Jump to content

The New Raith Rovers Thread


Recommended Posts

Really happy with the signing, as i had mentioned on my FB earlier if we can get a left winger in (Cheers McGlynn ;) ) then i will be very happy with the squad we have. Bit of depth that we needed and for the first time in a while some good youth players coming through, Callaghan and Laidlaw in particular so far pre season looking very good but Wilson impressed me last season as well

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone else fancy seeing Reece Donaldson at left back? I know it's unlikely to happen with the signing of Malone but with us lacking a "proper" left winger there's space in behind for an overlapping full-back. Malone seems a solid enough left-back but Reece is a lot quicker - his pace, along with Jason Thomson's, could also prove invaluable for covering centre-backs in the event of them being turned, something which I've noticed in friendlies we've lost with the Dyer-for-Malone swap.

With the relative "comfort" of three part-time sides in the league, something which hasn't happened in the First Division for years, I really do think this is the year to give younger players a shot. And I mean a proper shot, not a few token appearances towards the end of the season. Laidlaw and Wilson look assured but sadly are unlikely to get much game time due to options in front of them, but I'd be looking to get Callachan and Donaldson into the first 11.

If we play the kind of football we've been playing pre-season with a couple of attacking full-backs and a "proper" winger in Anderson I think we'd maybe see a few more people willing to get along to Stark's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Callaghan looks the most likely to get a chance this year simply due to the fact we don't look like we're that strong in terms of central midfielders given the preference to play Hammill on the wing. Hope he can take his chance, has been impressive in the friendlies.

He deserves his chance, id also hope so see some of the younger lads get a run out during the Wick game. Hopefully we get an extra midfielder or 2 to help boost the squad. If we did it would make for interesting competition in midfield which is looking good so far

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My worries for the coming season are that we still look less than rock solid at defending free kicks and corners. I had hoped before the signings started that we'd sign;

a left back, a pacy winger, a creative midfielder, a goal scorer and a collossus at centreback.

Malone, Grant Anderson, Stuart Anderson and Pat Clarke just about satisfy the 1st 4 requests but no collossus!

Again we were undone (as we were all too often last season) at a set piece against Motherwell, what I wouldn't give for a Sparky & Marv pairing.... or even just one of them along with what we have already.

My fears are that Anderson isn't just actually a Scott McBride in disguise, I recall when McBride first played he also looked decent for a game or two as well, McBride was too lightweight and worryingly Anderson does seem to get brushed aside too from time to time. I'm not starting a hate campaign here as he's got plenty of pace and he looks a better bet than McBride did, sadly I missed the Ross Co game and by all accounts that was his best outing.

My other fear is for defending set pieces as I've said, I'm not too concerned about open play defending though.

My hopes are that Clarke and Graham become a quality double act, 20 goals each would be a nice change. I also really hope Ross Calaghan comes of age and we spend the entire season saying "Davo? Davo who?"

Am I worried about how we'll fayre in the coming season? Well naw not rerally! a tad apprehensive perhaps but maybe that's normal for me and more down to my belief (experience) that a decent showing in the pre-season friendlys often leads to a long, hard and usually sad season. There still time for Dundee Utd to thump us and put that worry to bed though. ;)

If there's any truth in the rumour that we are getting 3 Hearts kids to offset McGlynns compo then I hope Jamie Walkers one of them. As for the other two I can't see the need for them at present and as we've seen before when you take players on loan you seem to be duty bound to play them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we give Wilson a decent run out I think he could be our solution to a dominate centre half, he looks tall and has won his fair share in the air in the opportunities he's had.

He really does need to bulk up a bit though, looks a bit stick like at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't make my mind up if we've merely resorted to being mortal againoff set pieces after years of Mark Campbell or if we really are bad at defending them. Probably some combination of both.

I can see us having another season of uncertainty at CB with the pairing being changed fairly frequently. The fact Murray is now manager also removes him from the 'certain starters' as he may wish to take more of a back seat at times.

Edited by Michael W
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As long as he doesn't start with Dougie Hill I'll be happy, he's looked dodgy ever since he came back from his leg break. Which is a shame as he was solid for us before that horrific incident!

We can thank Andy McNeil for that

I think when he was fit last season he was excellent but when he appeared to be carrying knocks he was constantly giving away silly free kicks and missing tackles

Given that, I'm thinking he's currently carrying an injury

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't make my mind up if we've merely resorted to being mortal againoff set pieces after years of Mark Campbell or if we really are bad at defending them. Probably some combination of both.

I can see us having another season of ?uncertainty at CB with the pairing being changed fairly frequently. The fact Murray is now manager also removes him from the ?'certain starters' as he may wish to take more of a back seat at times.e

We lost a ridiculous amount of set piece goals last season, especially since we were defending them with eleven men in the box. We've only lost one goal from three games, I think, directly from a set piece so far so its a bit early to say if those problems are continuing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My worries for the coming season are that we still look less than rock solid at defending free kicks and corners. I had hoped before the signings started that we'd sign;

a left back, a pacy winger, a creative midfielder, a goal scorer and a collossus at centreback.

Malone, Grant Anderson, Stuart Anderson and Pat Clarke just about satisfy the 1st 4 requests but no collossus!

Again we were undone (as we were all too often last season) at a set piece against Motherwell, what I wouldn't give for a Sparky & Marv pairing.... or even just one of them along with what we have already.

My fears are that Anderson isn't just actually a Scott McBride in disguise, I recall when McBride first played he also looked decent for a game or two as well, McBride was too lightweight and worryingly Anderson does seem to get brushed aside too from time to time. I'm not starting a hate campaign here as he's got plenty of pace and he looks a better bet than McBride did, sadly I missed the Ross Co game and by all accounts that was his best outing.

My other fear is for defending set pieces as I've said, I'm not too concerned about open play defending though.

My hopes are that Clarke and Graham become a quality double act, 20 goals each would be a nice change. I also really hope Ross Calaghan comes of age and we spend the entire season saying "Davo? Davo who?"

Am I worried about how we'll fayre in the coming season? Well naw not rerally! a tad apprehensive perhaps but maybe that's normal for me and more down to my belief (experience) that a decent showing in the pre-season friendlys often leads to a long, hard and usually sad season. There still time for Dundee Utd to thump us and put that worry to bed though. ;)

If there's any truth in the rumour that we are getting 3 Hearts kids to offset McGlynns compo then I hope Jamie Walkers one of them. As for the other two I can't see the need for them at present and as we've seen before when you take players on loan you seem to be duty bound to play them.

Tbh defence is one area of the pitch we shouldnt change. We have plenty of cover in there with Murray, Wilson and Donaldson as the backups who between them can play anywhere along the back. I know what you are saying but when it was the Wilson, Murray, Ellis, Dyer combo that was when we had our great run of games when we had one of the best defences in Europe!

If we take Walker it should only be if we can play him on the left otherwise it makes the Anderson (Grant) signing pointless as he has had looked good in the friendlies and would be a real kick in the teeth to drop him for a loanee. If we can get a left winger and maybe another youngster who can player centre mid that we can use for backup il be quite happy. At the moment i dont have any concerns starting the season with the Walker/Callaghan pairing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we were to loan a left midfielder, would there be any point in loaning another CM when we'd have Anderson and Hamill on the bench who could act as cover?

Ahh my bad i keep forgetting about Stuart Anderson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking forward to tomorrow's friendly. I was at the Ross County game and was impressed by Raith. Kept the ball down and played from the back.

I think we'll be giving Millar and McLean a run out with some of the younger lads. Daly may start as he only played for about 20 minutes against Everton. Hope we bring a decent support to help swell the coffers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...