The Falkirk FC Thread

[Stuperman01]

12 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:

 

Thought she was rather patronising TBH. Calling the fans keyboard warriors early on didn’t help

 

Agreed especially when she asked for respect at the start. Kudos on your point though mate with the exclusion of one ot two others (myself included) Ican't belive they got off so lightly. I left about 8:30 as I had had enough. 

[Shodwall cat]

12 hours ago, CC52 FFC said:

 

In terms of us being under the “elite” umbrella we would have to have had (or built) a indoor Astro pitch. As it was obvious we weren’t going to achieve the elite status the board met with others such as Michael McArdle and said it would be hard to attract the high end kids they previously had because them and their parents would want to be at an elite club. Which then makes the academy unsustainable. The board said in terms of our academy we had always been operating at an elite level anyway and were not prepared to operate at a lower level but would have and did apply for the second level.

 

This was complete and utter tosh to cover their own backs. I would think Michael would be absolutely fuming to hear this being attributed to him. He was well and truly shafted by the bod. St Mirren have a thriving academy which isnt at elite level for instance and they still managed to pick up a lot of the decent prospects we had coming through when we closed our academy.  They'll say anything to try and make it look like closing the academy was a good idea.

[Shodwall cat]

11 hours ago, BMbairn said:

Fair enough but the academy only closed a few months ago but why didn't we see any benefit in the first team from the last few years crop. We don't look like we have any decent youngsters available from recent times

Jonny Mitchell and the young lad McBride were moved on to Brentford and Celtic for hee haw. The former would stroll into our side just now.

[Stuperman01]

4 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:

 

I think the Mick McArdle point (as someone else has pointed out) has been twisted. The people at the academy who worked there in coaching and most importantly the scouting side of things acknowledged it would have been competitive but it was always this. They expected to lose one or two but not many and to counter that others would come in.

Their view is you get a churn anyway and sometimes kids like players flourish at different places and also develop later. You only need look at three of our best McGrandles, Wallace and Fulton they all dropped in at 14 and 15 to us from two clubs who are now at the elite level.

An excuse for a bad decision for me

 

Whilst I have no strong views on closing the academy (Ray did say that none of the players we kept from the academy are first team ready) I thought it was intersting that Lang stated there was still money left in the academy account to keep it going for the rest of the season. Questions have to be asked where that money has gone surly? Also she did state that parents and coaches were notifed about the closure prior to it coming out in the Falkirk Herald. She also made a good point that as soon as the ugly sisters (East and West)  came sniffing about kids from the academy were off like a shot. 

[Bairnardo]

Agreed especially when she asked for respect at the start. Kudos on your point though mate with the exclusion of one ot two others (myself included) Ican't belive they got off so lightly. I left about 8:30 as I had had enough. 

Whilst I have said before, like others, I couldnt make it lastnight so loathe to give it the big talk and I know aswell as anyone how it can be a bit intimidating to speak up in these scenarios, but I dont know why anyone would go to an event like this with no intention of ensuring the board get a hard time. The whole point of something like this is to air out all the dirty stuff. Even if all is going well thats the point of these things.

I havent seen much post forum talk about the bid to take over the club. Were the board pressed on this, ie what are the stumbling blocks and whether they are actively working towards this or are they paying it lip service whilst blocking it any way they can?

[Shodwall cat]

44 minutes ago, Believe The Hype said:

Let's be honest here, it wasnt faith or patience, we had no other option but to play the kids. It wasn't a master stroke of genius football management and foresight. So given the option should we take the hit on the product on the park until kids are up to speed in the hope that some of them might turn out to be decent a season down the line, or if you have money, sign players that would have the club competing straight away. It's a no brainer for me, and these kids and academy should only be a viable option once we start competing again. 

Again if its impossible to have an academy and a decent first team how come St Mirren and Livi managed it fine last season and Hamilton managed it previously.  We continually keep blaming our lack of promotion on the academy and not shit managers who wouldnt sign messi if he rocked up at the club one night. Teams with less than a budget than us have bypassed us into the top flight because they appointed the right manager in charge and had an excellent recruitment set up not because they punted their academies.

