Robí di Lathamé had just wrapped up a second season in charge of Raith Rovers by leading the club into the second round of the Scottish Championship playoffs.
Now it was time to reflect on another successful season in Scotland.
Raith’s key men
Our best players this season were two of our 19-year-old prospects, striker Darren Shaw and loanee midfielder Jake Cain. Shaw’s 22 goals were a new club record, while Cain set a new record of 13 assists – which beat record sale Regan Hendry’s 11 from last season. Both players finished the season with a team-high average rating of 7.21.
Shaw finished with 22 goals and 6 assists from 44 appearances. Right-winger Jordan Elliot, who’d joined on a free from East Fife the previous summer, stepped up with an impressive 14 goals and 5 assists in 44 games.
Cain and loanee striker Jamie Gullan scored 7, despite 15- and 10-match goal droughts, and Daniel Armstrong got 6.
Award winners
Liverpool loanee Cain won the Raith fans’ player of the season and young player of the season. He also won goal of the season for a free-kick against Hamilton in the playoffs, which was definitely a goalkeeper blunder. But young left-back Josh Reid was named the signing of the season. Cain was also our only player to be named in the league’s team of the year.
Championship team stats
Our goal tally of 65 was the second-best in the league, only beaten by Hamilton’s impressive 82. That included the second-most goals from corners (9)
We had the second-best possession in the league with an average of 54%, only bettered by Greenock Morton’s 55%. We also had a pass completion ratio of 75% and the second-most passes completed. And we created the most chances in the league with 109 and the second-best conversion rate of 11%.
However, we won the least headers, had the worst headers won ratio, least cross completion ratio and got the most bookings in the league, which I find slightly surprising. However, we didn’t get a single red card all season and won the most tackles in the league with 998.
Championship player stats
Young striker Shaw finished the season as the top scorer in the Scottish Championship with 18 goals, which was 1 more than Dundee’s Kane Hemmings. He also had the 2nd-most shots and shots on target in the league, behind Hemmings.
Cain got the 4th-most assists with 12, well behind the 19 of Hamilton’s Blair Alston, who also had the most key passes and chances created. Cain also created the 2nd-most chances.
Elliot won the joint-most player of the match awards, while Hendry – who left in January – was joint-9th with 4. Hendry also finished the season with the best average rating in the league of 7.49! Cain was 4th with a rating of 7.23. Elliot also covered the second-most ground in the league at 290.49 miles at 8.14 miles per match, while Cain covered 8.11 miles per 90 minutes.
Centre-back David McKay won the 4th-most headers in the league with 300. While loanee left-back James Maxwell made the most mistakes, and he won’t be coming back next season.
Bright future
The board announced plans to improve the youth facilities at the end of the season. Furthermore, they also have plans to build a new stadium in the next 5 years. So things are looking fairly promising for the future.
Join us next time as we look to rebuild for a second season in the Championship, and I’m expecting plenty of turnover!
Football Manager Addict 
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