Crawford Baptie Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) The young team excuse is getting really fucking old.A lot of the younger players in our team have played between 50-100 games. I'm not saying anything about experience.What I mean is that they are still developing and ma y have problems with consistecy. Edited March 17, 2014 by Crawford Baptie 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 The young team excuse is getting really fucking old. Agreed, there is a difference between being young and being inexperienced. I know guys like Duffie and Sibbald have years left in the game but they've surely played enough games to no longer be classed as "youngsters", if that makes sense. As for Holt, I'm still very undecided. I said at the start of the season that I'd consider the expectation for me to be based around points - we were 27 points behind Ross County and 25 points behind Thistle last year so I had set a rough target of about 10 points off the top of the table at the end of the season being a break even kind of mark this year. It's currently 5 points, but the caveat to that is that there's no one in the league close to the level of the last two champions. The cup performances were poor, despite all of the draws being unkind to us the Aberdeen game was one of the most unacceptable I've ever seen and the Raith Challenge Cup game was brutal. The standard of football has largely been crap, IMO I've only seen us look like potential champions once and that was in the Dundee game. The signings haven't been great, Loy and Millar have been the only unqualified successes for me, McCracken's injury record counts against him, Roberts is an arsehole and is overrated anyway, Olu has been completely pointless since we signed Millar, and the worst of the lot are Beck and Chalmers. Those two signings have cost us any chance of winning the title. Overall I'd say Holt deserves next season as it stands, but if we lose out in the first or second round of the playoffs as I'm expecting and continue to fumble towards the finish line for the rest of the campaign I'd feel exactly the same way as I did about him last summer ie completely neutral with no idea what to expect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig_FFC Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Agreed, there is a difference between being young and being inexperienced. I know guys like Duffie and Sibbald have years left in the game but they've surely played enough games to no longer be classed as "youngsters", if that makes sense. As for Holt, I'm still very undecided. I said at the start of the season that I'd consider the expectation for me to be based around points - we were 27 points behind Ross County and 25 points behind Thistle last year so I had set a rough target of about 10 points off the top of the table at the end of the season being a break even kind of mark this year. It's currently 5 points, but the caveat to that is that there's no one in the league close to the level of the last two champions. The cup performances were poor, despite all of the draws being unkind to us the Aberdeen game was one of the most unacceptable I've ever seen and the Raith Challenge Cup game was brutal. The standard of football has largely been crap, IMO I've only seen us look like potential champions once and that was in the Dundee game. The signings haven't been great, Loy and Millar have been the only unqualified successes for me, McCracken's injury record counts against him, Roberts is an arsehole and is overrated anyway, Olu has been completely pointless since we signed Millar, and the worst of the lot are Beck and Chalmers. Those two signings have cost us any chance of winning the title. Overall I'd say Holt deserves next season as it stands, but if we lose out in the first or second round of the playoffs as I'm expecting and continue to fumble towards the finish line for the rest of the campaign I'd feel exactly the same way as I did about him last summer ie completely neutral with no idea what to expect. Good post! I agree with just about all of it. I've seen some Falkirk fans saying that Holt has done better than Pressley due to the fact this is the closest we've been to the title since we've came down. This is true however, you've hit the nail on the head by saying that the last two champions in Ross County and Partick Thistle have been far superior than any team this year! I can count on one hand how many games i've enjoyed this year and the cup games have been non-exsistant. I'm half and half with Holt as i do feel he needs another year but so far he just stands with his hands in his pockets half the time and doesn't seem to have a plan B. Next year the Championship will be very competitive and unless we strengthen and by strengthen I mean players who can come in and change a game or even with just a bit of experience. I feel the signings this summer will be key to where we finish next season due to the fact of how competitive the league will be. We seen on saturday that we were missing three first team players and our squad was stretched so much so that our bench looked like it had been picked from a local high school. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Holt can try to flannel the support all he wants about having more points etc but the stats hide the fact that the football on offer is terrible. Saturday was utterly unacceptable and for the him to say we did well apart from defending badly at two set pieces, well let's say, he is easily pleased. I kind of get the signing of Beck. Target man to give us the opportunity to mix it up. Problem is it seems to be plan a,b,c and right through to z. Saturday was as one dimensional as I have ever seen a Falkirk side in a long long time, if ever. I personally don't want to watch that style which is the cancer of lower league English football. If that is what we are going to be served up Holt and Brookes can disappear back from where they came from. Saturday showed exactly why Phil Roberts is vital to us with his pace. Hamilton had absolutely no fear of us catching them in behind so were able to play the game 10/15 yards higher up. The Chalmers signing was baffling. He plays in a position where our best player plays who clearly was going no where in January. Yet on virtually the last day of the window Holt brings him in. Have we done a deal to sign him in the summer when we will no doubt sell Kingsley? That is the only reason I could see so he knows the club and can hit the ground running. He would be solid enough in this league playing at left back with a few more games under his belt IMO. Only against Dundee and probably Livingston away at the start of the season have we looked the part for me. The rest has been a struggle most of the time and as previously mentioned rotten to watch. On balance Holt probably deserves the summer to clear out the hangers on who will never see the