The New Raith Rovers Thread

[SanStarko]

1 hour ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Which leaves us relying on Akio and Isma more than we would like. You can see Isma has quality in his locker but he just doesn't offer the running of Gullan or Akio so we need to change our style of play a bit to get the best out of him. His woeful decision making last night didn't do him any favours either. Akio is the opposite. Plenty of running and willingness but very raw with not a lot of obvious quality.  

I'm thinking, hoping, that we might do better flipping it around from last night.  Start games with Isma, then bring Akio on in the second half when his running can cause problems for tired defenders.  The problem with Akio, which was very evident last night, is that he seems to have zero concept of how or when to make a run and how to create space for others.  Which is kinda worrying for a professional footballer, and it was it was just making it far harder for us to break down Ayr because he just seemed to be either standing beside his marker or running after the ball but only after the pass had already been made.

Isma doesn't have much running in him and doesn't seem very match fit either, but he's got the knowhow to cause defenders issues and make them have to think about what he's going to do.  So you have him on from the start to cause the opposition defence to have to work a bit, then bring Akio on and have him run himself into the ground for 30-35 minutes against tired defenders.

Edited February 25, 2023 by SanStarko

[Specky Ginger]

7 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

During lockdown everyone made impulse buys, for some it was easy to justify upgrading your power tool collection.

At least that Dremel would become useful sometime, alas...

There was a wee incident in Still Game involving a Dremel, although it was somewhat overshadowed in the same episode by Boabby's video.

[Ro Sham Bo]

38 minutes ago, SanStarko said:

I'm thinking, hoping, that we might do better flipping it around from last night.  Start games with Isma, then bring Akio on in the second half when his running can cause problems for tired defenders.  The problem with Akio, which was very evident last night, is that he seems to have zero concept of how or when to make a run and how to create space for others.  Which is kinda worrying for a professional footballer, and it was it was just making it far harder for us to break down Ayr because he just seemed to be either standing beside his marker or running after the ball but only after the pass had already been made.

Isma doesn't have much running in him and doesn't seem very match fit either, but he's got the knowhow to cause defenders issues and make them have to think about what he's going to do.  So you have him on from the start to cause the opposition defence to have to work a bit, then bring Akio on and have him run himself into the ground for 30-35 minutes against tired defenders.

I said the same thing in the match thread. I can only assume Murray doesn't feel Isma is up to scratch fitness wise but hopefully with another decent week's training we can start that way at Partick. 

[roverthemoon]

Last night kind of underlined that we’re just short of play off quality. If we’re even thinking of Top 4 then we need to be beating a pretty average Ayr side on a poor run at Stark’s. We’ve got the core of a good side but it fades in the final third. The unbeaten run is great in that it keeps us safe from relegation, and gives us some good days out in the cup but that’s about it. 

We’ve had so many games in which to really fire ourselves into contention but not taken any of them. Feels like Thistle away is the last chance saloon in this regard. Lose that and I think that’s the season pretty much done. No doubt we’ll probably draw…

[Scary Bear]

14 games unbeaten, but we have Partick Thistle away next. Hope it’s not foggy.

[TxRover]

8 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Agree with what folk are saying here. I don’t think the squad is far away from a challenge at the top end. If we can keep the core of the squad and add a few bits of quality here and there I think we’d have a chance. Fully understand that about half the league will be saying the same thing, however. Keeping Connolly, Spencer, Nolan, Lang and probably Dick would just about do me, although of conscious of the fact that those 5 coupled with the already contracted Millen, Gullan, Brown, Vaughan, Ethan Ross, Easton, Stanton and Matthews is basically the exact same team that just draws every single week just now, so maybe not. 

What that says to me is we have the core of a solid mid-Championship team before any additional development or recruitment. It’s not bad place to be, and would be a solid start for next year. We’ll be faced with deciding on Gullan, Vaughan and Ross after next year anyway, but most of the others are no brain sign if they will choices.

