The Falkirk FC Thread

[hope street]

Spoke wi an ITK 2 years ago just after Kingsley left.

He said their was 3 - 4 year lean period coming up but the boys who were 13 - 14 then were very good.

He pointed at 1 kid and said he was the best he had seen at that age.

2 Scotland under 17's and 1 Scotland under 19 player in the youth team at the moment. Not too shabby imo.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

Gallagher & Finlayson both should be given a chance but for me O'Hara should not have been put out on loan. Thought he was very good a crying out for more game time. Really liked him & Miller together.

I'm sure I've read Bainsford Bairn (a regular guru for the younger players coming through) disagreeing regarding Finlayson. I had wondered as we lacked a right back last season whilst Duffie was out injured and Muirhead was the only choice there.

Gallagher definitely has the potential but is still very young. Houston didn't retain Dick from last year and didn't sign another left back so I am assuming he sees him as back up to Leahy. There's less pressure on him that way and I imagine he will be selected for the appropriate games throughout the season.

O'Hara would have been 5th choice striker if he had stayed. Whilst he showed great promise last year, it's important for him now to get regular first team football, rather than games here and there with us. If he has a good season there, and with Baird and Miller likely to leave by the end of this current season, more opportunities will open then for him to make the first team jersey his own.

[Gaz FFC]

8 minutes ago, hope street said:

 

2 Scotland under 17's and 1 Scotland under 19 player in the youth team at the moment. Not too shabby imo.

 

I agree. I'm just passing on the message.

I certainly wouldn't tell this person he doesn't know what he's talking about.

[ANEWHOPE]

I'm sure I've read Bainsford Bairn (a regular guru for the younger players coming through) disagreeing regarding Finlayson. I had wondered as we lacked a right back last season whilst Duffie was out injured and Muirhead was the only choice there.

Gallagher definitely has the potential but is still very young. Houston didn't retain Dick from last year and didn't sign another left back so I am assuming he sees him as back up to Leahy. There's less pressure on him that way and I imagine he will be selected for the appropriate games throughout the season.

O'Hara would have been 5th choice striker if he had stayed. Whilst he showed great promise last year, it's important for him now to get regular first team football, rather than games here and there with us. If he has a good season there, and with Baird and Miller likely to leave by the end of this current season, more opportunities will open then for him to make the first team jersey his own.

He would have been 5th choice I agree but I don't think he should be. I would have him ahead of Baird. But that along with my view on Leahy is not a widely accepted opinion.

I find his huffy we bouts of arm flapping & temper tantrums infuriating. He loses focus consistently throughout matches when things don't go his way. Put up with it because he scored goals but struggling recently. He was good for spells on Saturday tho but O'Hara all day for me.

[Shadwell Dog]

The young guys who might have been appearing in the first team now o'hara apart have been flogged before they got the chance. Biabi and blair wouldve been in the squad especially blair who would be good for a starting place in our midfield this season. The latest batch all look very young and raw and at least a season away from breaking through.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

He would have been 5th choice I agree but I don't think he should be. I would have him ahead of Baird. But that along with my view on Leahy is not a widely accepted opinion.

I find his huffy we bouts of arm flapping & temper tantrums infuriating. He loses focus consistently throughout matches when things don't go his way. Put up with it because he scored goals but struggling recently. He was good for spells on Saturday tho but O'Hara all day for me.

I agree that at the moment O'Hara might seem the more useful player. At his age you don't want to be relying on him though. Baird has been off form since the turn of the year and could do with a spell out of the team. But I have faith he will still score goals for us during this campaign.

[Gaz FFC]

2 minutes ago, hope street said:

 

Absolutely mate. The 3 have a long way to go to make the grade and who knows what might happen

 

I've a feeling that 3 years ago we would have seen a few more of the youngsters play in our 1st team.

Gallagher and Ohara would be starters by now and are just unfortunate with timing.

[MrDust]

2 hours ago, Reggie Perrin said:

Basically in Leahy we have a cracking left midfielder!

Where he failed previously, he doesn't have the pace, so many cry for or the skill for it. He sees the game better from a more reserved position and he isn't as bad defensively as some are making out.

