The Falkirk FC Thread

[Grangemouth Bairn]

25 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

Seems fair enough and sadly proven right in terms of relegation the following season. Dads Army was a plan that was surely to complement the Barr’s, Arfields and Scobbies and hopefully others that aren’t quite as good. Still thought McNamara was good experience at the back though McCann didn’t have the legs. Still don’t see how he can’t be seen in a glass half full light.

Seeing it a glass half full light or a glass half empty light is all to do with the person doing the ‘seeing’.

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

11 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Seeing it a glass half full light or a glass half empty light is all to do with the person doing the ‘seeing’.

True but sometimes when a picture is painted by someone  then a person can be persuaded to change their view. He was brash and probably wasn’t one who wasn’t one to leave somewhere quietly but given our overall track record of managers,  I’d give him a cheer.

[Shadwell Dog]

43 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

Seems fair enough and sadly proven right in terms of relegation the following season. Dads Army was a plan that was surely to complement the Barr’s, Arfields and Scobbies and hopefully others that aren’t quite as good. Still thought McNamara was good experience at the back though McCann didn’t have the legs. Still don’t see how he can’t be seen in a glass half full light.

We had missed out on the top 6 by a whisker the year before so there was no need to dump the policy of bringing in good young players from down south and instead sign a bunch of over the hill veterans on their last big pay cheques. A bit better recruitment in the january window would've got us there for example and wouldnt have left us with players on complete fortunes who were no longer good enough and too injury prone. However hughes seemed to have lost the plot at that stage and begun believing his own hype. It's a shame as up to that point he'd done a pretty good job.

He was the same at ICT.  Left there in the huff when the bod wouldnt risk the financial future of the club by making the signings he demanded. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Shadwell Dog

[Bula Bairn]

54 minutes ago, kiddy said:

Dads Army, Theobold, Wallner, "Yer club's fcuked" on his way out the door.

The 'Dads army' soundbite is meaningless. He managed over 250 games and brought the wages/turnover ratio down as well as a small surplus in transfer income.

He may well have said that on the way out the door but it wasn't to the fans or press. If he actually did say it and then it was obviously directed at the owners and it's obvious he was right!  

[Shadwell Dog]

3 minutes ago, Bula Bairn said:

The 'Dads army' soundbite is meaningless. He managed over 250 games and brought the wages/turnover ratio down as well as a small surplus in transfer income.

He may well have said that on the way out the door but it wasn't to the fans or press. If he actually did say it and then it was obviously directed at the owners and it's obvious he was right!  

He had us 7th and breaking even and then changed policy which ended up with us nearly getting relegated and making a huge loss. That's not the best bit of business.

[roman_bairn]

He had us 7th and breaking even and then changed policy which ended up with us nearly getting relegated and making a huge loss. That's not the best bit of business.

So he had us up at 7th in the Premier League but you would not welcome him back?

The decision to bring in more experience without doubt was to try to take the club to the next level but it obviously failed as we ended up with journeymen without the appetite for success. Not the last time that happened to us tbh.

Overall, I think he was an outstanding success and brought the club the most plaudits on the park we have had for a lifetime.

Some of the football in that Latapy era would be as good as anything we had seen too....

 

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

26 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

We had missed out on the top 6 by a whisker the year before so there was no need to dump the policy of bringing in good young players from down south and instead sign a bunch of over the hill veterans on their last big pay cheques. A bit better recruitment in the january window would've got us there for example and wouldnt have left us with players on complete fortunes who were no longer good enough and too injury prone. However hughes seemed to have lost the plot at that stage and begun believing his own hype. It's a shame as up to that point he'd done a pretty good job.

He was the same at ICT.  Left there in the huff when the bod wouldnt risk the financial future of the club by making the signings he demanded. 

I see what you mean. What about that Jeffries too eh? Getting us relegated and shipping goals aplenty in the process and signing duds like Ristic, Sloan etc. Cup record not too hot either. His departure....? Dearie me! Totten? Let’s say call him Rotten! Never getting us in top spot, so many poor signings and again, a terrible last season. McCall? Traitor! Don’t get me started on Houston! 
 

Ah, that’s better....

Edited May 3, 2020 by Numbers_One_To_Eleven

[Bula Bairn]

14 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

He had us 7th and breaking even and then changed policy which ended up with us nearly getting relegated and making a huge loss. That's not the best bit of business.

Left us in the premier, with a cup final, Europe and compensation from Hibs.  (whilst bringing down the wages/turnover ratio and surplus in transfer fees) 

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

13 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

So he had us up at 7th in the Premier League but you would not welcome him back?

