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The New Raith Rovers Thread


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4 hours ago, CALDERON said:

A proper target man acts as a focal point for the ball to stick up top.  See Nouble at Arbroath.

Absolutely true, and absolutely a position we are missing, as many have identified. However, more worrisome is that the other teams in the league have clearly figured out that we aren’t moving the ball with enough speed/precision to break a high press of our back line when we try to pass it out. We can have that #9, but without movement of the ball forward, we’re still screwed…so hopefully that’s what JMcG is tinkering and yelling to fix.

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There are very few out and out strikers available, and even if we found one I'm not sure it would make a great deal of difference, the problem imho is still in midfield 
It's not really. We have enough quality in midfield to play a few different ways. If we don't have the focal point of an actual striker who can do the most basic job of a striker and put the ball in between the sticks then it heaps pressure on the midfield to do it on top of actually trying to create the chances for themselves. Gullan is not the answer. Varian and poplatnik have proved it this season as well. They all offer something but goals isn't it. We're not a bad team. We're just missing that all important ingredient to make us a good team.
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11 minutes ago, HIT THE CHANNEL said:

Does anyone know when the TV picks for the SC are revealed? Had a wee search on google but nothing obvious. Wondering when we will know so I can try and plan that weekend!

There's no "set" time for that. They'll announce it when they are ready. Given there are no replays now and the ties are all known I don't think it will take them long. Chances are you'll know by midweek. It would be a surprise if Premier don't pick up Celtic v Raith though.

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9 hours ago, TxRover said:

Absolutely true, and absolutely a position we are missing, as many have identified. However, more worrisome is that the other teams in the league have clearly figured out that we aren’t moving the ball with enough speed/precision to break a high press of our back line when we try to pass it out. We can have that #9, but without movement of the ball forward, we’re still screwed…so hopefully that’s what JMcG is tinkering and yelling to fix.

The two issues aren’t mutually exclusive though. When Varian was on form earlier in the season and we were at our best, there was great variety to our play. It wasn’t always built through the phases from the back, we were quite comfortable going longer to Varian to hold up which he was doing well. Having that option forces teams back 10 yards and means they can’t press as aggressively which creates more space for the midfield and our passing game.

The best example is probably the first home game against Arbroath. They played a really aggressive high press but we were still able to deservedly win that game because Varian had a great game against their centre half’s allowing us to mix it up between playing out when it was on or going more direct.

Varian has been off form (like the rest of the team) for a while now but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that his best game in recent weeks was our best recent performance away at Inverness. Obviously there’s not one single thing that will fix our issues immediately but a physical number 9 that can be relied upon to hold the ball in and bring others into play, allowing us to mix up our game, as well as chipping in with goals himself would make a huge difference.

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52 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

There's no "set" time for that. They'll announce it when they are ready. Given there are no replays now and the ties are all known I don't think it will take them long. Chances are you'll know by midweek. It would be a surprise if Premier don't pick up Celtic v Raith though.

Cheers mate!

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2 hours ago, HIT THE CHANNEL said:

Does anyone know when the TV picks for the SC are revealed? Had a wee search on google but nothing obvious. Wondering when we will know so I can try and plan that weekend!

Fairly safe to say that Premier Sports will pick our game and Annan v Rangers.

They're only interested in two teams so won't be seeing a penny from me.

I'm not sure if Celtic have a European game on the Thursday before. If so, that will probably see our game moved to the Sunday or Monday.

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6 minutes ago, Specky Ginger said:

Fairly safe to say that Premier Sports will pick our game and Annan v Rangers.

They're only interested in two teams so won't be seeing a penny from me.

I'm not sure if Celtic have a European game on the Thursday before. If so, that will probably see our game moved to the Sunday or Monday.

Celtic play Aberdeen away on Wednesday 9th Feb, the Euro ties are on the 17th & 24th.

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I see Aiden Keena has left Falkirk to go back to Ireland, would have taken him.
Seen a few folk on their thread speculating that Morrison might go to Accies for a fee. If we can, we should go after him. Looked excellent both against us and against other clubs. The only player of theirs I'd take.
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3 hours ago, R.R.FC said:

The two issues aren’t mutually exclusive though. When Varian was on form earlier in the season and we were at our best, there was great variety to our play. It wasn’t always built through the phases from the back, we were quite comfortable going longer to Varian to hold up which he was doing well. Having that option forces teams back 10 yards and means they can’t press as aggressively which creates more space for the midfield and our passing game.

The best example is probably the first home game against Arbroath. They played a really aggressive high press but we were still able to deservedly win that game because Varian had a great game against their centre half’s allowing us to mix it up between playing out when it was on or going more direct.

Varian has been off form (like the rest of the team) for a while now but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that his best game in recent weeks was our best recent performance away at Inverness. Obviously there’s not one single thing that will fix our issues immediately but a physical number 9 that can be relied upon to hold the ball in and bring others into play, allowing us to mix up our game, as well as chipping in with goals himself would make a huge difference.

Very correct, in that a true target man would hopefully allow more movement to try to open the defence and get that magic chance. But the ability of a much lower level team to successful press us, and disrupt our buildup, as they did a moderately good job of, is worrisome when placed alongside our league form. I’m hopeful that Stanton and Williamson, as they settle in, will address some of this and increase the pace of our passing, but the lack of urgency we often see as the back line putters about with passes is contrary to our goals (literally).

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20 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Very correct, in that a true target man would hopefully allow more movement to try to open the defence and get that magic chance. But the ability of a much lower level team to successful press us, and disrupt our buildup, as they did a moderately good job of, is worrisome when placed alongside our league form. I’m hopeful that Stanton and Williamson, as they settle in, will address some of this and increase the pace of our passing, but the lack of urgency we often see as the back line putters about with passes is contrary to our goals (literally).

Miss Brad as well, great wee player who just oozes quality 

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13 minutes ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

What is Ethon Varian if not a target man?

He definitely is and a good team player just not a goal scorer so far, hendry back to st Johnstone from Killie, Mcglynn tried for him earlier so maybe again or todorov benchwarming at the pars, got to be worth a shout 

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21 minutes ago, Been going too long said:

Miss Brad as well, great wee player who just oozes quality 

Spencer is a huge miss.  I'm going to go all TX here but the stats prove it;

Where Spencer has played the full game we average 8.13 shots, with 4 shots on target and 1.88 goals

Where Spencer has played part of a game we average 9.29 shots, with 3.71 on target and 1.71 goals

Without Spencer, we average 6.63 shots, 2.5 on target and just 0.63 goals.

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1 hour ago, Beastie Russell said:

I see Aiden Keena has left Falkirk to go back to Ireland, would have taken him.

 

1 hour ago, Broken Algorithms said:
1 hour ago, Beastie Russell said:
I see Aiden Keena has left Falkirk to go back to Ireland, would have taken him.

Seen a few folk on their thread speculating that Morrison might go to Accies for a fee. If we can, we should go after him. Looked excellent both against us and against other clubs. The only player of theirs I'd take.

Don't know what you two are on but there is absolutely no danger we should be considering signing any of that mob. Especially a winger who is not as good as the 3 we currently have and a striker who has scored 1 every 5 games in the league below. 

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