The Falkirk FC Thread

[LatapyBairn.]

29 minutes ago, ilostmyself said:

Is there a way to probe how we could have spent the budget without a recognised RB in the squad? Seems a major oversight for a position that's long been a problem.

Also, please tell him thanks for arranging my cup semi final tickets to be sent to Hampden last minute and for replying to my panicked messages while he was at a wedding!

Think that’s probably more a question for the manager, Jamie may be able to answer if there is still any form of budget remaining to bring in a player in or if we’d need to move players on first however. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by LatapyBairn.

[LatapyBairn.]

1 hour ago, Barr said:

Im due to sit down with Jamie this afternoon for a catch up pod, any questions for him that I’ll add to my list?

Perhaps you should askJamie to confirm that the club is fully funded for the season and they won’t be out with the begging bowl come Christmas time again. There seems to be a couple of posters on here questioning that. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by LatapyBairn.

[FFC 1876]

49 minutes ago, Barr said:

Im due to sit down with Jamie this afternoon for a catch up pod, any questions for him that I’ll add to my list?

How are the youth teams coming along and when does the reserve league start?

Would be good if the club got back to putting out news on the youth teams a bit more like they did with the match reports previously.

[Believe The Hype]

On 30/05/2023 at 22:22, Springfield said:

How far we’ve fallen, guys like Morrison absolutely shat at when it mattered but hey ho, it’s fine as we won’t get better in this league.  Maybe if McGlynn got of his arse and looked at players outwith a thirty mile radius, we’d be in a better place.

 

10 hours ago, MrDust said:

 

The 30 miles tag was a Houstie thing and is old news.

Afraid not

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

1 hour ago, Barr said:

Im due to sit down with Jamie this afternoon for a catch up pod, any questions for him that I’ll add to my list?

Once things start to become a bit more stable in terms of finances what would be the first 'off the field' project he would like to see at the club.

[Harry Kinnear]

1 hour ago, Barr said:

Im due to sit down with Jamie this afternoon for a catch up pod, any questions for him that I’ll add to my list?

I know other clubs, Hibs being one offer fans who are ST holders hospitality at a discounted rate as they can sell on their seats. I know it’s not really relevant to us in L1 but would it be something they might consider in the future if we ever get back to the position of selling the stadium out.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Harry Kinnear

[ShaggerG]

10 hours ago, MrDust said:

If we go up, McGlynn is going nowhere unless he retires.

If he can replicate what he did with Raith, I am ok with that. He did a great job with Raith.

I'd like to think no one is really sitting on the told you so camp if McGlynn fails. I personally think the squad is unbalanced as it stands but I don't think we can't win the league but a lot will  depend on loans we get in and as always the manager.

Is there a poster on here that is in the mind he didn't try to sign a right back ?

The 30 miles tag was a Houstie thing and is old news.

I think you maybe need a wee catch up. There are plenty of folk who claimed that he didn't target a RB and the 30 miles thing has been reprised. (wee music reference for you there.)

[ShaggerG]

8 minutes ago, Bairney The Dinosaur said:

Once things start to become a bit more stable in terms of finances what would be the first 'off the field' project he would like to see at the club.

Of course, I sincerely hope that I'm wrong, but I think he would need to be renamed Nostradamus Swinney to answer that one!

[Chinatoon Bairn]

9 hours ago, Bigbrbairn said:

Mercer - the physios best friend

Are you referring to Scott Mercer here who hasn't been under contract at our club since July of 2021?

[Zbairn]

27 minutes ago, Bairney The Dinosaur said:

Once things start to become a bit more stable in terms of finances what would be the first 'off the field' project he would like to see at the club.

A Jumbotron ...... great for commercial income, team line ups, posting messages, KissCam, showing goals against the Pars, the bigot brothers, Hibs, Hearts etc, ..... or just anything that is half decent on the TV at the time as we are getting humped.  

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Perhaps you should get Jamie to confirm that the club is fully funded for the season and they won’t be out with the begging bowl come Christmas time again. There seems to be a couple of posters on here questioning that. 

Maybe more specifically, if we don’t meet the stretched commercial targets this year and fail to do well in the cup, will there be enough money to see out the season and pay off existing loans? 
 

 

[Bainsfordbairn]

50 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

How are the youth teams coming along and when does the reserve league start?

Would be good if the club got back to putting out news on the youth teams a bit more like they did with the match reports previously.

Reserve league starts in September. I'm hoping we'll do match reports and I certainly plan to be at all their games. We don't do them at the moment because I believe the head of youth doesn't want players put in the spotlight until they sign professional contracts, as per the five modern apprentices we now have at the club. 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

A Jumbotron ...... great for commercial income, team line ups, posting messages, KissCam, showing goals against the Pars, the bigot brothers, Hibs, Hearts etc, ..... or just anything that is half decent on the TV at the time as we are getting humped.  

Now I finally know why you have an obsession with a Jumbotron! I fear for  those in the seats beside you!  