2 hours ago, ANEWHOPE said:

 

I was replying & agreeing with a post that made the point that he contributes a few crackers but that doesn't make him a left back. You have illustrated these crackers nicely but the point made was that these do not mask his frailties.

Wonder goals aside I am not convinced by the argument made by some that he offers much going forward. Add to this is a player struggling to adapt to a position he has been playing for sometime now.
 

 

Can I ask, what games Leahy was destroyed in the league campaign last season ?

The Kilmarnock game, the whole team was destroyed, blaming Leahy for that is poor, considering he was left isolated and that teams that do their homework know Sibbs doesn't defend as much like the right hand side, so Funnily they pinpoint our left side, killie punted a lot of balls to that side in both games as they obviously did their homework 

[ScotSquid]

I like Leahy but he isn't good defensively. More than makes up for it with his attacking flair. 

His defending in the Killie away leg was farcical. The guy Magennis just wandered past him at will. And he gave away a stonewall penalty in the first leg that for some bizarre reason wasn't given.

He's fine in the Championship but I think he'd be found out week after week if we got promoted.

As our board have no ambition for that to happen he's got another couple of seasons at this level anyway.

Edited August 10, 2016 by ScotSquid

[Shadwell Dog]

 

7 hours ago, MrDust said:

Where he failed previously, he doesn't have the pace, so many cry for or the skill for it. He sees the game better from a more reserved position and he isn't as bad defensively as some are making out.

Can I ask, what games Leahy was destroyed in the league campaign last season ?

The Kilmarnock game, the whole team was destroyed, blaming Leahy for that is poor, considering he was left isolated and that teams that do their homework know Sibbs doesn't defend as much like the right hand side, so Funnily they pinpoint our left side, killie punted a lot of balls to that side in both games as they obviously did their homework 

He's been highlighted from the Kilmarnock game because at 1-0 the longer we managed to keep it at that the better. First time their up the park he lets mcgennis run past him and set up a goal. That gave them confidence straight away and got their fans going. We had to be on it from the 1st minute in that match and unfortunately he wasnt . At the end of the day though if he was a top defender with pace too he wouldn't be playing with us.  I do think that playing Sibbald in front of him highlights his defence frailties too. Sibbs isnt much of a defender either and also lacks pace. I'd always hoped that Hippo with his pace would prove a better foil for him.

[ANEWHOPE]

Can I ask, what games Leahy was destroyed in the league campaign last season ?

The Kilmarnock game, the whole team was destroyed, blaming Leahy for that is poor, considering he was left isolated and that teams that do their homework know Sibbs doesn't defend as much like the right hand side, so Funnily they pinpoint our left side, killie punted a lot of balls to that side in both games as they obviously did their homework 

Of course you can ask but I haven't said he was destroyed in games so I can't answer that as I don't agree with the premise of the question.

I just think he isn't that good at defending. I feel he is pretty poor at tackling & often out of position. I felt that Grant was often left to cover for him and got him out of a few holes.

I also don't see what others do in the attacking front also. Yes a few pieces of brilliance but these don't outweigh my concerns.

However it has been pointed out that an inordinate amount of team spent discussing Leahy & our left back.

I know I'm in a minority on this issue but I'll just have to live with that.

[Gollum]

Can we all agree that two pacy wingers (see what Magennis did to us) would virtually guarantee us second, perhaps more? Not that it's realistic or anything, but it would push one or two of our current starters out and make it a really strong squad.

                         Rogers (Mehmet)

Muirhead (Kidd) Grant (McCracken) Gasparotto (Watson) Leahy

                        Kerr (Taiwo/Rankin)

Pacy Winger (Craigen)                 Pacy Winger (Hippolyte)

                          Sibbald (Craigen)

             McHugh (Baird)    Miller (Austin)

 

ETA: A 4-5-1, playing another holding midfielder instead of a striker, would make us far more solid, would cause trouble with the amount of strikers we have though.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Gollum

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

Can we stop talking about Leahy? Going round in circles with the same arguments for both sides. Some like him, some don't.

[Shadwell Dog]

I'd take one decent pacy winger to be honest never mind two.

