The Falkirk FC Thread

[Stainrod]

10 hours ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Let's face it we don't support Falkirk for the trophies and silky football it's in your blood and that's that. 

 

[Guest]

 

In reality, we have a relatively slow back three who in all probability, would be ok with crosses being slung into the box but are having to face head on onslaughts because no-one in the midfield or wing back positions (apart from Jacobs) sees defending as their main role…..at least, not consistently.

Just about every team in the league has found us not too difficult to score against.

I actually think the line up on Saturday was an attempt to avoid a heavy defeat. The one element of our team theoretically capable of giving opposition defences real difficulties (Kabia, Griffiths, Dowds) is the one thing that is sacrificed on the altar of Hetherington and McKay. For me, that was a major howler on MRs part.

I actually hope MR sticks around, but I also hope he isn’t closing his mind to the fact that rotten performances are partially down to his tactics as it is the players inability to do the things he wants. He plays his part in the failures as well…..never more so than last Saturday.

The one nagging doubt I have is come next season, Kelty Hearts plus QotS join the party. Are we even going to be sorted for that challenge especially when you think of the players we can’t unload because of Holt and Sheerin’s generous contracts?

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

I thought Sheerin deserved a chance to stay, particularly without Holt hanging over him however he made his job untenable. 
 

Rennie definitely deserves a lot longer. He seems to have more about him but unfortunately it’s still not translating on the pitch the way we’d hope. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Caractacus Potts

[Reggie Perrin]

3 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

I thought Sheerin deserved a chance to stay, particularly without Holt hanging over him however he made his job untenable. 
 

Rennie definitely deserves a lot longer. He seems to have more about him but unfortunately it’s still not translating on the pitch the way we’d hope. 

I actually thought the Sheerin appointment was quite interesting at the time.

Unfortunately after a decent start it soon became obvious that he was in over his head and by the time of his departure he was barely functioning in his job.

[Shadwell Dog]

1 hour ago, kiddy said:

Getting pissed off with this six game turnaround some folk are expecting.

Ian Murray has taken 3+ years to get Airdrie into shape & it's taken Dick Campbell longer at Arbroath.

Those old enough will remember it took Falkirk 3/4 years to swing it round in the 70's, without changing manager 2x a season, so instant teams are a complete rarity.

Dick Campbell won league 2 in the first season he joined he then took them to 3rd then first in league one on an absolute pittance so to say it's taken him 3 plus years to get them into shape is absolute nonsense.  Airdrie are  about where they should be given their resources any thought of promotion for them would be a decent achievement.Noone expects us to suddenly win the league but the tactics and team selection yesterday was absolute dross . There was little or no passion or commitment  from some of the new players never mind the old ones. It's all about progress and yesterday we didn't see any I'm afraid.  At the end of the day we're spending a lot of money on Griffiths so we bloody well should see an improvement otherwise we're just wasting fans hard earned cash once again.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Shadwell Dog

[Bigbri Bairn]

 

And even when times are bad and Saturdays are to be dreaded me still have hope. Its what we do. The 70's were a nightmare and the crowds dwindled. It WILL get better but not overnight

[Shadwell Dog]

2 minutes ago, Bigbri Bairn said:

52 minutes ago, Stainrod said:

 

And even when times are bad and Saturdays are to be dreaded me still have hope. Its what we do. The 70's were a nightmare and the crowds dwindled. It WILL get better but not overnight

We were a different animal back then mind you. We didn't have anywhere near the resources advantage we have now for instance.  Get the right people spending our budget and we'll soon be heading in the right direction.

[18BAIRN76]

It was clear to anyone with a functioning brain that from about 6 weeks in Sheerin was a fucking diddy and should never have been appointed. I would be inclined to say that I''d have to flip a coin to call who was more useless manager between him and Eddie May, but actually, I'd probably just go ahead and say Sheerin. At least May had the excuse of being in the top-flight. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by 18BAIRN76

[Bairn in Exile]

7 minutes ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

It was clear to anyone with a functioning brain that from about 6 weeks in Sheerin was a fucking diddy and should never have been appointed. I would be inclined to say that I''d have to flip a coin to call who was more useless manager between him and Eddie May, but actually, I'd probably just go ahead and say Sheerin. At least May had the excuse of being in the top-flight. 

I agree with your assessment of their abilities, however, in fairness to May, he never wanted the job, he was well aware that his talents were as a coach. Sheerin was deluded and actively sought the job.

[Shadwell Dog]

9 minutes ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

It was clear to anyone with a functioning brain that from about 6 weeks in Sheerin was a fucking diddy and should never have been appointed. I would be inclined to say that I''d have to flip a coin to call who was more useless manager between him and Eddie May, but actually, I'd probably just go ahead and say Sheerin. At least May had the excuse of being in the top-flight. 

