The Falkirk FC Thread

[Disco Duck]

Oh dear another white flag.

We could have done the following.

He is not for sale. How is that for an alternative?

Keep him all season, his stock rises and we get a lot more for him. The exposure he would have got would have bumped the price up of that I have no doubt. We have a full season to plan how we reshape the side when he has gone not five minutes like Houston has now.

500K is selling the club, fans and manager short in my eyes. PH in his FFCTV interview thought the same by the sound of him.

We don't know it was £500k.

We don't know he would have continued to play well.

We don't know how he would have reacted to being told "no, you can't multiply your wages 5 or 10 fold"

We don't know if he would've stayed fit

We don't know that anyone would make an offer next year

We don't need to reshape the side - he was a good 18 year old, not Cristiano Ronaldo

We DO know that the money received, be it your speculated £500k or my speculated £300m plus addons, will make a huge difference to the club. And it was available now.

[gav-ffc]

I fucking hate Falkirk fans sometimes.

[Super Tuesday]

Half it. Add ons will boost it significantly

Not my understanding of the upfront fee.

But Im going to guess you know better?

[stennybairn]

jeezo, i think taking the money and running is the best idea, just for the safety of the club..

[Bluegrass Bairn]

And so a grand total of 4 days left this window for PH to invest (an unspecified amount) in the team. Wonder who's still available at the arse end of the summer sales that'll "make the team better than the players already here". No probs with Houstie's aspirations there, but the BoD haven't really given him much of a chance have they?

So why sell him at this point? If Norwich - or anyone else - were that keen on McGrandles they could have come back in January, by which time at least there could have been a decent strategy in place for targeting replacements. Particularly on the back of increased season ticket sales and the stated aim of aiming for the playoffs. To drop the club's knickers to the first gentleman caller isn't much of business plan, it just smacks of desperation.

Not suggesting for a minute that McGrandles is worth the sort of money Ryan Gauld went for, but it would be pretty interesting for our Board to understand how DU marketed an 18-year-old kid. (Who could also have got injured, or lost form, or faced any of the same risks that McGrandles would have faced had he stayed longer).

[Jambo99]

Unfortunately, the fee is undisclosed. (for now)

[CowdenConvert]

It seems like yesterday (and it probably was) that the lad made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Cowdenbeath at their place (not much changed there then). Jonny Flynn sold us down the river with a horrendous back header that day.

Even then, it was obvious the lad was a bit special, and would go on to better things. I'm certainly not angry that he has been sold.........that was inevitable. I just hope that we got the right deal out of it. Gary Holt knew the laddie was special, and has done the right thing by snapping him up. Clubs like Norwich and Swansea are always going to try to get a hold of potential like Kingsley and McGrandles, and clubs like Falkirk are going to do their level best to sell them. If McGrandles is all we believe him to be, then there's a fair chance that in a year or two's time, bigger fish will come calling and Norwich will sell him on for a few million, and we'll get a major slice of that........hopefully.

The sad bit is the one or two who see themselves as movers and shakers on the Falkirk Board will see this as a major coup, and very much a case of "job done". That the money will be used to fill operational losses for a couple of years means that the real issue of unaffordable overheads can go unaddressed for a bit longer.

give it a year, and O'Hara will be the next wunderkind in the limelight, with the usual suspects feverishly looking for a deal to sell him on. Is there ever a footballing end game though?

Genuine question but what is causing your operational losses? Doesn't seem like yo have a highly paid squad.

[gav-ffc]

Genuine question but what is causing your operational losses? Doesn't seem like yo have a highly paid squad.

I'm guessing it was the training facilities in Stirling.

[distresseduke]

I'm guessing it was the training facilities in Stirling.

Was being the operative word that's been yesterday's news since last season...the losses as far as I know are due to the rent due on the south stand & the ground in general which obviously we don't own maybe BPM could enlighten us further

[distresseduke]

I genuinely believe mcgrandles will be on to be a Scotland international cause the boy has everything he has pace ..power can pick a pass etc in the right team he could be a great box to box midfielder I just hope his career doesn't stagnate like we have seen so many times before...maybe in this situation the board should have gambled ( considering how much we have taken in other transfers) and thought with the increased spotlight in this league the guy could have made a name for himself then sell him for a much increased fee hyperbole I know but it just seems the first shake of the coin and we are right in there ..we must have taken more transfer. Fees for players than any other one of the middling clubs in Scotland Motherwell st mirren etc and what do we have to show for it f**k all

[Andy Dufresne]

I have been told tonight that Stephen Kingsley is going on loan to Partick Thistle.

[ka202]

I've got a feeling falkirk are going to sign a player they don't really want, just to sign someone after mcgrandles departure. Who will fill the void left by mcgrandles?

[ToonBairn]

Oh dear, some of our fans are the most gullible on this planet. Norwich have been spouting off all summer they got £6m here and £7m there, they spent this that and the other. They spend a fraction of that for McGrandles and all of a sudden it is a secret. If Ritchie said everyone leave the stadium and go jump in the River Carron you would be at the front of the queue.

