Raith Against The Machine Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I think I can already see what it is that Murray is going to do this season that's going to annoy me, and it's playing strikers too deep. It looked like he'd dropped Spence bac into a midfield five in the five or ten minutes before Spence was subbed, and whether it's by instinct or instruction Smith always seems to be five or ten yards behind Elliot. I actually quite like what I've seen from Elliot, considering the quality of defender he's been up against. Good to see him play the full 90 tonight. As I said before, hopefully the strikers can get a few more opportunities in the cup games, and maybe bury a couple. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD Raith Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Can't read into friendlies to much wait the serious games start anyone know if the attacking trialist is getting signed ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith_Nut Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 two bounce games ti go, give the boy ti prove. a thought he was OK. 2 goals over looked his hunger 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev23 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 two bounce games ti go, give the boy ti prove. a thought he was OK. 2 goals over looked his hunger 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Machina Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 My personal favourite from the stand was when Elliot went down easily and didn't win a free kick. Some idiot up the back yelled out "Stay on yir fucking feet Spence" for everyone to look at him in confusion and humour. The shout of "that was Elliot" back at him from the guy sitting next to me was hilarious. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Starko Saltires Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 The fact that we've conceded 7 and scored 1 in three games is what worries me. Sent from my GT-I9100P using Pie & Bovril mobile app 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardy Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 The fact that we've conceded 7 and scored 1 in three games is what worries me. Sent from my GT-I9100P using Pie & Bovril mobile app It would worry me if the games were competitive. Scorelines mean jack shit. Of course 7 goals conceded and just 1 scored does look pretty poor on paper. But it doesn't entirely show the full picture. The team tonight had 6 (7 if you include Cardle) changes from the team that started last season. If we are shipping that number of goals within a 3 week spell during the course of the season then I'd be worried, but the third game if pre season? Not so much.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardy Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 The fact that we've conceded 7 and scored 1 in three games is what worries me. Sent from my GT-I9100P using Pie & Bovril mobile app It would worry me if the games were competitive. Scorelines mean jack shit. Of course 7 goals conceded and just 1 scored does look pretty poor on paper. But it doesn't entirely show the full picture. The team tonight had 6 (7 if you include Cardle) changes from the team that started last season. If we are shipping that number of goals within a 3 week spell during the course of the season then I'd be worried, but the third game if pre season? Not so much.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonsilitis Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 It would worry me if the games were competitive. Scorelines mean jack shit. Of course 7 goals conceded and just 1 scored does look pretty poor on paper. But it doesn't entirely show the full picture. The team tonight had 6 (7 if you include Cardle) changes from the team that started last season. If we are shipping that number of goals within a 3 week spell during the course of the season then I'd be worried, but the third game if pre season? Not so much.. Yep! Nothing to worry about at all. Just the seven did you say? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MICMAC Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 If we're gonna ship goals then this is the time to do it and get all the creases ironed out. Watson never impressed me when he was at livi but maybe a change of scenery is what he needs. Hopefully he'll have a better game on Sat. Moon for me could be the signing of the season if he keeps up this level of performance and I was impressed with cardle again tonight and Anderson actually put some decent balls in. There were more positives than negatives for me tonight. Yes there were mistakes but how often do you go to a game and see that many, not very often and against a lesser team we'd probably get away with most o them Sent from my GT-I9100P using Pie & Bovril mobile app 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardy Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Yep! Nothing to worry about at all. Just the seven did you say? Friendlies have no bearing on how a team will perform over the course of a season. It's basically fitness and handing out trials. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRFC2711 Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Last time we shipped five in a freindly we ended up going for the league title....dont care...mon the rovers.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.C Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Last time we shipped five in a freindly we ended up going for the league title....dont care...mon the rovers.... This. Yup the "it was Elliot" shout came from Renton who is a yardstick for when Rovers are shite was actually fairly content. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Pie & Bovril mobile app 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.C Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Also to mention Spence only dropped into mifield when Cardle went off and Anderson switched sides Sent from my GT-I9100 using Pie & Bovril mobile app 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoversMad Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Last time we shipped five in a freindly we ended up going for the league title...I said exactly that to my mate in the stand...Great minds & all that I can't wait for the real stuff to start, I thought we played well in spells tonight, and were probably the better team in the 1st half. Cardle was causing all sorts of problems, going past players at will, him and Anderson both put a few good balls across goal which just evaded the strikers. Tonight was my first Pre-season game, and despite the scoreline I still went away happy, mostly because we are actually looking like (whisper it) we are playing attractive football again, there was a lot of nice passing & moving and in Cardle we have somebody who excites the fans again every time he gets the ball 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Machina Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 From what I've seen, Moon and Cardle could easily be playing at a higher level. They will be a key factor in how our season goes. Callaghan has looked really good as well in pre-season and could be pushing for first team. