The Falkirk FC Thread

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Hank von Hell said:

And at Motherwell under the despicable John Boyle

…..and Dunfermline. The Launderers walked away from debts of £12,000,000 and cleaned out a lottery winner. It’s has certainly not exactly damaged them.

Oh, and Hearts……gazillions of Romanov debt sidestepped.

[Newbornbairn]

What's needed isn't so much a coach as a man manager. The last one of those we had was Houston, someone who could lead and inspire confidence. Before him,  May, Pressley and Holt were all coaches who ultimately couldn't get men to work for them. Hartley's a coach and by all accounts a horrible wee man disliked by many. McKinnon is a rat and the players saw through him. Miller & McCracken were out of their depths. Sheerin and Rennie were/are coaches.

 

We need a manager.

 

We have players who were highly rated at their previous teams - Hetherington and Jacobs for a start - who aren't performing to the best of their ability. We've had players be shit with us and go on to do a good job elsewhere. Dowds was underperforming with us, went to Arbroath and blossomed, came back to us and started regressing again after a bright start.

 

We need a manager.

 

No more bloody coaches. We're in the Third Division. Get a man in who can lead and inspire. 

[Its not only a game]

2 hours ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Its sad ! two people that have put everything into turning it round and their effort in that picture says it all. 'It's beyond saving' they will walk at the end of the season for their own wellbeing.

Agreed.

When they look back they will regret that they failed to bolster the midfield in January That decision alone has cost them the play- offs and ultimately , probably their jobs.

[PedroMoutinho]

1 hour ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

Ffs. Absolutely no-one expected Rennie to completely 'turn things around' in six months. You'd think Falkirk fans had expectations that he'd come in and go unbeaten for the rest of the season to win the league the way some folk are going on on here. The position the club is in is not a quick fix - everyone is aware of this, it's hard not to be.

However, Sheerin was sacked after 16 league games; we sat 4th, 3 points off 4th and 9 points off 1st. By the time Rennie came in after 17 games, we were 12 points off 1st and 4 points off 4th. Undoubtedly a very poor position to be in, but far from unsalvageable, given over half the season was left to play. Indeed, the reason Sheerin was booted was to bring someone in to try to 'salvage' the season. Rennie came in in December, when reaching the play-offs was more than achievable. As others have said, he was appointed on six-month deal, not to fix every single ill at the club, but to get an immediate reaction out of the players. He has brought in some of his own players (including someone on what will likely be the highest wage we've had in years) and also benefited from the return of Dowds. Despite this, from being 12 points off 1st when Rennie came in, it's now 26 points. Queen's Park have also been incredibly inconsistent and there for the taking by any half-competent team, but we've never even looked like overtaking them, and It's highly unlikely we're even going to make the play-offs. Performances have arguably been worse than under Cones (which is a disgrace in itself), and even the teams that he managed to beat (eg. Peterhead, Clyde) are now turning us over.

Whatever metric you measure Rennie on, he has failed miserably. I've said it 1000000x times and I'll keep repeating it until people get it - 'stability' isn't an argument to keep someone who obviously isn't up to it. To even be considering the prospect of keeping him on is lunacy, despite the campaign that one or two on here will continue to propagate in his favour.

100%. Some people seem to be trying to paint a narrative about how Rennie was being expected to have us playing like Barcelona and how this was unrealistic.

No one expected him to have us as worldbeaters. I don’t think it’s unreasonable though to expect to be able to beat Peterhead and Clyde (even forgetting the fact that we still can’t compete with the top 4) when we’ve brought in 7 new players in January.

[Cardle is Magic]

Griffiths signing going as well as everyone would have expected then?

[RossBFaeDundee]

45 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Griffiths signing going as well as everyone would have expected then?

Certainly going about as well as I expected.

On 07/02/2022 at 21:54, RossBFaeDundee said:

Falkirk will still not crack the top 4.

