Hank von Hell
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Posts posted by Hank von Hell
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I have no liking for people telling you they were right all along either.
However - did strongly voice my concern about appointing 2 rookie managers with no track record or experience of running a team at what was an extremely important period in our history - relegated to Div 3 and needing to get out of it as soon as possible.
I also said that well they have appointed the 2 of them so we have to get behind them and hope for the best.
It's went better than I thought it would but even if we stumble over the line these 2 are not a long term or even mid term option. The football is woeful ad the tactics non existent.
The single most important appointment at any club is the manager/head coach. Our BOD is truly staggeringly awful at this.
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9 minutes ago, bairn88 said:
If the complete collapse has proved one thing, it’s that a lot of falkirk fans on here know a lot about football.
There were many of us predicting this after airdrie at home at Christmas. “Knicker wetting” a lot of people replied. What we saw that day many of us knew wasn’t a one off. It was a result that was more reflective of how our performances have been this season (somehow, somehow, worse than under McKinnon). I struggle to think of a more fitting way for m and m to go out than today - no formation, no effort, no shots, square pegs in round holes. That the board has let them take this game after it was clear weeks ago (and it was clear after east fife away before the shutdown fwiw) that they were utterly useless is proof that we have turned no sort of corner.
Who would have thought eh?
Not just appointing one complete rookie with no management experience or track record but two of them!! What a stupid gamble.
The BOD are totally culpable here.
Still....they have "Falkirk Blood".
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8 hours ago, Bantabairn said:Great bit of positive news:
https://falkirkfc.co.uk/2021/04/13/ian-fergus-to-lead-new-development-squad/
Great news indeed.
“Falkirk has had an excellent reputation and track record for youth development and this latest appointment is an important step in building a new system that gives young and talented players a future pathway into the Falkirk first-team.”
You wonder if MR & SA (and lifelong fan ML for that matter) are embarrassed about this statement since they signed off on the destruction of the previous youth system. I wonder if we will ever get an apology.
Anyway moving onwards , a very positive first step back on the journey to getting our own youth players our football infrastructure, & our identity back. Good stuff!
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8 hours ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:
The BBC have had Pressley on a lot recently and he doesn't half chunter some absolute shite
Marginally better than Collins and Levein but that's not saying much
At least Levein is quite witty at times.
Collins is what everyone that played with him said - an arrogant twat.
Pressley is bonkers.
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13 hours ago, Yflab said:
Hopefully another season in League 1 beckons for you dobbers.
To be fair Cracks, you and big Lee are doing your best to make it happen.
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10 hours ago, Stainrod said:
Holt isn’t even on a wage - expenses only deal! - buttons im led to believe - so basically he’s there waiting to step in once the current two fail and he’ll take the salary. Personally I don’t think Holt has much to offer but at least having only one manager makes sense .( who was the Fanny who appointed two managers in the first place ) From an operational perspective the club is in free fall disaster from the MSG down and has been for 10 years . I actually wonder if Houston Hartley McKinnon et all were actually that bad and that the real problem actually isn’t with those who call the shots. I fear for us winning this league now as we have lost the momentum ( the one thing DM tells us every week is so critical . )
I think that fanny was Lex Miller.
I said at the time it was a huge risk appointing 2 untested untried rookie managers at one of the most crucial periods in our history, but I was told it's okay they have Falkirk blood.
And of course history tells us joint managers very rarely if ever work.
Just another f*ck up in a long list of them.
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1 hour ago, TheScarf said:
It's the tell tale sign of a shit manager(s). Just sticking 11 players on the park who, in isolation, are better than their opposite number. But haven't a clue about tactics or formation or how to play as a unit.
Neil Lennon is a great example of that too.
And Solskjaer at Man U.
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13 hours ago, Senator Frimpton said:
If this 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 is Holt's influence in effect then I'd rather he were gone too.
