The Falkirk FC Thread

[Springfield]

Sat last night wondering WTF.
For example can guys like Donaldson & Henderson turn in form/performances that bad ? We’ve got two CFs on subs bench that would be better selling 50/50 tickets, who look like an embarrassing waste of money, and possibly our best midfielder who can change the middle of the park sitting on the bench. We give Burrell a chance with a bus tied round his neck.

Buck stops with M&S and with only one game before semi, I’m increasingly worried about Alloa giving us one, and god knows about ICT.

[Skyline Drifter]

2 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

We weren't really in any great form at the time.  We'd only just drawn with Clyde in our previous game.  We won three successive matches after playing Falkirk.

And we'd won the game before Clyde v Airdrie also. We were hardly in Dunfermline form but early in it or not it was our best run of form all season, and caveated with the fact I didn't see the Airdrie game, our best performance in it.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

37 minutes ago, Reggie Perrin said:

Dont have an issue re signing him as a squad player but would hope that his salary matches his abilities.

McGlynn not exactly famed for dishing out contracts with salaries matching players’ abilities. If you’re lucky it won’t have a 10% mandatory increase in the summer built in. 

[kemlinbairn]

Worrying times indeed

Think it is a good job we have shifted over 7,000 tickets for a semi final that looks increasingly likely to be a humping. Anyone who was swithering about buying a ticket will certainly think twice now.

Think the previous posts have covered most points from last night from team selection to performance to result that I don't need to add to them

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, SouthStander1876 said:

Seriously, seriously hoping the players have subconsciously downed tools for the remaining league games and turn up when there's something to play for. I've been a big advocate of McGlynn's, but recent form has been nothing short of pathetic.

I dont think it's fair to say Airdrie will turn us over as I've seen a few suggest, we literally just drew with them a matter of days ago.

 

Draw with them at our place, and get beat 1-0 at theirs, and they’ve turned us over. It’s not an outlandish outcome given what we have seen these past two months.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Duncan Freemason

[Gaz]

For me, the difference between McGlynn and the previous group of shysters we've had in charge is that I can actually see we've got potential to get better.

With M&M, I was hugely skeptical from the outset and knew we were headed for eventual collapse. With both Rennie and Sheerin they should have been emptied after about six games as it was painfully obvious they weren't cut out to be football managers.

With McGlynn, I am reasonably confident that with a good pre-season, a few new faces we'll be capable of winning this league outright next season. That's why he has to stay, for now.

I think there's absolutely no chance of us being successful in the playoffs / semi-final, however.

[SouthStander1876]

Don't panic everyone, It's a McGlynn masterclass unfolding before our very eyes. Purposely putting in bad performances, lulling other teams into a false sense of security.

Then BANG, we turn it on and destroy Inverness, Airdrie and Hamilton.

[Shodwall cat]

Okay let's sack the manager and sign a whole new set of players in the summer and see where we are this time next year. The seasons not even over yet and there's a whole heap of stuff to play for whilst over the last two years we've been finished and hanging our boots up with feck all to show for it at this stage. We're 8 months into a 5 year plan and we've seen a hell of a lot of progress. For some who were on here saying they'd like just to see us going in the right direction this season that's suddenly not good enough. Well I said at the time that playoffs this season would be a real sign of that and I'm not suddenly now going to say anything different.  The last few weeks have been disappointing. Some poor performances and some decent ones without the results required due to individual errors mainly.  Players have got to lift themselves back to the form they showed at the turn of the year. You can talk about tactics all you want but at this level having a far better 11 than the other side should win you the vast majority of games if the players perform. That hasn't been happening often enough in recent weeks . Players like Morrison and mcginn standards have dropped considerably and they are big players for us. Donaldson again is playing nowhere near the level he should be . For us to get promoted these players need to get their fingers out . Mcglynn isn't blameless but as he said we should've had more than enoughet  to beat Edinburgh last night whether it's one up top, two up top or 5 up top.  Fans need to get behind the side though or there's no way we'll be getting anywhere. Big games coming up then we take stock in the summer.

[latapythelegend]

41 minutes ago, SouthStander1876 said:

No chance, Mackie is worse

Based on the last months performances I disagree massively. Both Donaldson and McKay have gifted at least have a dozen goals between them. 

[Blame Me]

Last night was bordering on the shambolic.

I think it's fair that questions are asked of the manager considering we're pretty much at the tail end of the season and what he believes his best XI to be has toiled and yet with the relative depth he's been afforded he is unable to change it for the better.

Quite rightly the focus has been maximising the budget but to have 4 attackers vying for one position then playing Oliver as the lone striker suggests it's been mis-spent. 

That a number of players have gone off the boil so easily also suggests the fragile mindset of previous seasons remains and I'd question whether they have the bottle for the play-offs/semi now. 

