The Falkirk FC Thread

[Grangemouth Bairn]

2 hours ago, RC55 FFC said:

My dad was very unwell and in hospital at the time of the play off matches with Airdrie so the results just didn’t seem to matter (and really didn’t) and maybe numbed my take on it all at the time. 

But I’ll never forget what he said to me the day after the 1st leg. I was visiting him at FVH and told him the score from the night before (we were going to watch it on TV together but he was tired and told me to just go as that’s what he wanted). He thought I was joking and took some persuading tbh. 

 

But when he did believe me, I’ll never forget him telling me to stick with it, don’t give up. He was the reason I was a Bairn after all. He fought to the end until a few weeks later and it’s been amazing to see us on this run pretty much since then. I hope we win on Saturday but if we don’t, I know never to give up on us.

Poignant words and your dad will be looking down filled with pride watching the joy you are bringing to so many of us with your podcast buddy.

[JS_FFC]

I think the worst part for me was watching us squander half an hour playing against 10 men and actually losing another goal in the process. 
 

As I remember it we were 5-0 down at half time, but then scored two quick goals in the second half and they got a man sent off. At that point it felt like we had a real chance to get out of there at 5-4 or 5-3 and a chance to turn it around.

 

But then we failed to capitalise on that advantage and lost another goal.

[Hank von Hell]

There's no doubt the Airdrie first leg was a disgrace and one of the worst results in our recent history, I came down ever so slightly on the side that he should have been sacked.

Glad the board held their nerve and looked at the bigger picture.

The rest is history I suppose. 

[BPM]

In the aftermath and being pushed I would have let him go however I slept on it and on reflection in the morning and looking at the progress I was for keeping him. Glad it has turned out well for club and young fans especially to get good times at last

[RC55 FFC]

3 hours ago, BPM said:

In the aftermath and being pushed I would have let him go however I slept on it and on reflection in the morning and looking at the progress I was for keeping him. Glad it has turned out well for club and young fans especially to get good times at last

Yeah. It’s allowed the fanbase to grow and it’s brilliant to see and hear the difference that’s made at games. Us older guys get some much earned success to smile about too

[lanky_ffc]

On 10/09/2024 at 17:37, Shodwall cat said:

Is that due to the way the numbers come out?

Yeah - looks to have been ordered by last season's finishing position so we'd have been ball 9 instead of Hamilton.

[Rugster]

McGlynn manager of the month

[scottsdad]

11 minutes ago, Rugster said:

McGlynn manager of the month

Bollocks. 

Could this not have waited until after Saturday's game?

[GMBairn]

7 hours ago, Hank von Hell said:

There's no doubt the Airdrie first leg was a disgrace and one of the worst results in our recent history, I came down ever so slightly on the side that he should have been sacked.

Glad the board held their nerve and looked at the bigger picture.

The rest is history I suppose. 

I remember thinking that at the time, I can't remember a capitulation as bad as that in the last 20 years. No one would have been shocked to see a manager sacked after that result and performance. 

It's funny to think that the dire situation the club was in probably stopped his sacking because as plenty of us knew at the time we couldn't afford another manager change, another rebuild as it just wasn't working. Sticking with it when you reviewed the huge improvement over the previous season was the correct choice even if the emotion was high at the time.

[AL-FFC]

I left as soon as the 4th goal went in which is the first time I have ever done that. I was always in the McGlynn in when you look at the season we had under him compared to Rennie, Holt, M & M, Sheerin, and MacKinnon it was progress as well as having some of the legacy players that still had contracts. Any team with Brad McKay in it might as well gift anyone at least a man down and a 2 goal head start how he made a career out of being a footballer is beyond me let alone get picked up by other teams.

Always look at it from never make a decision when angry as much as we capitulated to them.

The thing is when you look back would you have traded promotion that season under the playoffs for the Invincibles and running away with the league, lifting the League 1 title and some of the performances of last year ?

I don't think I would, the game against accies at NDP to open the gap, 7-1 against Montrose to have the league sealed and the pitch invasion. and Spencers penalty at the TFS on the last game of the season to seal Invincible, Not a chance would I swap those memories.

Massive credit for last season also has to go to the Ultras as well.

[MulsonFFC]

1 hour ago, scottsdad said:

Bollocks. 

Could this not have waited until after Saturday's game?

We got through about 6 of these last season..... hopefully that doesn't change now!