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Sandy Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 (edited) Aye, 5-0 min, ...bet the phone wis ringin' aff the hook at the Samaritans last night!! I think we have the makings of a really good team this season, still need a couple of new faces, whether that be loanees or a signing. BTW, pleased we got Watson...iffy debut, but will settle in! Edited July 18, 2013 by Wee Sandy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowden til i die Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Paul Watson and Callum Booth in your back 4. Two boys from my town. Interesting 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithie Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Hopefully this gives Murray an indication on what we need to work on before the start of the season. I'd rather we get these errors ironed out in pre season rather than carry them over into competitive games. Players will thrive on confidence so getting scudded 5-0 isn't going to help, in fact scoring 1 goal in 3 games and conceding 7 is a scary statistic even at this early stage. Hopefully the players have that mental ability to understand they can't dwell on the result and realise that it was a bad day at the office and concentrate on rectifying these errors and look towards the next game. I wasn't there last night but reports suggest we looked decent in the first half. I was at the Hibs and Sheffield United games and will admit thre is a slight concern as to where the goals are going to come from (this after me singing Spence's praises in another thread). I felt on paper our strike force is more than capable of competing at this level and my only concern prior to these friendlies was the defence. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Sack the manager! Sack the board! Sack the players! Burn the ground down! Salt the earth so that nothing can grow again! Some of the over reactions to last night did border on the hysterical, apparently due to a healthy dose of assuming that because of Hearts playing their younger players and having financial worries, that they should've been push overs. I don't suppose there is any use in pointing out that a lot of these guys played a full season in the SPL, that guys like jamie Walker, Jason Holt and David Smith were usually the best players in our team when they had them on loan, or that despite a tough season last year, that Hearts team could realy turn it on - witness the last season turnaround against an in form Ross County for example. Allowing for that, we contained hearts reasonably well, and were undone largely by some brutal individual errors. The first and last goals we could've done better as a team, sloppy attempt to clear the ball for the first goal with McHattie free at the back post and the fifth one was a good cross and an unmarked header, although being in the dying minutes and 4-0 down already may have affected the teams concentration anyway. Goals two, three and four all involved individual mistakes: Laidlaw is not a bad keeper by any means, but should never have let the second squirm under him (Dougie Hill was unlucky not to have intercepted what wasn't even his ball to chase in the first place) and the fourth, he's parried a shot back out in front of him, which was suicide. In both these cases the Hearts forwards are moving quickly and it's simply beyond our first division defence to keep up with them - they were almost certainly a faster team across the park than Hibs were. The third goal was simply a brutal mistake by Watson, who let the ball bounce and got caught on the hop by Jamie Walker - not a guy any central defender wants to get caught chasing towards their own goal. Livi fans are adamant that watson will leak goals, it was certainly not a dream start for the guy, but for the benefit of the doubt, I don't know if he's even had a training session with us yet, he didn't look sharp - although he did have a couple of nice tackles, and does want to try and play the ball a bit more, rather than the 100% gaurenteed hump up the park. So what were the positives? Our midfield looks a damn sight stronger than at any point since we came back up. Cardle caused problems all day long, and will be the main creative force in our side: Either going outside to the byline or cutting inside and linking midfield to forward he gives a lot of options for the team. On the other side Anderson gives us strength and pace and tracks back well. His final ball is stil la bit of a lottery. In the middle Moon and Fox look like a decent partnership. They position themselves well both in offence and defence and Moon in particular looks a real good player. Always makes himself available for a pass, good at breaking up play and getting forward when he can. Another big positive is Callachan coming on to a game. Looked very asusred when he was on the pitch, and looks like he can push Moon and Fox for a starting berth. The trialist looked decent in the wee spell he wa son, I think he does offer us a differnet style of play which could be useful in the long run. Up front, Elliot did a lot of useful work in the build up, his strength helped hold the ball up and his use of the ball was generally smart. Goes down a bit too easy and moans a lot. I think he'll be a Hislop type character: is gonna split opinion, wil do a lot of good work but maybe not grab that many goals and will get pounced on by the home support for the first little mistake. Spence and Smith are similar players: Spence is faster, Smith is stronger. Between the three of them I'd expect us to score goals, but we've chosen friendlies that does limit our forwards sight of goal. Having said that we did produce some decent chances that went begging more to do with split second decisions, either going to early or the corss going in behind the forward line, than any basic iincompetence fromt he forwards. I'd be more worried if we were skying the ball over an empty net six times per friendly. So yeah, we had a lot of neat possession, worked some good chances, looked comfortable in midfield for the first time in a few years and got undone by a defence all at sea. We can cut out the individual mistakes and McGurn and Ellis can come in for Laidlaw and watson if need be (albeit that would be harsh given it was a friendly). I'd be far more worried if the general quality of the players wasn't there, and if Murray was suing a bunk system, but we looked pretty good on the ball and used it generally quite well - particularly in the first half. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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