Edited August 3, 2023 by Van_damage

[LatapyBairn.]

6 minutes ago, Van_damage said:

Maybe more specifically, if we don’t meet the stretched commercial targets this year and fail to do well in the cup, will there be enough money to see out the season and pay off existing loans? 
 

 

Yes, ask him to confirm that. Thought it was pretty clear already but obviously not to some.  The club has also never ever budgeted to presume progress beyond any of the initial rounds of cup competitions.

Edited August 3, 2023 by LatapyBairn.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Yes, get him to confirm that. Thought it was pretty clear already but obviously not to some. 

No need to be so dismissive. It didn’t state exactly where we are with finances and have no idea what’s been budgeted for so surely worth asking now to find out the exact situation which might help drum up more support FSS etc? 

[LatapyBairn.]

15 minutes ago, Van_damage said:

No need to be so dismissive. It didn’t state exactly where we are with finances and have no idea what’s been budgeted for so surely worth asking now to find out the exact situation which might help drum up more support FSS etc? 

Not being dismiss, obviously isn’t as clear to some as I first thought. I now think the question should be asked to knock it on the head and move on. Normal procedure would obviously be the financials coming out in full at the AGM but if it puts any remaining uncertainty to bed Jamie probably should just give a bit of a heads up before then in the interests of transparency.  I’m sure he will if asked. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by LatapyBairn.

[Blame Me]

54 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

...

Would be good if the club got back to putting out news on the youth teams a bit more like they did with the match reports previously.

@Barr

Suspect there'll be a lot of finances and football questions so I'll go left-field - 

Overall fan engagement has improved; We can see that in board updates and quality of some services (Falkirk TV, Luke McGuire content, Bairns View) but what else does he or the club think can improve?

Can he put more detail around the app Paddy Hainey has been working to launch and what benefits are intended to be for fans and club?

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Van_damage said:

No panic but just trying to assess where we are based on the statements I quoted.

Just to check, last year, if not for the cup run, we needed soft loans to finish the season? 

I take it any soft loans from last season have been repaid? Can’t imagine us declaring any sort of profit if they they haven’t been repaid.

QUOTE

At an average donation of £3 per week this requires around 2500 contributors, or roughly 3.5 times the number of fans currently participating. At present, net donations via FSS and the Forever Falkirk Fund are a little over £80,000, meaning we’ll still have an operating loss of around £320,000. Our ability to cover this loss (and thereby remain full-time this season) is only made possible by last season’s cup run and the FSS investment. Neither of such incomes can be guaranteed every season, so we are still operating with an unsustainable business model.

Nevertheless, we remain committed to trying to make fan ownership work for our club and to moving towards the operating model outlined above. UNQUOTE

For me, there’s no financial warm and fuzzy feeling in any of those key messages. If the only way to become sustainable is to increase FSS contributors from 720 or so to 2,500, and to also increase average subs from £120 per annum to £156 (£3 per week), then we are going to operate with an unsustainable business model for a good while yet (or choose to take alternate action).

Interesting too that the phrase “crowd funding” has raised its head. FF might be considered as crowd funding, but FSS certainly isn’t…….it’s about fan ownership.

[HopeStreetWalker]

26 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I take it any soft loans from last season have been repaid? Can’t imagine us declaring any sort of profit if they they haven’t been repaid.

QUOTE

 

At an average donation of £3 per week this requires around 2500 contributors, or roughly 3.5 times the number of fans currently participating. At present, net donations via FSS and the Forever Falkirk Fund are a little over £80,000, meaning we’ll still have an operating loss of around £320,000. Our ability to cover this loss (and thereby remain full-time this season) is only made possible by last season’s cup run and the FSS investment. Neither of such incomes can be guaranteed every season, so we are still operating with an unsustainable business model.

Nevertheless, we remain committed to trying to make fan ownership work for our club and to moving towards the operating model outlined above. UNQUOTE

For me, there’s no financial warm and fuzzy feeling in any of those key messages. If the only way to become sustainable is to increase FSS contributors from 720 or so to 2,500, and to also increase average subs from £120 per annum to £156 (£3 per week), then we are going to operate with an unsustainable business model for a good while yet (or choose to take alternate action).

Interesting too that the phrase “crowd funding” has raised its head. FF might be considered as crowd funding, but FSS certainly isn’t…….it’s about fan ownership.

No! there is another way.

Smaller squad - Hybrid Full time-Part time set up. Not what anybody want's but if it keeps the club viable then it should be seriously looked at as an option while we are in this division.

Interest Rates have gone up again and will go up further eroding peoples disposable income and it will reduce the amount fans can contribute.

If there is a shortfall then the club is in big trouble

[Bigbrbairn]

3 hours ago, Chinatoon Bairn said:

Are you referring to Scott Mercer here who hasn't been under contract at our club since July of 2021?

Written at a bed time! Meant Mackie

The list is not my assessment but a trail through past comments. I think most of our team are above standard for this league but the knack is getting them into a formation that works best