May never wanted the job and at least tried to jack it in earlier than he did. I've never in my 40 odd years of watching Falkirk seen a manager stand up and  say to fans that he wished he was better . That was when how far out of his depth he was really hit home 

[Grangemouth Bairn]

8 hours ago, Duncan Freemason said:

 

In reality, we have a relatively slow back three who in all probability, would be ok with crosses being slung into the box but are having to face head on onslaughts because no-one in the midfield or wing back positions (apart from Jacobs) sees defending as their main role…..at least, not consistently.

Just about every team in the league has found us not too difficult to score against.

I actually think the line up on Saturday was an attempt to avoid a heavy defeat. The one element of our team theoretically capable of giving opposition defences real difficulties (Kabia, Griffiths, Dowds) is the one thing that is sacrificed on the altar of Hetherington and McKay. For me, that was a major howler on MRs part.

I actually hope MR sticks around, but I also hope he isn’t closing his mind to the fact that rotten performances are partially down to his tactics as it is the players inability to do the things he wants. He plays his part in the failures as well…..never more so than last Saturday.

The one nagging doubt I have is come next season, Kelty Hearts plus QotS join the party. Are we even going to be sorted for that challenge especially when you think of the players we can’t unload because of Holt and Sheerin’s generous contracts?

I’m less worried about teams like QoS and Alloa coming down from the Championship tbh. As you point out, it’s new, hungry ambitious clubs like Kelty, Cove and QP who we are struggling to compete with at present.

Not sure how long their models are sustainable tbh but at the moment they are getting more things right than us.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Caractacus Potts said:

I thought Sheerin deserved a chance to stay, particularly without Holt hanging over him however he made his job untenable. 
 

Rennie definitely deserves a lot longer. He seems to have more about him but unfortunately it’s still not translating on the pitch the way we’d hope. 

FFS we got thrashed by QP 6-0 and you thought he should stay when it was obvious players had downed tools for him. Jesus wept 

[Springfield]

Two homes games to look forward to and looking for a positive reaction to last Saturday. A couple of changes hopefully to the starting eleven, Mills & Kabia in for McKay & Hetherington, Dixon in for ATS ?

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

9 hours ago, Bairn in Exile said:

I agree with your assessment of their abilities, however, in fairness to May, he never wanted the job, he was well aware that his talents were as a coach. Sheerin was deluded and actively sought the job.

Sheerin only sought the job as his cushty youth coaching role was under threat with the appointment of Glass. Was never convinced a man who was happy to spend 7/8 years in that position truly had the desire to be a first team manager.

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

1 hour ago, Back Post Misses said:

FFS we got thrashed by QP 6-0 and you thought he should stay when it was obvious players had downed tools for him. Jesus wept 

Is there some reason you want to deliberately misconstrue what I say!? I said he made his job untenable and clearly part of that was the 6-0 thrashing. 

[Reggie Perrin]

2 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Is there some reason you want to deliberately misconstrue what I say!? I said he made his job untenable and clearly part of that was the 6-0 thrashing. 

To be fair your post was a bit of a dogs dinner, came across as wanting him to stay and at the same time being untenable.

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

1 minute ago, Reggie Perrin said:

To be fair your post was a bit of a dogs dinner, came across as wanting him to stay and at the same time being untenable. 

Just being consistent with what I said at the time. Didn’t think Sheerin was a good appointment and thought Holt hampered him a lot. His last couple of results and his inability to identify the issues meant he had to go. 

Don’t see what was wrong with what I said as all it takes in football is one or two bad results to tip the balance and the Queens Park result turned a couple of bad results in to meaning we had no choice but to let him go. 

Same thing could be said of Rennie, I’d give him to the end of the season now but if we were to get gubbed by Peterhead tomorrow then that could change things. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Is there some reason you want to deliberately misconstrue what I say!? I said he made his job untenable and clearly part of that was the 6-0 thrashing. 

You didn’t mention any 6-0 thrashing. Controversial as it may seem I actually think in hindsight he was a bigger problem than Holt

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

2 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

You didn’t mention any 6-0 thrashing. Controversial as it may seem I actually think in hindsight he was a bigger problem than Holt

Didn’t think I had to describe what made his job untenable. His last couple of league results with the 6-0 drubbing on top meant his time was over.

Interestingly though he had the same amount of points in his last 5 league matches as Rennie. Obviously had more time but like I say one or two bad results can completely change the outlook on a managers position. Sheerin left us no choice, Rennie will hopefully show us why he deserves to stay for longer. 

As for Holt I was never sure of how much was down to Sheerin or Holt. Didn’t like Holt being there, that’s for sure. 
 

[Guest]

It wasn’t a simple task to tease out who did what twixt Sheerin and Holt.

Holt engineered the situation to his advantage……especially by getting Sheerin to publicly state that he had the final say on signings. That simple thing gave Holt a bit of breathing space to say “I offered up the players. I did the homework, but Sheerin had the final say, and he decided who to to sign. It was then his job to turn those signings into a functioning team….I did not interfere in first team matters.”

Of course, Sheerin then showed after the 8 game mark that he really didn’t have much of a clue, and everything unraveled from that point on.

Make no mistake, if Sheerin had been doing well the artful dodger Deans and Holt would have shuffled themselves into the limelight as being the stars of the show.