[Branch Ton]

10 hours ago, Duncan Freemason said:

So they have had the sweetie man’s version of events. Excellent. That’s their case well and truly screwed then if it differs one inch from his public utterances (which it will have to in order to be any kind of case at all). Oh well, little branch Ton will have to find another reason to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe he could do a few scripts for CSI Kilmalcolm.

Think watching endless reruns of  Peppa Pig is about the limit of your powers of comprehension grandad.  

Wonder how your lawyer’s detailed explanation of the selection process for Hartley’s  appointment differs from what happened with McKinnon’s, and why, and also how the “press” came to know before McKinnon or Morton.  Staggering you think that the SFA haven’t already seen documents such as contracts which their compliance officer,  who is herself a lawye, r would have reviewed, before deciding to move to a full review.  Maybe you should switch to Teletubbies, don’t they live in LaLa Land?

 

[Shodwall cat]

1 minute ago, Bairnardo said:

Whilst I have said before, like others, I couldnt make it lastnight so loathe to give it the big talk and I know aswell as anyone how it can be a bit intimidating to speak up in these scenarios, but I dont know why anyone would go to an event like this with no intention of ensuring the board get a hard time. The whole point of something like this is to air out all the dirty stuff. Even if all is going well thats the point of these things.

I havent seen much post forum talk about the bid to take over the club. Were the board pressed on this, ie what are the stumbling blocks and whether they are actively working towards this or are they paying it lip service whilst blocking it any way they can?

Unfortunately whilst its obvious to many that the MSG are the real powers at the club a united front was shown last night by both them and the bod.  Lang should've been pressed more also on the shambolic way the academy closure was handled having had the temerity to pretend that the parents were told before the press which is categorically untrue. I'd said my peace by then though and if you asked a critical question she ignored you from  then on in.

[Reggie Perrin]

1 minute ago, Branch Ton said:

Think watching endless reruns of  Peppa Pig is about the limit of your powers of comprehension grandad.  

Wonder how your lawyer’s detailed explanation of the selection process for Hartley’s  appointment differs from what happened with McKinnon’s, and why, and also how the “press” came to know before McKinnon or Morton.  Staggering you think that the SFA haven’t already seen documents such as contracts which their compliance officer,  who is herself a lawye, r would have reviewed, before deciding to move to a full review.  Maybe you should switch to Teletubbies, don’t they live in LaLa Land?

 

Tedious

[falkirktheinvincible]

Still rattled.

[Bairnardo]

Think watching endless reruns of  Peppa Pig is about the limit of your powers of comprehension grandad.  
Wonder how your lawyer’s detailed explanation of the selection process for Hartley’s  appointment differs from what happened with McKinnon’s, and why, and also how the “press” came to know before McKinnon or Morton.  Staggering you think that the SFA haven’t already seen documents such as contracts which their compliance officer,  who is herself a lawye, r would have reviewed, before deciding to move to a full review.  Maybe you should switch to Teletubbies, don’t they live in LaLa Land?
 

Thought it was the SPFL that were handling this, you utterly obsessed, perma raging DIDDY.

Why dont you go and tweet Prince Buaben and ask if he was tapped up anaw you sad c**t

[Shodwall cat]

2 minutes ago, Branch Ton said:

Think watching endless reruns of  Peppa Pig is about the limit of your powers of comprehension grandad.  

Wonder how your lawyer’s detailed explanation of the selection process for Hartley’s  appointment differs from what happened with McKinnon’s, and why, and also how the “press” came to know before McKinnon or Morton.  Staggering you think that the SFA haven’t already seen documents such as contracts which their compliance officer,  who is herself a lawye, r would have reviewed, before deciding to move to a full review.  Maybe you should switch to Teletubbies, don’t they live in LaLa Land?

 

Going by Mckinnon's comments last night things are not well behind the scenes at Morton and he couldn't wait to jump ship even to a club in our state in the league.

[superandy_07]

Sorry to repeat anything that's already been said, but here's my notes from the meeting.

Quite enjoyed last night, it did run on for quite a bit, didn’t help there was some absolutely moronic questions. Really impressed with Ray, I definitely think he’s our man to get us out of this mess, easily one of the most difficult situations a Falkirk manager has faced.

