The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Scottydog]

33 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Just trying to take some heat off the manager…besides, we could use a guy nicknamed “Mad Dog” or “Killer” anyway.

Send out the call post haste!

Bring back Sacha the Slasher.

[foreverarover]

18 hours ago, basher brash said:

I should have worded the post better and basically I meant build a fighting fund in case things go belly up or if local buyers are found the trust would have some finance available to contribute/  buy more shares , The fans raised 100k over the COVID summer so there is a will out there to help the club maybe not to the scale the last time due to the current recession but we can’t just sit back and do nothing 

That 100k fan thing over the covid summer had fans from numerous other clubs placing donations. The idea we could get that on a regular basis is unlikely. 

[pub car king]

If folk don't want to give to the club/players fund given the current  uncertainty the trust having a fighting fund should it be needed is somewhere to perhaps divert anything you can spare. 

 

[tazz1903]

On 10/01/2023 at 20:44, raith1974 said:

Wow are you still holding a grudge  very bitter little man who supports a team languishing in the 2nd Division. 

Not quite languishing, we are in the play off position  

[R.R.FC]

2 hours ago, Scottydog said:

I'm still hoping Murray gets it right but so far his signings have been at best average and more often dross.

Considering he’s working on a tighter budget I think his signings in general have been fine. He’s taken a few gambles in attacking areas that haven’t paid off but we don’t have the finances to go out and get proven options in that areas.

I’d give pass marks to McNeil, Millen, Ngwenya, Nolan, O’Riordan, Brown and Easton. McBride and Frederiksen time has been limited but probably due to the fact they are not very good so they can be classed as failures. Likewise Connell, he had a couple of really good games but overall not what we needed. So I make that 7 out of 10 signings have been passable, not many going to fire us to the title any time soon but in a transition season on a tight budget, they’ve all added to the squad.

Few of the pass marks are outstanding signings but

McNeil - Is as good as you could expect for a young 3rd choice keeper.

Millen - Has really improved and been fine after a slow start.

Ngwenya - Isn’t perfect but offers something different at left back and gave us a boost when he was brought into the starting 11 earlier in the season and been a worthwhile signing.

Nolan - I think he is probably a back up centre back if you want to aim up the league but he’s had more good games than bad and been pretty solid overall.

O’Riordan - Excellent, not a whole lot more needs to be said. 

Brown - Underrated amongst our support IMO, with Matthews injuries we’d have been fucked without his defensive presence in midfield.

Easton - Has blown hot and cold but seems to be coming onto a game again and I think when he plays well, the team plays well.

I don’t really have a problem with saying Murray’s signing record has been average but I think saying his signings have been ‘more often dross’ is very harsh. Far from a perfect record but it’s not been a disaster. He’s also got more out of the likes of Liam Dick, Stanton and Connolly than McGlynn did. 

[grumswall]

I don't think he's got much more out of Connolly just due to him being a very good player, but agree with most of what you've said rrfc. I hope Connolly is a priority for a new contract. Probably not a popular opinion but I want to see Robbie Thomson signed up ASAP as well. Good young coach as well as a decent 'keeper. 

Murray has obviously got a shit budget and has brought in brown and Easton as his first signings. Both are decent championship level players. Easton has that spark that can win a game when he's on form and brown is full of drive and energy. He also has good game intelligence and knows when to take one or cover for someone else pushing on etc. I don't think Matthews starts ahead of him, if fit.

I slaughtered millen on here. I don't think he's an amazing player but he's a solid enough 6/10 most weeks and he really does have a great delivery that a proper striker would eat up.

I think Murray suffers from the exact issue mcglynn suffered from last season. We just don't have the type of striker needed to play the way the players we have would benefit from. I also wonder at times if the players have been over coached when we get in and around the box. We're slow to get there but when we do get there, we aren't direct enough. This has been an issue for over a year now. Lack of a proper striker and that goes hand in hand to am extent though. You can see the warmup drills we do though and it's literally getting the attacking players to shoot on site. That's the whole purpose in that drill. 

Iv went off on one so hopefully it makes sense somewhere. 

