The Falkirk FC Thread

[Newbornbairn]

1 hour ago, Caractacus Potts said:

I agree with a lot of that. 

There’s no doubt people cross the line with abuse but it’s an entertainment industry and players are judged on their performances, in the press, by their manager, pundits, the fans and many more. 

If you sanitised football then you’d eventually remove the ability for these guys to earn huge wads of cash as passion and rivalry sell as do cutting opinions. 

 

Nope. We must be happy. We must be clappy. 

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

3 hours ago, Caractacus Potts said:

I agree with a lot of that. 

There’s no doubt people cross the line with abuse but it’s an entertainment industry and players are judged on their performances, in the press, by their manager, pundits, the fans and many more. 

If you sanitised football then you’d eventually remove the ability for these guys to earn huge wads of cash as passion and rivalry sell, as do cutting opinions. 

 

 

[Shadwell Dog]

Jesus wept the players today especially at lower level clubs get it far easier than those of 20 years ago when anything was fair game . You've got to be tough to be a pro footballer both mentally and physically. That's why some players with great football skill just don't make it . They don't have the steely determination to get to the top. You have to handle the criticism to be able to enjoy the huge amounts of praise from thousands of people when you are doing well.  If you are a player or players relative the last place you should ever be hanging about is a public football forum. If they are stupid enough to do that then to they really need to give themselves a shake. We are no worse than any other club our size who have been through bad times .

Gerhard fellner I always remember as excellent in the air and piss poor on the ground. Did he not come on for mcgrillen  late on in the cup final and have a shot that just about reached the moon?

Edited November 5, 2021 by Shadwell Dog

[ilostmyself]

I think football is theatre and we're perfectly entitled to boo/cheer/moan about anything that's football related. Nobody is turning up to watch Falkirk because of our scintillating football method, it's about the passion of watching your team and going through the highs and (more likely) lows as part of a group. As long as it doesn't become personal then I don't see any issues at all.

[AL-FFC]

7 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Jesus wept the players today especially at lower level clubs get it far easier than those of 20 years ago when anything was fair game . You've got to be tough to be a pro footballer both mentally and physically. That's why some players with great football skill just don't make it . They don't have the steely determination to get to the top. You have to handle the criticism to be able to enjoy the huge amounts of praise from thousands of people when you are doing well.  If you are a player or players relative the last place you should ever be hanging about is a public football forum. If they are stupid enough to do that then to they really need to give themselves a shake. We are no worse than any other club our size who have been through bad times .

G

This, i remember when i was young and some of the singing geared towards the late great Davie Cooper at Brockville, mainly in regards to his wife, same as the abuse some of the referees took, also one of the refs at the time that came out the closet (cant mind who that was) come to think of it you dont really hear the abuse as much these days as they used to back then few hundred supporters directing their abuse and singing your a w*nker , but the worlds changed and dont think there is as many characters in the game as there used to be.

Upshot is the worlds moved on and we're getting older

[Shadwell Dog]

15 minutes ago, AL-FFC said:

This, i remember when i was young and some of the singing geared towards the late great Davie Cooper at Brockville, mainly in regards to his wife, same as the abuse some of the referees took, also one of the refs at the time that came out the closet (cant mind who that was) come to think of it you dont really hear the abuse as much these days as they used to back then few hundred supporters directing their abuse and singing your a w*nker , but the worlds changed and dont think there is as many characters in the game as there used to be.

Upshot is the worlds moved on and we're getting older

Of course it has. Back in the old days fans could basically shout and sing anything.  Players these days seem to struggle to handle being called crap never mind anything worse.  They used to get brought through though in far tougher environments  than the pampered ones they are in now. Youngsters cleaning the pros boots for instance gave them a proper grounding as did doing the menial tasks around the club. It's a shame those things have been lost to the game as it.prepared them far better for their footballing careers.

