The Falkirk FC Thread

[ShaggerG]

1 hour ago, Shodwall cat said:

Ok not early May but May none the less. Dallison was announced on the 18th and brough not long after. He'd scouted the likes of him and brough for months so theres no excuse for not signing players that can do an excellent job at this level.  Jack Ross had to rebuild a team last season but they still managed to pump us day one and win 4 out of their first 5.  Having had a full pre season, 4 league cup games , 2 league games and a challenge cup we should have a settled formation and team by now but we're nowhere near that and there have been better players available up here than some of these guys we've brought up from down south with  much fanfare.

So, you're saying that Hartley is incompetent as he signed Dallison, Brough, TOE, Lewis etc as they're all feckin useless and won't do an excellent job at this level? Fair enough.

In a perfect world he would have signed better players. In a perfect world he wouldn't have been our manager in the first place. In a perfect world we'd be the best team in Scotland.

It's not a perfect world Shadwell, but it's one that I sometimes get the impression you're a bit detached from!

[Guest Back Post Misses]

This thread btw.

Just when you think you’ve read everything someone comes up with a belter. Aye bet the board are fucking gutted they didn’t give the job to Miller and Kerr last year.

Absolute mentalist.

I said maybe they should left it a bit longer to see how it went - not jump in as they did with Hartley.

I will add I thought Hartley was the way to go then.

[Harry Kinnear]

We will click on Saturday, beat QOS and the rest of the season will be brilliant. I can feel it in my water

[Believe The Hype]

1 hour ago, Shodwall cat said:

Ok not early May but May none the less. Dallison was announced on the 18th and brough not long after. He'd scouted the likes of him and brough for months so theres no excuse for not signing players that can do an excellent job at this level.  Jack Ross had to rebuild a team last season but they still managed to pump us day one and win 4 out of their first 5.  Having had a full pre season, 4 league cup games , 2 league games and a challenge cup we should have a settled formation and team by now but we're nowhere near that and there have been better players available up here than some of these guys we've brought up from down south with  much fanfare.

Mibee if ye need a jobbie Shadwell, Jack can wipe yer arse for ye shadwell

[Hughsie]

I actually hope we struggle again on Saturday because I’m only truly happy when I’m miserable.

’Mon the Bairns.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

12 minutes ago, Harry Kinnear said:

We will click on Saturday, beat QOS and the rest of the season will be brilliant. I can feel it in my water

Love how you always put a positive slant on it Harry.

Thats the Portonian in you shining through.

Love it.

[Harry Kinnear]

Love how you always put a positive slant on it Harry.
Thats the Portonian in you shining through.
Love it.

GB It comes from being surrounded by the beauty that is Grangemouth [emoji16]

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, Hughsie said:

I actually hope we struggle again on Saturday because I’m only truly happy when I’m miserable.

’Mon the Bairns.

I am pretty sure your wish will be granted, and we will struggle again, but I don’t think we will lose.

Its about now that a new enemy will enter into things.....nerves. After losing the opening two games, the fear of failure at home will start to affect some of the players, and that’s as big a worry as anything that has gone before. If that takes hold, we really are in the sh1t.

[Guest Back Post Misses]

I am pretty sure your wish will be granted, and we will struggle again, but I don’t think we will lose.
Its about now that a new enemy will enter into things.....nerves. After losing the opening two games, the fear of failure at home will start to affect some of the players, and that’s as big a worry as anything that has gone before. If that takes hold, we really are in the sh1t.

Good players can handle that

[MrDust]

1 hour ago, Hughsie said:

I actually hope we struggle again on Saturday because I’m only truly happy when I’m miserable.

’Mon the Bairns.

Haber not fit, one up top and you will be miserable as sin....

 

[Grangemouth Bairn]

33 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I am pretty sure your wish will be granted, and we will struggle again, but I don’t think we will lose.

Its about now that a new enemy will enter into things.....nerves. After losing the opening two games, the fear of failure at home will start to affect some of the players, and that’s as big a worry as anything that has gone before. If that takes hold, we really are in the sh1t.

Unless Hartley can get the players to channel the nervous energy properly and then it could turn right around.

Good test of the players and Hartley at the weekend.