There's nothing wrong with the formation if you've the players for it. The number 9 especially needs to be a hard working all rounder, good in the air, holding the ball up/laying it off, and bringing the 3 attacking mids into the game. A young Lee Miller type if you will. Keena isn't this type of striker imo, he's more of a Bob McHugh poacher type that will get goals if given decent service.
It also requires a reliable central defensive pairing that stops the midfield having to sit so deep and thereby nullifying any attacking threat from there.
On Holt, he maybe a better option in the dugout for the run-in, but I've never been particularly convinced by him in that role, never mind as DoF though he might get a tune out of these players for the next 3 (or 7) games. Personally I'd give it Houstie til the end of the season if he was available or up for it.
It bends my mind that as a club FFC have a habit of offering key roles to people that haven't applied for/don't feel ready for/don't even want. It's fucking awful and amateurish leadership and I'm astonished the individuals involved have been a success in any other walk of life.
Though that itself maybe the problem: 'I can sell shoes' = 'i don't need anyone telling ME how to run a football club' for example
To give him one bit of credit at least Craig Campbell admitted when he arrived that he didn't have a clue how to run a football club them proceeded to show us exactly what he meant.
Who appointed him......who?........oh....of course.
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9 hours ago, Bantabairn said:
The minute we took off Mercer and brought on the basketball player we’ve looked an absolute shambles. Disgraceful performance apart from the 15 min spell. M&M time expired.
But but but....they have Falkirk blood!
And the fans will soon be back in the stands to tell them what to do.
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21 hours ago, Bantabairn said:
Completely agree, didn’t watch last night and tbh considering not watching anymore football until we’re allowed back,
Unless your one of the arse cheeks or a light blue mancurian it’s about exciting as watching paint dry.
Fans are the lifeblood of football and without them many managers including our two are getting away with murder.
Negative tactics, teams set up not to lose rather than win, and the Dumbarton game just highlighted the poor decision making from our two, one up front until we fall behind and then we tactically change to two up front.
FFS it’s was Dumbarton we were playing and like most games weve started with this formation.As stated by many don’t see enough to suggest we can get over the line and get out of this hell hole....
Well I watched 4 EPL games over the weekend on TV and they were all very enjoyable.
Chelsea v WBA, Leeds v Sheff U, Southampton v Burnley & Newcastle v Spurs.
Of course the spectacle would be better with fans in the stadiums at these games but I doubt the football could be. I do agree that Falkirk are close to being unwatchable on TV but that's got more to do with the standard of player and awful tactics.
At the same time 4000 Falkirk fans in TFS probably shouting abuse at the managers & players won't change much on the park either. How exactly would that make the managers better tactically?
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5 hours ago, Proudtobeabairn said:
An utter disgrace tonight. 43 shots to 0 are the worst stats I think I've ever seen. Completely agree with @Craig1876 that we should be playing our strongest XI every game and preferably our real strongest XI too, not the M&M version.
Yes, its highly probable Celtic would have beaten us anyway and possibly by 3 nil or more but its completely unacceptable and disrespectful to the fans to be starting players like Leitch, Sammon, Miller, Mercer and Francis and to go to any ground in Scotland and concede a shot on goal every 2mins.To be joking around on the touchline while this is going on is the final straw for me. M&M have to go.
I cannot think of a worse set of stats either, as someone else said at least San Marino have a shot. That's an utter embarrassment and a insult to past Falkirk teams who have taken on & beat Celtic or at least had a go. We used to be known as an attacking team with flair players.
I didn't want to get through to play Celtic but since we did at least have a shot on goal or else what's the point.
It was painful for me thinking about any neutrals who might have tuned in and hadn't seen Falkirk for a while & must have thought Jesus what the hell happened to them.
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4 hours ago, Reggie Perrin said:
The COYB arseholes are out in force on the clubs Facebook page tonight.
Some of the sycophantic pish would make you spew.
I haven't been back there after they all ganged up on me for suggesting Mark Campbell was a conman.