[A Diamond For Me]

The first leg was a crazy game, it was obviously brilliant from our side of the pitch.  It was really surprising just how bad Falkirk were that night, though.  To have all that preparation time - knowing for a couple of months at least that they'd be in the playoffs, that they'd probably play Airdrie at some point and having already played us four times season - and to have taken that as the ideal time to try out a new formation just beggars belief.  Months of preparation time and the tie was done in fifteen minutes.  My brother was chatting to McCabe a while after, and said that when the teams came out for the second half Fordyce couldn't believe that Falkirk hadn't changed their formation, McGlynn had no notion of changing a setup that had seem him lose five for no reply in the first half (and remember McGill hit the bar a minute or so before our first).

But the second leg was something else.  Our talent for throwing away commanding leads was weighing on a few minds, and I know I wasn't the only one nervous about how it might go if Falkirk got an early goal, but they were very, very flat and gave us a total clownshoes goal to put it beyond any doubt.  I remember leaving and thinking that Falkirk fans would have come along knowing that while miracles do happen sometimes in football they don't happen very often but at the very least you expect your team to go down swinging and they simply didn't do that at all.

Hilarious banter times for us of course, but you certainly turned it around the following season.  I remember when we lost the playoff final against Queen's Park the previous season (after another delirious semi-final home leg vs. Montrose) and it felt like it'd take a long, long time to really get over that.  We'd been so good that season and fell short because Cove were just better, but we really should have had enough to beat Queen's Park and it felt like we'd blown the best chance we'd get for years to finally get out of that purgatory of a division.  The next season made up for it, though, and you've experienced that now as well.  It always felt like a matter of time before Falkirk sorted themselves out, though it shouldn't have taken as long as it did.  For all the Zany Banter about Falkirk crowdwanking, a club of that size if it's anything like competently run shouldn't be duking it out with Clyde, Peterhead and Montrose for longer than a season.  Gave the rest of us plenty of laughs while it lasted, but you look like you're on the right course now. 

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

The thing you've got to remember about Airdrie scoring 5 in that 45 minutes of madness is 3 of them were from set pieces. Both of Airdrie's big CHs given totally free headers from about 6 yards out and Burrell jumping out the way of the freekick he could easily have blocked without even getting hurt

Another was from McKay booting the ball off Smith and it ricocheting straight to McGill leaving them with a 2 on 1 against Ryan Williamson for one of the easiest goals Airdrie will ever score 

We were no where near good enough that night with our deficiencies laid bare, but things really couldn't have fallen more perfectly for Airdrie and 4 of those 5 goals were gift wrapped with a navy blue bow. 

As someone else mentioned we really could and should have made a fist of it at 5-2 and 10 v 11  for the last 25 minutes but totally bottled it. That was the most frustrating thing. 

Anyway...with hindsight this was clearly all part of McGylnn's #doubleinvinciblesdoublepromotion masterplan 

 

[Bigbrbairn]

17 minutes ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

The thing you've got to remember about Airdrie scoring 5 in that 45 minutes of madness is 3 of them were from set pieces. Both of Airdrie's big CHs given totally free headers from about 6 yards out and Burrell jumping out the way of the freekick he could easily have blocked without even getting hurt

Another was from McKay booting the ball off Smith and it ricocheting straight to McGill leaving them with a 2 on 1 against Ryan Williamson for one of the easiest goals Airdrie will ever score 

We were no where near good enough that night with our deficiencies laid bare, but things really couldn't have fallen more perfectly for Airdrie and 4 of those 5 goals were gift wrapped with a navy blue bow. 

As someone else mentioned we really could and should have made a fist of it at 5-2 and 10 v 11  for the last 25 minutes but totally bottled it. That was the most frustrating thing. 

Anyway...with hindsight this was clearly all part of McGylnn's #doubleinvinciblesdoublepromotion masterplan 

 

Win more than we lose and that would be a good start but then invincible would be better but not realistic sadly

[Claudia Gentile]

https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/falkirk-fixture-moved-to-free-weekend/

[BPM]

11 hours ago, RC55 FFC said:

Yeah. It’s allowed the fanbase to grow and it’s brilliant to see and hear the difference that’s made at games. Us older guys get some much earned success to smile about too

You are a pup compared to me 

[RC55 FFC]

7 minutes ago, BPM said:

You are a pup compared to me 

But both older compared to the actual young pups

[BPM]

2 minutes ago, RC55 FFC said:

But both older compared to the actual young pups

We are well certainly well fed

[JS_FFC]

Speaking of McGill, I heard on @RC55 FFC podcast this week that he's a free agent. Should be all over him to back up MacIver.

[A Diamond For Me]

42 minutes ago, JS_FFC said:

Speaking of McGill, I heard on @RC55 FFC podcast this week that he's a free agent. Should be all over him to back up MacIver.

Good player, magnificent attitude and workrate, but he's got terrible luck with injuries.  I think he got injured playing as a trialist right after leaving us.