Raith Rovers v Greenock Morton

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, Raith Against The Machine said:

I thought at the time that the foul for Lithgow's first booking was a little soft. Once the foul is given it's got to be a booking because Varian is angling in at goal, but they're shoulder to shoulder and it's not a huge amount of contact to put Varian down. 

The second one, though, is the epitome of naive defending. You can see from a mile off what Varian's going to do, and Lithgow gets far too tight and plays into his hands. 

Disagree - it was a classic case of a petulant foul from a player who had already chucked his toys out of the pram and couldn't be arsed. The constant whinging from the team at the second goal was utterly pathetic as well. 

[Pride of Fife]

The youngster Varian exposed Lithgow, not to be confused with Lithgow exposing himself to youngsters

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Pride of Fife said:

The youngster Varian exposed Lithgow, not to be confused with Lithgow exposing himself to youngsters

But the team left him hanging out there...

[Hank Scorpio]

When we announced we had signed Berra in April, I posted this on the rovers thread: 

A few things wrong with that, obviously, but perhaps the most glaring being that I’d have rather signed Alan Lithgow than Christophe Berra. Berra has been a fucking rock whilst Lithgow has struggled badly. 
 

Now I’m having a flick through some of the reactions from when we signed Berra

Edited November 21, 2021 by Hank Scorpio

[TxRover]

8 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

When we announced we had signed Berra in April, I posted this on the rovers thread: 

A few things wrong with that, obviously, but perhaps the most glaring being that I’d have rather signed Alan Lithgow than Christophe Berra. Berra has been a fucking rock whilst Lithgow has struggled badly. 
 

Now I’m having a flick through some of the reactions from when we signed Berra

Whilst I was disappointed we didn’t retain the services of SMac, Berra has proven even more valuable than SMac did...and that’s saying something.

[Hank Scorpio]

You’re getting your KMac’s and and your SAndo’s all mixed up, Tx.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Hank Scorpio

[Rudolph Hucker]

7 hours ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

MacPherson should and will be binned if we lose to either Ayr or QoS at home next month.

He doesn't appear to know how to set up the squad he assembled even to grind out a point, never mind actually win games. And this habit of behaving as if he's in charge of a development squad as soon as we're behind doesn't reflect well on him at all.

There’s a lot to agree with re your second point, but I don’t agree with the first.

The only way he’ll be under more pressure after those games is if we find ourselves four or more points adrift at the bottom.

Some on here have been saying every week for the last six or more that “if he doesn’t get a win today that's it  - he has to go”. If they keep it up then I suppose they have to be right sometime, but unless we’re at least a win and a draw behind the rest he’ll be here till January and maybe beyond, like it or not.

 

 

[Wardy]

6 hours ago, virginton said:

Disagree - it was a classic case of a petulant foul from a player who had already chucked his toys out of the pram and couldn't be arsed. The constant whinging from the team at the second goal was utterly pathetic as well. 

Yeah it was a bit pathetic. Never understand why players constantly complain to the referee/assistant referees.

Very rare that the referee will turn round and be like “you know what? You’re right, he was offside, it’s your free kick instead” 

[Broken Algorithms]

Now I’m having a flick through some of the reactions from when we signed Berra [emoji38]

The reaction to the signings of Berra, Zanatta and Connolly was utterly embarrassing from some of our fans. Folk wrote them off before we even kicked a ball competitively. I'm delighted at our league position, but I'm just as happy that all three have shut down any doubters.

[Wardy]

3 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

 

The reaction to the signings of Berra, Zanatta and Connolly was utterly embarrassing from some of our fans. Folk wrote them off before we even kicked a ball competitively. I'm delighted at our league position, but I'm just as happy that all three have shut down any doubters.

But also Sir John of McGlynn…

[roverthemoon]

8 minutes ago, Broken Algorithms said:

 

The reaction to the signings of Berra, Zanatta and Connolly was utterly embarrassing from some of our fans. Folk wrote them off before we even kicked a ball competitively. I'm delighted at our league position, but I'm just as happy that all three have shut down any doubters.

