The Falkirk FC Thread

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

I agree with this; they're not easy decisions at all but he's the one paid to make them as the manager. All I know is that you pick the best players you have available to you. It has long been my opinion, and that of others, that Burrell (while far from perfect - to loan a phrase from Gary Oliver, he wouldn't be at Falkirk if he was) is the strongest striker in the squad. Therefore, it's up to McGlynn to find a system that incorporates him. 

There was a time a few weeks ago, for a number of games, that Burrell - despite being our second-top goalscorer - found himself as 4th choice striker (behind Wright ffs!). This was when we were winning games during our good run, so it kind of went unnoticed, but now we're in a bit of a rut, it's being questioned again. McGlynn will know better than any of us if there is any problem with his attitude or application as has been rumoured, but even on a human level, I don't think anyone could grudge Burrell being a little bit pissed off at that.

I agree Burrell is our most effective striker but he frustrates the life out of me. Great against Dunfermline then looks so disinterested at Montrose. If the lad is going to progress as a player he has to get that consistent performance

 

[Shodwall cat]

Mcglynn has had to recruit virtually a whole new side for this season and that isn't easy . How many of his signings would we say have been complete misses? We've gone from having recruitment where the vast majority are duds to the vast majority are decent signings. Considering the numbers we've brought in that isn't bad at all in my book and could've gone badly wrong with another manager in charge as we have seen recently. It would be nice to go into a close season this year only needing three or four additions instead of nearly double figures. 

[PedroMoutinho]

52 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Mcglynn has had to recruit virtually a whole new side for this season and that isn't easy . How many of his signings would we say have been complete misses? We've gone from having recruitment where the vast majority are duds to the vast majority are decent signings. Considering the numbers we've brought in that isn't bad at all in my book and could've gone badly wrong with another manager in charge as we have seen recently. It would be nice to go into a close season this year only needing three or four additions instead of nearly double figures. 

Recruitment has been much better than previous seasons, which for me makes it more disappointing that we haven’t laid a glove on Dunfermline and our league form has been so inconsistent.

[Springfield]

18 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

Recruitment has been much better than previous seasons, which for me makes it more disappointing that we haven’t laid a glove on Dunfermline and our league form has been so inconsistent.

Can’t disagree but when you continue to play one up front in the third tier of Scottish football, is it any surprise. 
Burrell hasn’t been given a decent run where others are auto select repeat… 

[Fallen Angel]

13 hours ago, NUMBER 7 said:

We are likely to finish the season with the best home record

 

Care to explain?

Falkirk have taken 35 points at home, as have we....Falkirk have lost twice at home ...we are undefeated...our last home game is against Clyde so quite easily the whole season undefeated at home....Surely we have the best home record this season?

[bairn88]

12 minutes ago, Fallen Angel said:

Care to explain?

Falkirk have taken 35 points at home, as have we....Falkirk have lost twice at home ...we are undefeated...our last home game is against Clyde so quite easily the whole season undefeated at home....Surely we have the best home record this season?

Not that difficult, beat a free falling Edinburgh in 2 days and it’s pretty much guaranteed

[Bigbrbairn]

Dont think it has been mentioned but it was a great ball in by Yeats for Burrells goal

[FFC 1876]

3 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:

I agree Burrell is our most effective striker but he frustrates the life out of me. Great against Dunfermline then looks so disinterested at Montrose. If the lad is going to progress as a player he has to get that consistent performance

 

He was the same in the 1-1 game up at Montrose earlier in the season. When we play just the one upfront it really doesn't suit Burrell he's not very good at holding the ball up, that's not his game. 

In his post match interview on Saturday he seemed fed up which is probably why, if rumours are true, he's rejected a new deal. 

I think we need to go into the next few games with a settled team and formation especially with the semi final and playoffs coming up. Very hard to get all of our better players on the park in their preferred positions but I suppose that's not something we should be complaining about given what we've had to endure the last few seasons.

I'd personally stick with the 2 upfront as I feel teams have sussed out how to sit deep and defend against our 4-2-3-1, Oliver keeping the centre backs occupied allows space for Burrell to go affect the game. I reckon our strongest 11 at the moment is the below. Hopefully Mackie's not out for much longer as we could do with having him as a back up with the amount of games we've got coming up, I've gave up waiting on Lawal I doubt we'll see him again this season.

Morrison
Rowe Donaldson Mckay Mccann
Henderson
Morrison Max Kennedy
Burrell Oliver

Edited April 16, 2023 by FFC 1876

[Fallen Angel]

38 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

Not that difficult, beat a free falling Edinburgh in 2 days and it’s pretty much guaranteed

Whilst I understand the table I'd rather not see us lose than worry about goal difference....but I can see why you think your results are better....

Good luck in the cup semi final.and for what it's worth good luck in the playoffs.

I'd rather have Falkirk in the championship than cove and Arbroath/Hamilton for obvious reasons....

[Bairn in Exile]

9 hours ago, Shodwall cat said:

Mcglynn has had to recruit virtually a whole new side for this season and that isn't easy . How many of his signings would we say have been complete misses? We've gone from having recruitment where the vast majority are duds to the vast majority are decent signings. Considering the numbers we've brought in that isn't bad at all in my book and could've gone badly wrong with another manager in charge as we have seen recently. It would be nice to go into a close season this year only needing three or four additions instead of nearly double figures. 

