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410 people died of cancer in the UK yesterday and 3 from Covid. I know you can't catch cancer but fucking hell that a ridiculous stat.

How the fans behave makes exactly zero difference to how successful we are as a national side. I'd rather fans were enjoying us being in a major tournament rather than being a bunch of miserable c***s sitting at home whining.

That 10 weeks chat has had two impacts on me. Firstly it's put the lingering feeling of misery that followed me about for most of the past year back into the back of my mind. The feeling of dread waiting on an update from the Government on what you can't do now. And that's exhausting. But secondly it's made me feel far more determined to just live my life and ignore the rules. To be perfectly honest, at the moment, I've no idea what the rules even are. Other than restricted crowds at sporting events and masks in supermarkets. They became ridiculous contradictory nonsense a long time ago. With almost everyone in vulnerable groups vaccinated, four deaths of people for any reason at all who have tested positive within 28 days reported last week and hospital numbers lower than a small junior game I fail to see the point in any of this. It's panic led dithering from a government paralysed by fear and too scared to make a decision listening to oddballs determined to further their own time in the limelight. Furlough ending will be the only thing that takes Scotland out of lockdown. I honestly believe that.

You seem annoyed that folk might want some timescales as to when we might get our freedoms back after 15 months (and counting) of restrictions. A strange position to take.

Email sent. Dear Sirs, I was delighted to read about the forthcoming Q & A session that is due to take place soon and which will be recorded and then made available to view on FTV on Thursday 24th June. However, myself and several of my friends and fellow supporters are a bit concerned about the proposed format of the session, which will have Lewis Connolly of FTV acting as an “independent” conduit of fans questions to be directed to the Board and coaching staff. We feel that this format puts Lewis in an extremely difficult situation – if the questions that he selects are too “soft” he will be under pressure from the fans and considered a mouthpiece of the club – if the questions that he asks of the board etc. are too difficult he will come under pressure from within the club. He is between a rock and a hard place. Surely a fairer and more transparent format would be for the session to be live on Zoom, that way the club could be 100% sure that the questions, to use your own words, “have not been cherry-picked or vetted prior to being posed”. In fairness to everybody, Lewis, the fans and the board and coaching staff, I hope that you will reconsider the format of the Q & A session. I look forward to your reply. Bairn in Exile

Not a great degree Nicky. Normality. Full stop.

What's Patterson's stats for tackling his own team mates when their in the opposition box and backheeling the ball out of the park under no pressure?

Has everyone not suffered enough from all of this?

As I've said before on India, the variant wasn't a variant of concern until long after it was red listed. Yes cases were rising there at the time, but the overall level of cases were lower than much of Europe once you factored in population. If we're going to red list countries every time there's a variant then we might as well shut over travel industry down now and drop the pretence. Vaccination rates in countries are supposed to be a factor as well in red list decisions. I've no idea if rates in India were much higher than other countries that were red listed prior to Indian's red listing. There are of course clear political aims at play too. There are also rather a lot of Indians or people of Indian descent that are British nationals and/or residents. It's not like those that did come back here didn't have good reason, much as the 'stop the flights!!!' moaners might like to pretend otherwise. They'd just come via Qatar or Frankfurt instead if we had done so, of course. And, crucially, every single one of them presented a negative test before being allowed into the UK. That 4% of them subsequently tested positive after arrival is something worthy of investigation. I imagine it gives fuel to those that want arrivals punted into quarantine in all cases, which isn't all that effective either - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-57425917 Now of course that variant is here and is now dominant. But, really - so what? We've reopened a bit and expected cases and hospitalisations to rise, which they have. Hospitalisations aren't rising at the same rate as cases because we have effictive vaccines and more than 40% of the population is fully vaccinated. They are being demonstrated in real time to be effective. They work against this variant. In which case, we really should be able to just deal with this now, including variants. There is no reason people shouldn't be allowed quarantine free travel to Europe at least - If you do get Covid there you'll only get the Kent variant and not the oh so terrible one we're now wringing our hands about. The issue we have here is that the UK government went all in on VaRiAnTs when things kicked off last year, in particular suddenly unveiling the Kent variant when cases got to high levels despite it comprising c25% of all cases in areas of England as early as September. They did this to cover their arses for a series of abject failures with the tiers and embarrassing battles with glorified transport transport commissioners like Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham, which they came out of looking fucking daft despite Manchester and London leading the infection charts. They are therefore keeping up appearances about variants by casting doom on them any time one appears, not to mention the reprehensible Portugal amber listing on the flimsiest of excuses. The vaccines work against these variants. Drop the pretence and stop elevating them to some sort of danger status that they don't deserve. It is a pathetic excuse from the government and no more.