I’d rather see Young go back out on loan if he’s going to sit behind Ngwenya, but Towler from Aberdeen seems to have settled in well at Elgin so it would have to be to a LL/HL team to get playing time.

[raith1974]

41 minutes ago, TxRover said:

What that says to me is we have the core of a solid mid-Championship team before any additional development or recruitment. It’s not bad place to be, and would be a solid start for next year. We’ll be faced with deciding on Gullan, Vaughan and Ross after next year anyway, but most of the others are no brain sign if they will choices.

I’d rather see Young go back out on loan if he’s going to sit behind Ngwenya, but Towler from Aberdeen seems to have settled in well at Elgin so it would have to be to a LL/HL team to get playing time.

What it tells me is we need to find a couple of strikers that's been missing for almost 2 seasons. Where would we be this season with 2 players up top that could put the ball in the net. Even last night we created chances  some better finishing or decision making would have got us 3 points.

I'm also a big fan of Spencer but if he doesn't sign on again I would try and find another Scott Brown we would have one hell of a midfield. Brown is some player. 

 

[TxRover]

12 minutes ago, raith1974 said:

What it tells me is we need to find a couple of strikers that's been missing for almost 2 seasons. Where would we be this season with 2 players up top that could put the ball in the net. Even last night we created chances  some better finishing or decision making would have got us 3 points.

I'm also a big fan of Spencer but if he doesn't sign on again I would try and find another Scott Brown we would have one hell of a midfield. Brown is some player. 

 

Funnily enough, I’ve been pondering if having Brown and Spencer isn’t hindering us. Both are outstanding DM/M position players, and would likely walk onto a starting role with almost any team in the league…but…

We gain width with our FB’s, so we have to play 4 back, and we then commit Brown and Spencer just in front of them, leaving us with just 4 more players to design the attacking portion of the team. Given we love a 4-2-3-1 right now, unless we are willing to move Spencer forward (and displace Stanton?) and try a 4-1-3-2, our only option to get two attackers up top would seem to be a classical 4-4-2 (or 4-2-2-2) with the attacking mids being wingers. This too would pull Stanton out of the middle, where he’s been extremely effective.

OK, so let’s go to 3 in back…well that sacrifices Millen’s crossing, which is blooming excellent, and leaves us very narrow, with perhaps a 3-2-3-2? Where will the width and crossing come from…maybe Easton and Connolly outside Stanton with two up top. OK, but who are the three defenders? Millen at RCB works, but wastes his skillset, Lang and Nolan at CB and LCB works and Dick might be fine at CB/LCB too…so we have the pieces, but we lose something we’ve built the team for, wide play, the passing game. Of course, we have the potential to lose at least one of Lang/Nolan/Dick at seasons end…

The results of this is that IM’s 4-2-3-1 is ideally designed for this team, or this team was built for it, except we are missing a solo threat up top. We have several options, none of whom seem to be at best playing solo up top…and as we saw with Ayr, even Dipo isn’t a solo attacker, his performance has fallen off as his playing position has become more isolated. You don’t find competent solo attackers at this level, so perhaps IM needs to find a way to adjust his scheme…but as we see, it isn’t that easy.

[Ro Sham Bo]

I think most of us suspected as much at the time, but not appointing Liam Fox as manager was a wise decision. 

[pub car king]

That's Ayr and Morton 5 points ahead and both have a game in hand. Worse case scenario they both win and then we are 8 points ahead with 10 games left. 

Are our 4th place hopes over or will we manage to string a run of wins together? 

[TxRover]

30 minutes ago, pub car king said:

That's Ayr and Morton 5 points ahead and both have a game in hand. Worse case scenario they both win and then we are 8 points ahead with 10 games left. 

Are our 4th place hopes over or will we manage to string a run of wins together? 

 

[lgb61]

We were guff last night, Easton needs a shoeing for being such a blinkered selfish twat when he couldnae hit a coo's arse wi a cricket bat fae 2 feet.

