Bainsfordbairn
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Posts posted by Bainsfordbairn
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31 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:
He has a year left on his contract.
What if we offer a new contract beyond the end of the upcoming season? Would that not increase our bargaining power?
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26 minutes ago, Trump said:
On a serious note, McKee and this guy on two year deals seems risky if we are looking to get promoted next year.
The majority of the senior players signed two year deals when they arrived here, though when their contracts expire and they sign extensions they tend to only get one year.
Recent examples of that would be Kerr, Baird, Watson, Taiwo, McCracken & Grant. I'm not quite sure what the thinking is behind this policy.
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1 minute ago, Trump said:
Michael McGovern wasn't released by Ross County, he left after his contract expired to play in the central belt, something to do with his wife who was a teacher? Either way, don't let the facts get in a way of a good story.In this case it's the same thing is it not?
Mitchell had a two year contract at Dundee and left at the end of it as a free agent. McGovern left at the end of his contract at Ross County, also as a free agent.
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3 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:
Sleeve tattoo and released by a bottom 6 Premiership team. Fits the bill perfectly.
Just like Robbie Thomson, and he's done alright. Michael McGovern was released by a side who finished 3rd bottom of the Championship and he wisnae bad either.
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1 hour ago, gav-ffc said:
Was meaning the likes of McKee who got back Tuesday and signed his contract.
No idea when ore season begins.Not quite. McKee came in on Tuesday before flying out on holiday the following day.
Houston returned yesterday though. The players don't come back until 28th June.
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4 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:
Previous form says signing at the start of the ST sales, one or two in the middle and the player sale after the early bird closes.
Poor Peter Houston. Not only does he have to get the right signings in, but he has to do it at precise times in order to suit the marketing needs of the Season Ticket Sale Campaign. That's a tall order right enough. No wonder he doesn't have any hair left.
In my experience, as soon as a player accepts an offer the club gets him in ASAP. After all, any delay in obtaining a signature might result in him changing his mind or getting a better offer from elsewhere.
As soon as he and his agent arrive he gets a medical, the contract details are concluded and signed off, then he gets photographed and video'd for Falkirk TV. Everything is done in the space of a few hours.
The transfer is then registered and as soon as the SFA give the green light it gets announced. That normally happens within a couple of days, sometimes less.
I can think of two instances where an announcement has been delayed. One was due to international complications as it was a cross-border transfer. In every other case, the announcement was made shortly after the process above was completed.
Falkirk do not "bank" transfers in order to release the stories at strategic times in a Season Ticket Campaign, as I think you're claiming. The idea is frankly just a little silly. Unless you can prove me wrong by giving details of a recent instance where it happened?
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8 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:
Bollocks the club is like a leaky bucket and has been for years. Some Directors canny hold their water
Agree about some Directors - and exDirectors - yet the majority of new transfers come in without their names appearing online. For example, of the three that arrived in January only one was leaked in advance, and that was believed to have come from his agent.
We'll see what this summer brings.
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1 hour ago, Back Post Misses said:
I saw a tweet from the Business Bairns twitter hinting at something about to drop.
Bairns Business Club had a meeting at the stadium on Tuesday and handed the club a cheque for ten grand. They got a photocall which was subsequently tweeted out.
There is a very, very small circle of people who need to know in advance about signings and as a general rule the Comercial Dept - who deal with BBC - are excluded from that circle. I think it's very unlikely the Business Club know anything.
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6 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:
So how do we fit at least 4 centre mids into a 2 man centre mid? Craigen has been excellent there so do you drop him? Kerr and Taiwo certainly cant play in the same midfield. Thats been blatantly obvious this season and I would doubt that McKee and Craigen could play together in centre mid as they both like to get forward. And all this is before we know whats happening with Sibbald. If he signs for a year will that mean he's stuck out on the left again where he strugglesto dictate games? And if that happens where do we play Hippo? The whole thing smells of having too many players for the same positions which was one of the main issues last season.
Sibbs will be gone if he gets an offer. Hippo should always be a starter - if he's on form.
Assuming he is, that leaves three places between four of Craigen, McKee, Taiwo and Kerr. One goes on the bench as we regularly change our midfield combinations in the second half anyway. It's possible we might bring in another midfielder (winger?) to replace Aird, though personally I'd be happy with Blues as backup for injuries. Henderson could do a job if he could find consistency but for the U20s last year he would have one brilliant game followed by three rotten ones.
