Proudtobeabairn

As folk feel the pinch of rising living costs, it's inevitable that some won't be able to stretch to a season ticket next year and no one can argue about that. The last few years will also have lost us a fair chunk of fair weather fans who found better things to do with their Saturdays during lockdown and beyond. We won't get a lot of them back. For the rest of us, it's important that we buy ST's this year. To get out of this league we have to have a competitive budget. We have a new board now so those holding off over the last few years (which I suspect wasn't that many) need to return. Rennie is gone too so it really does need to be a clean slate. There's no one left to empty (apart from the players) and the club needs fans ST money more than ever this close season. Its the only advantage we have over many of the other teams in the league and if we end up with 1000-1500 ST sales we could be down here for a long time.

Yesterdays result doesn't show anything other than East Fife are sh*te

I also think whoever the manager is next year we might see Miller stay on as assistant. He's clearly been given some carrot by the board to stay on for these 3 games. If we win the next 3 games (extremely unlikely as that is) does he then become a realistic candidate? Wouldn't be enough for me but his interview seems to suggest that's a possibility so not unlikely that he's been told there's a chance.

I think Rice did do enough to convince the board he was their man last time. Rennie was a left field option that according to reports only very narrowly pipped Rice to the job. It seems more likely they'll go back for him now than ignore him because he missed out to Rennie.

Dunno, just think people would have a little more time for Rice than they would for McGlynn. Could just be me but I find him unlikeable. Of course you don't have to be likeable to be a good manager etc etc but I hated the sight of Hartley in the Falkirk gear and I'd find it hard to warm to McGlynn either. Wright & Craig would be my first choice.

I agree that Wright/Craig is the standout option. Not sure Wright would be out of out reach, he's not getting any younger and has been without a club for a while. He might see turning us around as the catalyst towards one final bigger job before he retires. Not excited whatsoever by McGlynn. He's done ok at Raith but, like Hartley, there's something about him and the way he operates I just don't like. I think he'd be divisive and someone the fans would turn on quickly if he made a slow start. The appointment needs to be someone who the support can fully get behind. For me that's Wright or Rice.

Pushing on with Goodwillie despite ALL the warnings (inc the FSS vote). "Who would believe we have Miller and Griffiths at Falkirk" cringe Spending £1500 a week on a washed up waster expecting it would bring an extra 500 fans in instead of fixing the glaringly obvious was madness Naive, Naive & Naive. I don't blame the board for appointing Rennie, I was pleased to have him over Rice at the time and it was a gamble worth taking. I also don't doubt that there is a lot of mess to clear up but as others have said we really need the new board to get their heads into gear asap. The next few months and the decisions made are crucial on and off the pitch. We need to find new investment ASAP and we need to make the right decisions on the playing side to sell STs. I don't envy them and it won't be easy but we can't afford any more head in the sand moments. We also need a chairman (or at the very least a spokesperson).

Griffiths won't be playing next season (for anyone) in my view.

jamie@falkirkfc.co.uk

You'd like to think that some of those contracted but unlikely to ever play would decide to take a career change rather than hang about collecting a low wage with us for another year. Its not like staying the extra year is going to keep them in professional football. if anything a year on the sidelines with us would even more likely end their careers. Of course we'd need the manager or the board to sit down with them individually and have that difficult conversation. We shouldn't be offering to pay them off.

One of them is going to have to, there has to be a board spokesperson appointed at the very least.

Miller and Griffiths at Falkirk though, who thought we'd ever see that! #COYB

500 extra fans not turning up to watch Griffiths?

If we're looking for a new manager at the end of the season, then there's no chance we're getting anyone experienced with a better track record than Wright. Things didn't work out at Kilmarnock but he's shown at St Johnstone that he knows what he's doing. If he applies then it's up to the board to judge how motivated he comes across at interview but on CV alone he'll be the strongest candidate. That said, I expect we'll give it to Rennie.

Nesbitt I think could be a reasonable squad player with the right players around him. The effort is normally there but as someone said before he's like a 5 a side player in games at the moment.

Out of interest, is McGivern still at the club in a commercial capacity? Haven't heard mention of him in months.