The decision to bring in more experience without doubt was to try to take the club to the next level but it obviously failed as we ended up with journeymen without the appetite for success. Not the last time that happened to us tbh.

Overall, I think he was an outstanding success and brought the club the most plaudits on the park we have had for a lifetime.

Some of the football in that Latapy era would be as good as anything we had seen too....

 

Up until about January 2008 I would call it outstanding success but the last year and a half did, in my opinion, take the edge off and make the job he did as (merely), very good!

[Shadwell Dog]

10 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

I see what you mean. What about that Jeffries too eh? Getting us relegated and shipping goals aplenty in the process and signing duds like Ristic, Sloan etc. Cup record not too hot either. His departure....? Dearie me! Totten? Let’s say call him Rotten! Never getting us in top spot, so many poor signings and again, a terrible last season. McCall? Traitor! Don’t get me started on Houston! 
 

Ah, that’s better....

JJ was the best manager we've had in my time by a country mile. You certainly wouldnt have got him saying your clubs fucked when he left.  Listened to his podcast again the other day. Guy is a complete gent whose still gutted about the way things ended.  I'd disagree totally on Ristic and Sloan.  I can never understand why some folk see ristic as a dud. His partnership with cadette was top drawer and his 4 goals in 12 wasnt a bad striker. I was disappointed when united managed to entice him there. Sloan was a bit of an enigma but better than most we've had in a number of years. Had electric pace but sometimes his final product was lacking. Totten did a great job but stayed a year too long unfortunately. McCall great side but the way he left will always stick in the throat.  If he'd just gone the first time it wouldnt have been so bad instead of bleating about honesty and publicly stating he wouldnt leave falkirk for anyone outside the old firm.  I still think the three of them are better man managers than hughes but that's just my opinion.

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

15 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

JJ was the best manager we've had in my time by a country mile. You certainly wouldnt have got him saying your clubs fucked when he left.  Listened to his podcast again the other day. Guy is a complete gent whose still gutted about the way things ended.  I'd disagree totally on Ristic and Sloan.  I can never understand why some folk see ristic as a dud. His partnership with cadette was top drawer and his 4 goals in 12 wasnt a bad striker. I was disappointed when united managed to entice him there. Sloan was a bit of an enigma but better than most we've had in a number of years. Had electric pace but sometimes his final product was lacking. Totten did a great job but stayed a year too long unfortunately. McCall great side but the way he left will always stick in the throat.  If he'd just gone the first time it wouldnt have been so bad instead of bleating about honesty and publicly stating he wouldnt leave falkirk for anyone outside the old firm.  I still think the three of them are better man managers than hughes but that's just my opinion.

I just don’t think Hughes merits unfavourable comparisons to any of those guys. Jeffries and Totten maybe more gentlemanly in manner but Hughes was a winner and ultimately, we bore the fruit of that for a club of our stature. Anyone fancy doing a Hughes best X1?

 

A wee edit: Didn’t Jeffries have Cadette by the throat?? What a savage!

Edited May 3, 2020 by Numbers_One_To_Eleven

[Shadwell Dog]

23 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

So he had us up at 7th in the Premier League but you would not welcome him back?

The decision to bring in more experience without doubt was to try to take the club to the next level but it obviously failed as we ended up with journeymen without the appetite for success. Not the last time that happened to us tbh.

Overall, I think he was an outstanding success and brought the club the most plaudits on the park we have had for a lifetime.

Some of the football in that Latapy era would be as good as anything we had seen too....

 

I simply dont think hes the same manager as he was in those first few years and that was emphasised to me in the way he left ict and his disastrous spell at Raith.  I dont think he has the patience to build clubs up from scratch but is looking more for that quick win scenario of spending dough you sometimes cant really afford.  When he first arrived he was content to build things slowly  bring in young players from down south and mix then with our own youngsters and a small number of experienced pros.  It proved successful and only some horrible january windows dealings kept us out the top 6. A little tweak was all that was needed but hughes was getting impatient and wanting bigger and better things quickly.  He tried to get moves by publicly advertising his services but when that hadn't come to fruition he decided to try it at falkirk and it just didn't work leaving us with a huge hole in the cash reserves and some players on huge wages. George Craig is also to blame here as he allowed hughes to sign the likes of bob and paid him 3k a week.  I think this is shown up by the fact he cant get a job for love nor money or he thinks he's too big a name to manage in the seaside leagues which again tells me hes continued to believe his own hype.

[Shadwell Dog]

7 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

I just don’t think Hughes merits unfavourable comparisons to any of those guys. Jeffries and Totten maybe more gentlemanly in manner but Hughes was a winner and ultimately, we bore the fruit of that for a club of our stature. Anyone fancy doing a Hughes best X1?