In times past fans who loved the club protested and saved us from the likes of the Deans and John Lambie. THE TOWN WITH NO PITY was the headline in one newspaper with pictures of the baying mob outside Brockville waiting to tell Lambie what they thought of him. Fast forward to today with these clueless blind happy clapping idiots on COYB - it's like the polar opposite.
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8 hours ago, MrDust said:
I'm not sticking up for M&M here but the long break has made it more difficult for every manager. Partick have had two players who have returned to parent club due to the unknown if our league would restart, zoom calls do not give anyone a head start and the transfer market being a 2 week window after the main window closed.
I wouldn't be surprised if Holt has had an influence, M&M shat the bed against Raith but overall it was 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 at the start of their management, never 4-5-1 against Dumbarton Forfar types.
We were classic rollercoaster under Hartley, majority of us were expecting to end the first season with 7 without a win.
We dominated 3 games the other wins were sneaked victories, the classic QoS win we were unplayable 3 up first half and could've lost it 2nd half and should have.
Sorry don't buy that....... A scout/agent he had used before and introduced him to us is definitely his idea.
Going around various pubs supporters club suggesting we are aiming for promotion, we have signed great players from England is up there with Kenny Rogers spiel.
No manager would sign a full squad at our level or championship without an idea of the players ability. The turnover of players at Dundee suggests similar happened but he had a core of decent players to ride it out until his demise.
He assembled the worst squad that Falkirk will ever have in my lifetime, probably beyond. We were the laughing stock in all parts of national media whilst in the 2nd tier.
To top it off he was a c#nt too
Yes he was a c#nt, I'm not disputing that. What I am saying is the Busted Brentford Model wasn't his idea.
There's a big difference between using a scout for the odd player and taking a full team of his players off him. And as I have said he hasn't done it before or since.
Of course he is going to TOE (pun intended) the party line at the fans meetings in the pub, you know what a megalomaniac Campbell was.
It was well mentioned at the time Hartley never travelled to see these players in the flesh, I'm sure he said as much in an interview - he wasn't going to be spending a lot of time travelling to see players. If you think about it when we are signing 8 or 9 players from England it means we are looking at probably 3 times that and it makes no sense for Hartley to go see them all or even just the 9 - he would be constantly down there (the days of Jeffries sleeping in his car are well gone).
Hartley okayed these signings based on Superscout/agent and the YouTube clips which can make Aaron Muirhead look like Messi.
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9 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:
Mon now. Before you, Hartley had 3 promotions to his name, a top 6 top flight finish and 1 disaster of a season. He then had a further 6 decent month for you before he bizarrely decided to base his transfer policy on some English scout's recommendations which goes against everything he'd done before and since in his managerial career.
He had an absolute nightmare in charge of you, granted, but overall, he's still one of the more successful managers in Scottish football right now.
He's in his 10th season in management and added another promotion and currently in a promotion push since you lot.
So he's arguably had 8 very good to decent seasons and 2 horror showings. I'd say that's better than your average Scottish manager tbf.
This was our CEO at the time Craig Campbell's great idea , his horrendously executed version of the Brentford Model. Hartley hadn't even seen these duds play.
The fact that Hartley hasn't done anything like this before or since speaks volumes - it wasn't his idea.
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3 hours ago, lanky_ffc said:
This is it for me. A 433 works best when your wingers play narrow in support of the striker and the fullbacks get high to provide the width. That's never going to happen when you're asking FBs with a combined age of 67 to play 2 games a week. Either use the squad or alter the tactics.
It might have salvaged a point last night but playing 2 strikers isn't a magic bullet either. We've turned in plenty dross performances with a 442.
3 hours ago, Dennistoun Bairn said:Oh jeez... I'm not interested in European elite teams that can play one striker formations - WE CAN'T. We're utterly inept in speed and thought, not to mention actual football ability, in playing this way or even grasping how the system is intended to function. One isolated guy, back to goal, without support or service, ie the way we play it, is just utter mind-numbing pish.