[R.R.FC]

10 minutes ago, grumswall said:

I don't think he's got much more out of Connolly just due to him being a very good player

Yeah, I get what you mean, Connolly was very good for us last season too, without doubt. Was more referring to the fact he has already scored more goals this season than he did last. Also, he was out of the team restricted to sub appearances for a stretch of games around this time last year (was an unused sub on a couple of occasions too) which wouldn’t happen now he has established himself as such a key player.

[Frank conner]

1 hour ago, pub car king said:

If folk don't want to give to the club/players fund given the current  uncertainty the trust having a fighting fund should it be needed is somewhere to perhaps divert anything you can spare. 

 

Yet the same folk saying we can't afford to bring players in?

[Hank Scorpio]

35 minutes ago, R.R.FC said:

Yeah, I get what you mean, Connolly was very good for us last season too, without doubt. Was more referring to the fact he has already scored more goals this season than he did last. Also, he was out of the team restricted to sub appearances for a stretch of games around this time last year (was an unused sub on a couple of occasions too) which wouldn’t happen now he has established himself as such a key player.

Remember that? McGlynn took our best player and benched him for about 8 weeks. What the f**k was that all about?

Connolly has been a fucking superb signing. There was lots of folk on here fuming we’d resigned him at the time, too. I’d kill to get him to stay for another couple of years but there will be teams like Patrick and Dundee falling over themselves to pay him more than we can afford, sadly. 

[raith1974]

1 hour ago, tazz1903 said:

Not quite languishing, we are in the play off position  

You're 3 points of 2nd bottom and 6 points off bottom, but 14 points of top, hardly doing well.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, grumswall said:

I don't think he's got much more out of Connolly just due to him being a very good player, but agree with most of what you've said rrfc. I hope Connolly is a priority for a new contract. Probably not a popular opinion but I want to see Robbie Thomson signed up ASAP as well. Good young coach as well as a decent 'keeper. 

Murray has obviously got a shit budget and has brought in brown and Easton as his first signings. Both are decent championship level players. Easton has that spark that can win a game when he's on form and brown is full of drive and energy. He also has good game intelligence and knows when to take one or cover for someone else pushing on etc. I don't think Matthews starts ahead of him, if fit.

I slaughtered millen on here. I don't think he's an amazing player but he's a solid enough 6/10 most weeks and he really does have a great delivery that a proper striker would eat up.

I think Murray suffers from the exact issue mcglynn suffered from last season. We just don't have the type of striker needed to play the way the players we have would benefit from. I also wonder at times if the players have been over coached when we get in and around the box. We're slow to get there but when we do get there, we aren't direct enough. This has been an issue for over a year now. Lack of a proper striker and that goes hand in hand to am extent though. You can see the warmup drills we do though and it's literally getting the attacking players to shoot on site. That's the whole purpose in that drill. 

Iv went off on one so hopefully it makes sense somewhere. 

Your correct here, and Thomson and McNeil would be my choice for next year’s keepers. Thomson is comfortable coaching here and running his academy, so we probably get him a wee bit cheaper and providing a wee bit more value than we would otherwise. He’ll be the ideal foil for McNeil learning and developing. Sorry, but I think MacDonald is becoming an average Championship keeper, and seems more prone to injury now. If he’s to keep playing, it’s League One next year.

What I’m truly afraid of is we won’t be able to sign Lang (and Dick). We lose both of those, and we are going into next year with something like Millen/Masson/Nolan/Young, ASSUMING we sign those three! This years obvious budget travails send a cold shiver down my spine when I look at exactly how little we have signed for next year.

The lost of Connolly would devastate our attacking potential, more so than losing any other player, he’s become that important. Don’t underrate how well he meshes with Millen.

[Scottydog]

If our aim is to maintain our place in the Championship then by all means look to re-sign the majority of the likes of what we currently have (and then sit back and hope for the best), if on the other hand progression is our aim we need better than we already have.

MaCdonald is probably the best keeper in the league, talk of getting rid is absolutely farcical, McNeil isn't ready and Thommo isn't a patch on Jammer.  Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if he (JM) jumps ship in the summer of his own accord.

Last season Dick was one of the weaker links in our back four, we all knew if we wanted to progress we'd need better than Bene, Dick and probably Berra too. Bene, Berra and Tumilty all left and other than Lang I'd argue we have no one of better quality in the back 4.  I'd re-sign Lang (if we can), keep Young and Masson and look for better than we have for the rest, if Millen has another year on his contract he'll have to stay too. 