 

[Blame Me]

11 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

... there's a whole heap of stuff to play for whilst over the last two years we've been finished and hanging our boots up with feck all to show for it at this stage...

Can you tell the players that as I can't discern the difference between those that downed tools with nothing to play for and those last night with a play-off/semi on the horizon  

[Springfield]

6 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Okay let's sack the manager and sign a whole new set of players in the summer and see where we are this time next year. The seasons not even over yet and there's a whole heap of stuff to play for whilst over the last two years we've been finished and hanging our boots up with feck all to show for it at this stage. We're 8 months into a 5 year plan and we've seen a hell of a lot of progress. For some who were on here saying they'd like just to see us going in the right direction this season that's suddenly not good enough. Well I said at the time that playoffs this season would be a real sign of that and I'm not suddenly now going to say anything different.  The last few weeks have been disappointing. Some poor performances and some decent ones without the results required due to individual errors mainly.  Players have got to lift themselves back to the form they showed at the turn of the year. You can talk about tactics all you want but at this level having a far better 11 than the other side should win you the vast majority of games if the players perform. That hasn't been happening often enough in recent weeks . Players like Morrison and mcginn standards have dropped considerably and they are big players for us. Donaldson again is playing nowhere near the level he should be . For us to get promoted these players need to get their fingers out . Mcglynn isn't blameless but as he said we should've had more than enoughet  to beat Edinburgh last night whether it's one up top, two up top or 5 up top.  Fans need to get behind the side though or there's no way we'll be getting anywhere. Big games coming up then we take stock in the summer.

With all respect, we’ve won 17 games in the third tier of Scottish football. Yes maybe some of the posts are over the top after last night, but even during our unbeaten run we secured victory in a few games across the final few minutes. We've had a horrible run against teams that with the calibre of players we have, we should have won but didn’t. 
For me blame lies at the managers door, and while you can excuse a couple of indifferent performances, sorry but we’ve hardly kicked a ball apart from our cup games since January, which we performed at a far better level.

I sincerely hope that somehow we can uplift our current form, but I have no confidence after the past couple of months.

[Enigma]

Backing McGlynn financially sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. He was always at his best with us getting value out of a shoestring budget. When he was given backing by us he splurged it all on a rapist, contracts with ridiculous and crippling annual increases and some rather interesting fees for certain agents.

[Rob1885]

1 hour ago, FFC 1876 said:

I don't think he's a bad player, McGlynn's just not bothered his arse trying to give him a run of games with a partner up top. Again never came on last night which was baffling.

No, not at all. Feel it's more baffling in the way in which moneys been spent on a good player (I certainly rate him) and there seems to be little done to try get the best out of him.

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

4 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Okay let's sack the manager and sign a whole new set of players in the summer and see where we are this time next year. The seasons not even over yet and there's a whole heap of stuff to play for whilst over the last two years we've been finished and hanging our boots up with feck all to show for it at this stage. We're 8 months into a 5 year plan and we've seen a hell of a lot of progress. For some who were on here saying they'd like just to see us going in the right direction this season that's suddenly not good enough. Well I said at the time that playoffs this season would be a real sign of that and I'm not suddenly now going to say anything different.  The last few weeks have been disappointing. Some poor performances and some decent ones without the results required due to individual errors mainly.  Players have got to lift themselves back to the form they showed at the turn of the year. You can talk about tactics all you want but at this level having a far better 11 than the other side should win you the vast majority of games if the players perform. That hasn't been happening often enough in recent weeks . Players like Morrison and mcginn standards have dropped considerably and they are big players for us. Donaldson again is playing nowhere near the level he should be . For us to get promoted these players need to get their fingers out . Mcglynn isn't blameless but as he said we should've had more than enoughet  to beat Edinburgh last night whether it's one up top, two up top or 5 up top.  Fans need to get behind the side though or there's no way we'll be getting anywhere. Big games coming up then we take stock in the summer.

That’s not true. We were second place, 4 points from the top in 20/21 with 3 games left. Last season we were dire but part of that was Rennie who was our manager when the 5 year plan was announced. We still seen sense to not keep him on. 

In any case, I hate 5 year plans because it just diminishes accountability for the now and then. The longer the term the easier to say it’s all part of the plan when in reality putting up little title challenge this season is unacceptable. 

If you buy in to the plan then part of that is promotion to the Championship. McGlynn could well win us the title next season but he’d be found out even more in the Championship given what I’ve seen and with little evidence in previous jobs to suggest otherwise. 

If we want to see Premiership football then there’s no point hanging on to a guy who we have no faith in taking us there. Fortunately he has recruited well so there won’t be as big an overhaul needed but you can’t compliment recruitment and not criticise the man for struggling to get the players to best most teams in this league on a regular basis. 

