The Falkirk FC Thread

[HopeStreetWalker]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle are going to do their training at Kelty as they can't afford the costs of doing it in Inverness. This is a club in serious trouble.

[Springfield]

47 minutes ago, bridge of allan bairn said:

A lot of new season tickets seats been released this morning, assuming from fans who haven't renewed the same seat from last year, post the early bird

I reckon that the area I sit must have at least a 50% uplift in new STs, according to the latest seating arrangement. 

[grumpyoldman]

25 minutes ago, Hartleys18/19Army said:

I have to agree with this guy here. Let's stop saying we're a better squad than Airdrie who have just had a crack at Premier play offs and horsed us in last years play offs. There is no way we can call our squad better than theirs. 

Is he not saying our promoted squad was better that Airdries promoted squad, that being the case I would agree with him.

is our squad better than Airdries current squad, who knows but we’ll find out next season 

[Ned Nederlander]

Playing Dumbarton away in a friendly on the 29th of June

[Shodwall cat]

14 hours ago, Zanetti said:

Genuinely curious about how your board knows what 9 other clubs' budget will be? I know you said it was an estimate, but that sounds more like wild guesswork to me.

I know last season we had the third biggest budget and this was gleened by simply talking to the boards of the other sides in league one. 

[Shodwall cat]

1 minute ago, Ned Nederlander said:

Playing Dumbarton away in a friendly on the 29th of June

One to get the juices flowing.

[David Fernández]

I would say that the Falkirk team that won the invincible season were a better team than Airdrie's were in League 1.

A big part of how we were successful last season was the signings of Kanayo Megwa and Mason Hancock, that helped to tighten up our defence and I think only Dundee United and ICT conceded few goals than us.

A lot of the games in the championship are tightly contested and most of them are only decided by a single goal, it is a massive step up in comparison to League 1.

As much as it's enjoyable winning 5/6-0 every week, every game in the championship is an occasion and it is a much more enjoyable league to be in.

Despite scoring loads of goals in league 1 we were one of the lowest scorers in the championship, so scoring 90 odd in league 1 doesn't automatically means you'll score loads in the championship.

I'd say Falkirk would need to add a central defender next to Tom Lang and try to get a natural goalscorer in, but I think you'll be more than competitive this season.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

3 minutes ago, David Fernández said:

I would say that the Falkirk team that won the invincible season were a better team than Airdrie's were in League 1.

A big part of how we were successful last season was the signings of Kanayo Megwa and Mason Hancock, that helped to tighten up our defence and I think only Dundee United and ICT conceded few goals than us.

A lot of the games in the championship are tightly contested and most of them are only decided by a single goal, it is a massive step up in comparison to League 1.

As much as it's enjoyable winning 5/6-0 every week, every game in the championship is an occasion and it is a much more enjoyable league to be in.

Despite scoring loads of goals in league 1 we were one of the lowest scorers in the championship, so scoring 90 odd in league 1 doesn't automatically means you'll score loads in the championship.

I'd say Falkirk would need to add a central defender next to Tom Lang and try to get a natural goalscorer in, but I think you'll be more than competitive this season.

Agree with all of this.

Especially the last line. For a team that scored 96 or so league goals, the amount of chances we missed was frightening. McGlynn was bemoaning a lack of clinicism up front every week it seemed. Donaldson was magnificent last year largely due to the influence of Lang, but if his injury issues resurface, we may need a similar character there beside CD.

[Shodwall cat]

1 minute ago, David Fernández said:

I would say that the Falkirk team that won the invincible season were a better team than Airdrie's were in League 1.

A big part of how we were successful last season was the signings of Kanayo Megwa and Mason Hancock, that helped to tighten up our defence and I think only Dundee United and ICT conceded few goals than us.

A lot of the games in the championship are tightly contested and most of them are only decided by a single goal, it is a massive step up in comparison to League 1.

As much as it's enjoyable winning 5/6-0 every week, every game in the championship is an occasion and it is a much more enjoyable league to be in.

Despite scoring loads of goals in league 1 we were one of the lowest scorers in the championship, so scoring 90 odd in league 1 doesn't automatically means you'll score loads in the championship.

I'd say Falkirk would need to add a central defender next to Tom Lang and try to get a natural goalscorer in, but I think you'll be more than competitive this season.

Airdrie were a very inconsistant side the season you went up. Capable of putting in performances like the playoff games one week and some real stinkers the next . We  never really knew what we were up against when we played you. You pumped us first game at our place we beat you at your place and then there were two draws. Airdrie performed when it really mattered though. Certainly need a centrehalf as cover but Donaldson has been captain and outstanding over the last year I wouldn't want any other pairing than him and Lang starting the season. Our defence was the best in the country (I realise it was league one) until we lost both of them at them towards the end of the season.

[David Fernández]

7 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Airdrie were a very inconsistant side the season you went up. Capable of putting in performances like the playoff games one week and some real stinkers the next . We  never really knew what we were up against when we played you. You pumped us first game at our place we beat you at your place and then there were two draws. Airdrie performed when it really mattered though. Certainly need a centrehalf as cover but Donaldson has been captain and outstanding over the last year I wouldn't want any other pairing than him and Lang starting the season. Our defence was the best in the country (I realise it was league one) until we lost both of them at them towards the end of the season.

We definitely inconsistent the season we went up, that was party down to having a young rookie manager learning on the job, the longer term injuries to Josh Rae and Cammy Ballantyne and having a ridiculously thin squad with a load of 15 year old on the bench.

Our form improved massively when Rae and Ballantyne came into the squad and unfortunately for you guys we hit our best form right at the business end of the season.

It's just an observation but I do think Falkirk's defence needs tightened up for the championship, I know you had the best defence by a distance in league 1 but it is a much higher level. I also think teams will target your left back with long diagonal balls because of Leon McCann's height, so I think at full back you might need some more physicality there as well.