I think it might go ok for us.

[Shodwall cat]

1 hour ago, ShaggerG said:

So, you're saying that Hartley is incompetent as he signed Dallison, Brough, TOE, Lewis etc as they're all feckin useless and won't do an excellent job at this level? Fair enough.

In a perfect world he would have signed better players. In a perfect world he wouldn't have been our manager in the first place. In a perfect world we'd be the best team in Scotland.

It's not a perfect world Shadwell, but it's one that I sometimes get the impression you're a bit detached from!

I know its far too much to ask for a club like ours to be able to put out a decent football team that might just  be good enough to win this division. Now if we were as big as st johnstone, hamilton or livi then it would be a different story . A season fighting relegation or midtable mediocrity is about as much as we should really expect . 

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

 
I bet they wish they gave it to McIntyre now or Kerr and miller.

Hindsight is easy now but maybe leaving the Smith/McCardle/Kerr in charge for more than just two games was the way to go. I didn’t think so at the time but now maybe we should have.

Yes hindsight is a wonderful thing. If Houston coukd go back he wouldn't have signed Loy on at least double the wages of most of the squad which destroyed the dressing room I was told.
 
 
 

They were on the shortlist along with Hartley and McIntyre.

My word.

[Bigbrbairn]

The consensus in June was that it would take the first 1/4 for the team to play to their best . Is 2/36 the same as 1/4? Let’s face it in both league games a lot of our players who are still gelling we’re facing players they have not faced before. Could that perhaps be a wee reason for poor first half and betterish second? Have faith fellow Bairns have faith( if not I will be outside the stand demanding heads to roll after10/36’s

[Gaz]

This thread by the way.

[Shodwall cat]

3 hours ago, Russ said:

 

In the first game against us last season only 2 of St. Mirrens starting 11 had never played a league game for them before (Ian McShane and Gavin Reilly).

Our first game against ICT this season our starting 11 only 2 players had played a league game for us before (Jordan McGhee and Aaron Muirhead).

Not knocking Jack Ross at all but it’s hardly the same kind of re-build going on with the amount of players we’ve brought in.

 

The rebuild comparison should be taken from when they joined the club and not the start of their second season.   Both arrived in similar situations. In the game against us at the start of the next season 5 players who were with st mirren when ross started played from the start. 2 games later as more new signing came in this was  reduced to two.  As you pointed out we started the first game with only 2 players who had started previously. Again to me this was hartleys biggest mistake. Ross planned ahead and brought in players in his first season that would be starters in his championship winning squad. Hartley failed to do this with robson being the only player signed by hartley kept on for the next season. In that way hartley has made things a lot more difficult for himself but has noone to blame but himself im afraid as he like ross has had around 10 months to plan and put to gether a winning team for this season

Edited August 22, 2018 by Shodwall cat

[ShaggerG]

21 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

I know its far too much to ask for a club like ours to be able to put out a decent football team that might just  be good enough to win this division. Now if we were as big as st johnstone, hamilton or livi then it would be a different story . A season fighting relegation or midtable mediocrity is about as much as we should really expect . 

How long have you been supporting Falkirk? What really are your expectations of the club?

I've been watching Falkirk for 50 years. I've occasionally seen us reach a decent level, like under Willie Cunningham and Jim Jeffries and seen us win a few lower league titles. I've also seen us reach 3 SC finals and, one time, even watched as we made a real go of it at the top end of the top league for a while. These were high spots over that 50 year period. In general though we've been a bottom of the top/top of the second league type of team. At the moment we're going through a lengthy downturn, in that we haven't been promoted for a while, however, for most of that time we've been challenging at the top end of the division, and that with Sevco, Hearts, Hibs & DU in it. In Houstie's final season though we really started to struggle and it was obvious that changes needed to be made.

So, in came the Hartley revolution, which, so far, has been generally successful. By that I mean that he avoided the play-offs and has had us in decent form over the piece. The wheels seem to have come off though, or, given that we're still very early into the campaign, maybe just the wheel trims! Hopefully it'll pick up but, based on my own experience and the start we've made, I don't really expect us to be flying into the Premiership anytime soon.

