The Falkirk FC Thread

[AsimButtHitsASix]

17 hours ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

However, the SPFL statement says "football management team". There were two other people from Morton who came with him. One of them has been a friend of his for decades. Is it possible that when he told the others he was leaving, he immediately asked them to join him?  Without realising that it could be considered inducement under SPFL rules? 

I don't know. Maybe Falkirk don't either, judging by our statement.

Doubt it. Him and the assistant went at the same time. The other fella, sports science guy, stayed for about a week and Falkirk, it seems, made the approach fully above board and Morton didn't stand in his way when he said he wanted to go over.

Could be that Falkirk doing things properly with the third member of the management team only highlighted what an arse they made of their initial approach to McKinnon.

 

[kiddy]

9 hours ago, GMBairn said:

Smart, get the players in before the SPFL guys come back from their Christmas piss up and hit us with the transfer embargo. 

#TransferEmbargo This in a league where financial subterfuge is inherent!

[Believe The Hype]

48 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

Doubt it. Him and the assistant went at the same time. The other fella, sports science guy, stayed for about a week and Falkirk, it seems, made the approach fully above board and Morton didn't stand in his way when he said he wanted to go over.

Could be that Falkirk doing things properly with the third member of the management team only highlighted what an arse they made of their initial approach to McKinnon.

 

I just don't understand why when Ayr Utd commended us for doing things properly in our approach for McCall. We would then manage to f**k it with our approach for Ray. 

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Desperation?

Also did Ayr give Falkirk permission to speak to McCall and he knocked ye back? According to Rae the original request was knocked back til after the Partick game then McKinnon asked why permission was denied (allegedly informed by a journalist). Some way or another McKinnon knew about Falkirk's interest without it coming through Cappielow.

Seems Lolkirk have done what almost every other club does, and sound out interest before making it official, but, unlike every other club, have been found out. Quite possibly through McKinnon's stupidity.

[Harry Kinnear]

I think the £10pm scheme will attract a lot of interest. I know a lot of fans didn't commit to the Bairn for Life scheme as they felt it should have been for shares in the club.

According to the Herald there will be a Forum in the next month or so to present the scheme to the fans.

[Dawson Park Boy]

I liked the fan ownership scheme.

In effect the current NAV of the shareholding is around 90p to £1.

This new issue of 2.4m shares discounts this value down to 33p which dilutes and reduces the value of the existing shares.

very pleased that the MSG have agreed to this.

lots of mention on here that the MSG want out. I don’t get that as they are merely reducing their power and reducing the value of their shares!! No indication of them wanting to sell their shares.

Martin Ritchie indicated that he will soon be stepping down from the Board.

As usual the Accounts were lacking in any meaningful information albeit AT produced some interesting information regarding Other Income.

Still cannot see why the Club can’t issue this data with the Accounts.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

13 minutes ago, HopeStreetPieStall said:

That's an assumption. Claiming that it didn't come from Cappielow, so Rae didn't tell anyone else at the club that a request had come through?

Not wanting to be dragged in with the usual "ITK" charlatans I very much doubt it came from Cappielow. Our current relationship with the local rag is really good, our medica/comms manager used to be the journalist there that covered the club, was a popular freelance journo/blogger reporting on the club before that and is a lifelong fan. Just can't see it. The timeline of Falkirk's original call and Ray's greetin' faced demand for explanation why he wasn't allowed to speak to Falkirk being so close together just makes it seem really unlikely it's went via a leak, to a press office, then to Ray in such a short space of time.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this journalist doesn't exist but, even if they did, if Falkirk have released this information to one so that it would get to Ray then it still falls foul of the rules and regulations.

Guess it will all come out in the wash. Unlike Ray's hilarious "the truth will come" fabrications he spouted after consigning Falkirk to another defeat at Cappielow earlier in the year.

[The Moonster]

14 hours ago, MrDust said:

I find it laughable folk bringing the rules of employment into this, anyone with half a brain knows that football within players and managers have rules that are not even rules anywhere and in Scotland it tends to change in how the wind blows, which can be a worry for us albeit our governing body tends to favour the bigger clubs !!!

Surely they would've backed the Falkirk boards actions in this instance then, m8?

[Christophe]

2 hours ago, Marshmallo said:

They would for me specifically, which was the basis of my answer. 

[MrDust]

55 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Surely they would've backed the Falkirk boards actions in this instance then, m8?

We wont know till the case has been resolved either in punishment or an appeal unless you can see into the future ?

