'We must do better': Raith Rovers' Dougie Imrie on season finale and summer rebuild
Raith Rovers boss Dougie Imrie admits his team’s poor displays in their last two league matches – a 2-1 reverse at Arbroath and last Friday’s 2-0 loss at St Johnstone – have galvanised his belief that a huge summer of rebuilding is required at Stark’s Park.
Imrie, whose hopes of making the premiership play-offs were officially dashed by the result against the champions in Perth, told Raith TV post match: “There’s going to be big decisions have to be made. I want this group of players and this team to be better.
"I’ve got to give the players a little bit of leeway as well. It’s been a tough season, a lot of change and that’s never easy, it’s hard. But I like my own team to be on the front foot, 110% every game, whether we’re playing badly or well.
“But certainly the last two games have summed up large parts of this season for sure.
"And that’s something that I’ll need to digest and make the right calls for this football club.
"St Johnstone have done amazingly to deserve a night like this but you don’t want that to be the case and allow them to have an easy ride and we certainly gave them that.
"But they’ve been excellent all season and to be number one for 36 games is testament to that group of players, the manager, his staff.
"They’ve got a team that are hungry, they want to run, they want to tackle, they want to run back. And at times they look for the ball, all the players are wanting the ball.
"They don’t go hiding when the going gets tough and that’s something that I want to install here, a real togetherness from everyone.”
Raith, fifth in the William Hill Championship table with 42 points, go into the final round of league fixtures this Friday sitting two points ahead of sixth-placed Queen’s Park and three clear of seventh-placed Ayr United.
Imrie’s men will host bottom club Ross County, while Ayr are at home to St Johnstone and it’s Partick Thistle v Queen’s Park.
Looking ahead to the game against Stuart Kettlewell’s Staggies – who must win to have any chance of going above second-bottom Airdrie and avoiding automatic relegation – Imrie said: “It’s an opportunity to hopefully finish fifth.
"It will not be an easy game. Ross County are fighting for their lives but we have to put on a better performance than we have in the last two games to get anything.”