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42 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:
We've now got 4 players again for two centre mid slots and thats without taking the likes of Henderson into the equation. Was there really any need to sign up Taiwo and Kerr? We certainly better not hear Houston crying about his budget if we're left short in other areas.
Tommy Tackle is the only midfielder we have with bite; had we released him we'd have been looking for an enforcer-type player in the centre of the park.
As for Kerr, it's probably no coincidence that a couple of his best games this season came when was playing with McKee in the same midfield. I think he'll be better next year with a willing runner alongside him, just as he was with Vaulks.
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10 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:
I remember an English import a few years back who took about 15 minutes to hit the ground running. His initials were SS.
Either your memory is defective or mine is, because I'm sure Simon got off to a pretty slow start. I can vaguely recall we were about three or four games in and there were grumblings around the terraces about him being a waste of money. I'm sure I can recall him getting abuse from some of our fans at Firhill.
In fact, were we not rank for the first couple of months, sitting miles behind Airdrie, and then we went to Dundee in such a foggy day that you could barely see the park from the older enclosed where they put us? We just clicked that day and then never looked back.
I might have it totally wrong but I'm certain SS didn't hit the ground running. Or do I have the season mixed up?
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21 minutes ago, ANEWHOPE said:
Id rather finish in the play offs with O'Hara, Gallagher, Shepherd & Blues in the squad than with other teams cast offs or journeymen.As would I, and I'd happily see us hold off making signings until January to give our own boys a chance. I suspect I'm in a minority of one on that one though.
We do at least need a left back as Gal is the only natural one left in the squad. Henderson & Mitchell have occasionally filled in there but neither are close to the quality of Gallacher. If he gets injured we're in trouble.
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2 minutes ago, ANEWHOPE said:
I know he not Mr Popular on here with some but heard Mr Brown Shoes on the radio making the point that many of the young players are reluctant to go on loan as they are way too comfortable where they are. This was a point that I've heard others make and one that has some merit. Why would a English Premiership or Championship player earning a very good salary want to take the risk of going on loan when they can sit on their 3/4 year deal and then work their way down the divisions. The Academy is a nice wee merry go round that many are happy to keep turning for as long as they can. Therefore chances of someone coming to us is less likely.
That's probably true actually, because the last two English loans we've had - Rakish Bingham and Rhys Bennett - were both punted from their parent clubs at the end of the season. They obviously knew they were on the way out so we were a last chance saloon for them.
The English players that we've signed on contracts have often been duds too - Andy Haworth, Olu Durojaiye, Jack Compton, Owain Tudur-Jones & Phil Roberts spring to mind. There is some quality to be found, but the ones that we can afford are more likely to be dross. Or very rough diamonds which need a lot of polishing. Leahy and Vaulks came good eventually but they weren't instant hits. Neither was Higginbotham. The only one who hit the ground running was Lyle Taylor.
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9 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:
Oh I don't know, he didn't seem to have much issue making public statements about what he thought the wages of a senior player who had signed for another club were, what's stopping him now?
That's slightly different, because he was responding to a public question about salaries and why he wasn't making what you might call marquee signings.
I doubt anyone's going to stand up at the next fan forum and ask if he knew about a player at Albion Rovers.
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9 hours ago, BottiBiabi said:
Was told from McCallums brother that Houston preferred Zwick to McCallum and that's why they removed the contract offer that was on the table for him.Surprised that a manager who's trying to sign a player would tell his target that he actually prefers someone else. And then name that someone else.
We will sign a goalie as a backup to Thomson; that's an absolute given.If he turns out to be someone one who has no connection to either of the above, it may cast some doubts on your source.
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6 hours ago, BottiBiabi said:
The deal for McCallum has fallen through, Houston believes he's found someone better.
Out of interest, do you know when we made the offer to McCallum?
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If St Mirren are signing players from Albion Rovers and Alloa, then it'll be up a step in for those players in terms of wages - which means they would probably be keen to sign ASAP. I would expect us to have signings in early if we'd bid for someone at Stenhousemuir. As we did with Fash from East Fife.
We may be trying to attract a higher calibre of player, which makes it harder to secure them. Lets wait and see.
