Raith Rovers sit in a precarious position in the Scottish Championship.
A placing made worse by Tuesday night’s wins for Cove Rangers and Greenock Morton.
Rovers have the chance to immediately go back above Jim McIntyre’s and have a potentially tricky game in hand versus Arbroath to come.
Courier Sport grades the summer business, form, manager and star player for Raith after the first quarter – save for the postponed fixtures from last month.
Transfer window
Early in the season it appeared to be a mistake, whoever the responsibility fell to, to let the likes of Frankie Musonda and Kyle Benedictus leave.
Ayr United and Dunfermline made flying starts in their respective leagues while Raith suffered a defensive crisis.
Some summer targets ended up at Premiership sides as a combination of factors led to a difficult transfer window.
The jury is still out on a few, mainly due to a lack of playing time, but most have made positive contributions so far.
Raith Rovers’ new signings analysed: Kieran Ngwenya, Connor O’Riordan and Connor McBride https://t.co/CPVLfAUdq2 pic.twitter.com/gdRXlsbbtq
— The Courier Sport (@thecouriersport) October 5, 2022
The defence is a lot better than it was at the start of the season and the only area still requiring immediate attention is striker.
Grade: B+
Form
As described by Courier Sport after the recent defeat to Queen’s Park: erratic.
This is understandable during a squad rebuild and for principles to be instilled that require patience.
It is exacerbated by Ian Murray’s tendency to go for broke at certain times.
Despite their form there have been positive signs in many of the matches Rovers have lost.
If they are to replicate Murray’s Airdrie side then this will improve as the season progresses.
Grade: C
Manager
Murray has had a fair bit to deal with in his short spell so far.
His attempts at replenishing the squad were hampered for the reasons set out above.
Christophe Berra unexpectedly retired following the Premier Sports Cup group stage.
More recently Scott Agnew left, leaving the Raith boss without an assistant.
Murray has made successful tweaks to his system on several occasions and his signings so far have done well overall.
The league position is poor but Murray has navigated through turbulent circumstances.
Grade: A
Star player: Scott Brown
In such an inconsistent side it feels only right to pick not only a standout performer but a consistent one.
Connor O’Riordan has been some find and it should be made a priority to get his loan extended beyond January.
Sam Stanton has grown into the set-up as the season has progressed but it is his midfielder partner who has been the steady presence throughout.
Brown has played every minute this season other than the 80 he missed at Hamilton due to injury.
Brown filled in at centre-half to cover earlier in the season and the team has improved since a run in his natural position.
Grade: A
Murray’s team is very much a work in progress.
Where you stand as a Raith Rovers fan right now may very well depend on if you are a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type of person.
Or as one Rovers fan put it earlier in the season: is it time for patience or panic?
There are compelling arguments to be made either way.
We will edge on the side of optimism given the positive signs so far in some difficult circumstances.
Conversation