Can you just imagine if we went traditional 4-4-2 wi Akio and Isma up front, Akio doing all the running and Isma laying it off to him instead of Easton practicing for Stade de France

[Ro Sham Bo]

31 minutes ago, pub car king said:

That's Ayr and Morton 5 points ahead and both have a game in hand. Worse case scenario they both win and then we are 8 points ahead with 10 games left. 

Are our 4th place hopes over or will we manage to string a run of wins together? 

On the plus side, the teams below us all lost.

As far as the teams above us are concerned, it doesn't really matter if they are 2, 5 or 8 points ahead of us. If we can't beat any of the sides above us, we won't be catching them. 

[R.R.FC]

40 minutes ago, pub car king said:

That's Ayr and Morton 5 points ahead and both have a game in hand. Worse case scenario they both win and then we are 8 points ahead with 10 games left. 

Are our 4th place hopes over or will we manage to string a run of wins together? 

I think 4th will be a bridge too far for us this year, really need a win next week to keep any sort of hope. Home games against the sides around you like the recent Ayr and Inverness matches are the type you have to win if you’re serious about challenging for top 4.

However, Ayr and Morton’s game in hand over us, is against each other so both can’t go 8 ahead.

[Michael W]

We've had a prolonged unbeaten run containing a huge amount of draws - we aren't finishing 4th. Had we turned even two of them into wins, we would perhaps be having a different conversation about it. If we finish the season fairly solidly and don't get sacked into the relegation battle, I think we can call it a good season. 

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Michael W

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

Quote

Raith Rovers goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald said the only thing that was missing was a win as he reached a significant career milestone.

The goalkeeper lined up for his 500th career appearance in Friday night’s 0-0 draw with Ayr United – saving a penalty to ensure a point.

MacDonald is still “loving” playing every week, even if he has had to manage a shoulder injury this season.

The 36-year-old knows there are no guarantees but right now he is set on aiming for another 100 appearances.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/4177177/raith-rovers-jamie-macdonald-eyeing-another-century-as-he-recalls-debut-that-could-have-ruined-me/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

[Jilted John]

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

We've had a prolonged unbeaten run containing a huge amount of draws - we aren't finishing 4th. Had we turned even two of them into wins, we would perhaps be having a different conversation about it. If we finish the season fairly solidly and don't get sacked into the relegation battle, I think we can call it a good season. 

 

The law of averages would suggest that given our long unbeaten run, we will probably lose a few soon. Finishing 5th with a cup win and replicating last season would definitely be a successful season in my eyes given the transition.

 

2 hours ago, lgb61 said:

We were guff last night, Easton needs a shoeing for being such a blinkered selfish twat when he couldnae hit a coo's arse wi a cricket bat fae 2 feet.

Can you just imagine if we went traditional 4-4-2 wi Akio and Isma up front, Akio doing all the running and Isma laying it off to him instead of Easton practicing for Stade de France

Not sure if the comments about Easton were tongue in cheek? He had a bad night in front of goal but he’s a player we should be building a team around not looking to drop. He’s an absolute joy to watch at times.

[TxRover]

4 hours ago, lgb61 said:

We were guff last night, Easton needs a shoeing for being such a blinkered selfish twat when he couldnae hit a coo's arse wi a cricket bat fae 2 feet.

Can you just imagine if we went traditional 4-4-2 wi Akio and Isma up front, Akio doing all the running and Isma laying it off to him instead of Easton practicing for Stade de France

Just for the argument, who plays in your 4-4-2, in the midfield.

[rodricoh]

Can anybody get the online tickets for the Rangers game to work. I can't.

[Ro Sham Bo]

46 minutes ago, rodricoh said:

Can anybody get the online tickets for the Rangers game to work. I can't.

Got mine okay yesterday. Was just a case of entering my email address and then selecting the number of tickets. 

Are you a season ticket holder? Think its season ticket holders only this weekend.