Raith Rovers star Scott Brown on ‘chaos’ of season which followed play-off final loss

Former Airdrieonians gaffer Murray subsequently saw off Partick Thistle 4-3 on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw in the sides’ two-legged Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final later that month, booking a final over two legs against Ross County with a place in Scotland’s top flight being the treasured prize for the winners.

Although Rovers were outclassed 6-1 on aggregate by the Staggies in that final – a 2-1 first leg County win at Stark’s Park was followed by a 4-0 second leg romp for the Highland side in Dingwall – feelings remained positive that Murray could again have Raith in the mix to go up in season 2024-2025.

To describe what then followed as “turbulent” could be considered a massive understatement, with a rollercoaster second tier campaign which never saw Raith in title contention at any point ultimately seeing them finish down in fifth place, a distant 20 points behind champions Falkirk and two points shy of fourth-placed Partick Thistle who ended up in the final play-off position.

However, speaking to the Fife Free Press, Raith skipper Scott Brown said he thought that the players that season had done well not to implode completely given the many challenges faced.

He referenced the chaotic nature of a campaign which saw Murray sacked after a 1-0 opening day loss at Airdrieonians, his replacement Neill Collins lasting less than four months before resigning to take over at Sacramento Republic and then current incumbent Barry Robson being left to pick up the pieces from late December onwards. There was also the shock sacking of Raith chief executive Andrew Barrowman in February.

“I think last season was a tough one off the pitch,” Brown said. “But I would pay testament to the boys for the fact that we stuck together through it all.

"We managed to finish fifth and only lose out on reaching the play-offs by a couple of points.

"So I would give the boys a massive moment of credit. It would have been easy for us at some points to go under and the club to find themselves in a wee bit of trouble.

"I think the new manager came in at the right time. He galvanised us a wee bit and we managed to push ourselves up.

"Listen, I really liked Ian Murray. I really, really got on really well with him. Obviously, I got on well with Neil Collins for a short period of time.

"It's not to say that either of these guys would have done any worse or any better.

"But, certainly, it's hard when you keep changing your manager all the time.

"But, listen, it looks like we've got a wee bit of continuity now for this season.

"I think spending more time with the manager is obviously going to help us as well.

"He brought fresh ideas in last season when he came in, but he didn't have a massive amount of time to implement them.”