The Falkirk FC Thread

[Shodwall cat]

2 hours ago, KiwiDB said:

20 players.

5 over 30, 8 who are under 25 and  average age of 26.9.

While a lot of them have been around a while, that doesn't make them old.

Most of them have legs like 30.year old plus players though. None have real pace and that is a huge problem. You look at all the league winning sides we have had in recent times and they all had pace in the team.  Mcquilken, Lawrie, samuel, duffy...... You need pace on your side especially at this level but our squad is full of one paced slow as treacle players.

[Shodwall cat]

9 hours ago, ShaggerG said:

I thought Longridge looked better on Saturday. Haven't seen enough of the rest to comment and we may not see any of them get enough game time to form an opinion. He still needed to bring players in to fill out the squad though.

Yeah but are they really the best we could hope for? Was there a real need to panic sign these players. How much game time have moore and Millar had since they signed? Been far better holding off till nearer the window closing when players are desperate to find clubs.

[Bairnardo]

Most of them have legs like 30.year old plus players though. None have real pace and that is a huge problem. You look at all the league winning sides we have had in recent times and they all had pace in the team.  Mcquilken, Lawrie, samuel, duffy...... You need pace on your side especially at this level but our squad is full of one paced slow as treacle players.

Sammon, McManus, Connolly, Longridge, Doyle, McLean are all pretty quick across the turf. Gomis isnt a slouch either. Tidser and McShane are bona fide slow, but that sort of player has no requirement to be fast if they are played correctly. Not everyone needs to be rapid.

 

The only player that is too slow to be effective at what they are being asked to do is Dixon. Again, its not the players, its the setup.

 

Not one of us was unhappy with the quality of player in the squad pre season. We had gripes about squad numbers which were somewhat alleviated but Ray has somehow managed to add a bit of quantity to the quality and them hypnotise us all into seeing 11 John Rankins on the pitch.

 

[Marshmallo]

5 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Sammon, McManus, Connolly, Longridge, Doyle, McLean are all pretty quick across the turf. Gomis isnt a slouch either. Tidser and McShane are bona fide slow, but that sort of player has no requirement to be fast if they are played correctly. Not everyone needs to be rapid.

 

The only player that is too slow to be effective at what they are being asked to do is Dixon. Again, its not the players, its the setup.

 

Not one of us was unhappy with the quality of player in the squad pre season. We had gripes about squad numbers which were somewhat alleviated but Ray has somehow managed to add a bit of quantity to the quality and them hypnotise us all into seeing 11 John Rankins on the pitch.

 

We're verging on "these players showing what they're capable of" again here ^^^

[Shodwall cat]

5 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Sammon, McManus, Connolly, Longridge, Doyle, McLean are all pretty quick across the turf. Gomis isnt a slouch either. Tidser and McShane are bona fide slow, but that sort of player has no requirement to be fast if they are played correctly. Not everyone needs to be rapid.

 

The only player that is too slow to be effective at what they are being asked to do is Dixon. Again, its not the players, its the setup.

 

Not one of us was unhappy with the quality of player in the squad pre season. We had gripes about squad numbers which were somewhat alleviated but Ray has somehow managed to add a bit of quantity to the quality and them hypnotise us all into seeing 11 John Rankins on the pitch.

 

None of them are really quick.  Have we seen any of our players stand out pace wise against the opposition? No. At this level against plumbers and joiners you need players that have that bit extra. I don't see any of our players standing out on a saturday pace wise.  When you look at the guys I've mentioned we don't have anyone with that kind of pace. 

[Bairnardo]

7 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

We're verging on "these players showing what they're capable of" again here ^^^

How? Are you telling me that theres  not good enough quality in our squad to do better in these games?

I know you love to continually dredge up a throwaway comment made right after the final whistle of our first win but really, your going to need to start addressing the stuff I am saying if you have an issue with it, cos something that happened a year ago is pretty irrelevant

[Newbornbairn]

22 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

None of them are really quick.  Have we seen any of our players stand out pace wise against the opposition? No. At this level against plumbers and joiners you need players that have that bit extra. I don't see any of our players standing out on a saturday pace wise.  When you look at the guys I've mentioned we don't have anyone with that kind of pace. 

Aye, Sammon against Peterhead I think. A cute through ball and he went flying past a defender whio had a two yard start on him. Not had much opportunity to show that again as we just launch howitzers up for him to challenge in the air. 

[Marshmallo]

25 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

How? Are you telling me that theres  not good enough quality in our squad to do better in these games?

I know you love to continually dredge up a throwaway comment made right after the final whistle of our first win but really, your going to need to start addressing the stuff I am saying if you have an issue with it, cos something that happened a year ago is pretty irrelevant

You've essentially said every player is rapid and made out that fans are underrating the entire squad as an overreaction to a couple of games.