Berra is immense. A master stroke from McGlynn. Just waiting for him to bullet one in from a corner for the cherry on top.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

1 hour ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

There’s a lot to agree with re your second point, but I don’t agree with the first.

The only way he’ll be under more pressure after those games is if we find ourselves four or more points adrift at the bottom.

Some on here have been saying every week for the last six or more that “if he doesn’t get a win today that's it  - he has to go”. If they keep it up then I suppose they have to be right sometime, but unless we’re at least a win and a draw behind the rest he’ll be here till January and maybe beyond, like it or not.

 

 

Yeah, but it doesn’t really make sense to agree with the second and not the first.

Your version is more or less saying ‘only sack him if we’re cut adrift’; surely you act before that?

If we’re bottom at the end of a month in which we play Ayr and QoS at home, any lingering sense of ‘give him a chance to turn it round’ is gone. At that point, somebody else should be given the January window to shuffle the pack.

If he can haul us to a point a game, he’ll survive… but it’s highly unlikely we’ll do that if we can’t beat one or both of those two at home. If he can’t, persisting with him is just accepting we’re going down.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

He's not going to be sacked after a defeat against any of the top 5 unless it's an absolute hammering and he sets the team up so defensively that's not going to happen. He's not going to be sacked after a draw either. The only way he's getting sacked is if we get beat against one of the bottom five at Cappielow or the teams around us start picking up points and we end up adrift at the bottom. 

If he's smart enough to talk his way into a two year deal after one league win then he'll have no issue persuading the bowling club committee in charge that he deserves more time after another plucky odd-goal defeat against Ayr United. 

[Rudolph Hucker]

9 hours ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Yeah, but it doesn’t really make sense to agree with the second and not the first.

Your version is more or less saying ‘only sack him if we’re cut adrift’; surely you act before that?

If we’re bottom at the end of a month in which we play Ayr and QoS at home, any lingering sense of ‘give him a chance to turn it round’ is gone. At that point, somebody else should be given the January window to shuffle the pack.

If he can haul us to a point a game, he’ll survive… but it’s highly unlikely we’ll do that if we can’t beat one or both of those two at home. If he can’t, persisting with him is just accepting we’re going down.

I’d argue that it does make sense. The second point is an opinion on how he selects and sets up the team. The first is an opinion on how likely it is that the board will swing the axe.
 

I think they’ll remain very reluctant to do so if we’re still in the pack. If at least three of those four teams are still separated by just one or two points he’ll still be here - as you say, if he can average a minimum of a point a game it’ll probably be enough for eighth place. I’m not saying it’s what I want to see as this season has been no fun for anyone, it’s just how I read the situation going forward.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

6 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

I’d argue that it does make sense. The second point is an opinion on how he selects and sets up the team. The first is an opinion on how likely it is that the board will swing the axe.
 

I think they’ll remain very reluctant to do so if we’re still in the pack. If at least three of those four teams are still separated by just one or two points he’ll still be here - as you say, if he can average a minimum of a point a game it’ll probably be enough for eighth place. I’m not saying it’s what I want to see as this season has been no fun for anyone, it’s just how I read the situation going forward.

I'm sure they are reluctant... but if we can't beat Ayr and/or QoS at home, what chance have we got of getting near a point a game? We're sitting on 12 from 15; lose to Ayr and we go into ICT and Arbroath on 12 from 16. Even a draw with Ayr only takes us to 13 from 16.

The last-minute equaliser against Hamilton and the win at Dunfermline hauled him back from the brink; anything less than 4 points from Ayr and QoS and there's simply no case for persisting... whether or not we're adrift.

I'll add that I was, relatively speaking, pretty comfortable with our chances in the play-offs last year, although there's no doubt we got lucky in the end with the way things fell; finish 9th this year and we'd be odds on to go down.

They got slagged for declaring their objective was 8th, but I don't really have a problem with that... as long as they meant it and are held to it. Scuffling along with the same manager with half an eye on 9th being somehow ok, on the other hand, is the kind of garbage that will potentially damage us for years to come.