concerns about him in there during the speed and intensity of a derby on Friday.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Huge game on Friday night. Win and it’s a pretty good start to the league campaign in and around the play off spots with a League cup quarter final. Lose and we could be bottom of the league and the panic starts all over again. I’ve already seen enough to make me think we’ll be fine this season and finish somewhere between 4th-7th but a win on Friday would be huge to kickstart our league form.

[pub car king]

1 hour ago, R.R.FC said:

Big fan of him twice running off the pitch to kick on an extra ball from the sidelines just to give him enough time to get back into position after forward runs. As you say excellent shitehouse behaviour.

On that note, enjoyed Jamie MacDonald’s time wasting at the goal kick in stoppage time.

Yeah I saw that excellent shithousery and I am all for it. 

 

[Raithie]

If anyone gets Free Sports (that's basically what it's called) channel on their Virgin/Sky box they are re-showing the entire game at 12pm today. 

[CALDERON]

My gut feeling was that we were poor in the first half, but in hindsight, if it wasn't for an absolute raker from Jet - the game plan over the 90 minutes worked perfectly.  Restrict them to absolutely nothing, then ramp it up in the 2nd half when shooting towards our own fans. 

[roverthemoon]

Easy to be distracted by Berra being magnificent yesterday but also thought Bene was immense. Putting himself in where it mattered. Their partnership together is hugely encouraging 

[Wee wasp]

Great result for raith yesterday, well done, how's Liam dick doing for youse guys, always thought when he was at alloa he could play at a slightly higher level, he maybe just lacks a bit of pace I would say but a decent player, also I see zannatta is again showing the form after a couple of years in wilderness, wish we still had both these players at alloa now as they linked up so well down the left hand side for us. 

Good luck boys 

[R.R.FC]

I can’t remember many cup victories over Premier League opposition at Starks Park in the last 25 years. I can think of a couple of wins over Hamilton and that’s it. Obviously the Pars were the league above us in the 3-0 Scottish Cup game but weren’t a Premier League side. Am I missing anything obvious?

Most of our recent cup ‘shocks’ seem to have come away from home strangely enough. 

[Raith_Raver]

9 minutes ago, Wee wasp said:

Great result for raith yesterday, well done, how's Liam dick doing for youse guys, always thought when he was at alloa he could play at a slightly higher level, he maybe just lacks a bit of pace I would say but a decent player, also I see zannatta is again showing the form after a couple of years in wilderness, wish we still had both these players at alloa now as they linked up so well down the left hand side for us.

Both Dick and Zanatta are doing great. Most of us thought that replacing MacDonald and Armstrong with them was weakening the team but that hasn't happened. Dick doesnt go up the wing so much as MacDonald (although when he does he's effective) but his defensive ability is better I would say. Zanatta has been playing some great stuff was on fire yesterday. They've both been great replacements.

[Enigma]

46 minutes ago, Raith_Raver said:

Both Dick and Zanatta are doing great. Most of us thought that replacing MacDonald and Armstrong with them was weakening the team but that hasn't happened. Dick doesnt go up the wing so much as MacDonald (although when he does he's effective) but his defensive ability is better I would say. Zanatta has been playing some great stuff was on fire yesterday. They've both been great replacements.

Zanatta has certainly proven more of a goal threat than Armstrong. I was a big fan of the latter, I loved how he would run at the opposition and always looked to continually beat his man. He didn’t give up if things weren’t initially going his way. However shooting wasn’t really his strong point - Zanatta’s going to get us more goals.

Dick looks better defensively than MacDonald, who was alway going to be difficult to replace. He seems notably better in the air than Macca, which can be useful.

[Raithie]

I have this feeling Zanatta will continue to improve as the season progresses and we'll be sitting back laughing at the slaggings we were getting for signing him. Not sure what it is, I've fairly warmed to him as of late. Connolly also has looked handy. Lets be honest, if there's anyone that can get the best out of these guys it's Sir John McGlynn. Not quite sold on BRS just yet - did well in the 2nd half yesterday. Again more games under his belt and working with the gaffer and I'm sure he'll improve. Varian - hopefully now he's got a goal he'll crack on and we'll see the better of him as well. 

[Raith_Raver]

According to Ayr fans Zanatta's problems were due to poor management and tactics, and being played out of position. They thought he was lazy but could have been apathy due to these issues. He was certainly sounding motivated in his interview after yesterday's game.

[stevoraith]

I was critical of Zanatta after the Hamilton game, not of his ability (of which he doubtless has lots) but of his work ethic- head going down when he lost the ball, not tracking back, pulling out of challenges etc.
Basically all the things that Armstrong was good at last season.

I didn’t manage to see the game yesterday so can’t comment on tracking back throughout the game but the goal certainly proved me wrong with regards to the other points.
It would have been easy to let the defender clear it and it would have been easy not to stick the boot in to make the interception but he did brilliantly to make the chance for himself.
Well done Dario, you’re winning me over anyway [emoji1360]

There are definitely some areas of recruitment where the like for like replacements have been (on paper) downgrades, but JMcG always builds a team rather than a collection of players so that doesn’t concern me as much as it did when I initially heard who we’d signed.
I still think we could do with a more prolific striker but we seem to be scoring anyway so I’m happy to see how it pans out.

Certainly can’t see us troubling the relegation spots anyway.

Edited August 16, 2021 by stevoraith

[Lang Toun Lad]

Zanetti was chasing back and helping to win the ball back from the first minute of the game. I was very impressed by him yesterday after having my doubts when he signed.

Hopefully McGlynn can keep him focused and confident.

[roverthemoon]

Zanatta clearly has the ability going forward but listening to others it seemed to be a combination of his work rate, willingness to track back and the position he was put in that perhaps explains why he hadn’t been hitting the heights. If there’s anyone you’d trust to sort those things out it’s John McGlynn. 

[philpy]

How's this for a new song - to the tune of yellow submarine- "dario Zanatta, Canadian goal machine,  Canadian goal machine, Canadian goal machine"

Edited August 16, 2021 by philpy

[grumswall]

It's pretty piss poor that there's no info regarding Fridays tickets yet. Happened with the Hamilton game as well iirc.

[Wildrover]

Well pleased with that result yesterday and the performances of the new signings (I was sceptical about them when they signed) was encouraging and how good was it having a bouncing South stand again!!, happy days.