The New Raith Rovers Thread

[CM.]

1 hour ago, itzdrk said:

The thing with McGlynn is, he just happens to be the guy that we know tried (and succeeded) to get him, IMO others will have suggested it and been telt no way.

Bids from Falkirk and Livi rejected in the past and as you say probably other interest too.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

16 hours ago, John MacLean said:

This disgrace of a post shows just how much work still needs done to educate people about sexual violence. 

That there were no criminal case is a failing of the legal system. 

Scots Law requires corroboration. That's why it is so hard to prosecute rape cases. That needs to change. 

The civil action offered the victim some kind of justice and judgement that she was raped. 

It was a rigorous process. The evidence of twenty witnesses were heard. Many of which testified to her dangerous level of intoxication. 

Being drunk, of course, being no crime or an invitation to sexual violence. 

It does, however, mean that legally she was unable to provide consent. 

These two men took her to an empty house some miles from her home town. 

They didn't have sex 'with' her as that would involve consent. 

They did what they did and then left her. Vulnerably intoxicated, naked (she couldn't find her clothes the next morning) and with no knowledge of where she was. 

These two men raped her. End of. 

It makes me furious that the lack of a criminal case is used as a smokescreen to try and downplay what they did. 

I read the case last night,  BIB - why wouldn't that count as corroboration for the criminal evidence? after all that was the only thing that could have been contested as their was physical evidence that goodwillie had had sex with her

[Nairney]

When the news, that there had been a u-turn, broke I actually found myself feeling more angry than I had been on Tuesday and Wednesday!

In footballing terms, Rovers are now in exactly the same place they were last week - in that David Goodwillie doesn’t play for them. Yet Raith Rovers are drastically altered. Everything was lost during this fiasco and nothing was gained - not even these mythical goals that would miraculously propel us to win the league. All of this shame and embarrassment has been for nothing. So much has been stripped away from the club I proudly supported for 25 years in the blinkered pursuit of this divisive player and now he’s just binned, gone. 

We’ve gone from club statements lauding him as a talented footballer who is a part of the Raith family to a statement where he, like Voldemort, couldn’t be referenced by name - simply “the player”. Do they really expect us to believe they suddenly changed their entrenched opinion so drastically? That they only just realised what he did and who he is?
 

I’m a woman, a mum and I work with children. Personally I wouldn’t feel comfortable cheering on a team that contained Goodwillie. So, from that perspective, obviously I’m glad he’s gone. However, it’s too late. It took far too long to “do the right thing” and because of this I find it hard to feel the benefit of being pleased or relieved now he’s gone.
 

Had the board acted more quickly (I.e. after Val announced she was pulling her sponsorship) so many more relationships could have been salvaged. Goodwillie’s departure came after all the damage was done and I’m incredibly angry about the absolute fuckwittery of the people, at the top, responsible for that.  If any of them genuinely thought “we didn’t realise it would be this bad” then they don’t deserve to hold any position, within any company, that involves decision making more complicated than “what should I order for my lunch?”.

Hopefully change is afoot and hopefully I’ll stop feeling so angry about everything soon. Can’t see myself back at Starks Park until we’ve seen some changes at CEO / boardroom level - because I might burst a blood vessel, or something!
 

[foreverarover]

He’ll be back at Clyde surely?
Assuming Sturgeon won’t ask for the SPFL to intervene there…

She will have to ask. Let's be brutally honest if it wasn't for Sturgeon being a Starks Park a couple of seasons ago chatting with Val she wouldn't have had a Scrooby doo about Goodwille. It's quite clear that's the case as she failed to mention he played in the SPFL for 5 years and was the clubs fucking Captain.

[foreverarover]

Aye, I dunno lads. I appreciate that I’m not a Rovers fan so don’t have the emotional attachment to McGlynn but it really feels from the outside that you’d be better off with a clean break from everyone who made the decision in order to move on. Maybe just letting him leave when his contract is up is best, otherwise it would seem that you’ll still have a deeply divided fanbase.
I think an explanation and apology can recover some of his standing and legacy as your manager, but I don’t think it can justify him remaining in post - if that makes sense? 

Difficult when a clean break also includes the majority shareholder and sole owner of starks Park.

[Rob1885]

So now it's broadly "oh if mglynn
makes a heartfelt apology then he can work his way back cause ken he's a good manager" [emoji23][emoji23]seems like there's been more than one u-turn over KDY in the last 24.

Garbage sentiment.

[Phantoms Livi Lass]

3 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

Finally caught up. Most of it has been covered by others but for what it’s worth here are my jumbled thoughts. 

