Blame Me

Shouted well in advance and McKay panicked instead of leaving it. I can't blame Donaldson this time as he was clear and took charge whereas McKay was still working out which way he should be kicking!

If we could do even the basics of defending we may have had a chance. McKay should be concussion subbed off for 2 years just to be sure

Stay tuned until 1510. Comeback then and find out ...

He needs to play the majority of the team who finished the game on Tuesday night from the outset. What he does need to tweak is the formation to get Airdrie turned quicker and not slow it down until Airdrie are getting nervy. Start off ponderous and cagey and we're in for a long afternoon in my view.

Opinion from the Peterborough vs. Sheffield Wednesday where that result parallels ours. Regardless of the turnout tomorrow its not the fans who have to believe we can get a result, we need every single player selected tomorrow to believe it.

I don't think I could survive another two games where it's a coin toss which Falkirk side might turn up .

Think you've just won a prize

It's Friday so would like a strong pre-match interview today now McGlynn's had time to consider Tuesday too. Likely our last game of the season, so call out whoever he has to and pull no punches - let those who are staying with the group know that level of performance won't be tolerated again. There has to be no doubt that we win the 2nd leg by whatever means even if we ultimately go out We might not have won the "war" but give us optimism for the battles ahead! Apologies if I've gone all Mick Kennedy

Yes it was @Springfield that I was quoting originally and we do agree.

This baffled me. If Morrison was fit for a half then surely play him to win the game and then rest him instead of bringing him on to save the tie. Hard to argue McGlynn didnt make it harder for himself than it possibly had to be on Tuesday.

So Fordyce, Watson and AT-S can gobble them up? It's moving the ball at pace and getting them turned that will hopefully get us back in the tie. AT-S is slow but we played right into their hands isolating Burrell and pumping it long.

Yes but there has to be some semblance of competence and a plan to overturn the result on show. Knocking it around without intent and more harem-scare'm defending won't enthuse the Falkirk crowd!

Said office was a raging fire and backed onto a hazardous materials compound surrounded by radioactive bees ... and someone had left their lunch in the fridge for 100 years. It was the worst day of any office!

Having had a few days to vent, reflect and think calmly about the situation I would - hesitatingly - still stick with McGlynn. However, as has been suggested already his only remit for 2023/24 is to go up as champions. No more* and nothing less than that will do. Having now faced every scenario in L1 (bookies certainties, the upstarts and usual suspects) the management and players should be under no illusions what's required. Begrudgingly McGlynn needs to take a leaf out of Dunfermlines book and be single minded in getting us up. It hurts to say now but we may have played the derby occasion instead of, on reflection, the game at hand and since there are no derby bragging rights as big next season it should only ever be about the points and getting over the line as rapidly as we can. * Unless we get favourable draws into latter stages of comps

That's all we've been missing and if only we'd backed them more last night ... or at East End ... or at Hampden Perhaps we should all hold hands and align chakras too!

That happened around November and although we had some results we weren't overly convincing at times. Last night highlighted how little variation we have in our play and how we've settled on a formation that favours "wingers" who can't cross trying to hit a lone striker - who's game isn't really being a target man Yesterday, Airdrie (and others we've seen) were quicker, aggressive and direct with midfielders looking to break whereas we had Kucheriavyi, Nesbitt and McGinn happy to knock it around but not really go beyond. It won't change Saturday and expect Airdrie to go for the jugular.

Fully expect to see the barricades and barbed-wire erected by the club in the KM stand on Saturday as they were at the end of last season.

All conjecture but various scenarios where a penalty may have led to further goals and the goal difference would have changed. As said, goals change games. As evidenced last night - another for us would have made our task on Saturday surmountable but as it is Airdries 6th leaves us with a mountain (and then some) to climb.

The focus has been on penalties but it's refereeing in general. Basic facts are goals change games and had some been awarded they could have changed defeats into draws/wins. Also again the opposite is true - we may have been closer had some stonewallers for other teams been waved away as we think some of ours have. Bottom line is refereeing standards in Scotland are terrible with no accountability.

As you pointed out in your original post, penalties are meant to be hard to come by yet your team over 36 league games you got one in 25% of those games played over those months! That statistically bucks the trend.

My 1st Falkirk hero for reasons I've now forgotten. So many better players at that time but thought he was great.

To your 1st point I think that's a perception when you have been awarded a reasonable amount. You don't really complain because you did get one or even two (and some you shouldn't) in games and numerically spread out it seems palatable. In your case, 7 over 9 months is pretty fair wouldn't you say? However, when you get one over a season that is pretty poor luck as @bairn88 points out and you begin to question why similar awards in other games or against you haven't happened to you. As for your 2nd point that is complete horsesh*t - our players sadly are much less "streetwise" than certain sides we've faced and some of the fouls against us are laughable.

Of course not! Honest enough to admit that it's the general standard of refereeing that is poor and put together with the data would suggest there is a mindset within the referees that blatant pens, as I think my example is, aren't given. Conversely, since the referees are that bad as acknowledged, I'd have expected at least a few more awards that weren't penalties or are you also arguing that bad refs always only make good decisions?

Yeah. Whoever sets the clubs social media agenda might want to suggest that next year we tone down the supporter call-to-arms until we have the substance rather than veneer of a team who thrives on the turnout The smaller supports seem to have enjoyed themselves a hell of a lot more than us!