In midfield we have good players in: Matthews, Spencer, Stanton and if you want to include wingers and youngsters there's Connolly, Ross and Arnott, Any midfielders I haven't mentioned IMO aren't as good as the former ones who we have to get tied down, sadly I see us losing the likes of Connolly, Stanton and Matthews which would be devastating.

Up top we are hopelessly lightweight and have been for years, Vaughan and Gullan I'd hold on to along with Mitchell and look for additions and replacements for all the others. 

From what we've seen I've not got a lot of confidence that IM can make the signings we'll need. Murray's only real success in the transfer market has been the loan signing of O'Riordan, I'd challenge anyone to name one of his signings who has out performed last seasons guys.  Folks will argue that Murray hasn't had the budget but the counter argument stands that what little he had wasn't spent wisely enough.

Hopefully the board will back Murray to bring some new blood in and also allow him to re-sign the one's we want to keep, hopefully he will be a better manager for us going forward.

 

[pub car king]

I think Murray is hamstrung by a miniscule budget amd said as much when he got the job in that first interview on Raith TV. 

That is clearly shown in what he has brought in everyone has been a gamble.  Apart from Brown who has been solid and started every match I think and to a lesser extent Easton who has been hot and cold but clearly has ability. 

What is concerning and it's probably down to our takeover situation is that we have been very quiet so far on resigning players out of contract in the summer. 

Murray will want to build his own team but there are clear players we need to keep least of all connolly and Lang

[Beachbum]

6 minutes ago, pub car king said:

I think Murray is hamstrung by a miniscule budget amd said as much when he got the job in that first interview on Raith TV. 

That is clearly shown in what he has brought in everyone has been a gamble.  Apart from Brown who has been solid and started every match I think and to a lesser extent Easton who has been hot and cold but clearly has ability. 

What is concerning and it's probably down to our takeover situation is that we have been very quiet so far on resigning players out of contract in the summer. 

Murray will want to build his own team but there are clear players we need to keep least of all connolly and Lang

I think we've been very quiet on the re-signing front because we lost buckets the last time we were in League 1 and won't want to go deeper into debt if we do end up there.

So, until we know where we stand league wise you can't blame the board for not offering contracts just now. Saturday was a disaster in that respect with Hamilton winning and Arbroath, Cove and ourselves all drawing.

[Heid_The_Baw]

22 hours ago, CALDERON said:

 

I stood behind the dugout for the last few minutes, and you could clearly here Murray and Cameron shouting "take it to the corner"

I do agree that individuals shouldn't be singled out by the manager, however.

 

I was right next to the dug out, a few yards from IM on the right hand side of him at the erse end of the game and I never once heard him shout such a thing.   May have been distracted by other things though.
But you are correct in that he should not have singled him out.  
The keeper kicking out from hand, straight to our striker who scores from it does not constitute the goal award to the goalie.  As with big Fred.  He did not cause the goal directly as there was play afterwards and our defence once again did not cope with a set piece.  Where was Murrays criticism of the defender who left the back post vulnerable for Neil to equalise?

 

[Ro Sham Bo]

26 minutes ago, Heid_The_Baw said:

I was right next to the dug out, a few yards from IM on the right hand side of him at the erse end of the game and I never once heard him shout such a thing.   May have been distracted by other things though.
But you are correct in that he should not have singled him out.  
The keeper kicking out from hand, straight to our striker who scores from it does not constitute the goal award to the goalie.  As with big Fred.  He did not cause the goal directly as there was play afterwards and our defence once again did not cope with a set piece.  Where was Murrays criticism of the defender who left the back post vulnerable for Neil to equalise?

 

To be fair, Murray was also critical of the defending of the corner.

[Specky Ginger]

4 hours ago, Beachbum said:

I think we've been very quiet on the re-signing front because we lost buckets the last time we were in League 1 and won't want to go deeper into debt if we do end up there.

So, until we know where we stand league wise you can't blame the board for not offering contracts just now. Saturday was a disaster in that respect with Hamilton winning and Arbroath, Cove and ourselves all drawing.

I'm not sure Saturday was a disaster.