[bejazz1]

Can we stop talking about Leahy? Going round in circles with the same arguments for both sides. Some like him, some don't.

It wasn't that long ago people on here were concerned that he may be leaving. I remember the happy comments when he signed his new contract.
He had a great season last season, yes he struggled at Rugby Park but so did the whole team.
He may not be a natural left back but surely that's not his fault if the manager puts him there, he gives a 100% every week.
Him and Sibbs were very effective going forward but teams know how to play against Falkirk now so they know what to expect. They will certainly pay much attention to the left hand side moving forward and add others have said exploit the same side defensively.
For a small guy I would say he wins 70% of high balls and has a great engine.
I would like to see him push up further into left mid and try young Gallacher at LB...i don't see Houstie taking a chance on that at this point in the season but we need to get this team sorted out that's for sure.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

It wasn't that long ago people on here were concerned that he may be leaving. I remember the happy comments when he signed his new contract.
He had a great season last season, yes he struggled at Rugby Park but so did the whole team.
He may not be a natural left back but surely that's not his fault if the manager puts him there, he gives a 100% every week.
Him and Sibbs were very effective going forward but teams know how to play against Falkirk now so they know what to expect. They will certainly pay much attention to the left hand side moving forward and add others have said exploit the same side defensively.
For a small guy I would say he wins 70% of high balls and has a great engine.
I would like to see him push up further into left mid and try young Gallacher at LB...i don't see Houstie taking a chance on that at this point in the season but we need to get this team sorted out that's for sure.

He was hopeless as a left midfielder and couldn't get a game for us there. No more Leahy chat please. He's our left back. There's possibly better but nobody can suggest a serious alternative we could have signed at left back in the summer so it's him at left back. As Housty said, deal with it.

[bridge of allan bairn]

Can we all agree that two pacy wingers (see what Magennis did to us) would virtually guarantee us second, perhaps more? Not that it's realistic or anything, but it would push one or two of our current starters out and make it a really strong squad.

                         Rogers (Mehmet)

Muirhead (Kidd) Grant (McCracken) Gasparotto (Watson) Leahy

                        Kerr (Taiwo/Rankin)

Pacy Winger (Craigen)                 Pacy Winger (Hippolyte)

                          Sibbald (Craigen)

             McHugh (Baird)    Miller (Austin)

 

ETA: A 4-5-1, playing another holding midfielder instead of a striker, would make us far more solid, would cause trouble with the amount of strikers we have though.

This us exactly the same formation and team I have been keen to see. Kerr as the only sitting midfielder with sibbald at the front of the diamond and supporting the strikers and two winger type midfielders that know how to beat a man cross and chip in with the occasional goal. It would certainly be more entertaining and put teams under more pressure.

[GMBairn]

I like the attacking/pacy idea of this formation and team selection but we would be badly exposed defending. Don't really know about Craigen as I haven't seen too much of him but Hippo's defensive work is terrible and I don't think kerr would have the legs to cover the whole area too well for 90 minutes.

[GMBairn]

6 hours ago, Gollum said:

Can we all agree that two pacy wingers (see what Magennis did to us) would virtually guarantee us second, perhaps more? Not that it's realistic or anything, but it would push one or two of our current starters out and make it a really strong squad.

                         Rogers (Mehmet)

Muirhead (Kidd) Grant (McCracken) Gasparotto (Watson) Leahy

                        Kerr (Taiwo/Rankin)

Pacy Winger (Craigen)                 Pacy Winger (Hippolyte)

                          Sibbald (Craigen)

             McHugh (Baird)    Miller (Austin)

 

ETA: A 4-5-1, playing another holding midfielder instead of a striker, would make us far more solid, would cause trouble with the amount of strikers we have though.

I like the attacking/pacy idea of this formation and team selection but we would be badly exposed defending. Don't really know about Craigen as I haven't seen too much of him but Hippo's defensive work is terrible and I don't think kerr would have the legs to cover the whole area too well for 90 minutes.

[Gollum]

Boy at Elliot's was saying that he's heard a few rumours about David Templeton. Anything to that? Has he not been training with some other team?