The Falkirk FC Thread

[Rocco]

1 minute ago, FFC 1876 said:

We've signed 5 new players you pleb. 3 in the last week so of course we're going to be a bit disjointed. I completely get Jacobs not starting today for squad harmony but if he doesn't start next week Rennie's in trouble, . Nesbitt's never up for any game we have a battle on our hands and the fact he keeps getting the captain's armband is embarrassing. Should have scored 5 minutes in with his pathetic header and also spurned an easy pass into Dowds in the first half by putting too much on it. He's obviously got talent but as soon as it gets difficult he disappears. 

Extremely disappointed Rennie didn't even attempt to change the 3-5-2 today, even when Morrison came on Dowds seemed to drop into the 10 position which is just daft. I hope that kind of naivety isn't going to continue in his reign as Montrose had us completely sussed today and he did f**k all to try change that. Could tell they'd worked all week on countering our 3-5-2.

I can understand why he isn’t changing the formation yet. It’s clear that’s how he wants us to play and he’s trying to get players settled into that formation. Changing it during a match could be seen as counter productive, hence why he’s sticking with it

[Falkirkfan1985]

I am not worried...still reckon we will get 4th at least...all this knicker wetting in between gets us no where. Everyone just calm down and see where we are in 5 games time.

 

[MS RR]

How can Holt still be at the club? The reason we are astoundingly shit is because of his recruitment that was obviously not good enough. Sheerin maybe wasn’t  getting the best out of the players but he hardly had much to work with. There’s only so much you can do with that team.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

17 minutes ago, MS RR said:

How can Holt still be at the club? The reason we are astoundingly shit is because of his recruitment that was obviously not good enough. Sheerin maybe wasn’t  getting the best out of the players but he hardly had much to work with. There’s only so much you can do with that team.

Holt left on 3rd of January!!

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, MS RR said:

How can Holt still be at the club?

Physically he isn’t……but surely you know that. Sadly, when he left, his stellar recruits got to stay.
When you have the likes of Gary Miller with two and a half years on his contract, it could be a while until good old Gary is no longer inflicting damage on the club.

[Angus of the Mo]

2 hours ago, MrDust said:

No way it's last chance saloon next week, a defeat puts us under massive pressure but Queens form since beating us reads no wins in that period I think is 11 or 12 games. Current form probably has us fighting with Clyde for 4th but it's all about what we all do from now on. 

Rennie hits it on the nail in the interview that we need a settled starting 11 but he was too late with subs today and Montrose had that settled 11 and streetwise as a team and rode out the 2nd half easily. The 2nd half was a horrible half for both teams with the ref losing it, I'm still trying to work out how Dowds was booked.

I'd have took a point today afore the game but hopefully the defeat is a marker for us onwards letting the new players settle in, Kabia a good example of time to settle.

We can't play Telfer and Nesbitt for me, one can't pass or tackle, so I know who I'd be dropping.

 

 

 

 

For Falkirk fans, it’s been painful.
Montrose probably have the most settled team in the league, if not all of the 42 clubs, with the least comings and goings. 
Im sure when you get over your issues and dilemmas you will be back up there with the other larger clubs. League one is an embarrassment for you, as for the Mo, there is not the same pressure, nearly every Mo fan is happy with how we are performing 

[FFC 1876]

20 minutes ago, Angus of the Mo said:

For Falkirk fans, it’s been painful.
Montrose probably have the most settled team in the league, if not all of the 42 clubs, with the least comings and goings. 
Im sure when you get over your issues and dilemmas you will be back up there with the other larger clubs. League one is an embarrassment for you, as for the Mo, there is not the same pressure, nearly every Mo fan is happy with how we are performing 

You lot actually surprised me today as I didn't give you half as much credit as you deserve for how good you are before today. Dominated us from start to finish, aside from the few chances we had in the first half. Johnston making an absolute nuisance of himself caused us no end of grief and Cammy F Ballantyne basically controlled the middle of the park all by himself. 

[FFC 1876]

1 hour ago, Rocco said:

I can understand why he isn’t changing the formation yet. It’s clear that’s how he wants us to play and he’s trying to get players settled into that formation. Changing it during a match could be seen as counter productive, hence why he’s sticking with it

If somethings not working you need to be adaptable and change it. You're not trying to tell me it was more productive to stick with the 3-5-2 for the full second half and not even muster a shot on target?

[bairn88]

Someone on Facebook (of all places) said it very well. Of the 11 on the park today, not sure there was a single one who was genuinely pissed off at being played off the park by a part time team. That mentality has got to change, as ability wise I’m not sure there’s a whole between the players today 

[PedroMoutinho]

1 hour ago, bairn88 said:

Someone on Facebook (of all places) said it very well. Of the 11 on the park today, not sure there was a single one who was genuinely pissed off at being played off the park by a part time team. That mentality has got to change, as ability wise I’m not sure there’s a whole between the players today 

Yep, the problem is it’s become normalised for us to get beat by teams like Montrose. In fact, a lot of us were probably grateful we didn’t lose by more today.

