The Falkirk FC Thread

[ilostmyself]

That was fairly brutal, a better team would have put 3 or 4 past us today.

Still, of the 14 players used something like 11 are new signings, we all knew this was coming.

A lot of attacks were broken down simply by the players not knowing what each other were going to do, that'll come with time but we've never been the most patient supporters so sooner rather than later would be nice!

[ATLIS]

Falkirk lose as Sibbald tears it up with us. Joyous 

[falkirkthebigclub]

1 minute ago, bridge of allan bairn said:

 taiwo is better than Paton.

I suppose it's all about opinions & I disagree with this. Paton will be a dominant brick shithouse in the Championship and strolled it today. Given Hartley's (rightful) attitude to this cup for our new side, Petravicius, TOE & Lewis should also offer more in league games.

The keeper is competent & Sammut needs to toughen up. Difficult to judge our defence without Dallison but shape, formation & understanding are obviously issues. Looking forward to seeing what he tries against Forfar.

Mackin is the weak link for me but hopefully wont be a regular starter.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

Aye.

Someone who’s more tech savvy than me reply to this post with the Tymoschuk (sp) patting Ribery’s head GIF. Thanks in advance.

[DeeBairn]

15 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

Falkirk lose as Sibbald tears it up with us. Joyous 

You really are a bizarre little fella, aren't you? 

[Falkirk_Bairn_1983]

13 minutes ago, Trump said:

Someone who’s more tech savvy than me reply to this post with the Tymoschuk (sp) patting Ribery’s head GIF. Thanks in advance.

You just stick your head in the sand bud.

[Falkirkfan1985]

Thought Mackin was alright tbh...a bit slow but could have had 2 goals if it was a different linesman...think the 2nd goal was definitely onside.

Paton didn't impress me, his constant sideways passing will annoy alot this year.

Brough wasn't great either...struck me as the quiet guy on a night out who doesn't speak much, needs to come out his shell more

Sammut and Toe will be good this year,  both decent on the ball but again need to grow within the team. Sammut got his foot on the ball more in 2nd half.

Lewis could have had 2 goals today, one a great shot that hit the bar. Fast but kinda lacked direction...hopefully will cone with more games

Harrison was ok. A big lump of a guy...Will win most headers but does needs to read the game better. 

Petravicious was very fast and direct. Although noticed every player directing him on where he should be most of the game.

Overall it's the better cup. Potential is there and would prefer all the kinks are ironed out in the bedfred before Inverness on the 4th

 

[All-Star-Par]

Lucky you got rid of the dross from last season or this game could've been a right riddy for the Don Hartley revolution. 

[spud131]

Thought McGhee was our best player today and had some decent link up with the Lithuanian who had a good couple of runs at their defence but was often without a final product.

Harrison reminds of James Sharp both in looks and playing style.

Wasn't that impressed with Brough, Toe or any of the strikers to be honest.

I've never seen a player more uncomfortable with the ball at his feet than Paul Paton although we're not really looking for him to be doing much dribbling I suppose.

Thought Paton and Sammut were both too deep today, when we were playing the ball out from the back both were dropping back to within 10 yards of the defence which was leaving a big gap in the centre of the park.

A few players look like they need to shift a few pounds aswell, Harrison, Froxy and Mackin being the main ones.

 

Hopefully a lot of today's poor play is down to lack of familiarity and lack of sharpness that will sort its self out over the next few weeks.

[smpar]

Quite interesting how Froxy has gone from being the sexiest, most skilful player in Scottish football to being a fat c**t.

The players will be rusty and with several new signings coming in, a bit of incoherence is going to show. Doubt you have much to worry about tbh.

[DeeBairn]

4 minutes ago, smpar said:

Quite interesting how Froxy has gone from being the sexiest, most skilful player in Scottish football to being a fat c**t.

The players will be rusty and with several new signings coming in, a bit of incoherence is going to show. Doubt you have much to worry about tbh.

I don't think he's a fat c**t. I just doubt he has the legs for playing wide. Fair few Dunbarton fans said as much when we signed him. He's not a wide player, play him through the middle. I'd kinda hoped we were beyond trying to shoehorn players into positions that don't fit them. 