It would have been if Arbroath had won and we had lost.

Am I the only Rovers fan who was chuffed at Hamilton beating Morton?

[TxRover]

11 hours ago, Scottydog said:

If our aim is to maintain our place in the Championship then by all means look to re-sign the majority of the likes of what we currently have (and then sit back and hope for the best), if on the other hand progression is our aim we need better than we already have.

MaCdonald is probably the best keeper in the league, talk of getting rid is absolutely farcical, McNeil isn't ready and Thommo isn't a patch on Jammer.  Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if he (JM) jumps ship in the summer of his own accord.

Last season Dick was one of the weaker links in our back four, we all knew if we wanted to progress we'd need better than Bene, Dick and probably Berra too. Bene, Berra and Tumilty all left and other than Lang I'd argue we have no one of better quality in the back 4.  I'd re-sign Lang (if we can), keep Young and Masson and look for better than we have for the rest, if Millen has another year on his contract he'll have to stay too. 

In midfield we have good players in: Matthews, Spencer, Stanton and if you want to include wingers and youngsters there's Connolly, Ross and Arnott, Any midfielders I haven't mentioned IMO aren't as good as the former ones who we have to get tied down, sadly I see us losing the likes of Connolly, Stanton and Matthews which would be devastating.

Up top we are hopelessly lightweight and have been for years, Vaughan and Gullan I'd hold on to along with Mitchell and look for additions and replacements for all the others. 

From what we've seen I've not got a lot of confidence that IM can make the signings we'll need. Murray's only real success in the transfer market has been the loan signing of O'Riordan, I'd challenge anyone to name one of his signings who has out performed last seasons guys.  Folks will argue that Murray hasn't had the budget but the counter argument stands that what little he had wasn't spent wisely enough.

Hopefully the board will back Murray to bring some new blood in and also allow him to re-sign the one's we want to keep, hopefully he will be a better manager for us going forward.

 

Disagree about Jamma, he’s still top 5 in a 10 team league, but his age seems to be showing. Thomson is not as good as Jamma, but he’s a solid mid-pack keeper, and McNeil looks promising. Meanwhile, here’s our signed player status, the nine signed beyond this season highlighted:

Keepers: 
MacDonald (May 2023), McNeil (ma) (May 2024), Thomson (player/keeper coach) (June 2023) 

Backs: 
Dick (May 2023), Lang (June 2023) Masson (ma) (June 2023), Millen (June 2024), Ngwenya (loan until May 2023), Nolan (May 2023), Young (ma) (May 2023) 

Mids: 
Brown (June 2024), Easton (June 2024), Matthews (June 2024), Ross (May 2024), Spencer (June 2023), Stanton (June 2024) 

Forwards: 
Connolly (May 2023), Frederiksen (May 2023), Gullan (June 2024), Mahady (June 2023), McBride (May 2023), Mitchell (ma) (May 2023), Vaughan (June 2024) 

 

[ohnononowheredidRossgo]

To be fair to IM it sounds like big Freddo has been a lazy twat in training and he’s had to have a come to Jesus convo with him. John has been asking for game time gets some and then makes an abysmal decision.

I think he’s every right to be called out, we aren’t talking about a 16 year old kid he’s an experienced pro.

I imagine it’s the last we see of the big lad and I’d hope IM is working on a new forward and then I’d expect a mutual parting of ways.

Also agree IM needs to improve in the transfer market.

[TxRover]

29 minutes ago, OhnononoGeordieMunro said:

To be fair to IM it sounds like big Freddo has been a lazy twat in training and he’s had to have a come to Jesus convo with him. John has been asking for game time gets some and then makes an abysmal decision.

I think he’s every right to be called out, we aren’t talking about a 16 year old kid he’s an experienced pro.

I imagine it’s the last we see of the big lad and I’d hope IM is working on a new forward and then I’d expect a mutual parting of ways.

Also agree IM needs to improve in the transfer market.

Honestly, at this point I’d rather see us signing some critical players like Connolly, Spencer and a couple of keepers for next year than worry about other stuff. Also, let’s decide where the young lads stand, and sign those we want to keep before someone else decides to take a punt. This season is pretty baked in, and a couple of bodies, literally that, just bodies to soak up minutes, is all we’re likely to see.