[Bairn in Exile]

55 minutes ago, AL-FFC said:

This, i remember when i was young and some of the singing geared towards the late great Davie Cooper at Brockville, mainly in regards to his wife, same as the abuse some of the referees took, also one of the refs at the time that came out the closet (cant mind who that was) come to think of it you dont really hear the abuse as much these days as they used to back then few hundred supporters directing their abuse and singing your a w*nker , but the worlds changed and dont think there is as many characters in the game as there used to be.

Upshot is the worlds moved on and we're getting older

I don't think that he "came out the closet" as such but was Brian Mcginlay not outed as gay? Might have meant something back then but who gives a f*ck now? Live and let live.

[kiddy]

This, i remember when i was young and some of the singing geared towards the late great Davie Cooper at Brockville, mainly in regards to his wife, same as the abuse some of the referees took, also one of the refs at the time that came out the closet (cant mind who that was) come to think of it you dont really hear the abuse as much these days as they used to back then few hundred supporters directing their abuse and singing your a w*nker , but the worlds changed and dont think there is as many characters in the game as there used to be.
Upshot is the worlds moved on and we're getting older

Cooper fired a coin into the Falkirk support at Brockville & got off in the court case. Claimed it had been thrown at him, when there had been a bedsheet collection at h/t. That's why he was forever abused.
As for "late,great"? Having spent 12 years with the old club, 22 Scotland caps over his career would suggest otherwise.

[fuzzydunlop]

58 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Of course it has. Back in the old days fans could basically shout and sing anything.  Players these days seem to struggle to handle being called crap never mind anything worse.  They used to get brought through though in far tougher environments  than the pampered ones they are in now. Youngsters cleaning the pros boots for instance gave them a proper grounding as did doing the menial tasks around the club. It's a shame those things have been lost to the game as it.prepared them far better for their footballing careers.

I was just going to mention this.   Listening to some of the Walking Down Hope Street Podcasts and hearing stories of what players had to do as apprentices - cleaning boots, cleaning the stadium - not to mention that astroturf behind Brockville....jumpers for goalposts etc...

We obviously didn't have the same social media thing then, and I'm not sure how much current players look at this type of thing....but again, could you imagine any of the "old school" players giving a f8ck back in the day if some keyboard warrior was having a go?

I understand (to some degree) from the outside fans of other clubs see us as perpetual moaners.  However if you were in our shoes I can't think how you wouldn't feel the same.  If at least one area of the club was going well we might have something to cheer about but its a bomb scare from top to bottom.  Granted the Youth side is now starting to take shape but a long way to go.   

Falkirk fans will always think we should be in the top flight.  I'm personally not saying we should be, but we've been there before and that's what we're aiming for.  This is perceived as arrogant by some or undeserved.   I saw the Clyde fan writing "i wish we were as bad as Falkirk".  I understand the sentiment, but its not the point as everything is relative to expectations.

Football generally has the teams with the biggest budgets and fanbase(crowd w*nk alert) in the top flight.   So as we languish in League One with relatively poor performances and results(in relation to budget and expectation) anyone who criticises us for not being happy with this needs their head screwed on.

Not always the case, maybe there's fans out there that get behind their team no matter what...I've yet to see them though.  I'm sure the fans of the clubs in similar situations aren't happy either(check any Sunderland Forum just as an example as I'm sure their fans aren't having a good time).

Before the pile on....I'm not saying we deserve to be in the Premier League...its a results game.  But all most of the fans want is a decent and organised Board,  players who look like they want to play for us, and at least a bit of passion and decent football.   Sounds like a lot to ask but we've had(some of) it in the past and most of us just want that back. 

So its understandable when everything is sh*te  and has been for some time...there's frustrations...especially with the number of 'New Hope' moments we've had.  But I certainly don't go for the notion that our fans are any critical than anyone else's would be in this situation.

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by fuzzydunlop
spelling

[Bairn in Exile]

2 minutes ago, fuzzydunlop said:

I was just going to mention this.   Listening to some of the Walking Down Hope Street Podcasts and hearing stories of what players had to do as apprentices - cleaning boots, cleaning the stadium - not to mention that astroturf behind Brockville....jumpers for goalposts etc...

