The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Offshore Rover]

25 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Fair enough, hadn’t seen that anywhere, makes sense though. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see something similar happen with us, based on the sounds coming from the boardroom. 

Seen it on the Arbroath thread but just a rumour i suppose! 

[Ro Sham Bo]

1 minute ago, Offshore Rover said:

Seen it on the Arbroath thread but just a rumour i suppose! 

With Tait out for the rest of the season it would make sense that Arbroath are looking for a replacement loan. 

[CALDERON]

If he hasn't got a club, in a market where people are fucking desperate for strikers, there's likely a very good reason.

Sometimes there's a reason nobody else has made that move.  Look at Scott Allan, for example.  

[CALDERON]

4 hours ago, raith1974 said:

I'm saying free up whatever we are paying for him along with perhaps any fund we free up with another couple maybe leaving or going out on loan, then target a striker. What you are saying is let's just sign anyone from any club and play him because we have no one else. IM must have contacts in the game surely someone can help us out.

It's fairly obvious Connell isn't the answer, but the club has bugger all money and there are very, very few quality strikers out there.  Murray can have all the contacts in the world, but I don't think it's going to make much difference.  Young loanees or total random punts are what our budget extends to.

 

[renton]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I see the East Fife manager is saying the boy they had on loan from Hibs - Joao Balde - will be joining an as yet unnamed Championship side next month and has played his last game for them. He plays centre mid. I don’t think it’s outwith the realms of possibility that we will lose someone from that position and sign him as a replacement. My bet would be on someone giving us a fee for Sam Stanton and us signing this boy as a replacement. Just guessing of course, no real substance to this other than thinking out loud. 

Going to Arbroath isn't he?

[renton]

57 minutes ago, RRFC_Liam said:

He’s one of the worst strikers I’ve seen in recent times he’s right next to Lewis Allan level of shite, all what Connell is, is a long throw in merchant 

Steady on. Lewis Allan was shite at league 1 level, Connell is only shite at championship level (having Said that, he did have that one performance against Ayr - so he can reach that level)

[TxRover]

6 hours ago, raith1974 said:

I'm saying free up whatever we are paying for him along with perhaps any fund we free up with another couple maybe leaving or going out on loan, then target a striker. What you are saying is let's just sign anyone from any club and play him because we have no one else. IM must have contacts in the game surely someone can help us out.

I asked for the striker you’d sign in his place. Apparently your answer is pile up some money, burn it as a voodoo sacrifice to the fitba gods, and hope they show us a striker. All I’m saying is EVERY team in this league needs a striker, is Connell just perhaps a better choice than the actual options we can get? Is Connell better than Fredericksen….McBride…Mitchell?

[D'Jaffo]

1 hour ago, CALDERON said:

If he hasn't got a club, in a market where people are fucking desperate for strikers, there's likely a very good reason.

Sometimes there's a reason nobody else has made that move.  Look at Scott Allan, for example.  

Managers will always know more on this front than fans. There’s no doubt that any manager interested in him will speak to other managers and will likely be told to stay away. 
 

Dick Campbell clearly thought he knew better with regards to Scott Allan and now he’s paying the price with it. 

[raith1974]

46 minutes ago, TxRover said:

I asked for the striker you’d sign in his place. Apparently your answer is pile up some money, burn it as a voodoo sacrifice to the fitba gods, and hope they show us a striker. All I’m saying is EVERY team in this league needs a striker, is Connell just perhaps a better choice than the actual options we can get? Is Connell better than Fredericksen….McBride…Mitchell?

Is Connell better than Frederiksen or McBride, I would say on a par as all appear very poor. Mitchell I will leave out of this as he's a kid learning his trade our on loan. In terms of a striker, if I knew who the answer is then maybe I would be doing a different job, however, that's for IM to get right not me. Its likely to be a loan player or someone released and out of contract.

