The Falkirk FC Thread

[Bairnardo]

If McCracken had have been a bit more streetwise about when to play football and when to shithouse it, we would probably all have Scottish Cup 2015 winner tattoos

[Guest Peter LaFleur]

Just now, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

What I want to know it what's changed. In the first 8 games this season we won 6 and drew 2.

Since then we've won just 2 of our last 7 and the football has been abysmal even in those two wins.

The majority of that initial 8 game run was without Keena and Connolly so I'm not buying injuries/ player availability as an excuse. 

I think a lot of it has got to do with the 4-2-3-1 and hopefully after last night's debacle that's the last we'll see of it. Although I'd like them gone now, anything less than a win against Clyde and I'd expect them to get the chop

 

I think if you look into each of those games the results masked the performance. With the exception of Cove and Peterhead I can’t really remember us playing particularly well.

[latapythelegend]

1 minute ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

What I want to know it what's changed. In the first 8 games this season we won 6 and drew 2.

Since then we've won just 2 of our last 7 and the football has been abysmal even in those two wins.

The majority of that initial 8 game run was without Keena and Connolly so I'm not buying injuries/ player availability as an excuse. 

I think a lot of it has got to do with the 4-2-3-1 and hopefully after last night's debacle that's the last we'll see of it. Although I'd like them gone now, anything less than a win against Clyde and I'd expect them to get the chop

 

We got lucky. We were still terrible to watch then as we are now.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

Very difficult to equate it to anything measurable, but just wonder how much McManus carried us last season, and where we would have been without his goals.

[Marshmallo]

34 minutes ago, Peter LaFleur said:

I think if you look into each of those games the results masked the performance. With the exception of Cove and Peterhead I can’t really remember us playing particularly well.

The best performance of the season was away to Clyde. We went off a cliff after that for some reason.

[Rocco]

Very difficult to equate it to anything measurable, but just wonder how much McManus carried us last season, and where we would have been without his goals.

I said this recently as well. He probably won us more games than we know

[AGPar]

15 minutes ago, Trump said:

Very difficult to equate it to anything measurable, but just wonder how much McManus carried us last season, and where we would have been without his goals.

We'd have been nine points worse off last season if his goals were removed from the team. We would not have even been in the play-offs when the league was curtailed. To give some credit to Miller and McCracken, McManus actually improved considerably after the management change, it's easy to forget that he was struggling for the final couple of months under McKinnon, didn't seem to have much confidence and only really started banging them in from about December onwards. The value of a reliable goal scorer cannot be overestimated really. To be the top of the table while our four strikers - term used very loosely - have a total of five league goals between them is ridiculous. You're hard pushed to make one decent forward out of the lot of them. I'd say Telfer is probably our most reliable source of a goal at the moment.

[Shadwell Dog]

23 minutes ago, Rocco said:

 

I said this recently as well. He probably won us more games than we know

 

I still feel it just took the part timers and likes of Airdrie longer to.get up to speed than us . We did better at the start of the season then once clubs got going struggled. Again in march we started off two wins but once clubs got a couple of games under their belts we're struggling again.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Shadwell Dog

[lanky_ffc]

1 hour ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

What I want to know it what's changed. In the first 8 games this season we won 6 and drew 2.

Since then we've won just 2 of our last 7 and the football has been abysmal even in those two wins.

The majority of that initial 8 game run was without Keena and Connolly so I'm not buying injuries/ player availability as an excuse. 

I think a lot of it has got to do with the 4-2-3-1 and hopefully after last night's debacle that's the last we'll see of it. Although I'd like them gone now, anything less than a win against Clyde and I'd expect them to get the chop

Morrison was excellent the first few weeks of the season but teams figured out how reliant we were on him. Since then he's been getting doubled up on and we're either still trying to put a lot of the play through him or just hoof it long. 

[Russ]

I’m still genuinely interested in what their thinking was in playing Akeel Francis at right wing-back. Like what were they actually expecting to happen?

Just a stunning tactical f**k up.

[Guest Ecosse83]

21 minutes ago, AGPar said:

We'd have been nine points worse off last season if his goals were removed from the team. We would not have even been in the play-offs when the league was curtailed. To give some credit to Miller and McCracken, McManus actually improved considerably after the management change, it's easy to forget that he was struggling for the final couple of months under McKinnon, didn't seem to have much confidence and only really started banging them in from about December onwards. The value of a reliable goal scorer cannot be overestimated really. To be the top of the table while our four strikers - term used very loosely - have a total of five league goals between them is ridiculous. You're hard pushed to make one decent forward out of the lot of them. I'd say Telfer is probably our most reliable source of a goal at the moment.

McManus wouldn’t score in this team right now. It’s impossible to score in a team that creates zero from open play. 
 

I feel for Keena right now, he’s being made to play up front himself with pretty much zero support then gets hooked then 10 minutes after that they have panicked and we have at least 2 forwards on, it’s bonkers stuff what’s happening!

[BountyBairn]

1 hour ago, Peter LaFleur said:

I think if you look into each of those games the results masked the performance. With the exception of Cove and Peterhead I can’t really remember us playing particularly well.

Played well? We’ve not played what I would call well in a good few years now. 

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

Normally a silent observer on here but had to chip in with my thoughts on the club. There’s a reason why we’re in this mess and it’s not because of M and M.