Forfar and Dumbarton coped with our "goal threat" with embarrassing EASE over the last two games, as did Airdrie & East Fife before the shutdown. We can't play this way - stop trying to polish a turd. Can't believe there's still folks on here that haven't suffered enough watching us fail miserably to employ this nonsensical tactic in recent years. Absolute joke management.
True.
If you watch Leeds Utd in the EPL this season they effectively play with one striker - Bamford - but both wingers are constantly in close support when they have the ball providing "the third man" strategy and then both full backs bomb forward also. I recall them being 5-0 up vs Newcastle and all 5 players were in the opposition's box in the 85th minute. You cannot get any more attacking than that yet they have only one striker.
You need superior fitness and technical ability ,however we don't have the players or management to achieve this. And we are in League One, but imagine though if you took the chance to take young pacey players and mould them into something like this - would be great to watch rather than this turgid sh*t.
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10 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:
TBF on Hartley he absolutely was not pushing to bin the Academy.I recall an interview with Hartley at the time when he said he was surprised at the decision to close it.
Also recall Lang stating we'd go out of business if we didn't shut it , conveniently ignoring the offer to fund it of course. Wonder how Thistle, Inverness, Ayr etc managed to stay afloat with academies at progressive level where we'd have been - must just be better run clubs.
People need to realize who the real villains were/are.
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6 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:
It was never discussed at any AGM in detail. They said nothing and shut it 4 weeks later.I was wondering about this claim it was discussed in great detail at the AGM.
As far as I recall they pulled the plug just before Christmas (heartless as well as incompetent) and no one had a scooby it was coming , well apart from Gordon Waddell who the news was leaked to the day before.
Have I got this wrong?
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4 hours ago, roman_bairn said:
I’m as frustrated as anyone that we lost our academy. But is there a mitigation of some of the criticism due to the bollocks that is Project Brave that weakened the academy we had and meant that future talent would likely go to elite clubs at our expense?
Also whilst I would welcome the return will it actually be able to get back to where it was?...
Ps. These are genuine questions. I don’t know the answer..Yes Project Brave is bollocks but we could have continued to have an academy outside "Elite" status. Like Ayr and St Mirren and other similar clubs to us we could have carried on at "Progressive" level. Pre- Project Brave you could argue Rangers, Celtic, Dundee Utd were at an "elite level" of youth development but they can't hold onto every player as we found out by taking the likes of Murray Wallace from the Rangers academy. Indeed when we had Yogi and Ross Wilson, young players were sold on having more of a chance at Falkirk.
As it was Project Brave was a very convenient excuse for Craig Campbell who was already determined to push through his Project Premiership plan and the Brentford Model.
As regards your second question I really don't know either - I would doubt we would get to the level again where we are competing in Scottish Cup semi-finals and finals with half the team made up of ex-academy players, but having 2 or 3 would be nice.
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1 hour ago, Back Post Misses said:
Quite ironic the scorer of the winning goal (ex-ffc academy when it was shut by us) would have earned us enough cash (had fans been allowed in) that would have funded our Academy for a couple of seasons. Lads who are now coming through are showing how much an act of vandalism that decision was. There are people with influence at the club who were involved still. They should be hanging their heads in the shame of it
Absolutely , I'd go further and say Margaret Lang should get a lifetime ban for her exaggerated costs to push her & Campbell's agenda.
I wonder how much it's going to cost to set up again and get back to somewhere near the standard it was. What we will never know is the lost revenue from sales of players such as Kai now roped in from another club on loan to help get us out of the 3rd tier where we languish as a result of "Project Premiership" - what a colossal irony.
These people in charge were/are only current custodians of our club and an "act of vandalism" is exactly the right description. For being part of the decision Alexander has to lose his (self titled?) "Superfan" moniker once and for all as he clearly isn't.