1 hour ago, Believe The Hype said:

I just don't understand why when Ayr Utd commended us for doing things properly in our approach for McCall. We would then manage to f**k it with our approach for Ray. 

Id guess McCall staying had a factor, Id guess enhancing managers and players away from clubs in a lot of cases the rules are broken. 

The practical way is for both clubs to come to an agreement and compensation to be paid for releasing the manager unless there was a clause in his contract. 

We really have to await and see the final outcome before any real judgement on the situation can be made as there hasn't been anything revealing in any statement other than rules according our governing body have been broken and to what degree will come out in the final outcome.

[The Moonster]

3 minutes ago, MrDust said:

We wont know till the case has been resolved either in punishment or an appeal unless you can see into the future ?

Not following m8.

SPFL favour the bigger clubs + Falkirk > Morton = case closed in favour of Falkirk, Shirley?

[AsimButtHitsASix]

1 hour ago, HopeStreetPieStall said:

So your communications manager used to work for the local paper, who presumably would also have contact with Morton managers, including Ray, yet, it's improbable in your eyes that the "leak" has come from either your own club, or the press?

Yes. He's an employee and fan of the club who wouldn't leak anything that the club didn't want put out and I can't see any fathomable reason why the club would want their preparations for the game v Partick to be disrupted. The good relationship the club has with the local paper at the moment isn't worth the paper spoiling it to phone up Ray and ask his opinion on a bid from Falkirk he was unaware of. This all assumes, of course, that Rae spoke to anyone else about Falkirk's approach, with no evidence of it, and, even if he had, that person managed to contact a journalist who then spoke to McKinnon about it who, in turn, contacted Rae within 45 minutes.

Rae says he had no idea where this leak could have came from at Cappielow. Of course that doesn't mean it's impossible but, considering the set up at Cappielow, and anyone who would have a possibility of knowing about Falkirk's approach, it's quite improbable.

All of that, coupled with the fact Falkirk have been found guilty, makes Falkirk letting Ray know about their approach, directly or indirectly, the most probable outcome. The idea that someone at Cappielow purposefully sabotaged their own season by clyping that we were asking Falkirk to delay their approach for a few days is far fetched.

Edited December 20, 2018 by AsimButtHitsASix

[MrDust]

21 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Not following m8.

SPFL favour the bigger clubs + Falkirk > Morton = case closed in favour of Falkirk, Shirley?

Don't need to follow to understand no punishment has been handed out

Loy scored yet 5318008

[superandy_07]

Updates from last night, lifted from a message that was forwarded to myself 

Lang
Extremely nervous — gives the air of someone who knew she was in for a hard time. Admitted that mistakes had been made over the past year but that everyone had the club's best intentions at heart. The only mistakes she openly admitted to was that the academy announcement could have been better handled from a PR perspective.

Exciting times ahead off the pitch with the artificial pitch being built which would allow the club to generate extra income. Also the redevelopment of the mezzanine level of the south stand was bringing in extra income.

Hartley
Admitted she was disappointed with how things worked out but that Hartley came with good references (Alex Smith and Craig Brown were quoted as providing these) and had experience of promotion and consolidating a team in the Premier League (these were the key selection criteria). Was surprised that the summer recruitment was so poor given that the Scout was the same guy who had identified guys like Jakubiak and Robson. Our record in the second half of the season (2nd highest points total being St Mirren) meant the club had faith in Hartley. It was clear from the start of this season that the record was not good enough and that change had to happen.

Morton/McKinnon
Never really covered the recruitment issue in much detail but needless to say they think McKinnon is the man to take us forward. They received notice of the SFAs decision to uphold Morton's appeal and are surprised and disappointed. Admitted they had not received full notice of the judgement. ML was unable to represent the club at the tribunal as she is a serving lawyer and as such is barred from appearing before tribunals. The club was represented by a firm of solicitors from Edinburgh.

Academy
ML then proceeded to outline the timeline for the academy and basically put the blame at the door of the SFA for 'moving the goalposts' in terms of funding via Project Brave. For the academy to have obtained 'elite status'  it would have been forced to have built an indoor facility which would have only been used for 10 weeks of the year — the club estimated this would cost in the region of £1 million. They explored options of using existing indoor facilities such as Grangemouth (rejected as not big enough) and the Oriam (outwit the 20 mile radius of FFC by 3 miles). The board made a decision that this was not financially viable and given that Stenny and the Shire had pulled funding the academy — the choice was clear that they should stop funding it. It was clear that the academy was entirely separate entity from the club and a consortium of 'local business men' had approached the academy and not the club to continue its funding. This proposal was then brought to the FFC board but would require FFC to provide a player a pathway for all academy kids. FFC was uncomfortable with this and decided not to do it.