[Shodwall cat]

1 hour ago, latapythelegend said:

Anybody heard about Mackie and Watson? 

Donaldson and Mckay were pathetic last night and if we had options I would drop both them for Saturday. 

That's the main concern for me more than how many players we're playing up front to be honest.  We are unable to keep clean sheets . We've scored 5 goals in our last 3 home games.  2 against Dunfermline and two against Airdrie and not picked up 3 points in any of those games.  That is where the real issues lie. Dunfermline have had I think 20 shutouts this season compare that to our ten and it tells you all you need to know about where the big difference is.  People keep going on about one up top or two up top but that means feck all if the defence isn't doing its job right. Our back 4 should be more than good enough for this level but just aren't performing at the moment.  If Mackie had been fit I'd have given him a run out with Mackay as they were decent at the start of the season  and dropped Donaldson for a few games but that ain't an option.

[Kevin James Left Knee]

My personal view: Can we stand back and take a breath. Clearly recent performances and team selections have not been good but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. We are clearly in a better position than last year, you can bring up statistics but we are in the playoffs and in a Semi. I sometime think there are some people here on P&B who just wait for bad news to jump in with criticisms.

Personally I think the players are avoiding injury more than trying hard as they want to be in the spotlight on the 29th. Also I bet agents are looking at that game and stirring behind the scenes, they've already been negotiating (this is not any particular inside knowledge this always happens in the cup - Inverness had the same problem a few weeks ago) for more bonus money. I suspect the moving around the players is a mixture of trying to be cute for other managers, trying to rest people and also to motivate players to give them the impression that they have an equal chance of starting against Inverness. I don't think this has worked but that's my reading of it.

To start suggesting we should sack McGlynn  is utterly stupid and is not going to happen. I'm willing to bet that the players suddenly find form when the tv cameras are on them.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Kevin James Left Knee

[Shodwall cat]

15 minutes ago, Blame Me said:

Can you tell the players that as I can't discern the difference between those that downed tools with nothing to play for and those last night with a play-off/semi on the horizon  

Since the Dunfermline defeat we've been playing for second place and nothing else apart from one of the only games we did turn up in which was Ayr.  Our only other really decent performance was Dunfermline who we outplayed for most of the match and should really have won.  That in itself is a big game  due to the size of crowd etc. The other games have looked very much like the players cruising along biding their time till the playoffs and cup semi to me. It's not acceptable and mcglynn will know that . The players perhaps aren't doing it deliberately but they have lost focus . The worry for me is it's not just as easy to switch it back on again . 

[Gaz]

40 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Okay let's sack the manager and sign a whole new set of players in the summer and see where we are this time next year. The seasons not even over yet and there's a whole heap of stuff to play for whilst over the last two years we've been finished and hanging our boots up with feck all to show for it at this stage. We're 8 months into a 5 year plan and we've seen a hell of a lot of progress. For some who were on here saying they'd like just to see us going in the right direction this season that's suddenly not good enough. Well I said at the time that playoffs this season would be a real sign of that and I'm not suddenly now going to say anything different.  The last few weeks have been disappointing. Some poor performances and some decent ones without the results required due to individual errors mainly.  Players have got to lift themselves back to the form they showed at the turn of the year. You can talk about tactics all you want but at this level having a far better 11 than the other side should win you the vast majority of games if the players perform. That hasn't been happening often enough in recent weeks . Players like Morrison and mcginn standards have dropped considerably and they are big players for us. Donaldson again is playing nowhere near the level he should be . For us to get promoted these players need to get their fingers out . Mcglynn isn't blameless but as he said we should've had more than enoughet  to beat Edinburgh last night whether it's one up top, two up top or 5 up top.  Fans need to get behind the side though or there's no way we'll be getting anywhere. Big games coming up then we take stock in the summer.

I don't think anyone is calling for the manager to be sacked, are they?

For me it's the opposite. I've seen enough with McGlynn to believe that with a bit of time he will get it right. I didn't see anything like that with any of the previous 4 or 5 managers.

[SouthStander1876]

7 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Since the Dunfermline defeat we've been playing for second place and nothing else apart from one of the only games we did turn up in which was Ayr.  Our only other really decent performance was Dunfermline who we outplayed for most of the match and should really have won.  That in itself is a big game  due to the size of crowd etc. The other games have looked very much like the players cruising along biding their time till the playoffs and cup semi to me. It's not acceptable and mcglynn will know that . The players perhaps aren't doing it deliberately but they have lost focus . The worry for me is it's not just as easy to switch it back on again . 

I agree with this, I've got a feeling a switch will be flicked in their heads by the time the semi comes around. I think we'll play very well but get beat by ICT