[basher brash]

Regarding Connell ! He ain’t good enough would rather play one of our youngsters rather than him at least we would be saving money , I’m a huge Ian Murray fan but it terrifies me he’s hinting on re signing him unless it’s just playing lip service to the media

[TxRover]

33 minutes ago, raith1974 said:

Is Connell better than Frederiksen or McBride, I would say on a par as all appear very poor. Mitchell I will leave out of this as he's a kid learning his trade our on loan. In terms of a striker, if I knew who the answer is then maybe I would be doing a different job, however, that's for IM to get right not me. Its likely to be a loan player or someone released and out of contract.

OK, and that’s my point. IM, in suggesting we will sign Connell, is telling is us that, in his opinion, he’s the best option, in our price range, available. By signing McBride and Fredericksen, he told us that we are shopping in the bargain bin and just hoping one will pan out. It’s all well and good to say save your pennies and buy a striker, but when our chosen expert says their ain’t one out there…

21 minutes ago, basher brash said:

Regarding Connell ! He ain’t good enough would rather play one of our youngsters rather than him at least we would be saving money , I’m a huge Ian Murray fan but it terrifies me he’s hinting on re signing him unless it’s just playing lip service to the media

See above, but I would love to see us let Mitchell get play, but the way that Coulson gets treated convinces me that The Rose is a better spot for him right now.

[basher brash]

27 minutes ago, TxRover said:

OK, and that’s my point. IM, in suggesting we will sign Connell, is telling is us that, in his opinion, he’s the best option, in our price range, available. By signing McBride and Fredericksen, he told us that we are shopping in the bargain bin and just hoping one will pan out. It’s all well and good to say save your pennies and buy a striker, but when our chosen expert says their ain’t one out there…

See above, but I would love to see us let Mitchell get play, but the way that Coulson gets treated convinces me that The Rose is a better spot for him right now.

That’s what my main concern is ! What the hell is our scout doing Ayr continually appear to be finding strikers down south and yet the best we can get is Connell who has played on loan at East Fife and Airdrie and could get a game for killie in the championship , Fredriksen and McBride are more waste of resources and regarding people stating they haven’t been given a chance it must be the case they aren’t good enough even in training because Murray isn’t even giving them a run out but sadly that’s where we are at the moment with Mr Mcglynn being allowed to spend the family silver so to speak and it wasn’t that long ago Karen McCartney CEO in  Sept 2021 Rovers are in a healthy financial position What a Shambles !

Edited December 27, 2022 by basher brash

[TxRover]

4 minutes ago, basher brash said:

That’s what my main concern is ! What the hell is our scout doing Ayr continually appear to be finding strikers down south and yet the best we can get is Connell who has played on loan at East Fife and Airdrie and could get a game for killie in the championship , Fredriksen and McBride are more waste of resources and regarding people stating they haven’t been given a chance it must be the case they aren’t good enough even in training because Murray isn’t even giving them a run out but sadly that’s where we are at the moment with Mr Mcglynn being allowed to spend the family silver so to speak and it wasn’t that long ago Karen McCartney CEO in  Sept 2021 Rovers are in a healthy financial position What a Shambles !

So here we have a different matter. The question here is what has the current financial “situation” done to our scouting? The first thought I had was, well, JMcG couldn’t find a damn striker, so our scouts weren’t working then either. Neither JMcG nor IM seem to have successfully used their contacts to get/find a striker, Matej excluded. JMcG developed Bowie, and helped get Gullan signed higher up too…who did IM develop at Airdrie? Perhaps could claim Callum Smith?

Overall, neither of our most recent two managers seem to be the types to easily identify forwards, which isn’t surprising because they are both ex-defenders, and favor ball control. But why are our scouts so unproductive in uncovering young players that we might develop? The problem here seems to be the loss of the reserve teams and the academies.

[Beachbum]

Maybe Bryan McDonald has been busy in the background for months. Maybe not.

https://www.raithrovers.net/56278/bryan-mcdonald.htm

[basher brash]

49 minutes ago, TxRover said:

So here we have a different matter. The question here is what has the current financial “situation” done to our scouting? The first thought I had was, well, JMcG couldn’t find a damn striker, so our scouts weren’t working then either. Neither JMcG nor IM seem to have successfully used their contacts to get/find a striker, Matej excluded. JMcG developed Bowie, and helped get Gullan signed higher up too…who did IM develop at Airdrie? Perhaps could claim Callum Smith?