first team and create some cash to invest in the first team. His budget probably suffered after the fiasco of last summers concerts losing money when no doubt were projecting a big profit. I see little chance of us progressing through two play off ties in current form far less six so it looks like we will have to suffer the Cheats Championship next season which could have including ourselves as many as 8 clubs who have had an insolvency event in the last 15 years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Nederlander Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Holt is 2.5 years behind Pressley in experience as a first team manager. Yes he is, but then every manager we've had since 2003 has been years behind in management experience ... the concept has long since worn thin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggerG Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Yes he is, but then every manager we've had since 2003 has been years behind in management experience ... the concept has long since worn thin. That's not Holt's fault though. The fact is he's very inexperienced at this level and we can't change that. I think part of the problem is that, at the start of the season he had no expectation of us achieving very much at all and the players seemed to play with a bit of freedom as a result. Remember Roberts on the half way line when we were defending a corner? Now he's on the post with everybody else in the box. I think the very fact that we are (were) up there challenging is affecting him and how he sets the team out. Everyone behind the ball with a punt to Beck being the out-ball? Maybe. I've a feeling that we'll see a different formation on Saturday, depending on the available personnel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I've a feeling that we'll see a different formation on Saturday, depending on the available personnel. McGovern Vaulks Flynn McCracken Kingsley Millar McGrandles Roberts Sibbald Small Loy I'd try that with the three behind Loy given freedom to roam and switch positions. Get the ball on the deck and let's get forward at pace. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgerlugs Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 McGovern Vaulks Flynn McCracken Kingsley Millar McGrandles Roberts Sibbald Small Loy I'd try that with the three behind Loy given freedom to roam and switch positions. Get the ball on the deck and let's get forward at pace. Is Blair Alston injured???? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gav-ffc Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Blair is best as an impact sub for Roberts imo. He hasnt done alot when he has started games this season and dont see why he would merit a start ahead of Roberts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggerG Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Blair is best as an impact sub for Roberts imo. He hasnt done alot when he has started games this season and dont see why he would merit a start ahead of Roberts. No, but he does merit a start ahead of Small. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford Baptie Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Ryan Blair and Botti Biabi have been doing well of late in the U20's. Biabi has pace to burn and I would say he is quicker than Roberts. Would it hurt to put him on the bench? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar P Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Ryan Blair has impressed me in every U20 match I have seen him in. Chalmers also played very well tonight. Much sharper and fitter than in his previous displays. Great comeback after losing two early goals to win 4-2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gav-ffc Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I was surprised on Saturday that Blair didn't come on near the end. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Is Blair Alston injured???? No, but he does merit a start ahead of Small. Alston has been absolutely brutal all season. Saturday was arguably his worst performance yet. Small impressed me when he came on on Saturday. In saying that, Alston in for Small would be a change I wouldn't mind to that XI I posted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Fitzgerald Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Alston has been absolutely brutal all season. Saturday was arguably his worst performance yet. Small impressed me when he came on on Saturday. In saying that, Alston in for Small would be a change I wouldn't mind to that XI I posted. Absolute nonsense. He was our best player up until he got injured before the Hamilton game at home where we lost 2-1. After that, you're right, he's not got back to his best, but on his day he is a capable player. Often played in the wrong position by Pressley and Holt too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Absolute nonsense. He was our best player up until he got injured before the Hamilton game at home where we lost 2-1. After that, you're right, he's not got back to his best, but on his day he is a capable player. Often played in the wrong position by Pressley and Holt too. Apologies, I must've forgotten the first three league games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Fitzgerald Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Apologies, I must've forgotten the first three league games. Apology accepted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggerG Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Alston has been absolutely brutal all season. Saturday was arguably his worst performance yet. Small impressed me when he came on on Saturday. In saying that, Alston in for Small would be a change I wouldn't mind to that XI I posted. Look, we all know that Alston's an exceptionally good player. He was very good in the very early games, got injured and then lost form. Holt hasn't really given him the chance to play through it though and I think he deserves that chance given the fact that we don't have many other options. Apparently, along with a few others, he wasn't fully fit on Saturday. He'll come good again, I've no doubt about that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FFC_GJS Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) For some reason, after feeling depressed after Saturday at the start of the week, I have started to feel really optimistic about us winning the league. I can't explain it. It will probably disappear at 14:50 tomorrow once I see the starting line up and Beck is in it. I would like to see the team Marshmallo posted tried out. Edited March 21, 2014 by FFC_GJS -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I dreamt we won it on the last day of the season. Mind you, I had imbibed quite a large quantity of wine the night before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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