Bainsfordbairn

We played them twice at home, winning 3-0 in August and 4-2 in the New Years Day game. I don't have a picture of the teamsheet for the first match but this was the second one.

Gold star for you CP. This was the teamsheet that day.

Yeah I know. I was there.

Kingsley was always going to be a success. He stood out a mile at the development games (U19 I think) that I used to watch at Stirling Uni. The amount of goals he set up for Joe McCafferty or Ally Graham to tap in at the back post was unbelievable.

I don't know their ages so couldn't comment on the squads. Re QP, I would have agreed with you five months ago. Not now. We were abysmal last season after the Airdrie game in December. My lowest point in 42 years as a Falkirk fan was driving seven hours to and from Peterhead in April and seeing not a single shot on target while the opposition played us off the park. Within ten minutes of kickoff it was obvious we were going to lose. The departure of M&M the next day was no surprise. Everything changed for me with the first game back against Irvine Meadow. We were excellent. Not because we won, but because of the type of football we played. Which you can now see for yourself as there are no more closed-door games. Sheerin has made a massive difference. We finally look like a real football team. As I've been saying privately to a number of my friends ever since. This might be one of the alcohol-induced posts that I later regret, given that I'm just finishing off a bottle of wine which the lovely Sarah Scott gave me after we met at the stadium earlier today. But I'm confident we'll win the league. I've been really impressed by the quality of football we've played so far. This team are just night and day compared to the last three or four years. Dare we hope that the good times are returning?

Sorry, but I think that's almost as far off the mark as your "Cove have the league sown up already" post which you made in the middle of June. More than a month before the league kicked off. From what I picked up from a signing night recently there will be two development squads. One at U16 level and one at U18. If you assume say 15 players in each squad that's 30 young players on our books, none of whom will be near the first team squad unless Sheerin offers them a deal as he did with the likes of Ben Weekes & Co. I imagine the players who emerge from the development squad with pro contracts will be no more than 3 or 4 a season, just as they always were when we had an academy. Some of whom went on to be a lot more than just squad players. Time will tell.

The guy who did most of the background stuff had to give it up due to work pressures. Massive loss, as he's been doing the filming, editing and technie stuff for at least 15 years and was extremely good at it. I believe AT has returned to help fill some of the gap.

When I was in on Friday it was said that the area would continue for as long as the people who sat there needed it.

I have, but the things I’ve been snapping such as Foundation teams, their strip launches, FFC development players or Commercial stuff aren’t what I think you’re hoping to see. Some of those will appear by the end of the week but probably not the first team signings pics that you're after. There's nothing imminent. Albeit that could change in seconds if FFC receive an acceptance phone call from an agent or a club to say that they're willing to loan a player out to us.

As social distancing no longer applies from Monday I think we basically return to normal in terms of opening or closing stands. From what I saw of the briefing today, masks are only required indoors. So they won't be needed at Falkirk games, unless somebody somewhere does a risk assessment and says you have to wear them in an enclosed concourse while queuing for a pie or walking thought it to your seat. Probably the same if you're in the lift or stairs heading for hospitality.

No. If someone made up stories about you, claiming you've done things which you haven't, then I think you would be annoyed too. CP - thank you for the retraction / explanation. I do occasionally post things at night after a few drams that I regret the next next day, but that wasn't one of them. I'm in agreement with the rest of the points made in your post and I'd like to see us explain what went wrong. Maybe that will happen once the match is out the way. It's certainly something I'd expect Lewis to inquire about in an FFCTV interview.

Seriously? You're actually inventing stories now? I did nothing of the sort. I imagine admin will have some sort of tools for checking posts. Feel free to ask them to "recover" the post I never made about the 14 players sharing dressing rooms and offer me a wager on it. Shall we say a thousand pounds to Strathcarron Hospice? I have no idea what the current protocol is for dressing rooms. I know that a year ago they weren't used for training and that two separate ones were used on a matchday. I could add that they still seem to be hyper-cautious about following the rules. Recent examples would be the game against Hearts at Largs, where they were given a dressing room so small that the players were only allowed to go in four at a time. Prematch teamtalks being held in the open air at Largs & Stirling Uni. Or nobody who's not tested being allowed near the players. For all that though, I agree with you that for such an outbreak to happen something must have slipped through the net. Unless this variant is now so contagious that it can spread due to contact training, in which case we'll see a lot more outbreaks this season. Time will tell. Either way, inventing stories about what other posters put up does you no credit. Why do it?