We obviously didn't have the same social media thing now, and I'm not sure how much current players look at this type of thing....but again, could you imagine any of the "old school" players giving a f8ck back in the day if some keyboard warrior was having a go?

I understand (to some degree) from the outside fans of other clubs see us as perpetual moaners.  However if you were in our shoes I can't think how you wouldn't feel the same.  If at least one area of the club was going well we might have something to cheer about but its a bomb scare from top to bottom.  Granted the Youth side is now starting to take shape but a long way to go.   

Falkirk fans will always think we should be in the top flight.  I'm personally not saying we should be, but we've been there before and that's what we're aiming for.  This is perceived as arrogant by some or undeserved.   I saw the Clyde fan writing "i wish we were as bad as Falkirk".  I understand the sentiment, but its not the point as everything is relative to expectations.

Football generally has the teams with the biggest budgets and fanbase(crowd w*nk alert) in the top flight.   So as we languish in League One with relatively poor performances and results(in relation to budget and expectation) anyone who criticises us for not being happy with this needs their head screwed on.

Not always the case, maybe there's fans out there that get behind their team no matter what...I've yet to see them though.  I'm sure the fans of the clubs in similar situations aren't happy either(check any Sunderland Forum just as an example as I'm sure their fans aren't having a good time).

Before the pile on....I'm not saying we deserve to be in the Premier League...its a results game.  But all most of the fans want is a decent and organised Board,  players who look like they want to play for us, and at least a bit of passion and decent football.   Sounds like a lot to ask but we've had(some of) it in the past and most of us just want that back. 

So its understandable when everything is sh*te  and has been for some time...there's frustrations...especially with the number of 'New Hope' moments we've had.  But I certainly don't go for the notion that our fans are any critical than anyone else's would be in this situation.

 

Excellent post. 

[Shadwell Dog]

17 minutes ago, Bairn in Exile said:

I don't think that he "came out the closet" as such but was Brian Mcginlay not outed as gay? Might have meant something back then but who gives a f*ck now? Live and let live.

I think if I remember correctly he was arrested for hanging about gents public toilets somewhere and that was what basically outed him. Bit of a George Michael incident.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Shadwell Dog

[AL-FFC]

I think when you look at the past 10 years at some stage back then we were being praised for being a model of a well run football club that had bleeding youngsters into first team players i.e. Barr, Arfield, Kingsley, McGrandles etc, giving managers the chance i.e. Yogi, Sport science at Stirling Uni

We have done a complete 180 and all we seem to be doing is looking for a sticking plaster over a gunshot wound. Everything the current and previous boards plans/ideas havent worked so its probably time for someone that can approach it from a different angle.  I mean wasnt John Park meant to be working with them to identify players for development squads to go from John Park to Gary Holt in comparison a guy that found Van Dij and Wanyama to Luke Holt and Jamie Wilson says it all.

Just for once it would be good to go a year without being a basket case of a club but the whole basket case stems from the top and the decision making 

[Reggie Perrin]

1 hour ago, ilostmyself said:

I think football is theatre and we're perfectly entitled to boo/cheer/moan about anything that's football related. Nobody is turning up to watch Falkirk because of our scintillating football method, it's about the passion of watching your team and going through the highs and (more likely) lows as part of a group. As long as it doesn't become personal then I don't see any issues at all.
 

The most outrageous shout that I ever heard at a football match was directed at Derek Ferguson then at Hearts from the Hope Street terracing shortly after his baby daughter died.

I wont repeat here what was shouted but fair to say it would have made Frankie Boyle blush.

Ferguson must have heard the shout as he was standing on the bye line waiting on a corner to be taken, fair play to him for not jumping the fence and booting the shit out of the boy who was responsible.

[Shadwell Dog]

4 minutes ago, Reggie Perrin said:

The most outrageous shout that I ever heard at a football match was directed at Derek Ferguson then at Hearts from the Hope Street terracing shortly after his baby daughter died.

I wont repeat here what was shouted but fair to say it would have made Frankie Boyle blush.