After all, we've got over two months before the first league game of the season. It's a wee bit early to be worrying about the lack of signings.
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I can honestly say I'd rather see us give McCracken a five year extension than sign Buchanan. He's brutal, even if he is (allegedly) a Falkirk supporter and the son of the Falkirk Herald editor. Think back to Austin's winning goal at Dumbarton a few weeks ago.
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32 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:
Houston probably doesn't even know he exists right enough.
I'd happily put a bet on with you about that if I could think of a way of winning it. Unfortunately the chances of getting the gaffer to make a public statement about a young player who's signed for another club are pretty much non-existent.
You'ld probably be surprised about how extensive a knowledge the coaching staff - and manager - have of players elsewhere. Which is why I think a lot of the stick they get is unfair and tend to defend them both on here and COYB.
Put it this way - over the next month or so, you'll see the club announcing signings from a similar level to Albion Rovers. These will be youngsters who'll play for either the U20s or U18 sides next year. If we can identify players at a younger age, then it's a reasonable assumption that we knew about the guy you're referring to.
Who are you talking about BTW? I was looking at the St Mirren website and it shows a 22 year old goalie from Albion Rovers (Ross Stewart) and a 25-year old midfielder from Alloa (Jordan Kirkpatrick) who scored 17 goals. I can't find:
1 hour ago, Marshmallo said:That's St Mirren signed a 20 year old striker from Albion Rovers that I have been hugely impressed with. Saw him in the Juniors and he had loads of raw potential, 6'5 with a good touch and has handled the step up well. Meanwhile we're arguing about another year for Baird to follow an ancient Mark Kerr.
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28 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:
We are going for this "Project Brave" nonsense.
Indeed we are. Interesting article here, albeit it's about three weeks old now.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sfas-project-brave-faces-full-10372547
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1 hour ago, Back Post Misses said:
Even the lad in the 17's Scotland pool is nowhere near ready
I agree with that, but at the moment he's literally still a wee boy and is only in his first year as a professional. Give him a couple of years to learn and fill out a bit and he could turn into a decent player for us. The potential is there.
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50 minutes ago, BottiBiabi said:
I was told by Marc's younger brother that we'd offered him terms. Plymouth have also offered him a deal so he might choose to stay down there.
Fair enough. I wouldn't imagine we could match what Plymouth can offer but we'll see what happens.
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Just now, Back Post Misses said:
I do know the Board would like to see the Academy better represented in the team
That's a small part of the reason I'd be surprised if we signed him, as he would be playing for the U20s as an overage player. I'd have thought it more likely that McMinn's replacement would have been a young player whom we could develop.
The board wanting more academy players in the team is a no-brainer, for obvious reasons. Their wishes have no impact on team selection though, despite the folk who thought Gallacher only got a run around Christmas in order to put him in the shop window. Nobody tells Houston what to do when it comes to team selection.
I kind of agree with board on that actually. I'd like to see Shepherd, O Hara and Blues get more of a chance, though I know you and I disagree about their potential.
The number of senior pros who're signing / being offered contract extensions puts the "more youth in the first team next year" rumour to bed. In fairness though, we ARE bringing in more youth players from FVFA in preparation for having a U18 team in a years time, as required by the new Elite Academy structure. Next week we'll sign six of the Academy graduates and turn them into fulltime, professional footballers, as revealed at the Gala Awards. We normally only bring in two or three.
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59 minutes ago, BottiBiabi said:
We've offered terms to former Dundee United and Livingston goalkeeper Marc McCallum.
Have to say that I'm dubious about this, for reasons that I'm not going to go into just now.
I might comment more on it next week but for now this seems as credible as the "Houstie moving upstairs and we're going with youth next year" rumour that someone posted on Friday.
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The Falkirk FC Thread
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted · Edited by Bainsfordbairn
Youth players get initial contracts of two years on graduation from FVFA and if they show anything during that time the club move quickly to tie them up for longer. It's entirely up to the parents & player as to whether they sign an extension and how long they'll commit for.
Gallacher is being monitored by some very big clubs in England. Under those circumstances, do you really think he'll accept something like a three year extension to stay with us?
There are players at Falkirk who have offers from the club to extend beyond next summer, when their current contracts expire. That's not my definition of "sheer incompetence". Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it hasn't happened.
In the meantime, you're blaming the club for something that is entirely outwith their control.