I guess it's possible we could have trialists for tomorrow, as those aren't something that can be announced in advance. No idea what the shortest loan duration can be.

So would I, but it's not a case of one or the other. The media officer who writes and puts these out has nothing to do with football decisions about bringing in players.

Earlier in the week folk were complaining that the club weren't telling them what was happening about the game. So the club make a statement, giving a full update on the (then) current position and what they've been doing. And follow it up a day later by confirming what they've been told by the SPFL. But now they get accused of wasting their time???? Bejesus. Talk about damned if you do and damned if you dont.

The players who're not having to isolate are back in training. If the club are told to play the game on Saturday then I imagine there'll be an FFCTV interview beforehand. At that point I suspect the manager will give an update in terms of the squad size available to him and how many days training they've had.

Is it not midnight Saturday they come out of isolation? I think you're missing the word "and" from the guidance below. (copied from the NHS website). Or am I miscounting? If you test positive, your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day you had the test, if you do not have symptoms) and the next 10 full days.

Hmm, I just noticed something which I think answers my own speculation. I had a PCR test yesterday. It was negative. This is part of the email response I received. You still need to self-isolate for 10 days if: · this test follows a positive lateral flow test and you were advised to continue to self-isolate · you’re a contact of someone who tested positive That being the case, I don't see how the Cove game can go ahead. Unless I'm misunderstanding some of the rules?

I was having a look at the rules on the NHS website. (link below) This part jumped out at me:- If you test positive, your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day you had the test, if you do not have symptoms) and the next 10 full days. When to self-isolate and what to do - Coronavirus (COVID-19) - NHS (www.nhs.uk) Assuming those are up to date and apply equally to footballers, next Saturday will be the final day of self-isolation. Which means if we couldn't field a team against either Edinburgh or Ayr then we won't be able to field one against Cove. This is pure speculation on my part, but I think there is only one way the game can go ahead. If the last two games were cancelled not only because of positive tests, but also because of players being identified as close contacts. And if those close contacts subsequently tested negative in a PCR test, then presumably they'd be allowed to return to training and prepare normally. Just need to wait and see I guess.

For a number of years until covid I was helping to promote sponsorships for what felt like 3 or 4 days a week. From all the hundreds of conversations I heard between clients and club staff, it was crystal clear that KK was very much the main man.

Yes, but not in connection with the first team. As for signings, unfortunately the club have little control over timings so I wouldn't read too much into departures being announced. It depends on an agent picking up the phone to say "we accept" or a higher league club making a player available for loan that FFC had their eye on.

Nor at either Bainsford Primary or Falkirk High School. I was one of them and used to get a lot of stick for the team I'd chosen to support. As for the age demographic thing, I think we have more young fans than people realise. Before covid arrived there were over a thousand kids a week playing organised football in navy blue strips with steeples on their chest. When you add in parents and siblings that's a lot of families who'll have an affection for the club. Community football might not be of interest to most folk who follow the professional game but I think it's a big factor in growing a fanbase. And the Foundation have been very active for a long time now.

Rocco is correct. Most of the signings McKinnon made during the summer of 2019 were announced as two year deals. Then as the season progressed rumours emerged on here and elsewhere that the second year was actually conditional on FFC winning promotion. That was pretty much confirmed at the end of the season when Buchanan and Doyle were punted after only one year. While Telfer, Connolly, Dixon and Durnan were announced as having signed new one year deals that summer - which they shouldn't have needed if their original two year deal was still active. The whole thing was debated quite heavily on here so I'm surprised you missed it.

Re the first part, you've misinterpreted what I said. Which is my fault, not yours, as I didn't word it very clearly. Let me fix that. I highlighted the fact that Arbroath had commented on the game being cancelled. The part about it being pulled at their request is my own belief. I mentioned it as there seemed to be an assumption that Falkirk were somehow at fault. They weren't. No-one was. Last season FFC were twice planned to play Edinburgh City in friendlies at different times of the year. Both games were pulled. I could be wrong on the details, but I think both were down to injuries and that each club initiated the cancellations once. A week and a half ago FFC were due to play Cowdenbeath in a friendly. They pulled out and Irvine Meadow stepped in. The Foundation team that I help have had three games cancelled in the last six weeks, or at least they will have by the time Sunday arrives. Not one of these has been done to screw ups. Just changes in circumstances.

I don't think it would be fair for us to comment on the reasons why another club pulled out of a game. That's an internal matter for them.