We'd have one less new player to sign if McGlynn would just give Burrell a regular start. He seems pissed off at the moment, quite rightly, and it looks likely that he will be away at the end of the season. He could easily be playing at a higher level. If he has to go I hope that it is down south, I'd hate to see him signing for another Scottish team, especially for the incestuous, 6 fingered mutants across the water. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Bairn in Exile

[Guest]

9 hours ago, FFC 1876 said:

He was the same in the 1-1 game up at Montrose earlier in the season. When we play just the one upfront it really doesn't suit Burrell he's not very good at holding the ball up, that's not his game. 

In his post match interview on Saturday he seemed fed up which is probably why, if rumours are true, he's rejected a new deal. 

I think we need to go into the next few games with a settled team and formation especially with the semi final and playoffs coming up. Very hard to get all of our better players on the park in their preferred positions but I suppose that's not something we should be complaining about given what we've had to endure the last few seasons.

I'd personally stick with the 2 upfront as I feel teams have sussed out how to sit deep and defend against our 4-2-3-1, Oliver keeping the centre backs occupied allows space for Burrell to go affect the game. I reckon our strongest 11 at the moment is the below. Hopefully Mackie's not out for much longer as we could do with having him as a back up with the amount of games we've got coming up, I've gave up waiting on Lawal I doubt we'll see him again this season.

Morrison
Rowe Donaldson Mckay Mccann
Henderson
Morrison Max Kennedy
Burrell Oliver

We played two up against Montrose 

[FFC 1876]

57 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

We played two up against Montrose 

Yeah I know it wasn't worded very well just a general statement about when we play the 4-2-3-1 Burrell up top on his own doesn't work.

[Harry Kinnear]

1 hour ago, Back Post Misses said:

We played two up against Montrose 

I don’t think Burrell and Allan works as Allan doesn’t hold the ball up and link the play as well as Oliver. If it’s two up top it has to involve Oliver I think.

[ShaggerG]

12 hours ago, Bigbrbairn said:

Dont think it has been mentioned but it was a great ball in by Yeats for Burrells goal

It was and I noticed that the laddie demanded the ball from the throw in because he could see that Henderson was in position for a header. He's been a bit unfairly criticised IMO recently but he took a bit of responsibility there.

[RC55 FFC]

16 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

It was and I noticed that the laddie demanded the ball from the throw in because he could see that Henderson was in position for a header. He's been a bit unfairly criticised IMO recently but he took a bit of responsibility there.

Totally agree. Great spot by Yeats. 

[Guest FFC1965]

Fair play to DAFC, they have been relentless this season and are deserved winners.  Clearly this season has seen us improve but it would have been difficult to have got worse.

Its possibly a bit early when the season's denouement is yet to happen, but over the weekend I was trying to quantify our improvement now the league is done.  

Our points-per-game this season is pretty much identical to the 2019/20 season that was cut short (and id argue that the league is significantly stronger this season) so Id give us a "very good" rating.  Given the chaos inherited by the new BOD and manager, finishing 2nd is a decent outcome and the cup Semi is a nice boost too especially financially.

I fancy us to get stronger next season - whether that's looking to consolidate a Championship place or trying to get out of League 1.  Either way one massive advantage v. previous seasons is that the club wont be faced with a massive turnover of players - we can reasonably expect PJ Morrison, McGuffie, Watson and Lawal to leave in addition to Williamson.  Our loan recruits have been excellent - Rowe and Kennedy in particular - and who knows we might be able to have either or both next season but I'm assuming only if we go up.    

It will be interesting to see if the likes of McGinn and Oliver stay (Im assuming they are contracted to 31.05.23).  At the turn of the year Id have said keeping McGinn was a no brainer but his form has tailed off and he will be 35 this year.    

Jordan Allan is a baffling one - he has a contract until the end of season 24/25 but it appears that his style of play is something of a mismatch to McGlynn's default style so as things stand it doesn't look to be a great bit of business, but he could yet be a cup or playoff hero. 

Its traditional that the team that wins a league might look to poach players from other teams and in that regard I could see DAFC sniffing about the likes of Kennedy especially if he is without a deal for next season.   

The playoffs are something of a lottery and Airdrie are likely to stand in our way at some stage.   I live in hope that they finish 4th, knock out Hamilton in the SF and if we can get past Alloa then we could look forward to a home 2nd leg on Sat 20th May.  

Still lots to happen - which is fantastic - last few seasosn at this stage we've just had to watch on in horror as our league season disintegrated.  We know that our season will be "live" until 13th May and who knows possibly 3rd June.   

  

[Stellaboz]

There's absolutely no way we'll sign Kennedy again. The fans won't take to him after his fairly gutless spell last time.

[RC55 FFC]

12 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

There's absolutely no way we'll sign Kennedy again. The fans won't take to him after his fairly gutless spell last time.

Couldn’t afford him anyway. Neither can we obv. He’s rumoured to be on around £2.5k at Ibrox. He’ll end up abroad if the rumours are correct. 

[Donathan]

Win tomorrow and we will guarantee finishing above Alloa, which effectively means the last two games are just to clinch home advantage in the second leg of the semi final.

 

 

It would be good to give key players a rest in the Peterhead game ahead of a busy playoff schedule. 

[par-adise]

32 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

There's absolutely no way we'll sign Kennedy again. The fans won't take to him after his fairly gutless spell last time.

Agreed. 

Only Falkirk player I'd consider taking is Morrison but I believe he has another year on his contract and I don't think he's quite good enough to merit us paying a fee for.

Donaldson I thought was a brilliant signing and was really disappointed we couldn't keep him permanently last summer. However he's looked a bit suspect when I've seen him this season so not so sure now. Is that fair?