Boris Johnson making a complete c**t of it doesn't automatically mean Sturgeon hasn't. They've both royally fucked it this year by consistently changing their message and never committing to an actual end point. Nobody was demanding a date, but just a point in the vaccination process when everything can open up. Most frustration comes from the never ending humming and hawing. What's the point in young people getting vaccinated just now when there's no real risk for them, plus no end point in sight, and we're constantly getting told by Jason Leitch that there's hundred sof variants around the corner that current vaccines don't protect against?

I've been sitting thinking long and hard about this and I feel like shit even posting it but here goes: If not seen as saviours exactly, the Rawlins were certainly welcomed by the general fan base and certainly by most on here. The outlook on them seems to have changed completely by a lot of people and I struggle to really see why. The main bone of contention is obviously the Patron's failed attempt to invest and get what they wanted, which is something that most of us wanted to see. (I pledged myself.) Having thought about all of the recent shit on here though, here's what I think has been happening: There have been a few new accounts which have appeared (maybe even multiple accounts from the same people) that seem to simply want to discredit the club, BOD, Holt, the Rawlins and, frankly, everything else to do with the club. I think these are people who are either major Patrons or are close to them and I think they're doing it to piss the BOD and Rawlins off in the hope that they walk away, allowing the fans group to get in. There are also quite a few long standing posters who seem to have changed their stance on the Rawlins and I think that they're simply being sucked in by the newbies. I really hope that I'm wrong but, if I'm right, then I wouldn't want people who behave in that way to be part of the governance of the club, just as I said that I wouldn't want people who threaten or abuse fans (i.e. the Rawlins as alleged on here) to be part of the club either. As I said before, I wouldn't want the club to be run entirely by fans as I believe there would be too much infighting, clashes of personalities, too many Billy big baws etc., but I wouldn't want it taken over by one guy, or family either. There needs to be a hybrid IMO with fans and the Rawlins involved but the prospect of that seems to be getting further and further away. As fans, we need to know more detail on why the fan's investment was declined and more about the discussions that were held when the bid was made. I'd like that to come from both sides. I'd also like someone to point me in the direction of the fans group so that I can read for myself what their aims are, amount of capital raised, time-lines etc as I haven't seen any of that I don't think. I suppose in these days of social media things can be painted a bit blacker than they actually are but I've supported Falkirk for over 50 years and seen a lot of bleak times however, we're at a particularly low ebb at the moment so, if ever there was a time that we need to stand together, this is surely it!?

Publish a paper to tell us life should go back to how it was in 2019? Absolutely laughable shite from these incompetent clowns. They simply love bureaucratic nonsense. Did Israel bother with shite like this? Denmark have also simply listed dates with key expected vaccination thresholds/checkpoints at which things will be back to full pre-pandemic normality. I'd have thought somewhere like Denmark would be a model for the Scottish Government? Or can they just not let go of the 'we must keep safe' virtue signalling pish?

This thread is becoming like a fucking Christopher Nolan film, with one pointless riddle being carefully woven through another [emoji23]

Nobody on Falkirk TV has asked anyone at the club a difficult question in 3 years, why are they going to start now?

Interesting also that the ‘data not dates’ approach has been totally jettisoned in favour of ‘just wait a few more weeks’.

I was gravely unhappy a few years back and it was a mixture of things. One day I just deleted everything - Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat etc. Quite quickly I found I started to see a lot of people's 'true colours'. I took myself away from all discussions about other folks business and anything aired on those media platforms. Quite a few people commented on how weird it was but spiking back with "I don't need validation from somebody clicking a like button" usually shut them up quite quickly. Slowly I've returned to them all - but I only use Facebook for buying/selling clothes. Twitter for art etc. I use this site heavily and I genuinely mean it when I type - this site helps me far more than any other. Maybe it's the anonymity that allows more openness but I'd be pretty lost without this place and it's posters some times. This topic especially is a wondrous place where you see the best side of the Internet. Take care of yourselves and as always, I'm only ever a PM away.