As I say though, I feel that your expectations are that we should immediately be able to to do A, B & C in order to win the league. Almost like you expected Hartley not to shop in the market that he did but drive down to the next town where much better players were just waiting to sign for us. I think you have a far too simplistic idea of how it all works.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be ambitious and not put the effort in to better ourselves because yes, we are a bigger club than those you mention and are as big as a Motherwell or Kilmarnock, but it's not as simple as you'd have us believe. Just ask Paul Hartley!

[Shodwall cat]

14 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

How long have you been supporting Falkirk? What really are your expectations of the club?

I've been watching Falkirk for 50 years. I've occasionally seen us reach a decent level, like under Willie Cunningham and Jim Jeffries and seen us win a few lower league titles. I've also seen us reach 3 SC finals and, one time, even watched as we made a real go of it at the top end of the top league for a while. These were high spots over that 50 year period. In general though we've been a bottom of the top/top of the second league type of team. At the moment we're going through a lengthy downturn, in that we haven't been promoted for a while, however, for most of that time we've been challenging at the top end of the division, and that with Sevco, Hearts, Hibs & DU in it. In Houstie's final season though we really started to struggle and it was obvious that changes needed to be made.

So, in came the Hartley revolution, which, so far, has been generally successful. By that I mean that he avoided the play-offs and has had us in decent form over the piece. The wheels seem to have come off though, or, given that we're still very early into the campaign, maybe just the wheel trims! Hopefully it'll pick up but, based on my own experience and the start we've made, I don't really expect us to be flying into the Premiership anytime soon.

As I say though, I feel that your expectations are that we should immediately be able to to do A, B & C in order to win the league. Almost like you expected Hartley not to shop in the market that he did but drive down to the next town where much better players were just waiting to sign for us. I think you have a far too simplistic idea of how it all works.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be ambitious and not put the effort in to better ourselves because yes, we are a bigger club than those you mention and are as big as a Motherwell or Kilmarnock, but it's not as simple as you'd have us believe. Just ask Paul Hartley!

Or ask jack ross or david hopkin.  Ive been watching falkirk for around 40 years. We're now a very different club to the one back then with a great support, excellent facilities and until recently an excellent youth academy.  Unlike the hamiltons of this world weve been hamstrung by the decision making of those in charge of the club.  With the right manager in charge and a decent recruitment policy in place we should be right up there challenging but as i mentioned previously nearly ten years down here and we're no closer to getting up whilst st mirren are back up after what only 3 and livi are in the top flight one season after being promoted from league one.  We should be challenging for the title every season and that should be our minimum expectations and nothing less. I mean since we came down we've made one decent challenge for the title in what 8 or 9 seasons. Thats pitiful for a club our size.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Shodwall cat

[ShaggerG]

38 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Or ask jack ross or david hopkin.  Ive been watching falkirk for around 40 years. We're now a very different club to the one back then with a great support, excellent facilities and until recently an excellent youth academy.  Unlike the hamiltons of this world weve been hamstrung by the decision making of those in charge of the club.  With the right manager in charge and a decent recruitment policy in place we should be right up there challenging but as i mentioned previously nearly ten years down here and we're no closer to getting up whilst st mirren are back up after what only 3 and livi are in the top flight one season after being promoted from league one.  We should be challenging for the title every season and that should be our minimum expectations and nothing less. I mean since we came down we've made one decent challenge for the title in what 8 or 9 seasons. Thats pitiful for a club our size.

So who's fault is it then?

[EdiBairn]

1 hour ago, Bigbrbairn said:

The consensus in June was that it would take the first 1/4 for the team to play to their best . Is 2/36 the same as 1/4? Let’s face it in both league games a lot of our players who are still gelling we’re facing players they have not faced before. Could that perhaps be a wee reason for poor first half and betterish second? Have faith fellow Bairns have faith( if not I will be outside the stand demanding heads to roll after10/36’s

It's all very well saying they're still gelling but other teams like Hearts and Rangers have also brought in similar numbers of new players but both have started the season very strongly. 

Which makes you think it's not the gelling that's the problem with us, but the quality of players that's come in. The fact that there's been no improvement at all since the first game of pre season as you might expect would seem to support this.

Edited August 22, 2018 by EdiBairn