Lewis
FSC were first up with questions saying that the club had made a huge blunder with its statement which essentially branded Falkirk supporters as racists. They demanded a retraction ML body swerved the retraction comment but stated that the club had a duty of care to its employees and had to send a strong message that racism was unacceptable. It was then suggested the club had jumped the gun with condemning supports until guilt had been proven. ML said it was her understanding the Police enquires into the incident were still ongoing so this wasn't finished.

Football
Ray McKinnon didn't make a statement but said he was more than happy to take questions. The football strategy is that he wants a first team squad of 20 (including two GKs) made up of players who are capable of playing in the top 4 of the Championship or bottom half of the Premiership. He wants a reserve squad of 10 (including one GK) who are capable of filling in gaps in the first team if required. Vital that all players in both squads have a medium to high chance of becoming sellable assets. Wants to move on 6-8 players in January and bring in a similar number. The board have made extra funds available (from cash reserves) to allow him to get players without being contingent on selling people first. Doesn't expect to get any money for any of those he wants to move on. Felt decision to move on guys like Owen-Evans and Froxylias was clear — didn't think the guys were of sufficient quality for FFC. McKinnon says he has a strong recruitment network and would watch every player personally. He has been to England many times as has Darren Taylor and let slip he was recently at a Blackburn Rovers game. He spoke to a potential player yesterday and is confident of getting that over the line. He also has someone coming into training on Friday and he is speaking regularly to agents and contacts (people he trusts). Admitted that January is very difficult to get players in as all the best ones are under contract at other clubs or there is fierce competition for the free agents.

Finances
Have over £600k in the bank and the club made a small profit last year (£130k) however this is set against losses for the past two financial years. The profit is largely driven by money received as part of transfer fees (Tony Gallacher, Stephen Kingsley transfer to Hull and Will Vaulks 50th appearance for Rotherham). The events at the stadium also bring in around £125k with zero risk to the club. There was also a small cost saving decision to withdraw funding for the academy. There is also still money out there which potentially could come our way. If Biabi appears for Swansea first team then we'll get £125k. Other payments will also be triggered if Gallacher features for Liverpool first team or Will Vaulks makes it to 100 appearances for Rotherham. Speculation that Vaulks may move on to bigger things so that will also trigger a payment. The club will dip into the £600k cash reserves to support McKinnon in January. Commercial avenues are drying up and difficult to squeeze more cash out of a small pool of sponsors. Club needs to diversify but recognition that KK had done well in difficult circumstances.

Edited December 20, 2018 by superandy_07

[oot_the_loop]

Cheers for the summary andy/original message writer, much appreciated. Disappointed with some of the content, particularly about the lewis incident and lang... Surely sending a clear message about zero tolerance would involve some / any kind of recognition of the fan led support for the say no to racism campaign?

The fact a half baked recognition for the pr side of the academy announcement f**k up solely for shareholders was the only show of remorse from her indicates the level of contempt for the rest of the fan base, extremely disappointing to say the least. 

[MrDust]

The 6-8 players out is a bigger figure than I would've guessed, long term yes but not in January, though wonder if that figure includes loans.

Dallison, Lewis, Haber and Fasan would be my top four to go. 

I suppose adding Russell, Sammut and Irving would take that up to seven, so 6-8 is easily achieved

[bairn88]

Best summary I’ve seen so far, cheers Andy.

Also, when the f**k did everyone start calling Ray McKinnon “Rae”

[Believe The Hype]

Dallison Lewis Haber Fasan Russell Dumbuya O'Hara there's 7 easy options right away. Then you've got guys like rudden and irving who may be included plus Buaben whose contract is up. Then utter mince like kidd and mckee. 6-8 is a smaller figure. 

[Poet of the Macabre]

Actually surprised the board are willing to hand over more cash after the previous manager seemingly wasted so much in the summer. I'm guessing the fear of relegation makes it a risk worth taking.

[AL-FFC]

8 minutes ago, Believe The Hype said:

Dallison Lewis Haber Fasan Russell Dumbuya O'Hara there's 7 easy options right away. Then you've got guys like rudden and irving who may be included plus Buaben whose contract is up. Then utter mince like kidd and mckee. 6-8 is a smaller figure. 

Cant be right it doesnt match Edibairns list ..lol