Without significant investment over the next 12-18 months you could well be right. With season ticket sales set to drop off a cliff, one of the toughest jobs for the new board will be to find ways to attract that investment. Ironically I think faced with oblivion we'd see a big upsurge in FSS memberships but we can't afford to wait until then. If we're in serious financial turmoil then the season ticket marketing can't be anything other than about saving the club.

Tommy Wright or Brian Rice are now the obvious choices. We've probably missed the boat on Rice unless he has an agreement that he can walk in his Alloa contract. Like others, I don't think the decision to appoint Rennie was a bad one but keeping him on would definitely be. He's brought in 7 players and that should be more than enough to at least marginally improve us. The only decisions I put at the foot of the new board are putting the future of the club at risk by ignoring fan opinion to come a bawhair from signing DGW and when the club are hemorrhaging money, chucking £30k at a has been to take corners and free kicks. They need to show from here that they can work effectively as a committee and work some magic to bring in some serious investment. No more gambles and hopefully we'll all be happy!

Yeah... but we're still agreeing Ben Hall is utter sh*t though right?

Ultimately there'll be very little attention on any board as long as the team are performing on the park. It's obvious but we simply have to start winning against more than just EF, Clyde, Alloa and Dumbarton starting with Peterhead on Saturday. Not just to keep us in the promotion 'race' but to have any chance of increasing FSS membership and selling season tickets come the summer.

For someone whose continually telling us we need to come together you don't half enjoy attacking folk for their opinion. I don't have any "mates" either on this board or the last and don't know a single one of them personally. I also didn't 'back' the last regime and criticised them plenty. I did express an opinion that I wanted to see The Rawlins take more control in the summer but that didn't happen as we all know. We should all be prepared to give credit when its due and criticise when its deserved regardless of who is in charge if we're ever going to 'pull together' Everyone on here wants Rennie to succeed and want the board to succeed too (we're all FFC fans) but neither are above criticism when it's due (nor should they be). The DGW episode could easily have finished us as a club and we all have a responsibility to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen again. I also don't agree with the LG signing but that's not on the same level. Fingers crossed we'll start to get much more right than wrong soon but for most, I suspect the jury is out. And that's ok, its still early days.

I don't think it can afford to be a long term plan. We have 18 months tops. We absolutely need to be promoted either this season or next. Above all else, fan numbers are hemorrhaging. They've been propped up by the summers season ticket sales (at which point most I think still felt we'd do well under Sheerin). Those actually going to games are far less than the attendances being announced and we'll see the true impact in the summer when I expect they'll be much lower than last summer unless something monumental happens. There are some massive decisions ahead but if we do stick with Rennie (and I would genuinely still like him to do well) then we need to see some excellent summer signings to give confidence that next year will be successful and encourage fans back. By that, I mean young(ish) players of decent quality, not 'marquee' has beens from the top league looking for a last payday. The new board need to learn fast too. No more errors of judgement.

It also wouldn't be straightforward to change back to a 100% full time club once we go down the hybrid or part time route. There are examples of PT players who are better than FT players and no doubt Rennie is correct that some part time players take home more football wages than some full timers but these are exceptions rather than the rule. By and large full time teams occupy the top two leagues in Scotland and part time teams the bottom two for a reason. Its easier all round to have a consistent model rather than flex and more often than not, full time clubs will benefit from better players, team spirit, training drills etc. If this wasn't the case then many more players in the top two leagues would decide to take a 2nd job and play/keep fit on a part time basis.

It's the coaches job to lift their confidence and to bring in players in the areas we need them most. It sounds as though we spent most of January chasing a legs gone Liam Craig (who would still have been a better option than Gary Miller but wasn't going to change our season on his own) and David Goodwillie. Leigh Griffiths was a panic signing that was badly misjudged "who would have imagined Leigh Griffiths joining!" I think since he joined more fans have stopped going than clamoured to see the superstar strut his stuff. ATS, Jacobs, Watson, Mills have barely improved the team at all. Mutch and Dowds coming back have had more of an impact than any of them. Yes, not a great position to be in taking over with that squad but our decision making is again on the wrong things at the wrong time. Its so frustrating to watch.

I still hold out some hope that the 2 & 3 year contracts have exit clauses for lack of game time or not going up etc. At the very least we should be sitting down with most of those on 2/3 year deals and explaining that they have the choice to stick around and never play or be released and try to secure a future elsewhere. Paying off players should be the last resort.