Best Squad in the League vs The Championees

[Senor Bairn]

League standards shite, Accies managers Shite, everything's shite.

 

Least accies have got fanbase working this time! Remember someone defending f**k out paper tickets last time

Edited April 12 by Senor Bairn

[StuartA]

41 minutes ago, Ian Mcleod said:

Yeah I think you do make a couple of fair points however it's fair to say that Falkirk have certainly got some appointments wrong I wouldn't want any of those 3 managers that you named anywhere near Accies. As far as I'm aware Rankin's contract is up af the end of the season so it wouldn't cost us any money to get rid of him. With what you said about it being a risk which it would be I think you could make that point about any club in the SPFL about removing their manager it would also be a huge risk keeping Rankin and giving him another year if we do lose the playoffs this season like I think we will and we don't go up next season then we are going to be here for a long time and possibly longer than what Falkirk were here for. 

Fair enough. The calculation then has to be that your owner/supremo would get the next appointment right and that he’d make this squad work in season 1. Also - and this’ll be unpopular - that you believe Rankin can’t learn or improve.  That’s the bit that lots of football fans never seem to want to acknowledge, that folk change. 

[Ye Olde Hamiltonian]

2 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Would you have finished any higher than 2nd place this season with any other manager ?

The issue isn’t so much as being second, but being so far adrift.

Falkirk would still be top, but the gap would not be anywhere as big.

Rankin’s home record in particular in this League is reason enough for his P45 whatever happens tomorrow.

[AndrewFFC]

6 minutes ago, Ye Olde Hamiltonian said:

The issue isn’t so much as being second, but being so far adrift.

Falkirk would still be top, but the gap would not be anywhere as big.

Rankin’s home record in particular in this League is reason enough for his P45 whatever happens tomorrow.

You have more points than Stenhousemuir who are confirmed champions and until a few hours ago had more than Dundee United too. We're just that good

[Ian Mcleod]

1 hour ago, StuartA said:

Fair enough. The calculation then has to be that your owner/supremo would get the next appointment right and that he’d make this squad work in season 1. Also - and this’ll be unpopular - that you believe Rankin can’t learn or improve.  That’s the bit that lots of football fans never seem to want to acknowledge, that folk change. 

He hasn't learned from last season his subs constantly kills us and makes us far worse his game management is terrible for example a couple of weeks ago against QOTS he had made 4 subs but in 3 different stoppages and 2 stoppages within about 2 minutes apart so we had to play for the last 20/25 minutes with no subs left and it was clear to see a couple of them were carrying injuries 1 of them Lee Kilday is just recently back from injury and another Jackson Longridge had to come off again last week due to an injury he's risking these players in meanness matches when we have the playoffs coming up in a couple of weeks. His treatment of young players is also terrible he's constantly on their backs and is shouting at them every 2 minutes however he very rarely shouts at the experienced players when it's clear a couple of them know their place is safe regardless of how poor apart from Connor Smith and Fergus Owens (and he was out on loan for 6 months when it's clear he should have been in the first team) he's failed to improve any talented young player and has repeatedly ruined them. Joe McGlynn, Josh O'Brien, Makenzie Kirk, Dylan Tait,Lucas De Bolle, Dylan Stephenson, Chrissy McGinn, Jonny Ngandu are the names that instantly come to me.

[Todd_is_God]

3 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Would you have finished any higher than 2nd place this season with any other manager ?

I'm not entirely sure what difference that makes to my point tbh - John Rankin is not a good manager and we are where we are in spite of him, not because of him. It's really not an achievement to be so far ahead of 3rd place given the money we have shovelled into this season.

However, to give your question a bit of respect, it's possible. A stronger manager may have tried to win the first game at TFS (we were both pretty terrible ) and who knows how your season pans out without the air of invincibility around your squad that has grown and grown as the season has progressed never getting beyond the 7th (I think) match day. Same with your late equaliser up in Cove. But there's no need though to resort to hypotheticals as we've had two full seasons of him demonstrating he may be a good coach but not a good manager.

What's absolutely certain, though, is we wouldn't be any lower with a different manager.

[Todd_is_God]

1 hour ago, AndrewFFC said:

You have more points than Stenhousemuir who are confirmed champions and until a few hours ago had more than Dundee United too. We're just that good

We're in different divisions, so this is just a nonsense comparison.

