The Falkirk FC Thread

[Springfield]

9 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

On Monday, I am pretty sure Nigel Serafini spoke for the Board when he said (and I paraphrase) that the club weren’t actively looking at any model other than full time. It struck me at being at odds with Rennie when asked that traditionally FT teams tend to dominate PT teams in the last 20 minutes, but we did not see that. Rennie said FFC players are fully fit, but PT players are fit too.

So if there is no skill or fitness advantage why be FT? Rennie said that many PT players earned more purely from football than some (some of our?) FT players. That then muddied the waters for me, as it kind of bluntly pointed towards the better PT players are more expensive than (some of) the FT players.

It kind of sounded like (if you take it to it’s obvious conclusion) that we could have a better squad by signing quality PT players, but it would cost more than running with lower grade FT players (as we do now).

It certainly muddies the water for me, I’d be shocked if we can’t compete with our budget if the conclusions are anywhere near correct. 
What the Fck has being going on behind the scenes at the club? Have we knowingly been buying multiple shite rather than paying for quality?

[Guest]

I don’t know, but the manner in which MR explained away why our FT players are fit but no fitter these days than PT players, and that good PT players command more money than some FT players left me with the message that “yes, there are better PT players out there than some of our FT players, but they would cost more.

Happy to be wrong on that, but I don’t think I am twisting his words, or misquoting him.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Duncan Freemason

[Zbairn]

26 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I don’t know, but the manner in which MR explained away why our FT players are fit but no fitter these days than PT players, and that good PT players command more money than some FT players left me with the message that “yes, there are better PT players out there than some of our FT players, but they would cost more.

Happy to be wrong on that, but I don’t think I am twisting his words, or misquoting him.

Think it’s a case of quality PT players not wanting to go FT as it would mean a drop in their income. Our league is littered with very good PT players, who wouldnt go FT as it just doesn’t make financial sense to them.

I also think the fitness  levels between the two are less pronounced than it may have been years ago. 
 

 

[Hank von Hell]

10 hours ago, Duncan Freemason said:

For me, the most important milestone now is what happens when we mathematically cannot be promoted or relegated. I would think that point may well reached with two or three games to go.

At that point, we should see one of two things……either R&M call it quits, or there’s some very clear messaging in terms of playing staff………be they contracted or not. 
From the meeting on Monday, one of the big omissions seems to have been the bond not having been paid for overseas player signings. It was financially a very small cost, and for whatever reason, the old Board/company secretary chose not to do it. No surprise there then.

It may well have been central to R&Ms plans, which then forced them to look closer to home once it became apparent that yet another simple piece of paperwork hadn’t been completed.

The elephant in the room is still not having managed to improve things in any meaningful way, and in terms of stats, we have now fallen below Sheerin’s numbers.  Sheerin started well and then fell away. Can managers start badly and then improve massively? Of course they can……it has happened many times.

Thing is, it’s damn near impossible to predict which way things will go.

I find it odd that we went for a head coach who has spent all his coaching time overseas when we knew we could not sign any players that he either worked with or knew.

From what I've read it seems it was a surprise to Rennie too and he was banking on signing overseas players.

A bit of a stuff up?       

[ShaggerG]

41 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I don’t know, but the manner in which MR explained away why our FT players are fit but no fitter these days than PT players, and that good PT players command more money than some FT players left me with the message that “yes, there are better PT players out there than some of our FT players, but they would cost more.

Happy to be wrong on that, but I don’t think I am twisting his words, or misquoting him.

 

10 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

Think it’s a case of quality PT players not wanting to go FT as it would mean a drop in their income. Our league is littered with very good PT players, who wouldnt go FT as it just doesn’t make financial sense to them.

I also think the fitness  levels between the two are less pronounced than it may have been years ago. 
 

 

Just to clarify a bit further; Rennie did state that some part-timers are earning more money from their football contracts alone than some of our full-timers. Presumably these will be the better part-time players so there's little chance of us signing these guys on a full-time basis.

[ShaggerG]

8 minutes ago, Hank von Hell said:

I find it odd that we went for a head coach who has spent all his coaching time overseas when we knew we could not sign any players that he either worked with or knew.

From what I've read it seems it was a surprise to Rennie too and he was banking on signing overseas players.

A bit of a stuff up?       

I don't think the BOD directors were aware of that before Rennie arrived (possibly didn't enter their heads as they probably didn't know that a payment was required). Rennie certainly didn't know this was the case or at least that's what I took out of what he said.

Edit to say that I remember Rennie saying that both he and Miller had contacts 'all over the world' (or words to that effect) so, if he does stay on, I'd like to think that this is a market that he could tap into during the close season.

Edited March 17, 2022 by ShaggerG

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

20 minutes ago, Hank von Hell said:

I find it odd that we went for a head coach who has spent all his coaching time overseas when we knew we could not sign any players that he either worked with or knew.

From what I've read it seems it was a surprise to Rennie too and he was banking on signing overseas players.

A bit of a stuff up?       

If the plan was overseas players then who could we get on work permits that would want to relocate for £500/week? 

Just feel like we heard that one with the Rawlins and ended up to nothing. Was Rennie able to sign these guys at his other clubs and if so why did he still end up getting sacked?

No harm to Rennie but I just don’t think he is the man for the job. Maybe put him in a Director of football role, help restructure the club and see if his contacts come to fruition. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Caractacus Potts

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

 

Just to clarify a bit further; Rennie did state that some part-timers are earning more money from their football contracts alone than some of our full-timers. Presumably these will be the better part-time players so there's little chance of us signing these guys on a full-time basis.