I think Morrison will be your stand out player this season purely because of his pace, having pace up front in this league is very good.

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

1 hour ago, Hartleys18/19Army said:

I have to agree with this guy here. Let's stop saying we're a better squad than Airdrie who have just had a crack at Premier play offs and horsed us in last years play offs. There is no way we can call our squad better than theirs. 

That's not what's being said at all though. Simply that our squad now is (much) better than the squad Airdrie got promoted with. Which is absolutely correct. 

[Shodwall cat]

28 minutes ago, David Fernández said:

We definitely inconsistent the season we went up, that was party down to having a young rookie manager learning on the job, the longer term injuries to Josh Rae and Cammy Ballantyne and having a ridiculously thin squad with a load of 15 year old on the bench.

Our form improved massively when Rae and Ballantyne came into the squad and unfortunately for you guys we hit our best form right at the business end of the season.

It's just an observation but I do think Falkirk's defence needs tightened up for the championship, I know you had the best defence by a distance in league 1 but it is a much higher level. I also think teams will target your left back with long diagonal balls because of Leon McCann's height, so I think at full back you might need some more physicality there as well.

I think Morrison will be your stand out player this season purely because of his pace, having pace up front in this league is very good.

Our defence was excellent too against the championship sides we played last season. United twice, queen's park, Patrick and Ayr. None of them gave us any major issues at the back. In all 5 of those games the only side that edged us were united in the first game and that wasn't by much. In the other 4 we were the better side by some margin.

 

Edited June 3 by Shodwall cat

[HopeStreetWalker]

23 minutes ago, David Fernández said:

We definitely inconsistent the season we went up, that was party down to having a young rookie manager learning on the job, the longer term injuries to Josh Rae and Cammy Ballantyne and having a ridiculously thin squad with a load of 15 year old on the bench.

Our form improved massively when Rae and Ballantyne came into the squad and unfortunately for you guys we hit our best form right at the business end of the season.

It's just an observation but I do think Falkirk's defence needs tightened up for the championship, I know you had the best defence by a distance in league 1 but it is a much higher level. I also think teams will target your left back with long diagonal balls because of Leon McCann's height, so I think at full back you might need some more physicality there as well.

I think Morrison will be your stand out player this season purely because of his pace, having pace up front in this league is very good.

Height at fullback is not that big an issue. Three of the best left backs I have seen in a Falkirk Jersey were in the Leon McCann build and height. Tiger McLaughlin, Jim Shirra and Tommy McQueen.

[Shodwall cat]

2 minutes ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Height at fullback is not that big an issue. Three of the best left backs I have seen in a Falkirk Jersey were in the Leon McCann build and height. Tiger McLaughlin, Jim Shirra and Tommy McQueen.

Lang does a great job of mopping up any high balls on that side anyway. Before it was brad Mackay who was hopeless.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

McLaughlin and Shirra (I thought he was a midfielder?) were up against your standard 1960s/70s wingers who were about 2 foot 6 though 

[Roboccop]

1 hour ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Inverness Caledonian Thistle are going to do their training at Kelty as they can't afford the costs of doing it in Inverness. This is a club in serious trouble.

That’s not why. They have problems attracting players up to the highlands so they think that by moving most of their operations to the central belt they’ll be able to recruit more easily.  What they haven’t checked out is that Kelty don’t own their own ground so any deal that they’ve done has pissed off the local council who do own the ground and presumably would want the money. 
Additionally, the local support really don’t want this to happen and they’ve been di danger of losing a large number of season tickets:  where you are right is that they’re in a lot of trouble

[Shodwall cat]

My only concern is injuries. If we get the same luck as Dunfermline we will struggle for the playoffs. Keep a fit squad we have a decent chance of top 4. It's anyone's game tona certain extent but we are starting off a good few hundred grands prize money below the championship teams that finished in the top echelons last season. Raith, Patrick , ayr are spending decent amounts already .

[Roboccop]

1 minute ago, Shodwall cat said:

My only concern is injuries. If we get the same luck as Dunfermline we will struggle for the playoffs. Keep a fit squad we have a decent chance of top 4. It's anyone's game tona certain extent but we are starting off a good few hundred grands prize money below the championship teams that finished in the top echelons last season. Raith, Patrick , ayr are spending decent amounts already .

This is my main worry as well. I presume we will get another signing and probably a couple of loans although those may come late because clubs don’t let people go until after the league cup ( we’ve already done a deal for a goalkeeper but not yet announced). We saw the end of last season how easily it was for our defence to be disrupted by one red card and one hamstring. I’m pretty certain that McGlynn knows this though and will be looking at it

Edited June 3 by Roboccop

[Hartleys18/19Army]

Anyone else keep going to league 1 section?

[18BAIRN76]

I know some of it’s for patter and it is amusing how easily fans of other clubs are worked up by the ‘big team’ stuff(clue: a lot of us do it because it always gets bites lol), but I’d agree we should be entering this season with both quiet optimism and humbleness. Our squad was absolutely superb last year and have rightly gone down in the history books. This means we should be entering the season looking to make our mark. But there’s also a lot of unknowns, namely the quality of sides we’ll be up against with other clubs likely to be making more signings than us and also how our squad will adapt to playing in the Championship every week. It’s one thing papping a Championship club out of the cup in a one-off game, that’s far different to playing these sides week in week out. I know we’re Falkirk in the Championship etc and we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone  and that’s correct, we shouldn’t be; maybe just a bit of realism for where we are and where we’ve been. I hope we’ll go onto have a very successful season and we may well do, but I won’t be going making any predictions of us romping to 2nd or 3rd, especially given how unpredictable and tight this league is.

Edited June 3 by 18BAIRN76