Or were they all just duped by Campbell , a guy who when he came to FFC admitted he knew nothing about running a football club.
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6 hours ago, The Phoenix said:
Totally agree but I doubt it's £20k easily kissed goodbye to.
It's a classic risk v reward situation for me , and 20K is not a big enough reward if the risk is an injury to one of our "stars" (yes I know) in a very condensed 2nd half of the season where promotion should be the only priority. How much would we lose if not promoted? We are only really an injured Morrison away from that scenario.
As has been said , play some fringe players and do not risk the main men.......not this season.
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1 hour ago, bejazz1 said:
This is the same situation for Arbroath. It is as important for them to remain in the championship like us trying to get out of the L1 but I can’t see Arbroath fielding a weaker team. Football is all about competing I think it is more to do about the fear of going to Celtic Park and getting 6-0 (or more)or more embarrassment. Do you think we would have fielded a weaker team if we were drawn against a championship team in the next round?
We should be able to compete on all fronts.For this strange season I couldn't give a toss about the Cup , we won't win it and we won't make any real money progressing a round or two (and fans can't go) - but we do risk injury to our better players.
Maybe the fear of going to Celtic has a wee bit to do with it, could be a serious blow to morale & confidence that we don't need at a crucial time.
Arbroath can do what they want, I only care about Falkirk getting out of this shit league we are in. Next season when it's hopefully a full season and crowds are back we can look at the Cup again.
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3 hours ago, bejazz1 said:
For me the strongest 11 v. Arbroath. The SC is a major tournament with a good draw next round. All our players need game time and may give us an indication of a potential opponent in the play offs.
No weakened side for me that why we have a squad to cope with injuries. Forfar and Dumbarton next 2 league games so should be able to cope injury wise
It’s all about opinions.So what if Keena & Morrison get injured in a 6-0 drubbing at an empty Celtic Park.
Worth the pittance we will get for getting past Arbroath ?
Not worth the risk this season of all seasons.
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16 hours ago, Shadwell Dog said:
I'd be surprised if any senior player ever wanted to play in the reserve team. At the end of the day the reason they are in it is because they ain't playing well enough to get in the first team. You surely want them to hate playing in it so they work their arse off to get into the first team. If I was a manager I'd be desperate to get the reserve team back. We produced far better players when we had reserve leagues than the academies with all the top notch equipment we have these days.
There has to be some form of reserve football for players coming back from injury or players trying to break into the first team. How FFC can expect these players to go straight into the 1st team with no match fitness is beyond me - that said we are playing in Div 3 so maybe not that essential for this crap standard.
I like the U23 set up in England where you can play up to 3 over age outfield players, perfect number for ensuring youth development plus getting injured players match fit. I know they had this in the SPFL Development League but it was 5 over age players which was too much. Nowadays we have the SPFL Reserve Leagues and it saddens me to see clubs like Alloa, Queens Park & Airdrie participle with their reserve teams whilst we don't even have one. Was this just a cost decision?
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4 hours ago, NewBornBairn said:
The BBC are absolutely fucking determined to help this go through
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53092366
A heavily slanted article slanted towards the idea that shows a complete lack of understanding of the objections.
Peddling utter pish like -
Bloody hell. Where do you start with that?
It finishes with
Quite. The same recycled crap shat out by shite "journalists".
Surely using Brentford B as an example of how it works & to back up this plan when they don't actually play in any league is a complete contradiction.
Also BBC Sportsound gave open forum to superdick John Collins who told us the colts inclusion was necessary to develop elite players for Celtic, Rangers & Scotland.......no mention of the lower league clubs.....oh wait there was .......he said the lower leagues should not get a say on what happens in their leagues. Absolute fud.
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The Falkirk FC Thread
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted
Ironically No. 7 was self inflicted and done to ensure No.3 wouldn't happen........we were told.
"Project Premiership" anyone?