 

A wee edit: Didn’t Jeffries have Cadette by the throat?? What a savage!

Jeffries was a fearce manager when needed but he knew how to conduct himself off the park. He wouldnt get involved in childishness  like Hughes's your clubs fucked stuff.

[HopeStreetWalker]

40 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

I see what you mean. What about that Jeffries too eh? Getting us relegated and shipping goals aplenty in the process and signing duds like Ristic, Sloan etc. Cup record not too hot either. His departure....? Dearie me! Totten? Let’s say call him Rotten! Never getting us in top spot, so many poor signings and again, a terrible last season. McCall? Traitor! Don’t get me started on Houston! 
 

Ah, that’s better....

Ha Ha ! never heard Rotten-Totten for 50 years ! Hey Totten yer rotten. He took it well as the gent he is.

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

2 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

I simply dont think hes the same manager as he was in those first few years and that was emphasised to me in the way he left ict and his disastrous spell at Raith.  I dont think he has the patience to build clubs up from scratch but is looking more for that quick win scenario of spending dough you sometimes cant really afford.  When he first arrived he was content to build things slowly  bring in young players from down south and mix then with our own youngsters and a small number of experienced pros.  It proved successful and only some horrible january windows dealings kept us out the top 6. A little tweak was all that was needed but hughes was getting impatient and wanting bigger and better things quickly.  He tried to get moves by publicly advertising his services but when that hadn't come to fruition he decided to try it at falkirk and it just didn't work leaving us with a huge hole in the cash reserves and some players on huge wages. George Craig is also to blame here as he allowed hughes to sign the likes of bob and paid him 3k a week.  I think this is shown up by the fact he cant get a job for love nor money or he thinks he's too big a name to manage in the seaside leagues which again tells me hes continued to believe his own hype.

Let’s not exaggerate, a short term contract at Raith and a couple of naive interviews fcuked him it seems. . I don’t think anyone expects him to do a 5 year project anymore but I think he could still do a job somewhere for a couple of years. You seem to buy into the “hype” in someway by thinking he can do something bigger than just a decent 2, maybe 3 year job somewhere.

[HopeStreetWalker]

2 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Jeffries was a fearce manager when needed but he knew how to conduct himself off the park. He wouldnt get involved in childishness  like Hughes's your clubs fucked stuff.

Does anybody know exactly who he said 'Your cubs fucked' to. Or is it a quote from a longer statement that's taken out of context. It just does not ring true it would be 3 words and that's it. if indeed he said it. This has been going on all day.  What was his full statement ? Who did he say it to ? If nobody on the forum can answer these questions then its no more than gossip.

[HopeStreetWalker]

8 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Jeffries was a fearce manager when needed but he knew how to conduct himself off the park. He wouldnt get involved in childishness  like Hughes's your clubs fucked stuff.

Jeffries side was the best footballing team since Cunningham's ( the gold standard )

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

11 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Jeffries was a fearce manager when needed but he knew how to conduct himself off the park. He wouldnt get involved in childishness  like Hughes's your clubs fucked stuff.

Was Alex Ferguson childish for not talking to the BBC for years because he never got the apology he wanted from them?
 

It seems that wee comment from him really, really upset you in some way.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Numbers_One_To_Eleven

[Shadwell Dog]

19 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

Was Alex Ferguson childish for not talking to the BBC for years because he never got the apology he wanted from them?
 

It seems that wee comment from him really, really upset you in some way.

He was yes. And i'm sure if hed said to man u your clubs fucked now when he left he wouldnt be welcomed back with open arms every other saturday whether he was right or not.

There was more than just that. He was an arse when he came back with hibs. There was just no need for it. 

In his last season he was given 600k more of a wage bill on the previous year when we came 7th and we ended up only a few minutes away from relegation.  The financial fallout saw poor old eddie may who should never have got the job start with two hands tied behind his back as his budget was slashed and a lot of it was taken up by the dross hughes had left on huge wages like bob, McNamara and mccann. It was no surprise things didn't go well ffs.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Shadwell Dog

[Shadwell Dog]

18 minutes ago, Numbers_One_To_Eleven said:

Let’s not exaggerate, a short term contract at Raith and a couple of naive interviews fcuked him it seems. . I don’t think anyone expects him to do a 5 year project anymore but I think he could still do a job somewhere for a couple of years. You seem to buy into the “hype” in someway by thinking he can do something bigger than just a decent 2, maybe 3 year job somewhere.

I may be totally wrong but I wonder if  hes been in for any of the lower league jobs that have been available over the last few years.  I just think he feels that's beneath him. I could be totally wrong mind you but you would think a stirling albion or brechin would give him a punt if he had applied.