Overall, neither of our most recent two managers seem to be the types to easily identify forwards, which isn’t surprising because they are both ex-defenders, and favor ball control. But why are our scouts so unproductive in uncovering young players that we might develop? The problem here seems to be the loss of the reserve teams and the academies.

This is where Dunfermline have stolen a March on the other Fife teams by setting up there own Academy  , Since the demise of Fife Elite this has been our only route for spotting and developing young players recently where is the money that was going into Fife Elite going now from the Rovers ? Making a financial saving or employing a scout ? ! Connell was already under Rovers radar having previously played for Murray on loan at Airdrie , Fredriksen has clearly been signed on the basis of a YouTube highlights reel and 2 or 3 trial games .  So dis heartened at the moment with everything off the park total shambles IMO 

[renton]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

So here we have a different matter. The question here is what has the current financial “situation” done to our scouting? The first thought I had was, well, JMcG couldn’t find a damn striker, so our scouts weren’t working then either. Neither JMcG nor IM seem to have successfully used their contacts to get/find a striker, Matej excluded. JMcG developed Bowie, and helped get Gullan signed higher up too…who did IM develop at Airdrie? Perhaps could claim Callum Smith?

Overall, neither of our most recent two managers seem to be the types to easily identify forwards, which isn’t surprising because they are both ex-defenders, and favor ball control. But why are our scouts so unproductive in uncovering young players that we might develop? The problem here seems to be the loss of the reserve teams and the academies.

Except that McGlynn in his first spell brought in Johnny Baird, Brian Graham, Gregory Tade, Kevin Smith and Gary Wales as well as some other strikers of greater or lesser influence. He clearly had no issue with strikers then. Even in his second spell, he managed to get hold of Maclean, and took punts on Duku and Ugwu so it's not like he had a congenital blind spot. 

Also, Murray - based on his comments about midfield prior (paraphrasing, but: it helps but doesn't win you games) suggests to me he isn't really a ball control first type of coach but has adapted his style to the players still at the club. I think if he could launch a quick ball at two quality strikers, he would.

 

[TxRover]

13 minutes ago, renton said:

Except that McGlynn in his first spell brought in Johnny Baird, Brian Graham, Gregory Tade, Kevin Smith and Gary Wales as well as some other strikers of greater or lesser influence. He clearly had no issue with strikers then. Even in his second spell, he managed to get hold of Maclean, and took punts on Duku and Ugwu so it's not like he had a congenital blind spot. 

Also, Murray - based on his comments about midfield prior (paraphrasing, but: it helps but doesn't win you games) suggests to me he isn't really a ball control first type of coach but has adapted his style to the players still at the club. I think if he could launch a quick ball at two quality strikers, he would.

 

Very good points…I agree.

22 minutes ago, basher brash said:

This is where Dunfermline have stolen a March on the other Fife teams by setting up there own Academy  , Since the demise of Fife Elite this has been our only route for spotting and developing young players recently where is the money that was going into Fife Elite going now from the Rovers ? Making a financial saving or employing a scout ? ! Connell was already under Rovers radar having previously played for Murray on loan at Airdrie , Fredriksen has clearly been signed on the basis of a YouTube highlights reel and 2 or 3 trial games .  So dis heartened at the moment with everything off the park total shambles IMO 

Thats a great question about the funds.

[Brashy's Boots]

If Connell is the answer we're asking the wrong question. McBride and comedy John are quite clearly duds too, so if their contracts can be offloaded they should be. 

If we've had a scout on the books since August I sincerely hope he has a wee list of names from a myriad clubs and places. Otherwise, he too can foxtrot Oscar.

Someone pondered if Crewe might have a young forward needing game time. English lower leagues are a lucky bag, as we know. For every Akinyemi there's an Abrahams, but it's a bigger bag to be furtling aboot in. Surely to christ with Murray, Cameron and the scout's connections we can find someone. 

[Beachbum]

Not a lot out there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-championship/top-scorers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-league-one/top-scorers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-league-two/top-scorers

[Ro Sham Bo]

Andy Carroll has just scored for Reading. Don't know why we didn't sign him when we had the chance.