Hank von Hell

All of whom would be absolute stand-outs in the current squad , oh how we have fallen.

Spoke to Eddie May about 4 years ago at a recruitment event at Hampden Park. Really nice guy, sat and chatted for ages. Said he didn't want the first team job as he loved working at the Academy and the board talked him into taking it. Nice guys finish last. I know for a fact he wanted to resign in December and GC persuaded him to stay , and when we did sack him GC was still trying to stop it. Great player for Falkirk, but horrendous manager who took no responsibility , hid in his dug out and could not change a game at all. He also totally made an mess of our only venture in Europe - but I do accept the Lichtenstein team were not the mega minnows we all thought Yet another example of why ex Falkirk legends should never manage the team.

Heard Kenny Miller on BBC Sportsound talking about playing "John Hughes" Falkirk" in the Scottish Cup Final . Said Rangers were played off the park , "Nacho scored a worldy" which must be a new word for fluke and "they had us on pop" which I think means Rangers were getting the runaround. Forget the Inverness final debacle , I think that remains our greatest opportunity for ...err... greatness. Nearly our finest hour. A few months later George Craig appointed his mate Eddie May and the rest was history. You can chart our downward spiral from there.

Desperate, desperate times......just how have we sunk so low so quickly? Fantasizing over bloody Joe Cardle and fishing in the cesspool of free agents, loanees and cast offs to save us from relegation. And to think when the Chairwoman and CEO faced up they got an easy time.

Falkirk need a bit of this spirit & attitude from now on.......I think the technical term for it is the Anti-Haber effect. https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video/1361688643822/leeds-incredible-recovery-defence?playlist=twg-recommends

Although stated at the time as "Undisclosed Fee " for McGrandles , several websites reported it to be as much as 1 Milion plus add-ons. Either way it's still huge money for us so to say the academy hasn't delivered for us is absolute nonsense. The BOD just squandered the cash and continue to do so - tune in for the next episode in January.

Very clever I'm so glad someone got that! Coz I'm a (keyboard) warrior (Navy blue) blood won't wash away. Coz I'm a (keyboard) warrior I'll kill myself one day (when Dallison comes back)

This.

Epic first post Rob-FFC !! Welcome. At last someone else (as well as BPM ) to shoot holes in Margaret's smoke & mirrors. We do not need elite status as we are far from an elite club , but we could still bring through our own young players - the lifeblood of small to medium clubs since forever. This Project Brave was a very convenient reason for them to fall over themselves in the rush to shut the academy . Best interests my ass.

Tony Gallacher was sold for 200k in January 2018. We won't see that kind of money again. Thanks Margaret.

Thanks for the good clarification. Not sure about their comment on "parents would want to be at an elite club" - it's just not as simple as that. There are a helluva lot of kids trying to make it and they can;' all go to the small group of elite clubs. Geography comes into it as well , plus the fact that kids mature at different ages - the small skinny kid at 14 could become a potential superstar by 16. It's just too convenient for them to say it was "unsustainable" , I wonder exactly what research they did on this, or even thought about trialing it - it seems they just immediately went for shutdown. Slightly confused by the last sentence - " they were not prepared to operate at a lower level but would have and did apply for the second level". That reads as very contradictory., or is it just me?

I'm a Keyboard Warrior of Genghis Khan

What? Is no-one getting paid? That might explain the rubbish players then.

Need a bit more detail than that please. And was there a new law made where any club's academy must be under the project brave jurisdiction - I am only asking coz I don't know but would seem a serious restriction of trade if t was the case.

Almost as difficult as convincing Brentford we have the Brentford Model. But then someone did go down there for a whole day.

Yes we did , great manager that Peter Houston. The BOD also raked in serious cash for 4 of those 7 academy players, and you could say we got a decent shift from Alston & Sibbs in their time. That will never happen again. As a real life example I will fast forward you to Falkirk FC 2018 who "sold" 15 players for ZERO POUNDS , in fact we paid some of them to go away. Well done Craig & Co.

The MSG stated : “We have been exploring ways of stimulating and facilitating this and are open to discussions with credible parties with vision (NOT THE MSG THEN) , proven knowledge and skills (NOT THE MSG FOR SURE) and with resources to invest in the short, medium and long term (POTENTIALLY THE MSG BUT IN THE REAL WORD , NOT THE MSG)

Good point , I thought we were 3rd so I looked it up and yes we were 3rd. So what is the polar opposite of progress , it might be where we are now. Thanks for backing me up mate, appreciate it.

Just watched the FTV highlights v Ross Co on YouTube and it is encouraging to see us a bit harder to break down. Whilst the injection of Robson and the better form of Petra is very welcome the standard is still overall pretty poor. Hopefully we can build on it and grind out a few wins. Incidentally YouTube, as it does, slightly randomly jumped onto the next clip which was Falkirk v Hibs in the Scottish Cup semi 2013 - jeez the difference in the standard was night and day. Most notable was the amount of academy players in our first team - Fulton, Kingsley, Sibbald, McGrandles, Murdoch, Duffie & Alston - SEVEN OUT OF THE STARTING ELEVEN !! I know we tragically got beat 4-3 but our 3 goals came from 3 of those academy players, and it was a Scottish Cup semi - this current team will get nowhere near that level. Those who dismiss the academy as not making enough money , as well as being wrong, should have a serious re-think , Campbell & Lang along with the BOD who decided to scrap it should hang their heads in shame and get hunted from our club. Good on this new fans group for looking to restore the academy but reversing the decision will now cost decent money thanks to the current muppets in charge. Campbell & Lang out - gross negligence.

This is my great worry. The Jan window is generally not a time when players are out of contract - I fear we may fill our team with loan players (not ready yet or just old dross) & whoever falls off the journeyman merry-go round. Ray will have to wheel and deal , because we need about 8 players - if he pulls it off it's nothing short of a miracle. If he does and we stay up with those short term fixes , we will have to start again in the summer. We've lost our identity and now have no players with any allegiance to the club or care factor. Maybe that's just the modern day footballer but I miss the days of Bomber Brown, Houstie, Crunchie, Tiago, Yogi, Parks , Cadette, Baptie, even Stainrod cared.

That was exactly Peter Risdale's signing policy at Leeds Utd , he ruined a great club too.

Michael Schenker Group

I was saying about 2 years ago that Muirhead had to go, a really awful footballer who just cannot pass the ball. Significant that he has gone from the worst footballer in that squad to one of the best in the current one.

I thought Rudden was only on loan from Sevco for 6 months? Has it been/will it be extended? Sevco could look at it 2 ways, his time at Falkirk will harden him up for anything or it could be completely destroying his confidence playing in an always losing team. Either way it's up to them, not us, although he will be nowhere near their 1st team for some time. I think he might stay.

DD from The Cairngorm Group ?