[Guest]

Seeking to blame the age or the skill of the players is to take the wrong fork on the road.

All of this sits with McKinnon. That group of players are easily capable of winning the league. Everyone from Falkirk supporters through to opposition supporters and on to TV and Radio pundits as well as every bookie in the country knows it.

McKinnon is the drag anchor in all of it. He over complicates, he struggles to grasp the concept that three wins and three defeats is vastly superior to six draws and no defeats.

 I am more and more convinced that he is scared of the responsibility, and that is why he is so obsessed with unbeaten runs. It gives him a fallback position....a different kind of “success” for his CV.

[Bairnardo]

4 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

You've essentially said every player is rapid and made out that fans are underrating the entire squad as an overreaction to a couple of games.

I literally named a few players who IMO are pretty quick. I also named a few that are slow. You are talking complete shite here. Go back and read the post. Also while you are at it can you answer the question in the first line of my reply instead of deliberately misrepresenting what I said?

[Shadwell Dog]

21 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

I literally named a few players who IMO are pretty quick. I also named a few that are slow. You are talking complete shite here. Go back and read the post. Also while you are at it can you answer the question in the first line of my reply instead of deliberately misrepresenting what I said?

Midfields the issue especially gomis, mcshane and tidser. I've seen milk turn quicker than those three.  At least gomis has an excuse as hes 34. Not only are they slow off the mark but they are also slow at passing the ball. Connolly and telfer arent electric either.  When you add to that two fullbacks one who is slow as death and the other who is not slow but not quick then your asking for trouble.  We're crying out for players with the type of pace Duffy and samuel had. I wouldnt say the players we have just now in the main are any quicker than the part timers they come up against.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Shadwell Dog

[The Moonster]

11 hours ago, Long Suffering Bairn said:

Oh well, no new signings this window.  I hope our next signing will be a new manager in a couple of weeks time.

 

10 hours ago, Sgt Bilko said:

Looking at some of the late moves that's happened at the end of the window, just goes to prove how much of a sorry state we are in (example being Kiltie to Pars etc). Great move for the Pars.

Were currently stuck with Rays experienced,slow old guard and his boring tactics.

Remember you're in the diddy leagues now - you can still sign loan players up to the end of September.

[MrDust]

5 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

Mind we are in league one though. Bit romantic to think Kiltie or DKD or any of these guys would be coming to us really.

I'm not buying this slow reverse back to "we have a squad of lazy signings and filler" type stuff either. The players are more than good enough to win the leagie and even if you disagree with that, theres no arguing that they are capable of producing better than turgid shite on a matchday. We know this because they showed us v Dumbarton.

All of this points to Ray being the problem. Its a shame because I hate turning on players/managers but its too difficult to argue against.

I reckon we could've got DKD, he loved it here and id rather have signed him to be the main man than Tidser, the Ray diamond might have worked with him at the top of it.

We do have squad fillers in the squad in Leitch, Moore, Miller, Longridge and I'd even say Johnstone, the majority of them will be off the bench players, suspension/injury fillers and won't retain a starting place for a reason. The fact we have a good few players on 6 month contracts shows we have squad fillers.

The squad is good enough to win the league but cmon to use Dumbarton reference to back up we are great is a no no. The majority if not all commented it was the worst Dumbarton team we had seen, they were far too open on the day and gave up and we did also. The difference between them and us, is they have a manager who can address the problem and did, he did it last season when they were rooted to the bottom.

Ray is the problem, the body language, the repeating of phrases, poor excuses in his interviews show what we have seen on the park whereas our last 4 or 5 managers would be determined, focused and delivering answers to our issues, Ray just repeats same droll undetermined guff.

Ray should've been gone in May but it would have gave the fans more ammo to hit against the board/MSG

[Rocco]

I think it's worth remembering that pace isn't much use when the opposition have 10 men behind the ball whilst camping on their 18 harder.

None of them are really quick.  Have we seen any of our players stand out pace wise against the opposition? No. At this level against plumbers and joiners you need players that have that bit extra. I don't see any of our players standing out on a saturday pace wise.  When you look at the guys I've mentioned we don't have anyone with that kind of pace. 

That's a daft comment. I played football with some brickies and labourers that I'd bet were a lot quicker than some "pacey" professionals.