I'm being very careful not to come across as diminishing the magnitude of going unbeaten in any division, because i'm not - that is, quite simply, a remarkable achievement, but a full-time team in League One amassing a large number of points just isn't that great of an achievement.

[LatapyBairn.]

11 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

I'm not entirely sure what difference that makes to my point tbh - John Rankin is not a good manager and we are where we are in spite of him, not because of him. It's really not an achievement to be so far ahead of 3rd place given the money we have shovelled into this season.

However, to give your question a bit of respect, it's possible. A stronger manager may have tried to win the first game at TFS (we were both pretty terrible ) and who knows how your season pans out without the air of invincibility around your squad that has grown and grown as the season has progressed never getting beyond the 7th (I think) match day. Same with your late equaliser up in Cove. But there's no need though to resort to hypotheticals as we've had two full seasons of him demonstrating he may be a good coach but not a good manager.

What's absolutely certain, though, is we wouldn't be any lower with a different manager.

IMO there is as much chance of winning the lottery as there was of that Hamilton squad being able to finish above this Falkirk side regardless of who the manager is. Managing a smaller club and gaining 2nd place behind a bigger club but still with a healthy points total is no disgrace for Rankin, only 2 players or maybe 3 at a push from Hamilton would be considered starters in the current Falkirk squad. 

Edited April 13 by LatapyBairn.

[Todd_is_God]

6 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

IMO there is as much chance of winning the lottery as there is of that Hamilton squad being able to finish above this Falkirk side regardless of who the manager is. Managing a smaller club and gaining 2nd place behind a bigger club but still with a healthy points total is no disgrace for Rankin, only 2 players or maybe 3 at a push from Hamilton would be considered starters in the current Falkirk squad. 

Given we were level on points after the First Quarter I don't actually think there is a gulf in quality between the two sides. We'll never know, obviously, but had you'd lost up in Cove I don't think we'd be sitting here in April with you lot miles clear and with that as your only loss.

You've built on the confidence and belief that you can grind something out every week, and not having been beaten will be on your opposition's minds as well.

You'll do well next season, but if we do go up, a decent manager would have our current squad sniffing around the playoff spots too.

I dunno why Falkirk fans are so desperate for it to be true that Rankin has done a good job.

[gav-ffc]

7 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Given we were level on points after the First Quarter I don't actually think there is a gulf in quality between the two sides. We'll never know, obviously, but had you'd lost up in Cove I don't think we'd be sitting here in April with you lot miles clear and with that as your only loss.

You've built on the confidence and belief that you can grind something out every week, and not having been beaten will be on your opposition's minds as well.

You'll do well next season, but if we do go up, a decent manager would have our current squad sniffing around the playoff spots too.

I dunno why Falkirk fans are so desperate for it to be true that Rankin has done a good job.

[Balde Bairn]

8 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

I dunno why Falkirk fans are so desperate for it to be true that Rankin has done a good job.

It’s a matter of fact that he has. You’re sitting on 65 points right now, in normal circumstances that would have you top and at very worst still in contention for the title. Do you really expect Rankin to lose zero games and draw only one or two in a whole season? That’s the only way you could’ve competed with Falkirk this season. There’s no one who could realistically do a lot better in charge. Hamilton do not have a great team or squad. 

[Senor Bairn]

13 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Given we were level on points after the First Quarter I don't actually think there is a gulf in quality between the two sides. We'll never know, obviously, but had you'd lost up in Cove I don't think we'd be sitting here in April with you lot miles clear and with that as your only loss.

You've built on the confidence and belief that you can grind something out every week, and not having been beaten will be on your opposition's minds as well.

You'll do well next season, but if we do go up, a decent manager would have our current squad sniffing around the playoff spots too.

I dunno why Falkirk fans are so desperate for it to be true that Rankin has done a good job.

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

I was at that first game up at Cove and we were by far the better side. Yes we grabbed a late equaliser but we played really well and should have pumped them.

Cove scored from a dodgy penalty and a horrendous Brad McKay error, who hasnt played for us since. The new additions were already beginning to look like quality signings (particularly Spencer, Agyeman & Miller) and it was very much a sign of things to come. 

I dont think it would have made any difference if we had lost 2-1 to how the rest of our season would have panned out. Maybe then we wouldn't have had the drive to snatch the late equaliser at Edinburgh, but in general we've been far too good and would have hoovered up a shit tonne of points regardless  

 

Edited April 13 by NavyBlueArmy1876

[LatapyBairn.]