Really impressed with Margaret Lang last night, she was obviously really nervous standing up in front of a large unhappy squad, felt like she was hung out to dry a bit by the rest of board but they did eventually all chip in. The keyboard warriors comment was daft, but was probably due to nerves and her trying to take ownership of the situation. She was setting a precedent that she wouldn’t tolerate any personal abuse.  She handled all the questions well, answered them fully with a full bread crumb trail of how they got to that point or decision.

Transfers
Looking to recruit 8 players, realistically, in January. Already talking to a couple in Scotland, a few English, will look anywhere. to get the right player (Inc Highland League ), there will be no panic buying, got to be right calibre player.
Proving incredibly difficult to sign players before January due to the revised rules, they are trying hard as possible, looking at a few trialists but looking unlikely to be before then.
They will do scouting themselves, will look at players two/three times in the flesh before making a final decision. 
They will on move on one or two current players in January.
Certain players may not want to play on our pitch, players must be happy to play on it.
Can’t recall loans (O’Hara), can’t cancel loans (Haber etc).
Loan players more likely, club can take on a maximum of 4 loans.
Someone mentioned Sibbald, Ray thinks it’s a possibility. It’s those types of players he targeting for loans, IE no getting enough first team chances.
They are looking to improve each position, right back it a priority, looking at someone right now, before January(!!!). Centre half is another priority, will have to rely on squad for time being.
Players contacted are interested in coming here, some at clubs higher up than us.
Andy Nelson is another possibility, looking at if we can get him back on loan. Also speaking to Everton about loan players.

Squad
Confident that we’ll keep in touch with the current squad, try to not get pulled into a relegation battle for the whole season.
Muirhead could be out for 6 weeks with a broken ankle, Prince is 50/50 for the weekend with a groin strain, Paton suspended for two games one game (rapturous applause). Thank you @Skyline Drifter
Fitness can be improved (seems like he’s been working them hard).
We don’t have wingers or a natural striker that can link the play, will play best formation to suit the present squad.
Robson and Kidd haven’t been showing enough in training, which explains their lack of appearances. But been working them hard, and both took their opportunity on Tuesday, especially Robson.
Dunne will break into squad next year, not quite there yet to be a first team regular, feels the rest of the younger players have a bit to go before breaking through.
Mark Russell has to show he wants to be here, will look at his contract in January.
Pleased with Rudden and Irving, two 18 year olds been carrying a lot of expectation, both have done really well. If they continue to perform well he would like to extend the loan deals.
Bauben likes being here, classy player, great character in the dressing room. Will like to extend his contract in January.
Dunfermline game most frustrating so far, didn’t lay a glove on them.
He has seen a steady improvement in attitude, that change has been most important. Each player must earn their place here, won’t divulge to them who he’ll be getting rid of in January. They must show they want to play for Falkirk. The players that have been let go didn’t contribute enough.

Raymondo
Ray came to Falkirk because he felt that it was a fantastic opportunity, a club with huge potential. They want to work hard as possible to get a team that everyone can be proud of.
Support provides the catalyst to push the team on, they all commented the support was unbelievable on Tuesday.
Morton claim we have breached rules D9, D10 and D11, complaint was made to the SPFL, SPFL will now hear the case and take it forward, date for that is 23rd November.

Other

Someone mentioned about why didn’t we retain Sibbald and force the contract extension. Margret said he wanted to leave the year before (went on trial down south) but signed another year. When speaking to him at the end of last season he again stated he wanted to try a new challenge, because of his age we wouldn’t be due a development fee (that would have happened the year previous). Guy retorted that wasn’t what Sibbs told him personally, but shat it when pushed to say what was supposedly said. Margret mentioned that she was happy to show him the correspondence the player and the club to back up what happened.

The club were hoping to retain more of last years squad, all the players were offered improved terms but decided they wanted to go elsewhere. Everything was agreed in principle with Jakubiak for him to come back, Watford decided at the 11th hour that they would rather he went on loan to Bristol Rovers.

Club is debt free, no loans etc. We have money set aside for the worse case scenario. Additional funds have been immediately available to Ray.

A lot of time was spent on the Academy understandably, but even when what happened was explained people kept coming back to it, Margret moved the conversation on but did invite people to come in to have a look at why they made the decision. And if people are wanting to help restart the academy come in and have a meaningful discussion with them.