Sim - the main culprit. The final call was his and am told the actually put a price on what he thought the club would lose as a result of this, then decided it was a price worth paying if we got to the Premiership. Unbelievable. Having one person with complete control of our club isn’t healthy, especially when it’s someone like him. He is the person we need the f**k away most. Unfortunately also the hardest to remove. I still worry about the murkiness of our structure and the finances under him. No transparency. Hope I’m wrong but after this week it is the biggest thing gnawing away at me. 

Sinton, Morgan and MacDonald - nodded it through and also need to go. Don’t know if they are either dinosaurs, stupid  or simply Sim’s stooges. But all three have to be cleared out

McCartney - lied to Val McDermid so either did so knowingly and can’t be trusted or is completely out of the loop, so useless as a CEO. Also needs punted. 

McGlynn and Smith - The hardest one for me. If you’re being generous he only cares about the football and it’s up to Sim to agree or veto, but that doesn’t really cut it. He should have known the backlash that would come particularly after what unfolded in December. Should have thought, ‘I’d love his football talent, but he’s not worth it.’ Should he go immediately or finish the season? I honestly don’t know. Something in me says that it’s been such a shitshow that we probably need some sort of continuity or stability on the football side until the end of the season. Particularly if the boardroom side starts to unravel. He’s definitely culpable in this though and he shouldn’t be here next season. 

On the stay or go back conundrum. I think it’s up to each person to decide what feels right. The main barrier to me watching the team has gone - Goodwillie. While I want the people who made the decision out, especially Sim, that’s not going to happen immediately. And I’ve watched the side before even when I’ve not been supportive of the manager or the board. I can still be a Raith fan and work towards getting them out as we’ve done before.

My biggest worry is that we are going to need all the good people we can get to get our club back and create a club and set of directors we can trust. If we all walk away then that might never happen.  Ultimately I think I’ll probably go back to games and support the team, but not give the club a penny more this season. Put my money into something like the Trust who can work to get Sim out. 

Final thing is to say fair play to all the folk who stood up and spoke out. Especially to the volunteers who made a stand and walked away from something they probably loved doing. And to the fans of other clubs who also spoke up and who didn’t point and laugh but sympathised that this was happening to our club. The sad reality is that most of us are at risk of some fuckwit ruining our club given how Scottish football is structured. Will go before I start greetin. There’s still a long way to go until we properly get our club back, but today was a start. 

It’s a horrible feeling to put your heart and soul into your club then they give you a left hook like this. Unfortunately now most football fans know that despite trying our best we can never get rid of boardroom greed. Walking and talking (shouting) are probably the only tools we have left. 

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

Raith Wrong-uns imo.

[Angus of the Mo]

Raith had made a (massive) mistake and ill judged decision. 

Would the best thing be for those who made the stupidity, admit, apologize and move on and not let the club tear itself apart.

 

 

[Trogdor]

52 minutes ago, HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows said:

Raith Wrong-uns imo.

The Raith board and McGlynn certainly are.

[GreenockRover]

47 minutes ago, HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows said:

Raith Wrong-uns imo.

 

6 hours ago, Rob1885 said:

So now it's broadly "oh if mglynn
makes a heartfelt apology then he can work his way back cause ken he's a good manager" seems like there's been more than one u-turn over KDY in the last 24.

Garbage sentiment.

The more astute of you here will have noticed my return to the boards after a lengthy absence. 

Events such as this are indeed designed precisely for these forums.

I'm 'pleased' to see that, after all this time, DIV is still happy to entertain the low IQ boys who's idea of analysis in any given subject is both without research and substance.

plus ce la change!

[stevoraith]

I think the difference between fans of other clubs commenting on McGlynns future, and some Raith fans doing the same is that it’s easy for the fans of other clubs to see it in black and white.
The Raith fans see more of the grey areas (and yes, perhaps a bit through rose-tinted reactalights).

If it’s not too callous to do so, I’ll use a crime-based analogy. I think we all agree McGlynn is guilty of the crime.

It’s the sentencing we have the problem with.

A judge will take into account the previous record and behaviour of the defendant.
That’s what the Raith fans who have softened their attitude towards McGlynn are doing.
The other thing taken into account by a judge is remorse- this is the key thing for me.
It’s yet to be seen what he has to say on the matter, and what he does say will be key for me deciding which side of the fence I’ll come down on.

[Paco]

I think it’s definitely worth saying that everyone is more than entitled to ‘come back’ at their own pace. Some will be there on Saturday and applaud McGlynn, some will boo him, and some might struggle to make a game between now and the end of the season. That’s all fine.

I’m still in the relief stage that the worst is over, but of course major change needs to happen. I’ll reiterate what I’ve said before - if all the directors who voted to sign David Goodwillie were to resign today, as many people rightly want, we’re left with zero directors. None. And as such 100% of the power lies with John Sim as owner, the person who is most responsible for all of this. Would that really be what anyone wants?