27 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

Given we were level on points after the First Quarter I don't actually think there is a gulf in quality between the two sides. We'll never know, obviously, but had you'd lost up in Cove I don't think we'd be sitting here in April with you lot miles clear and with that as your only loss.

You've built on the confidence and belief that you can grind something out every week, and not having been beaten will be on your opposition's minds as well.

You'll do well next season, but if we do go up, a decent manager would have our current squad sniffing around the playoff spots too.

I dunno why Falkirk fans are so desperate for it to be true that Rankin has done a good job.

Nobody is particularly “desperate” about it. It’s just looking at the facts and stating them, i’e. Points gained, league position and the opposition he’s been up against. Taking all that into consideration he’s probably been decent. I’ve no idea why Hamilton fans are so desperate to convince themselves this Hamilton squad was ever going to be good enough to finish above a Falkirk side of this standard that is on such an extraordinary run of form, it’s borderline delusional. 

Edited April 13 by LatapyBairn.

[Todd_is_God]

15 minutes ago, Balde Bairn said:

It’s a matter of fact that he has.

It's a matter of fact he has not. At its most basic level he was set a target for this season and cannot achieve it.

Two seasons in charge, zero out of two targets achieved.

[Todd_is_God]

3 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

I’ve no idea why Hamilton fans are so desperate to convince themselves this Hamilton squad was ever going to be good enough to finish above a Falkirk side on such an extraordinary run of form. 

I think the majority are comfortable that it's not possible to finish above a side that drop 12 points in 36 games.

However you don't watch us every week. The football is pish, there is no clear identity or style of play, we sit in and try to protect 1 goal leads at home to teams like Edinburgh City rather than trying to kill games off, he still doesn't know his best XI, and he continues to make baffling substitutions that actively weaken us.

If we were second but playing decent football going into the playoffs then fine. But we've not been at that level since before Christmas.

Our players literally turn up to training, eat beans on toast, doss about for a bit, have a starbucks, and then watch Netflix. Yet we're still second. That's not because of Rankin.

[Higgenarse]

21 minutes ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

I was at that first game up at Cove and we were by far the better side. Yes we grabbed a late equaliser but we played really well and should have pumped them.

Cove scored from a dodgy penalty and a horrendous Brad McKay error, who hasnt played for us since. The new additions were already beginning to look like quality signings (particularly Spencer, Agyeman & Miller) and it was very much a sign of things to come. 

I dont think it would have made any difference if we had lost 2-1 to how the rest of our season would have panned out. Maybe then we wouldn't have had the drive to snatch the late equaliser at Edinburgh, but in general we've been far too good and would have hoovered up a shit tonne of points regardless  

 

I agree with all of this but also what was clear from this game was that the players mentality was different.  They fought despite things going against them and fought to the final whistle.

[Balde Bairn]

34 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

It's a matter of fact he has not. At its most basic level he was set a target for this season and cannot achieve it.

Two seasons in charge, zero out of two targets achieved.

You could still get promoted so he certainly hasn’t failed. This is beyond self entitled. Falkirk is the second best team to play in this division but you expect Rankin to surpass what Sevco did in the league. It’s just ludicrous.

[StuartA]

I don’t think we’re desperate for anything regarding Rankin. We’re probably just looking at it through the prism of our own failures in the past half decade, and considering dispassionately how that applies to Accies. We know that the revolving door of managers and players damaged our club greatly before the fans rescued it. 

[Owsley 2]

2 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

I think the majority are comfortable that it's not possible to finish above a side that drop 12 points in 36 games.

However you don't watch us every week. The football is pish, there is no clear identity or style of play, we sit in and try to protect 1 goal leads at home to teams like Edinburgh City rather than trying to kill games off, he still doesn't know his best XI, and he continues to make baffling substitutions that actively weaken us.

If we were second but playing decent football going into the playoffs then fine. But we've not been at that level since before Christmas.

Our players literally turn up to training, eat beans on toast, doss about for a bit, have a starbucks, and then watch Netflix. Yet we're still second. That's not because of Rankin.

A little unfair, it's not always pish. We have had four 5-0 wins and a 5-2. Losing at home to Annan and drawing with Edinburgh at a time when they were getting humped every week was inexcusable. Losing to a decent side like Alloa less so.