Edited November 2, 2018 by superandy_07

[Bainsfordbairn]

8 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Jonny Mitchell and the young lad McBride were moved on to Brentford and Celtic for hee haw. The former would stroll into our side just now.

Jonny was out of contract and chose to leave rather than accept the extension we offered. We got a fee for him. I spoke to him about it in the summer while he was considering his options.

I think Connor also wanted to leave though I'm willing to be corrected on that one by anyone who knows the player better than I did.

Neither quite fits the definition of "moved on".

[Shodwall cat]

5 minutes ago, superandy_07 said:

Sorry to repeat anything that's already been said, but here's my notes from the meeting.

Quite enjoyed last night, it did run on for quite a bit, didn’t help there was some absolutely moronic questions. Really impressed with Ray, I definitely think he’s our man to get us out of this mess, easily one of the most difficult situations a Falkirk manager has faced.

Really impressed with Margaret Lang last night, she was obviously really nervous standing up in front of a large unhappy squad, felt like she was hung out to dry a bit by the rest of board but they did eventually all chip in. The keyboard warriors comment was daft, but was probably due to nerves and her trying to take ownership of the situation. She was setting a precedent that she wouldn’t tolerate any personal abuse.  She handled all the questions well, answered them fully with a full bread crumb trail of how they got to that point or decision.

Transfers
Looking to recruit 8 players, realistically, in January. Already talking to a call ready talking to a couple in Scotland, a few English, will look anywhere. to get the right player (Inc Highland League ), there will be no panic buying, got to be right calibre player.
Proving incredibly difficult to sign players before January due to the revised rules, they are trying hard as possible, looking at a few trialists but looking unlikely to be before then.
They will do scouting themselves, will look at players two/three times in flesh before making a final decision. 
They will on move on one or two current players in January.
Certain players may not want to play on our pitch, players must be happy to play on it.
Can’t recall loans (O’Hara), can’t cancel loans (Haber etc).
Loan players more likely, club can take on a maximum of 4 loans.
Someone mentioned Sibbald, Ray thinks it’s a possibility. It’s those types of players he targeting for loans, IE no getting enough first team chances.
They are looking to improve each position, right back priority, looking at someone right now, before January(!!!). Centre half is another priority, will have to rely on squad for time being.
Players contacted are interested in coming here, some at clubs higher up than us.
Andy Nelson is another possibility, looking at if we can get him back on loan. Also speaking to Everton about loan players.

Squad
Confident that we’ll keep in touch with the current squad, try to not get pulled into a relegation battle for the whole season.
Muirhead could be out for 6 weeks with a broken ankle, Prince is 50/50 for the weekend with a groin strain, Paton suspended for two games (rapturous applause).
Fitness can be improved (seems like he’s been working them hard).
We don’t have wingers or a natural striker that can link the play, will play best formation to suit the present squad.
Robson and Kidd haven’t been showing enough in training, which explains their lack of appearances. But been working them hard, and both took their opportunity on Tuesday, especially Robson.
Dunne will break into squad next year, not quite there yet to be a first team regular, feels the rest of the younger players have a bit to go before breaking through.
Mark Russell has to show he wants to be here, will look at his contract in January.
Pleased with Rudden and Irving, two 18 year olds been carrying a lot of expectation, both have done really well, would like to extend.
Bauben likes being here, classy player, great character in the dressing room. Will like to extend his contract in January.
Dunfermline game most frustrating so far, didn’t lay a glove on them.
He has seen a steady improvement in attitude, that change has been most important. Each player must earn their place here, won’t divulge to them who he’ll be getting rid of in January. They must show they want to play for Falkirk. The players that have been let go didn’t contribute enough.

Raymondo
Ray came to Falkirk because he felt that it was a fantastic opportunity, a club with huge potential. They want to work hard as possible to get a team that everyone can be proud of.
Support provides the catalyst to push the team on, they all commented the support was unbelievable on Tuesday.
Morton Claim we have breached rules D9, D10 and D11, complaint was made to the SPFL, SPFL will now hear the case and take it forward, date for that is 23rd November.