[bridge of allan bairn]

6 hours ago, AGPar said:

Rennie's appointment in mid-December was generally met with a positive reaction. The 6-month contract was viewed as a sensible decision which minimised the risk to the club if things did not work out. He was given a budget in January that outstripped, by a huge margin, any other manager in this league and the majority in the division above. There's nothing in any of that to criticise the board for. It's obviously been a disastrous appointment, but that is with the benefit of hindsight. No-one could realistically have conceived after the 6-0 abomination at Firhill that we would be replacing Sheerin with someone even less suited to the role. But here we are.

Where they will deserve plenty of criticism is if, in the face of all available evidence, they decide to retain the management team regardless, when it's screamingly obvious they are not cut out for it. They'll have completely wasted the advantage that the short-term contract gave them. I think a lot of fans are also getting pissed-off at the (not-so) subtle shifting of the goalposts, whereby a manager recruited on a 6-month deal is now apparently tasked with a "long-term turnaround project", which strangely enough is only being referenced after it has become clear that he is spectacularly incapable of beating anyone other than Dumbarton or East Fife. The ridiculous spin of one or two on here does not help that perception. They are fooling no-one.

The search for a new management team needs to begin immediately.

 

excellent summation

[Guest]

7 hours ago, 1876 ffc said:

Seriously. If I only showed up after bad results I’d be omnipresent under your pals tenure.

Regarding the ‘caveats’ the poster was only pointing out that, hopefully, there are conditions written in to some of the contracts agreed by the previous incumbents that will allow inexpensive termination.

Honest question, as I do believe we both want the team to succeed, can we afford to extend the Rennie experiment?

 

My pals tenure? I have never met Martin Rennie in the flesh in my life. 

Let’s not beat about the bush, you are either close to some of the previous regime, close to someone who left recently or are one of them. Your nose is out of joint and you can’t accept there is a new broom. Don’t kid people on it is about the club it is about ego, status and power. 

You know fine well who I am. I have never hidden my identity. You are of course on here anonymously sniping when we lose and calling the new regime and Rennie for all sorts. 

As far as Rennie goes I concede it is not happening. He has stopped us getting relegated that’s it. IMO Sheerin would have had us fighting it out with Dumbarton and EF. That was where we were heading had he not been sacked. These players need to take a long hard look in the mirror. 

However you want to dress things up the new Board and Rennie have been left an absolute mess, worse than anyone knew. Over spending on a grand scale, a squad of players on 2/3 year contracts who were dreadful and a football department that included Gary Holt who I believe told the new Manager that the squad only needed a striker and cover at right back. 

The way forward is going to be difficult. The club has lots of issues to deal with from an understandably impatient support to a pitch needing replaced soon to a squad of players on contracts that is not going to be easy or cheap to move on. The club needs investment because all the cash we had will be burnt. Without the January investment from BFL, Patrons and FSS someone would have had to have bailed out Deans as he would have run out of money. Where was that coming from? Rawlins? 

The next AGM will be very telling. The shareholders will get the full story of what has happened during this season then. 

This summer is vital. More investment is required, the managerial position has to be buttoned down and a whole new squad will be required. The one massive advantage the club now has is that you or your associates will be nowhere near the decision making. 

[GeordieBairn]

15 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

As far as Rennie goes I concede it is not happening. He has stopped us getting relegated that’s it. IMO Sheerin would have had us fighting it out with Dumbarton and EF. That was where we were heading had he not been sacked. These players need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

I believe we would have been in the same position regardless if it was Sheerin or Rennie. Sheerin was still getting results against the worst sides in the division as is Rennie. Rennie has had maybe one significant result, the win away to a downbeat Alloa, apart from that? Almost identical to Sheerin, if not worse.

Edited March 27, 2022 by GeordieBairn

[Bairnardo]

Of all the squads we have had that have been a bit shite recently, the players in this one will be the most deserving of dogs abuse when many of them inevitably line up against us next season.

Iv never encountered such a low energy bunch of shitebags in all my years watching football and Falkirk.