We don’t want to be arrogant as a team but equally the culture that being ‘not far off’ Montrose and Airdrie is acceptable needs to be eradicated pronto. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, bairn88 said:

Someone on Facebook (of all places) said it very well. Of the 11 on the park today, not sure there was a single one who was genuinely pissed off at being played off the park by a part time team. That mentality has got to change, as ability wise I’m not sure there’s a whole between the players today 

I would say that McGuffie, Nesbitt, and Telfer all have a loser’s mentality. When we concede, just watch everyone troop back to their positions for the kick off……..they expect it to happen, and they expect to lose.

I think maybe Watson will turn out to be a leader at the back, but the midfield are all much of a muchness with absolutely no-one taking responsibility.

Again we hear how great they are in training and in bounce games………situations where there is nothing at stake. The minute match day comes around, and a wee bit of pressure is involved, they are done for.
We just have to hope that it is confined to the midfield, but as it stands, it is now far and away the weakest part of the team.

[Harry Kinnear]

I think as a fanbase we are going to have to display something we are not renowned for and that is patience. The board has taken over a club that for that past 4/5 years has been absolutely rotten and in turn Rennie and Miller have been in the door 5 minutes and we have to give them time.

To expect Rennie to turn our team round in 6 games is madness, especially given how hard the January transfer market is. We have a squad that is littered with players who quite frankly shouldn’t be there but they have lengthy contracts which is down to the mismanagement of Holt and Sheerin.

Rennie is right in that we have to try and get a settled team on the park, especially in defence. It may be the case that we are going to have to suffer a bit more pain before things start to turn for the better. Against Montrose we had a keeper playing his first game in a while, a defence that has never played together, a midfield that was lightweight and has far too many similar types of player and an attack that has previously played 45 minutes together. When you look at that it’s surprising Montrose never leathered us.

We have to give Rennie time to try and turn this round, I’m no fan of the contract to the end of the season. I would prefer to give him the time to get a squad together between now and the summer that doesn’t just get us up but has the bones of competing in the championship. 
 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Harry Kinnear

[Its not only a game]

3 minutes ago, Harry Kinnear said:

I think as a fanbase we are going to have to display something we are not renowned for and that is patience. The board has taken over a club that for that past 4/5 years has been absolutely rotten and in turn Rennie and Miller have been in the door 5 minutes and we have to give them time.

To expect Rennie to turn our team round in 6 games is madness, especially given how hard the January transfer market is. We have a squad that is littered with players who quite frankly shouldn’t be there but they have lengthy contracts which is down to the mismanagement of Holt and Sheerin.

Rennie is right in that we have to try and get a settled team on the park, especially in defence. It may be the case that we are going to have to suffer a bit more pain before things start to turn for the better. Against Montrose we had a keeper playing his first game in a while, a defence that has never played together, a midfield that was lightweight and has far too many similar types of player and an attack that has previously played 45 minutes together. When you look at that it’s surprising Montrose never leathered us.

We have to give Rennie time to try and turn this round, I’m no fan of the contract to the end of the season. I would prefer to give him the time to get a squad together between now and the summer that doesn’t just get us up but has the bones of competing in the championship. 
 

 

 

Montrose are a good settled PT club. Arguably the second best in Scotland these past Few years after Arbroath.When you played us last week, I felt your biggest weakness was actually not your defence but your midfield and that was against us! I predicted unless you changed it Montrose would dominate with the likes of Ballantyne. I think you signed someone in the morning of the game( so manager probably thinks that as well), but still playing your no 6, and other light weights, would mean you would be  dominated in that part of the field and your  forwards would  be starved of descent service.

Your manager seems smart and would not be surprised to see some more additions in midfield.

[Springfield]

It was unfortunate that we had to make changes to our new defence so early, but as many have posted our midfield was as poor as I’ve witnessed and guys like Telfer & Nisbett continually flatter to deceive.

Rennie doesn’t give much away but he’s probably seething at the way Montrose controlled the game ( after an even first twenty minutes) with Ballantine easily the best player on the park.

For me Rennie will know where it needs changed, but he’s found out the ask at this window is extremely difficult. Being honest I still think we can make fourth spot, but as illustrated yesterday we probably need at least another one or two midfielders that are better than Nesbit/Telfer/Miller/McGuffie…

Give credit where’s it due, Montrose have a decent settled squad, that had us sussed early doors and wouldn’t mind a few playing for us.

[Bairn in Exile]

8 hours ago, Rocco said:

I can understand why he isn’t changing the formation yet. It’s clear that’s how he wants us to play and he’s trying to get players settled into that formation. Changing it during a match could be seen as counter productive, hence why he’s sticking with it

Changing it during a match is what every manager is expected to do if the tactics aren't working.