Going by the last 5 years, starting with the Hartley appointment. I’ll admit I thought that was good but then someone on the board sanctioned him to buy complete non entities as though Falkirk had stumbled upon some absolute gems that no club with their seemingly unlimited resources thought to look at. Each one worried me more as I looked at their respective CVs. If I was in the club I would have been asking serious questions. They tried recently to bring Jeffries and then Holt on a decent wage to provide football knowledge. I’m sorry but does no one at the club have contacts they can lean on to offer advice? Alex Totten is still at the club, why not speak to him? Surely someone connected with the club would have been able to scour their contacts to find out about these duds without having to pay someone an annual salary.

Then McKinnon. I was totally uninspired by this appointment but to then discover we went to such lengths as to poach him from a club and suffer a hefty fine was gobsmacking. 

Another disastrous appointment.

Then in the lowest position we’ve ever been in our history, we appoint 2 rookie managers to co-manage us. I was fond of both as players but neither ever struck me as the smartest tool in the box or cut out for management. However, like any manager I gave them my full backing. We still might scrape the title but it doesn’t look like it will be due to them but the fans who continue to back the club in their droves. This has allowed us to buy players like Morrison who can help turn a game on its head. We will deserve the credit if we do go up and that’s a big IF!  
All the social media nonsense makes me cringe too. I think it’s ok when things are going well but when it’s bad it makes the club look a joke, or should I say even more of a joke. Can you imagine any other manager doing funny clips about calendars etc? 

I’m sceptical about the Holt appointment too. Fans are constantly being asked for money be it 50/50, a step or....50/50(seriously!?) but we then go hire a guy on a decent wage to deal with recruitment when the transfer window is shut. Also how do you go from Jeffries on the board to Holt as DoF? That’s not joined up thinking. Holt blew our last decent chance to get promotion to the Premiership. He did well at Livingston but so did Hopkin before him who failed elsewhere. Was their success because of what they did or because of Martindale? What advice is Holt going to add that Alex Totten can’t? More money wasted as far as I am concerned.

Anyway we might get rid of M and M but it will be the same people making the appointments and giving us this rubbish about 5 year plans etc. Just focus on doing the day job, appointing good managers and not f**k over the fans. We deserve better. 

Hopefully the Rawlins will change things but I’m ever pessimistic. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Caractacus Potts

[Guest Peter LaFleur]

17 minutes ago, Bantabairn said:

Tbh just waiting on the announcement that they’ve departed. Can’t be arsed talking about them anymore, cracks interview was embarrassing, factually incorrect and as earlier posted completely out his depth.

Are they even gone?

Edited April 7, 2021 by Peter LaFleur

[Guest Ecosse83]

I wonder how much input Holt is having. I reckon he is picking the team and letting M and M take the flak!
 

That doesn’t excuse their in game management though!

[AGPar]

27 minutes ago, Ecosse83 said:

McManus wouldn’t score in this team right now. It’s impossible to score in a team that creates zero from open play. 
 

I feel for Keena right now, he’s being made to play up front himself with pretty much zero support then gets hooked then 10 minutes after that they have panicked and we have at least 2 forwards on, it’s bonkers stuff what’s happening!

We were hardly a creative, free-flowing team last season either. A regular, reliable goal scorer can cover a multitude of deficiencies at this level. The second away game at Raith Rovers last season is a perfect example, we were abysmal for the majority of the match, McManus was playing in practically a different time zone, Miller brought himself on, we got a foothold in the game and McManus nicked a goal that effectively resulted in a three point turnaround. Would any Falkirk fan bet on any one of our forwards doing the same at, say, Cove Rangers a week on Saturday? McManus is a pretty limited player, but he's a grafter, gave defences something to think about and has a proven record at this level. I'd happily chuck every one of our current forwards in the bin in exchange for him, in fact make that the majority of this rancid squad.

None of this is any sort of exoneration for the current management team, their ineptitude and complete unsuitability for the role is clear for all to see.

Edited April 7, 2021 by AGPar

[Guest Ecosse83]

1 minute ago, AGPar said:

We were hardly a creative, free-flowing team last season either. A regular, reliable goalscorer can cover a multidude of deficiencies.

Yes but McManus wasn’t stuck up front himself either with the midfield a mile behind him

[Shadwell Dog]

2 minutes ago, Ecosse83 said:

I wonder how much input Holt is having. I reckon he is picking the team and letting M and M take the flak!
 

That doesn’t excuse their in game management though!

I can't see that happening.  If I was Holt I'd be steering well clear of them two and only getting involved if asked for advice.  No semi competent manager with a bit of experience is going to put out those sides as they have been over the past few weeks.

[Guest]

I can't see that happening.  If I was Holt I'd be steering well clear of them two and only getting involved if asked for advice.  No semi competent manager with a bit of experience is going to put out those sides as they have been over the past few weeks.

Heard he is absolutely hands on

[Guest Peter LaFleur]

23 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

 

Heard he is absolutely hands on

 

If true it paints the picture that M&M are even more useless than the games suggest (if that’s possible) if they can’t be trusted. Inevitable they will be off soon. If they had anything about them they’d tell him to piss off so they can at least fail doing it their own way.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Peter LaFleur