The challenges we have are firstly that the two board members who took a stand may not be willing to return, having been so comprehensively ignored and sidelined by John Sim on Monday. If I know anything of Bill Clark it’s that he’ll have said in no uncertain terms ‘sign him them I resign’. Would you walk back into that environment at work? The second major challenge is new directors aren’t exactly sitting in the shadows awaiting the invitation. This isn’t an impassable obstacle but it is one that takes time. New blood required, old faces required to be moved on, but realistically is there a scenario to it happening in the next couple of weeks? Probably not.

I’d personally view the board’s situation as similar to the management team, who are out of contract in May. It can be resolved in that timeframe, similarly the CEO. I appreciate people want blood, indeed I agree, but is it useful for us to have no board, no CEO and no management team right now? Hopefully over the next few weeks what we do see is some sort of fan action to begin raising funds while asking for something in return. I really like the idea of replacing the Supporters Fund with a collective fans fund to slowly buy more and more of the club, brick by brick.

Long story short it might take some time to right all of this, and if you feel you can’t go to the games in that time then I think that’s just as reasonable as feeling like you can. Yesterday was only the first step but it was a bloody big one.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Paco

[ribzanelli]

I’m not sure if McGlynn can continue as it will be a perpetual reminder of what happened and an absolute open goal for opposing fans to really give it to us so we probably need a clean slate if we are to recover. But maybe there is an outside chance. What he has done was awful, really awful, but he isn’t the actual rapist in all this and a major theme has been rehabilitation and how it starts with remorse. If we do see some sort of genuine apology and explanation then perhaps, I’m really not sure. As someone just said it is more black and white for opposing fans than Raith fans. A bit like someone who forgives a cheating spouse - those on the outside think it is an easy decision to just send them packing but for the person themselves it is much more nuanced. In that regard I guess for now I’ve packed his bags and left them on the lawn for him but if he texts me asking for a chance to explain then I might, just might be at least willing to listen. I reckon I’m 95% certain there is no way back, that goes up to 100% if we don’t hear anything soon.

Edited February 4, 2022 by ribzanelli

[CALDERON]

To be blunt and honest, I am looking forward to watching and focusing on a game of football.  One thing at a time, but after the week this has been it's personally needed.

[Uncle Psychosis]

Deserving a second chance because he's part of the Raith family is rhetoric I've heard somewhere else recently. Perhaps someone could remind me where that might have been. 

[RandomGuy.]

McGlynn clearly identified Goodwillie and sold him to the board as an option. I'd be surprised if he didn't sell them the idea that he'd be accepted and there would be no fuss either.

You clearly had board members who would've questioned him over that when the name came up, and I'm not convinced the others on the board would know enough either way.

It's really disappointing to see Raith fans now trying to defend him and shift "100%" of the blame to a chairman who in all likelihood was sold Goodwillie by McGlynn as someone who'll get Raith promoted and wouldn't cause any fuss.

McGlynn is the root cause here, its him who started the process.

[roverthemoon]

I think it’s understandable that Rovers fans are finding the whole McGlynn situation difficult. Most know he’s fucked up and probably should pay the price for it. From McGlynn’s demeanour in his post match interview he knows he’s royally fucked it. But it’s easy for non Rovers fans be crystal clear and say he should just be binned immediately. That’s a harder journey for Rovers fans given how much he’s loved.

With the exception of a few duff signings that didn’t work out and losing the rag at David Hancock once in a post match interview, his two spells at the club have been exemplary. He’s made the club much better on and off the field both times - exactly when we needed it most. Think of your best ever manager and how you feel about it him and that’s what we’re dealing with here. For most people I know, it’s McGlynn that’s disappointed them most. We knew the Board could easily be fuckwits, but we thought that McGlynn got it. 

But after all he’s done for the club, there’s no surprise there’s a sense amongst some to give him a second chance. Important to remember that although he’s made a monumentally error, he’s not the rapist here, he just made the huge error of wanting to sign one. As I said personally I think that means he probably has to go either now or at the end of the season, but it’s a perfectly legitimate view for some to think should be given another chance - if he holds his hands up and shows contrition. 

 

[Stellaboz]

Just because McGlynn has done well for Raith he has a redemption road? f**k right off, he wanted to sign a rapist.

If Locke signed Goodwillie, he'd rightly be chased out of town. The same should happen to apologist John.

[itzdrk]

8 hours ago, flood said:

McGlynn is 100% to blame for the whole thing. His logic was obviously get him in, and we have chance of promotion…. Goals above all else etc

Raith fans who do not see this, are looking through rose tinted specs…

The board are almost as bad for agreeing to it, but it was McGlynn who presented DG as a legitimate transfer target…

I didn't suggest otherwise.