The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Broken Algorithms]

This is one of the tough questions which needs asked at the moment. It's clear that we need Sim at the moment as hard as that is to stomach. We're not in a position realistically where we'll have some benevolent person come along to pick up the reigns. At the same time, at 71 years old you have to wonder how long he'll want to keep control himself. Ideally, I'd want to see some form of diffusion of the control of the boardroom at a minimum. We need more diversity and people cut from different cloth. Sim has a track record of being somewhat of a philanthropist in Kirkcaldy (although as I said before nothing quite as extreme as potentially giving a free pass to a football club). I'm of no doubt he'll have suffered severe reputational damage off the back of the last week: in the same way people mention MacGowan and Short as being the ones who threatened to bulldoze Clark, Sim will now have the tag of "the man who ignored the fans, sponsors and volunteers to sign a rapist" - while financially the ball is very much in his court he is the one who will get scrutinised far more intensely. 

[grumswall]

Down hundreds of fans, lost staff from top to bottom, volunteers still not returned and Frank tells folk not to come back. 
 
 

He just wants a seat in the 200 club

[San Starko Rover]

Just now, grumswall said:

16 minutes ago, San Starko Rover said:

Down hundreds of fans, lost staff from top to bottom, volunteers still not returned and Frank tells folk not to come back. 
 
 

He just wants a seat in the 200 club

But that’s the exclusive club that knows Raith Against the Machines true identity!

[HoBNob]

22 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Fair point. They contributed and deserve to also go, but for me it is the four who sat round the table and nodded this through that are most culpable.

In all my time seing this thread I don't think I've ever seen four directors given the credit for when Raith sign a player. 

 

 

[Raithie]

Having had a reply from Sim, and from reading the comments above, it sounds like he's just copy and pasting his reply to folk. His reply reads that he's going to step down as chairman however will remain the owner of the club and that the club need to move on with a different team off the pitch.

[San Starko Rover]

1 minute ago, Raithie said:

Having had a reply from Sim, and from reading the comments above, it sounds like he's just copy and pasting his reply to folk. His reply reads that he's going to step down as chairman however will remain the owner of the club and that the club need to move on with a different team off the pitch.

Well it at least sounds like he feels changes have to be made so that’s a positive but why not put it out publicly? 

[SirJimmyofNic]

2 minutes ago, Raithie said:

Having had a reply from Sim, and from reading the comments above, it sounds like he's just copy and pasting his reply to folk. His reply reads that he's going to step down as chairman however will remain the owner of the club and that the club need to move on with a different team off the pitch.

Christ a read that at first as a different team on the pitch

[basher brash]

Signing Goodwillie is wrong on so many levels and the club has set us back years with one horrific shocking decision , However what does Val McDermid propose is done ? She Continually giving  the club a kicking via all media platforms and acknowledges John Sim has very deep pockets so he ain’t walking any time soon. Val has the influence , profile to at least establish a way forward whether through fundraising or more positive action for change at board level but something has to be done ASAP because our club is on the slide rapidly 

[grumswall]

But that’s the exclusive club that knows Raith Against the Machines true identity!

That's why he's trying to make it happen

As a side note to that, I haven't had the email yet, would anyone be willing to share it in its entirety?

[WeeDubsEnd]

Won't be back to Starks Park along with my Son... Used to enjoy going through & always a decent away Day with no trouble off the park... They only have there troubles within there Club now.. 

[raith1974]

1 hour ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

If it's not very big it's not going to bring in much revenue. Plus, after last week I doubt folk are going to be queuing up to use it. 

The guy has basically broken the club and doesn't seem to give two hoots.

Folk go on about what would happen if he leaves? What will happen if he stays is just as big a worry. 

If that's your thoughts then stay away. I'm sick to the back teeth of all of this. Yes they signed a player that has caused a shit storm but prior to that he and John McGlynn have delivered on and off the pitch. People make mistakes but you stay away until they are all gone by then there will be no club.

[Frank conner]

43 minutes ago, grumswall said:

59 minutes ago, San Starko Rover said:

Down hundreds of fans, lost staff from top to bottom, volunteers still not returned and Frank tells folk not to come back. 
 
 

He just wants a seat in the 200 club

Can you imagine if one of our players kicked his cat like what one of West Ham's did you'd be inconsolable. 

[Frank conner]

1 hour ago, San Starko Rover said:

Down hundreds of fans, lost staff from top to bottom, volunteers still not returned and Frank tells folk not to come back. 
 

 

What are you after?  A hat and a badge?

[Broken Algorithms]

1 hour ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

If it's not very big it's not going to bring in much revenue. Plus, after last week I doubt folk are going to be queuing up to use it. 

The guy has basically broken the club and doesn't seem to give two hoots.

Folk go on about what would happen if he leaves? What will happen if he stays is just as big a worry. 