6 hours ago, FFC 1876 said:

If somethings not working you need to be adaptable and change it. You're not trying to tell me it was more productive to stick with the 3-5-2 for the full second half and not even muster a shot on target?

This.

I was totally against Sheerin's appointment right from the off and I gave him stick for his inability to see that changes sometimes needed to made to our formation and tactics as situations / the opposition required. Just because I was 100% in favour of Rennie's appointment doesn't mean that I am going to wear rose coloured specs and say that everything he does is wonderful when at times it obviously isn't. His performance yesterday was every bit as bad as some of Sheerin's offerings and he needs to be called out for it.

[Hank von Hell]

4 hours ago, Harry Kinnear said:

I think as a fanbase we are going to have to display something we are not renowned for and that is patience. The board has taken over a club that for that past 4/5 years has been absolutely rotten and in turn Rennie and Miller have been in the door 5 minutes and we have to give them time.

To expect Rennie to turn our team round in 6 games is madness, especially given how hard the January transfer market is. We have a squad that is littered with players who quite frankly shouldn’t be there but they have lengthy contracts which is down to the mismanagement of Holt and Sheerin.

Rennie is right in that we have to try and get a settled team on the park, especially in defence. It may be the case that we are going to have to suffer a bit more pain before things start to turn for the better. Against Montrose we had a keeper playing his first game in a while, a defence that has never played together, a midfield that was lightweight and has far too many similar types of player and an attack that has previously played 45 minutes together. When you look at that it’s surprising Montrose never leathered us.

We have to give Rennie time to try and turn this round, I’m no fan of the contract to the end of the season. I would prefer to give him the time to get a squad together between now and the summer that doesn’t just get us up but has the bones of competing in the championship. 
 

 

 

I'm not a fan of the 6 month contract either, I wonder if it was the club or Rennie that decided that. It undermines authority a bit and puts doubt in the players's minds as who is the manager next season - and it's just so short termism.

I am well aware Rennie is a gamble but if you make that call you need to back it for the good of the club.

For the record I think he will turn things around and we will have enough to get a play off spot - after that I'm not confident but who knows , we may be a completely different  kind of team by then  

 

[Shadwell Dog]

25 minutes ago, Hank von Hell said:

I'm not a fan of the 6 month contract either, I wonder if it was the club or Rennie that decided that. It undermines authority a bit and puts doubt in the players's minds as who is the manager next season - and it's just so short termism.

I am well aware Rennie is a gamble but if you make that call you need to back it for the good of the club.

For the record I think he will turn things around and we will have enough to get a play off spot - after that I'm not confident but who knows , we may be a completely different  kind of team by then  

 

6 months is enough for both parties to see where they stand . We've been burnt before by handing out longer deals after a couple of wins and its cost us a packet. If he does well enough it's not as if clubs are going to be queuing up for him after he takes us into the playoffs. Last thing we want though is another duff manager on an 18 month or more contract.

[Bairnardo]

For as much as I can just about reason out enough mitigating factors as not to be TOO raging about a loss yesterday, I think they are all gone for next week and I will be turning up expecting a win.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

We had 5 new players in from Sheerin’s team yesterday if you include Dowds and the reality is there is no improvement. That’s nearly half a new team.

It doesn’t seem to matter who we sign, there seems to be little passion or fight about them. 

People who are targeting the play offs are being unrealistic I think - we are not good enough.

We are in this league for the long haul and the reality is teams like Cove, Airdrie and Montrose are far, far better football teams than us now.

[Shadwell Dog]

24 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

We had 5 new players in from Sheerin’s team yesterday if you include Dowds and the reality is there is no improvement. That’s nearly half a new team.

It doesn’t seem to matter who we sign, there seems to be little passion or fight about them. 

People who are targeting the play offs are being unrealistic I think - we are not good enough.

We are in this league for the long haul and the reality is teams like Cove, Airdrie and Montrose are far, far better football teams than us now.

Still feel we need a goalie, another midfielder and a striker.  Chances of us getting them in in time to make a difference though seem slim.  We've gone to Airdrie and Montrose and lost by the odd goal so I wouldn't say we're a country mile behind them. Crazy defending has cost us at least a point in both games.  Formation needs sorted out to get the best out of who we do have. I don't feel the 3 5 2 will do that until we have more steel in the middle of the park . ATS injury is a cut fortunately and Dixon surely must be closer to getting that bloody cast off. We have absolutely feck all on the bench to replace either of our two starting strikers though with Keena away. Wilson and ompreon are simply filling shirts. You know your times up when the manager doesnt put you on when the teams needing a goal and your a striker on the bench. Seems crazy to get rid of Keena and leave yourself with that pair in reserve. Surely another forward must be incoming. If miller starts next week against bloody qp then questions really need to be asked. 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Shadwell Dog