[Bairnardo]

I reckon we could've got DKD, he loved it here and id rather have signed him to be the main man than Tidser, the Ray diamond might have worked with him at the top of it.
We do have squad fillers in the squad in Leitch, Moore, Miller, Longridge and I'd even say Johnstone, the majority of them will be off the bench players, suspension/injury fillers and won't retain a starting place for a reason. The fact we have a good few players on 6 month contracts shows we have squad fillers.
The squad is good enough to win the league but cmon to use Dumbarton reference to back up we are great is a no no. The majority if not all commented it was the worst Dumbarton team we had seen, they were far too open on the day and gave up and we did also. The difference between them and us, is they have a manager who can address the problem and did, he did it last season when they were rooted to the bottom.
Ray is the problem, the body language, the repeating of phrases, poor excuses in his interviews show what we have seen on the park whereas our last 4 or 5 managers would be determined, focused and delivering answers to our issues, Ray just repeats same droll undetermined guff.
Ray should've been gone in May but it would have gave the fans more ammo to hit against the board/MSG

The last part is I think unfortunately why we are stuck with him.

Re the rest, I have never said we were great. I have acknowledged how bad Dumbarton were but its wrong to dismiss that we were very good that day. Basically most of your post agrees with what I am saying. Ray setting these guys up not to lose is the issue. Its not natural to a lot of them and it results in turgid shite. Personally that is a significantly bigger issue than the quality of the squad which I dont recall too many questioning until the Clyde game.

[Bairnardo]

I think it's worth remembering that pace isn't much use when the opposition have 10 men behind the ball whilst camping on their 18 harder.
That's a daft comment. I played football with some brickies and labourers that I'd bet were a lot quicker than some "pacey" professionals.

Yeah... Fast passing beats fast players. Just like in boxing, timing beats speed.

I was more of a defender of him than most, but I'll give you Deimantas Petravicius as an example since loads of folk hounded him on here. What we seem to be asking for then is someone with better end product then Petra, and just as fast, to come and play in league 1. Lets not be fooled into thinking lack of raw speed is the issue. We are failing to create space and stretch teams. Thats the problem. Not whether we have a Collin Samuel 10 second 100m in our team.

[Shadwell Dog]

We never learn from our mistakes. We kept Pressley on after we went down with barely a whimper  and had to put up with a few years of dross under him.  Now Mckinnon has taken us down and we're still employing him. 

6 minutes ago, Rocco said:

I think it's worth remembering that pace isn't much use when the opposition have 10 men behind the ball whilst camping on their 18 harder.

That's a daft comment. I played football with some brickies and labourers that I'd bet were a lot quicker than some "pacey" professionals.

Thats when you need to get the ball wide rip the fullback a new one and get the ball into the box.  We have noone that seems to have the speed or ability to do that.  Instead our fullbacks punt the ball into the box from the half way line or sidle up to their fullbacks and turn and pas the ball back.  We need to move the ball far quicker and get players that can carry the ball far quicker.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

1 hour ago, Bairnardo said:

Sammon, McManus, Connolly, Longridge, Doyle, McLean are all pretty quick across the turf. Gomis isnt a slouch either. Tidser and McShane are bona fide slow, but that sort of player has no requirement to be fast if they are played correctly. Not everyone needs to be rapid.

 

The only player that is too slow to be effective at what they are being asked to do is Dixon. Again, its not the players, its the setup.

 

Not one of us was unhappy with the quality of player in the squad pre season. We had gripes about squad numbers which were somewhat alleviated but Ray has somehow managed to add a bit of quantity to the quality and them hypnotise us all into seeing 11 John Rankins on the pitch.

 

Gomis isn’t a slouch ?? What is he, a sloth ??

Tbf he was our most effective of the midfield 3 on Saturday (albeit that wasn’t tough)

Edited September 3, 2019 by Grangemouth Bairn

[Shadwell Dog]

2 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

Yeah... Fast passing beats fast players. Just like in boxing, timing beats speed.

I was more of a defender of him than most, but I'll give you Deimantas Petravicius as an example since loads of folk hounded him on here. What we seem to be asking for then is someone with better end product then Petra, and just as fast, to come and play in league 1. Lets not be fooled into thinking lack of raw speed is the issue. We are failing to create space and stretch teams. Thats the problem. Not whether we have a Collin Samuel 10 second 100m in our team.

He would probably have done a job this season to be fair.  You look at the likes of Dunfermline when they were in this league. They had the likes of Joe Cardle.  A winger with pace and skill that can rip a defence to shreds at that level.   He ended up with 14 goals that season even though he played out wide. The way we are currently going I'll be surprised if any of our strikers hit that mark.

[Bairnardo]

2 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Gomis isn’t a slouch ?? What is he, a sloth ??

Tbf he was our most effective of the midfield 3 on Saturday (albeit that wasn’t tough)

Gomis hasnt had a bad performance for us yet and has been our best player in the last two games probably.