I had a laugh looking back at our match threads in the season we spent in League 1 with Clyde. 

The first match thread you're immediately in saying that you hope Goodwillie had a career ending ACL. You immediately got hit with about a dozen red dots. 

Not quite as funny as @Against The Machine saying that he's glad Goodwillie doesn't play for us just on the basis other clubs fans would fill up our threads relentlessly. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Broken Algorithms

[San Starko Rover]

2 minutes ago, Frank conner said:

Can you imagine if one of our players kicked his cat like what one of West Ham's did you'd be inconsolable. 

Yup I’m one of those rare people who are against Rape and animal cruelty. 

[raith1974]

33 minutes ago, WeeDubsEnd said:

Won't be back to Starks Park along with my Son... Used to enjoy going through & always a decent away Day with no trouble off the park... They only have there troubles within there Club now.. 

Good I take it you won't watch Clyde either or Livingston who have a convicted drug dealer in charge who had links to Organised Crime Groups.

[TxRover]

29 minutes ago, basher brash said:

Signing Goodwillie is wrong on so many levels and the club has set us back years with one horrific shocking decision , However what does Val McDermid propose is done ? She Continually giving  the club a kicking via all media platforms and acknowledges John Sim has very deep pockets so he ain’t walking any time soon. Val has the influence , profile to at least establish a way forward whether through fundraising or more positive action for change at board level but something has to be done ASAP because our club is on the slide rapidly 

This is the crux of the issue. RRFC got caught going the wrong way at a point where #metoo and similar things have possibly finally breached the protective wall the old boys club enjoyed in professional sports. The initial movements may be small, but this is likely the start of a large, general movement to expect standards of behavior in sports that at least mirror those in the business world.

Sim is out of touch, and a prime example of the kind of good old boy that will get caught in this environment, and that realization is likely what drives his stepping back plans. If John Sim could find the will to contact Val, and ask her to work with the Club to recover from this catastrophe and reform the entity as a true Community Club, it could be successful…but I’m given to understand the two were not on any talking terms even before this monumental f**k-up.

We have bemoaned on here the lack of female support in the stands for the Rovers, about how we have an increasingly old and male fan base, and yet we just destroyed a path forward by sheer bloody-minded stupidity. The Raith Rovers Ladies need to be brought back into the fold, and supported and developed to strengthen the Club. To do that we have to get Val back on board, not necessarily on THE Board, but willing to throw her support back behind a new, reformed and inclusive Club.

Would I prefer someone besides Sim owning the Club, yes…can I stand him remaining, yes, if true change occurs. Does that change include removal of the four Directors that voted Yes on DH, yes it does. Does that mean a new CEO, yes it does. Does that mean a new Management team, unfortunately, given JMcG’s statement on the signing of DG, yes it probably does.

For now, I’d like to see the Club contact Val and TAG and see if they would object to new logos on the shirts, logos for organizations that Val and TAG believe deserve publicity in the wake of this mess…perhaps Rape Crisis Scotland and such.

[SirJimmyofNic]

40 minutes ago, WeeDubsEnd said:

Won't be back to Starks Park along with my Son... Used to enjoy going through & always a decent away Day with no trouble off the park... They only have there troubles within there Club now.. 

And you joined yesterday just to tell everyone that

[Paco]

Starting to think we might actually be trying to brass this out. Send McGlynn to the media with a ‘we’re looking to move on and focus on a huge game’ message at the end of the week and otherwise, some reshuffling round the boardroom aside, pretend this all never happened.

[McGuigan1978]

Thought I would circle back on what was discussed earlier through the point from @RavyDavy

I actually think what they brought up was valid points, for a variety of reasons, and I'll try and address them. 

In terms of the top ten lists, from what I can see, I included him three times and on one of those occasions I called him out as a sex offender. Now, RavyDavy didn't mention this, but that's fine, it's still got me thinking what I could have done differently. 

Should I have labelled him a sex offender all three times, should I not have mentioned him at all, should I have went to Clyde to watch Rovers as that supplemented a rapists wages, should we never have mentioned him at all on the podcast?

Ultimately, did those things make me complicit by normalising him as a footballer? 

In all honestly, I don't really know, and maybe I'm not best places to judge, but I think we've bodied him enough on the podcast more than enough to identify us as "not keen" and that people knew where we stood. 

In terms of what else was suggested, the "self appointed moral champion," again, that's not something I can identify with, and definitely not something I'm trying to do. . 

People should make up their own mind, and while I feel strongly on the matter, I'm not judging anyone on whether they attend on a Saturday or not.

I'll also be back, eventually, so take that however you want. 

Lastly, I'm upset at where we are, and I hope we can eventually get back to where we were, but that's going to take a lot from the club, and it needs to start soon. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by McGuigan1978