Raith Rovers endured what was ultimately a season of grave disappointment as they were comfortably beaten in the playoff final by Queen of the South. What was not most harrowing for the Fife club was not necessarily the destination – although they had expected to win the league at the start of the season – but the journey.
Finishing a distant third behind clubs like Arbroath and Forfar was not on the script for the Kirkcaldy outfit, who face a major rebuilding job in the summer.
Ultimately, it was their away form that cost them dearly as they won only five of 18 road trips over the course of the season, while they were a match for anyone at Stark’s Park, though their form did dip with regards their undefeated home campaign previously.
Barry Smith started the season in charge but was sacked following a disappointing – but not disastrous – start to the campaign.
John McGlynn was appointed with the anticipation that he would be able to turn things around, but instead things got worse, capped by a dreadful spell of form in January and February that saw them win only one of seven matches.
Injuries, the manager argued, were a major cause of Raith’s discontent, and while losing a player such as Lewis Vaughan on a long-term basis for the second season in succession was a blow, the full-time squad should have been capable of doing better.
Persisting with too many experienced flops was a major issue, particularly in defence, where the insistence of starting struggling captain Iain Davidson was somewhat baffling. He gifted away many goals over the course of the campaign, while the unit as a whole looked shaky, with loan signing Calum Crane disappointing and no consistency at all in goal.
The midfield was too unpredictable and lacking in invention once Vaughan was injured. The loan signs that McGlynn gambled on, Jamie Barjonas more than anyone else, flopped and failed to replace him, while there was also a lack of credible width save Nathan Flanagan, who was too hit or miss.
Kevin Nisbet in attack was a roaring success and the sole reason Raith’s season wasn’t even more of a disaster. Whatever happens over the club in the summer, they must do all they can to keep him.