Tbf at this stage of the vaccination process they should have a date in mind for lifting all restrictions. This "Level 0" pish is embarrassing.

Double-dosed.

The Czech Republic have just beaten Scotland, and have had colt sides in their set up for the past twenty seasons. Therefore I've compiled this list of the 16 players who were on the Hampden turf yesterday, showing which of them had played even a single match for any colt or B team. Here it is: 1 Vaclik X 5 Coufal X 3 Celustka X 6 Kalas X 18 Boril X 21 Kral X Holes X 15 Soucek X 12 Masopust X Vydra X 8 Darida X Sevcik X 14 Jankto X Hlozek X 10 Schick X Krmencik X X indicates the player had not turned out at any point for any colt side.

Imagine the media going full scale every year on the flu like they have done with COVID . They could literally do that every year and have folk scared to leave the house and telling us what strain is on the loose . some people have genuinely lost all common sense due to the media and government fear propaganda. They really need to start focusing on adverts and slogans which will make people feel more comfortable and safe to get back to enjoying life whenever they decide to actually lift restrictions .

Given that they achieved their best ranking in 1998 when they didn't have B teams, and seem to be on the slide ever since they were introduced and players from them started to come through, I'm not sure this is making the point you think it is.

Maybe it looked different on TV but from behind the goal at the time it was very obvious the shot was going to be blocked the second he was shaping up to shoot. He needs to be more aware of his surroundings and the other options around him. In saying that, if Marshall wasn't up at the halfway line no one would be discussing Hendry taking the shot on.

It was a wonder strike and the goal of the tournament so far to be fair. Even with Marshall AWOL the technique to curve it into the net was stunning.

f**k Jason Leitch

It's very difficult just now due to Covid restrictions but boy do we need some kind of fan meeting as soon as its viable. Fans at each others throats is doing none of us any good. We all need to know what's going on. Deep down we all love the club and want the best for it. There is no doubt Falkirk FC has potential but until we are all working together it's never going to happen.

Harsh. Unpaid volunteer who gives up a ton of his time & really, for what? Abuse from people who wouldn’t give the club their time if asked. Not directed at you specifically but it’s the same on FB too. It’s an official club media outlet, you & I both know if he’s asks a question that’s controversial it’ll be his last. Club should be doing a LIVE Q&A in my opinion, even on zoom if needed, so not to put Lewis under more pressure/scrutiny but that’s not going to happen it seems.

What a joke. It's like the feckin polit buro running the club now. How can you get a real answer to any questions when you can't get to reply to whatever easy answer they give. Why did you knock back 600k of fans investment. Because we wanted to. Next question......

I think it's good that people are enjoying our first tournament in 23 years. I'd imagine this is the first tournament many of the people you're referencing have seen/can remember/can watch with their mates in the pub etc. Yesterday was a huge disappointment but fans are making the most of an opportunity that might not happen for another 23 years.

Jan. 2 at St. Mirren... so the rivalry is real!

Who could have possibly guessed that open racist Dawson Park Boy would oppose taking the knee?

It's fine to ignore the rules, but it's the things you can't control that are fucking folk. I've not been able to get a doctors appointment for 2 weeks, and if I do it'll be an over the phone appointment despite it being something a doctor needs to see. I'm not anticipating it being anything serious, but there's absolutely plenty of folk with major issues who aren't getting seen in time because of this.

The UK border policy has been completely pointless since January. Thousands of people came in from India when the Delta variant was known about, and they didn’t have to quarantine in a hotel because Boris wanted a photo opportunity in India. They’ll make a big deal about PHE not calling it a ‘variant of concern’ until late April but they red-listed neighbouring countries in early April, and any other country with Covid rates like India was red-listed well before. It was a deliberate choice so Johnson could play at Empire. We’ve been denied holidays and foreign travel - it was literally illegal - for six months now, all to stop variants coming into the country. A new variant now accounts for 95% of cases in the country. This is 100% the fault of Boris Johnson and the UK Government, no ifs or buts. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does, that they appear to be getting next to no heat for this aside from people who hate them anyway. Johnson’s choices mean businesses have to stay closed and operate at lower capacities for at least an extra four weeks, and even at that the new July 19th date will not be what June 21st was meant to be, or would’ve been if the border policy was effective. The national reaction to that appears to be a shrug. I don’t understand it at all.