 

I'm not worried, we need to see what the league form is like before there is reason for panic. This league cup thingy is effectively a preseason set up and should be treated as such. Would be nice to go through, but I'll be happy to come out with a coherent team. 

[Newbornbairn]

That was fucking excellent. I got to scream at the ref, yell at the linesmen, call the opposition c***s and just generally totally lose the fucking head. Lovely.

 

Same again Tuesday?

[FalkirkLad]

Paton was good at doing exactly what he should be doing as a 30+ year old midfielder with young legs beside him don’t know what people expect.

 

Brough will be a squad player and Robson will be the starter.

 

Sammut just needs games.

 

McGhee had a shite game imo but was limping at the end so I’ll let him off, plus he is normally class.

 

Mackin is gonna be a different option upfront but hopefully not a starter.

 

Lewis will be class if we can get someone upfront on his wavelength (JAK)

 

If we play Froxy right he will be a very decent player for us.

 

All in all a total glorified friendly which has absolutely no meaning to the season whatsoever, could really do without this cup tbh.

 

[Senor Bairn]

SACK AND KILL EVERYONE!!!!!!!

[Ranaldo Bairn]

New guys report:

Fasan: fine, couple of straightforward shots and beaten by a fine finish.

Brough: Poor. Robson in there please.

Harrison: did well I thought, won everything in the air and tried to get things going.

Paton: our MOTM I think!! Tidied everything and was trying to be our main playmaker which unfortunately is not his main forte. Not his fault the rest of the midfield was absent.

Sammut: Look forward to seeing this guy play for us. What? You mean he was on today?

Lewis: Never ever a winger. Better up front but downgrade on the Jak.

Mackin: ruled the roost in the first half but too isolated. Burst by 55 minutes and subbed.

Petravicius: Really good first half, had their LB on toast. Second half, he reminded me of a certain Mr H.

TOE: Some good touches but looked like an unfit(ter) John Souttar in the second half.

Turner: did nothing

Froxy: some nice touches, actually looks like a football player.

 

I recognise the group-think on here is any criticism of the team is "knickerwetting" or some other cliche. But there's no getting away from the fact that was an absolutely desperate performance. Of course most of us are long in the tooth enough to not get too up or down by early games, but the fact remains these are competitive matches not preseason. And many more performances like that will cast serious doubts on the new squad. And I'm very much a Hartley fan, as it happens.

[Believe The Hype]

1 hour ago, Shodwall cat said:

Powder puff up front but it was the total lack of creativity in the middle that somewhat concerned me. Also wgy are we playing right sided players on the left again. Both TOE and lewis struggled out there. Harrisons severe lack of pace also could cause us problems.

Mind last season when we were fantastic pre season, and blew away all opposition in the league Cup group, conceding only one goal if I remember correctly. And you were first on here telling everyone that basically their praise and confidence in performances meant Jack shit and you didn't give a f**k until the first league game?? Well guess what shod face..... 

[Ranaldo Bairn]

The water break criticism is also bull sharn.

Both breaks were caused by Montrosians having double leg amputations slight knocks and the physio taking 25 minutes to attend to them.

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

Focusing on the positives. Harrison had some excellent distribution, Sammut always looked comfortable, TOE good close control, Petravicius can beat a man.
We didn’t look settled today and I think it will take this group stage+ for Hartley to see what our best shape is. I counted 4 formations before the first sub was made, then after the subs I don’t think we particularly had a formation.
Get ourselves a RB and a Jak and we’ll be fine.

[DeeBairn]

4 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

The water break criticism is also bull sharn.

Both breaks were caused by Montrosians having double leg amputations slight knocks and the physio taking 25 minutes to attend to them.

I'm assuming the injuries were walked off? 

[roman_bairn]

 
I recognise the group-think on here is any criticism of the team is "knickerwetting" or some other cliche. But there's no getting away from the fact that was an absolutely desperate performance. Of course most of us are long in the tooth enough to not get too up or down by early games, but the fact remains these are competitive matches not preseason. And many more performances like that will cast serious doubts on the new squad. And I'm very much a Hartley fan, as it happens.

This, totally.
I can’t quite get my head around why some think that because we had a good group stage performance last season then a terrible campaign, the reverse applies this year.
There’s still time, and we can improve, but I don’t think it’s wrong to voice some concern that we are well short of where we want to be less than three weeks from the start of our league campaign.