Other

Someone mentioned about why didn’t we retain Sibbald and force the contract extension. Margret said he wanted to leave the year before (went on trial down south) but signed another year. When speaking to him at the end of last season he again stated he wanted to try a new challenge, because of his age we wouldn’t be due a development fee (that would have happened the year previous. Guy retorted that wasn’t what Sibbs told him personally, but shat it when pushed to say what was supposedly said. Margret mentioned that she was happy to show him the correspondence the player and the club to back up what happened.

The club were hoping to retain more of last years squad, all the players were offered improved terms but decided they wanted to go elsewhere. Everything was agreed in principle with Jakubiak for him to come back, Watford decided at the 11th hour that they would rather he went on loan to Bristol Rovers.

Club is debt free, no loans etc. We have money set aside for the worse case scenario. Additional funds have been immediately available to Ray.

A lot of time was spent on the Academy understandably, but even when what happened was explained people kept coming back to it, Margret moved the conversation on but did invite people to come in to have a look at why they made the decision. And if people are wanting to help restart the academy come in and have a meaningful discussion with them.

Problem is all our rainy day cash is being used to keep us up not to push for promotion and people keep going back to the academy because the reasons they are giving us for it closing don't add up. The other laugh was that we didnt keep the likes of Longridge because they wanted more money and Hartley felt he could get better players in for that cash.  Feckin hilarious statement that was.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Shodwall cat

[Shodwall cat]

3 minutes ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

Jonny was out of contract and chose to leave rather than accept the extension we offered. We got a fee for him. I spoke to him about it in the summer while he was considering his options.

I think Connor also wanted to leave though I'm willing to be corrected on that one by anyone who knows the player better than I did.

Neither quite fits the definition of "moved on".

We got a sell on clause but no fee was involved same with Connor. Hardly surprising the former moved on as he was never given a sniff of first team action even when those playing in the first team were nowhere near the standard required.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Shodwall cat

[Hughsie]

16 minutes ago, Branch Ton said:

Think watching endless reruns of  Peppa Pig is about the limit of your powers of comprehension grandad.  

Wonder how your lawyer’s detailed explanation of the selection process for Hartley’s  appointment differs from what happened with McKinnon’s, and why, and also how the “press” came to know before McKinnon or Morton.  Staggering you think that the SFA haven’t already seen documents such as contracts which their compliance officer,  who is herself a lawye, r would have reviewed, before deciding to move to a full review.  Maybe you should switch to Teletubbies, don’t they live in LaLa Land?

 

It’s the SPFL who are reviewing this. Absolutely nothing to do with the SFA and the compliance officer who you seem absolutely obsessed with. 

[Bainsfordbairn]

2 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Going by Mckinnon's comments last night things are not well behind the scenes at Morton and he couldn't wait to jump ship even to a club in our state in the league.

It's a commonly-held belief amongst Falkirk fans that McKinnon was desperate to get out of Morton. If that's true, then Morton have done well in not only spinning the story to shove all the blame on him, but also getting the local newspaper on board. It's a useful deflection which helps prevent people looking too closely at the reasons why he was allegedly so keen to leave.

I wouldn't claim to personally know what those reasons are. Nor whether that belief is true.

However, I had a lengthy conversation recently with a member of the press who appears to know a great deal about the goings-on behind the scenes at Cappielow. Stories about coaching staff being appointed without the managers knowledge / approval and BOD members demanding that certain players must play were quite prominent in that discussion.

 

[Believe The Hype]

19 minutes ago, Shodwall cat said:

Again if its impossible to have an academy and a decent first team how come St Mirren and Livi managed it fine last season and Hamilton managed it previously.  We continually keep blaming our lack of promotion on the academy and not shit managers who wouldnt sign messi if he rocked up at the club one night. Teams with less than a budget than us have bypassed us into the top flight because they appointed the right manager in charge and had an excellent recruitment set up not because they punted their academies.

Not sure if you are trying to disagree or agree with me here. By the end of the above, you state teams are above us because the have a good manager in charge and recruitment and not because they punted their academies, we'll going by your logic, which I agree with, they are not above us because they kept them either. 

[drs]

21 minutes ago, superandy_07 said:

Guy retorted that wasn’t what Sibbs told him personally, but shat it when pushed to say what was supposedly said. 

BranchTon infiltrating to cause trouble imo