You can fool some of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time and ToonBairn just always

The fact you have a grudge against the board of directors in every way sums it up for me. Every week I and the vast majority of fans go along to support the team in every situation. You and some others think that they should be involved in running the club. Don't give me the nonsense that we are accepting mediocrity. We are Falkirk ffs

Steven Jackson in more ways than one.

[Monkey Tennis]

Is Falkirk FC a football team or a project?

That's a genuine question. As the latter, they're an enormous success and as a Scotland fan, I hope there's much to be grateful for in future.

As the former, they're not a failure, operating at around, or perhaps just below,their natural level. To punch higher for a bit though, is there not a need for the circular nature of what they appear to be about currently, to be broken?

I can understand why certain fans are aghast at a crown jewel departing for something that's unlikely to make much difference, beyond sustaining a similar cycle, which takes them no further than clubs like mine that don't bother.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Monkey Tennis

[ka202]

Is Falkirk FC a football team or a project?

That's a genuine question. As the latter, they're an enormous success and as a Scotland fan, I hope there's much to be grateful for in future.

As the former, they're not a failure, operating at around, or perhaps just below,their natural level. To punch higher for a bit though, is there not a need for the circular nature of what they appear to be about currently, to be broken?

I can understand why certain fans are aghast at a crown jewel departing for something that's unlikely to make much difference, beyond sustaining a similar cycle, which takes them no further than clubs like mine that don't bother.

I suppose falkirk are never going to get anywhere if they keep selling their best players and not replacing them with any quality. I think the only thing I'm disappointed in is that it's come this far into the transfer window, I knew he'd be away soon. Good luck to him, I hope he does well

[distresseduke]

Is Falkirk FC a football team or a project?

That's a genuine question. As the latter, they're an enormous success and as a Scotland fan, I hope there's much to be grateful for in future.

As the former, they're not a failure, operating at around, or perhaps just below,their natural level. To punch higher for a bit though, is there not a need for the circular nature of what they appear to be about currently, to be broken?

I can understand why certain fans are aghast at a crown jewel departing for something that's unlikely to make much difference, beyond sustaining a similar cycle, which takes them no further than clubs like mine that don't bother.

We have been smacked from pillar to post in the last few years but have still managed 2500 season ticket holders this year which makes us by far the biggest of the diddies.. I won't be buying one next year because i no longer have faith we are trying to build a team to get out this division

[Gaz FFC]

Falkirk missed a massive trick here (as usual)

Given how late in the day this bid is, why not say to Norwich we want a decent player on loan to help us out?

We were very accommodation to them. The same back would've been nice.

We were already talking about signing 2 more players. Now we have to make that 3.

All the decent freebies have been snapped up.

We are fast running out of days for loans too

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

When the bid came in, there were 3 options for the club imo

1) Reject the offer, citing it being too near the end of the transfer window to consider

2) Accept the offer, but insist on him being loaned back for the season

3) Accept the offer, and receive a Norwich player with less potential, but similar ability on loan for the season

It would appear the club has done none of the above.

ps f**k Gary Holt

Edited August 28, 2014 by NavyBlueArmy1876

[MrDust]

When the bid came in, there were 3 options for the club imo

1) Reject the offer, citing it being too near the end of the transfer window to consider

2) Accept the offer, but insist on him being loaned back for the season

3) Accept the offer, and receive a Norwich player with less potential, but similar ability on loan for the season

It would appear the club has done none of the above.

ps f**k Gary Holt

Option 2 would've been nice, but the kinda cash that has been spent, I fully expect they are expecting him to be knocking on the door of the first team.

As for us being a football club or project...please look at the top Scottish club Celtic... They can't keep any of their top players nowadays and have become as much of a selling club like ourselves and anyone in Scotland. Its obviously not ideal, but I honestly don't think the club could've said no, to those who have left in recent times, Mcgrandles perhaps could've been kept on longer but as it stands,we are a few games in and he may not have performed as well as he has in previous seasons and the same money wouldn't have been there.... The timing is right and bad in a way for us... I just hope Houstie is given a decent wad to replace and perhaps make us stronger

[Guest]

We are a Project in that we live in a world where the eternal message is "jam tomorrow". Our first team is a shop window for young players to be sold, and we pack them in.........often to the detriment of results.

I kid you not, visiting scouts are given handouts containing all the pertinent details of everyone on show. It really is a bit like AutoTrader for young footballers.. There are times when a cost neutral more experienced player would bring more to the team, but as that comes at the cost of losing a shop window place for a young saleable player, it doesn't happen, and so we limp along forever off the competitive pace.

That will be clear this season..........not by Housty's actions, but by the BoD. I genuinely don't think they'll give a toss about a top four finish now, as they have already won a watch selling McGrandles, and that, far more than an elevated league placing, is the name of the game at TFS these days.