Ferguson must have heard the shout as he was standing on the bye line waiting on a corner to be taken, fair play to him for not jumping the fence and booting the shit out of the boy who was responsible.

It was horrendous some of the stuff. Mind you I do feel that we have somehow gone too far in the opposite direction now with folk complaining about foul language etc. There should still be room for humerous chants.  We'd probably get hammered these days for the he's white he's blue he shat in Simon's shoe chant.

[Zbairn]

3 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

It was horrendous some of the stuff. Mind you I do feel that we have somehow gone too far in the opposite direction now with folk complaining about foul language etc. There should still be room for humerous chants.  We'd probably get hammered these days for the he's white he's blue he shat in Simon's shoe chant.

..or to Andy Walker....”your shite....and so are your crisps”

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Stainrod said:

Remember Deans is a volunteer, a fan who stupidly ( initially he was reluctant) agreed to lex miller’s constant requests to join the board. 
I agree he and Colborn had to go once they had made an arse of themselves but they are / were genuine supporters who unfortunately had nothing much to offer. 
I hope the Navy blue or whoever takes over can find a real Leader with the strength of Character to sort the Mess at the club out . The Rawlins involvement was always a bit weird to say the least why you would want to live in Denver and invest in a small community football club thousands of miles away beats me. 
Please please no more fking accountants or consultants  getting involved and hopefully SA & MR & GH go at the same time it’s no co-incidence we’ve been on a downward spiral with them hanging around like a bad smell.

Well, the first paragraph is a monstrous chunk of revisionist history……not a word of it is true.

As for SA and MR…….they were the two who pulled us out of provisional liquidation ably supported by the original BtB. They stayed on the Board for too long, no doubt. Those that have got involved since have made blunder after blunder.

SA and MR aren’t pulling Boardroom strings. They have never gone against the Board on anything. I would get the “bad smell” analogy if it made any sense, but it doesn’t.

[Gaz]

One of the few times I heard my old man swearing was when he shouted at a passing policeman "Officer! Arrest that c**t in black!" after a particularly poor refereeing performance.

Pretty tame, to be honest, but was really funny to an 8-year old kid.

[FalkirkBairn2021]

On 04/11/2021 at 12:59, Proudtobeabairn said:

 

I assume everyone is now happy to go back to games.  

 

 

Holt and Sheerin haven't gone so that's a no from me.

[Harry Kinnear]

The most outrageous shout that I ever heard at a football match was directed at Derek Ferguson then at Hearts from the Hope Street terracing shortly after his baby daughter died.
I wont repeat here what was shouted but fair to say it would have made Frankie Boyle blush.
Ferguson must have heard the shout as he was standing on the bye line waiting on a corner to be taken, fair play to him for not jumping the fence and booting the shit out of the boy who was responsible.

See for me players/refs/ boards and their performances are fair game but I absolutely despise shite like that. Despicable behaviour.

[ShaggerG]

3 hours ago, Shadwell Dog said:

It was horrendous some of the stuff. Mind you I do feel that we have somehow gone too far in the opposite direction now with folk complaining about foul language etc. There should still be room for humerous chants.  We'd probably get hammered these days for the he's white he's blue he shat in Simon's shoe chant.

Part of going to the football was the humour that we listened to every week. That just seems to be getting sucked out of our Saturdays now because the PC brigade regard every little shout or chant as being offensive, whether at the football or not. We're rapidly heading to living in a sanitised world.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stuff that shouldn't be allowed and never should have been in the first place; for example I heard a shout of 'black b*****d' aimed at an Alloa player at our last game. Along with the Norrie McCathie and eyeball stuff aimed at Dunfermline fans, that's over the top and isn't called for however, as an example, I shouted FFS hen when a female lino fucked up in a game last season and a woman in front of me went tonto. I call every female I know 'hen' as I have done all of my life and none of them have ever taken offence.

Maybe a couple of extreme examples but it does illustrate how things are now which is a real shame because I used to enjoy the odd individual shout which could sometimes have me in stiches. It was part of the experience.