Hello everyone, Mrs Madwullie here. You all have more words than me right now and it's been a pleasure to read how highly he was respected on here. God knows every single time he took a crap he was was on this forum, glad to know this was time well spent. Although maybe I should post this infuriating behaviour on another thread That brutal honesty was just how we rolled tbf. We are lost without him.

So vaccines work, people aren’t getting severely ill and very few are dying. Remind me why we are pursuing longer restrictions?

Like most people, I am worried about the lack of commitment by the SG that we will return to the position pre-pandemic. Whilst I could live with some measures, such as masks on public transport (which, regardless if they stop COVID, probably protect against some of the exotic diseases some of the populace appear to be carrying, especially in winter), I don't like the precedent it sets. I want the SG to accept that this disease is now endemic and, beyond offering a yearly booster vaccine and accepting that there will be a number of cases and deaths, there isn't a place for permanent restrictions. Rather, the focus needs to be on increasing wages in the NHS and boosting capacity, which is going to involve a serious conversation about the level of taxation.

This is me exactly. My mental (and physical) health has taken an absolute shoeing over the past year. I'm now double-jagged, most of my mates are now jagged at least once (and will be double-jagged over the next few weeks). I was looking forward to being able to go to the football and spontaneously decide to go for a game of pool or a few pints. Another ten weeks? Over summer? I don't think I can take much more.

You are not being banded anything, the fans are looking for info on a supposed fan bid but you are not prepared to tell us anything. We know fine well how incompetent the board have been and we don’t need much of a reason to beat them yet all we get is the deflector shield and riddles. Here’s how it looks to me. You’ve put forward a proposal (to Gary Deans and the Rawlins) that would see Deans lose his role as chairman, Rawlins have to invest significantly more money and Gary Holt lose his job. Turkeys and Christmas anyone?? If there is more to it than that then I’m sure we’d all appreciate knowing a bit more about what’s going on at our club.

Plasticine abuse a.k.a Playdohphillia

All vaccines that successfully pass stage 3 clinical trials undergo a stage 4 surveillance phase. Suggesting its still experimental or hasn't been through the usual trials is more antivax pish.

Newcastle have missed a trick here

Na you never, I completely made that rumour up.

Deans should've done the feckin decent thing and packed his feckin bags after the mess he made last season anyway. Anyone with a little bit of dignity in them would've held their hands up and moved on instead of hanging about like a bad smell. It's a complete joke that him having his blazer is more important than the club itself.

Jeezo some knicker wetting been going on this thread .writing mcginty off before he even pulls the Jersey on . And freaking out about a player that clearly chose a better option for him in the same league. Ffs calm down folks.

Health advice that its best to work from home, and peoples choice to wear masks is all well and good. There is absolutely no case for legally mandating these things though, and there will be much less of a case come July. The vaccine is a snowball rollong down hill. Every day there more 1st, more 2nd doses, and every day those recently jagged gain increased protection. Every one of those things, plus every prior infection results in another road block for the virus. These things must be rising at a tremendous rate. Any of these things being enshrined in law is utterly, utterly ridiculous at this point and the idea of a "level 0" and even worse, that we have still not had a single acknowledgement of intention to remove ALL legal covid restrictions/mandates is fucking outrageous. The fact that scotgov thinks it has the right to tell us, using legal powers taken on during a bona fide crisis, what normality is, is terrifying.

All this talk about vaccinations allowing hope for a greater degree of normality is nonsense. If vaccines don’t allow full normality then what does? Where else can we go after vaccinations for the vulnerable are completed? Still no mention of how many people vaccinated is enough? What is the target here?

Nice cherry-picked list of countries there, now throw in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and all the other dross with B teams in their system.

CC52FFC

I can't remember a Scotland game over the last few years where we have worked the goalkeeper so often and not scored.

There's no defence for Hendrys decision to shoot there. Simple pass to the right to set up a cross, and 2 players completely free in the most dangerous area of the pitch. He's so high up the park because he dozily followed a striker into the centre of the park. Ball had come over from the left which is why Cooper/Hanley aren't covering the massive gap he's left, while O'Donnell bombs forward expecting the pass. His shot doesn't directly cause the goal, but a culmination of yet more naive, rash, decision making from Hendry creates the situation. He's nowhere near good enough and it's wild he started this game. McTominay there and Gilmour central wouldve been far more preferable.

Early morning battle.