My thing is that we could sign these guys on part time contracts, but currently, it’s club policy not to do so (even if it actually meant getting better quality players).

I am struggling to see the sense in lower league / lower quality full time players if better can be had by adopting at least a partial part time structure.

I wouldn’t see the sense in trying to make them go full time……..less money/motivation for them, no skill/ fitness gain for us. Take them as they are.

[HopeStreetWalker]

2 hours ago, Duncan Freemason said:

On Monday, I am pretty sure Nigel Serafini spoke for the Board when he said (and I paraphrase) that the club weren’t actively looking at any model other than full time. It struck me at being at odds with Rennie when asked that traditionally FT teams tend to dominate PT teams in the last 20 minutes, but we did not see that. Rennie said FFC players are fully fit, but PT players are fit too.

So if there is no skill or fitness advantage why be FT? Rennie said that many PT players earned more purely from football than some (some of our?) FT players. That then muddied the waters for me, as it kind of bluntly pointed towards the better PT players are more expensive than (some of) the FT players.

It kind of sounded like (if you take it to it’s obvious conclusion) that we could have a better squad by signing quality PT players, but it would cost more than running with lower grade FT players (as we do now).

Remember the Billy Little days post the George Miller implosion of the last of the clubs cash. That poor sod Billy Little got dealt a shitty hand and tried to make the best of it signing jobbers and hoping for a gem signed Gillespie then sold under his feet and did not get a coin to improve the squad. These were desperate times that lost a generation of fans I fear the worse I rely do.

 

[Reggie Perrin]

1 hour ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I don’t know, but the manner in which MR explained away why our FT players are fit but no fitter these days than PT players, and that good PT players command more money than some FT players left me with the message that “yes, there are better PT players out there than some of our FT players, but they would cost more.

Happy to be wrong on that, but I don’t think I am twisting his words, or misquoting him.

That was also my understanding of the FT / PT discussion.

Part time is not a cheap option.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

I don't think the BOD directors were aware of that before Rennie arrived (possibly didn't enter their heads as they probably didn't know that a payment was required). Rennie certainly didn't know this was the case or at least that's what I took out of what he said.

Edit to say that I remember Rennie saying that both he and Miller had contacts 'all over the world' (or words to that effect) so, if he does stay on, I'd like to think that this is a market that he could tap into during the close season.

I think the two markets that are seen as being awash with decent “mid level” players is the Caribbean and the Scandinavian countries.

[ShaggerG]

1 hour ago, Duncan Freemason said:

I think the two markets that are seen as being awash with decent “mid level” players is the Caribbean and the Scandinavian countries.

Well, you certainly know a bit about getting decent players over from the Caribbean Dunc! 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

Well, you certainly know a bit about getting decent players over from the Caribbean Dunc! 

Great memories of 20 years past. MR does love a Trini though. Following Brexit, I have no idea what the lie of the land is wrt work permits. Currently, youth international caps are sufficient I believe.

Either that, or they have to marry someone from Westquarter.

[Springfield]

Trying to get some sort of understanding on the clubs  signing policy/players based on the last page regarding FT/PT players(up to our current predicament)

We've went from car crash to car crash from the minute Houston walked. McKinnon - Hartley - Sheerin & now Rennie. Take McKay and a three year deal, was his reason for signing due to the wages being £500? and the reason we’ve ended up with at best a set of jobbers? Is the £500 true?

Deans and co with the SP said any player we sign can be utilised in two three positions? Was this another piece of shite? Difficult to take on board if true we only pay £500. We are truly in a huge black hole and where we go from here is very worrying.

 

[Shadwell Dog]

10 hours ago, ShaggerG said:

 

Just to clarify a bit further; Rennie did state that some part-timers are earning more money from their football contracts alone than some of our full-timers. Presumably these will be the better part-time players so there's little chance of us signing these guys on a full-time basis.

I can certainly see that being the case at cove but it's a bit of a concern if that's the case at other sides in this league . Or is he talking about the young lads promoted from the development squad?

Edited March 18, 2022 by Shadwell Dog

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Springfield said:

Trying to get some sort of understanding on the clubs  signing policy/players based on the last page regarding FT/PT players(up to our current predicament)

We've went from car crash to car crash from the minute Houston walked. McKinnon - Hartley - Sheerin & now Rennie. Take McKay and a three year deal, was his reason for signing due to the wages being £500? and the reason we’ve ended up with at best a set of jobbers? Is the £500 true?

Deans and co with the SP said any player we sign can be utilised in two three positions? Was this another piece of shite? Difficult to take on board if true we only pay £500. We are truly in a huge black hole and where we go from here is very worrying.

 

Go to one of the bloody pub meetings in the next 2/3 weeks. Drag yourself off here and ask the questions of the board directly. You may get a better understanding of the situation 

[Kelheart]

Decent Falkirk boozers for when the mighty Maroon Machine rolls into town next season lads

[Marshmallo]

3 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Decent Falkirk boozers for when the mighty Maroon Machine rolls into town next season lads

Mill Inn have a special where if you go in and say you're a Fifer you get given free drinks.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

6 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Mill Inn have a special where if you go in and say you're a Fifer you get given free drinks.

All joking apart I can’t believe we’ll be in the same league as Kelty Hearts next season and more than likely finish below them. What a horrible fucking wake up call for the whole board.

[TheScarf]

Aye, a hybrid model would make sense.  There's clearly better PT players in League One than the FT players you have.  Why not offer them 50-100 a week more to sign PT for you,  and they can keep their well paid day job.

To counter this however, the problem with having a hybrid squad is that the PT players can only train at night.  Probably why hardly any clubs do it.