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, GeordieBairn said:

I believe we would have been in the same position regardless if it was Sheerin or Rennie. Sheerin was still getting results against the worst sides in the division as is Rennie. Rennie has had maybe one significant result, the win away to a downbeat Alloa, apart from that? Almost identical to Sheerin, if not worse.

We will agree to disagree especially as all he and Holt thought we needed was 2 players. All pretty irrelevant now though. We are not going up or down.
Time to take stalk.  

[champions]

2 hours ago, Back Post Misses said:

My pals tenure? I have never met Martin Rennie in the flesh in my life. 

Let’s not beat about the bush, you are either close to some of the previous regime, close to someone who left recently or are one of them. Your nose is out of joint and you can’t accept there is a new broom. Don’t kid people on it is about the club it is about ego, status and power. 

You know fine well who I am. I have never hidden my identity. You are of course on here anonymously sniping when we lose and calling the new regime and Rennie for all sorts. 

As far as Rennie goes I concede it is not happening. He has stopped us getting relegated that’s it. IMO Sheerin would have had us fighting it out with Dumbarton and EF. That was where we were heading had he not been sacked. These players need to take a long hard look in the mirror. 

However you want to dress things up the new Board and Rennie have been left an absolute mess, worse than anyone knew. Over spending on a grand scale, a squad of players on 2/3 year contracts who were dreadful and a football department that included Gary Holt who I believe told the new Manager that the squad only needed a striker and cover at right back. 

The way forward is going to be difficult. The club has lots of issues to deal with from an understandably impatient support to a pitch needing replaced soon to a squad of players on contracts that is not going to be easy or cheap to move on. The club needs investment because all the cash we had will be burnt. Without the January investment from BFL, Patrons and FSS someone would have had to have bailed out Deans as he would have run out of money. Where was that coming from? Rawlins? 

The next AGM will be very telling. The shareholders will get the full story of what has happened during this season then. 

This summer is vital. More investment is required, the managerial position has to be buttoned down and a whole new squad will be required. The one massive advantage the club now has is that you or your associates will be nowhere near the decision making. 

In your opinion will Rennie be here next season?

[Guest]

Just now, champions said:

In your opinion will Rennie be here next season?

Genuinely don’t know. 
If he isn’t who would your choice be? 

[Bairn in Exile]

2 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

Genuinely don’t know. 
If he isn’t who would your choice be? 

Do you want Rennie here next season?

[Guest]

Just now, Bairn in Exile said:

Do you want Rennie here next season?

I feel giving him the summer to properly build his own side would be the fairest way to judge him. Pragmatically however you have to look at what has happened and think his impact would have been better. 

[Proudtobeabairn]

Tommy Wright or Brian Rice are now the obvious choices.  We've probably missed the boat on Rice unless he has an agreement that he can walk in his Alloa contract.  

Like others, I don't think the decision to appoint Rennie was a bad one but keeping him on would definitely be.  He's brought in 7 players and that should be more than enough to at least marginally improve us. 

The only decisions I put at the foot of the new board are putting the future of the club at risk by ignoring fan opinion to come a bawhair from signing DGW and when the club are hemorrhaging money, chucking £30k at a has been to take corners and free kicks.   They need to show from here that they can work effectively as a committee and work some magic to bring in some serious investment.  No more gambles and hopefully we'll all be happy!  

 

 

[Bairn in Exile]

4 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

I feel giving him the summer to properly build his own side would be the fairest way to judge him. Pragmatically however you have to look at what has happened and think his impact would have been better. 

Thank you for your reply. No, he has to go. The board should be actively looking for a new manager now so that he is in situ the day after this season ends. We must go up next season and neither Rennie nor Miller appear to be able to achieve that. We cannot afford to spend another 2 seasons in League 1.

[Shadwell Dog]

5 hours ago, RossBFaeDundee said:

Certainly going about as well as I expected.

He's the least of our worries to be fair. Bringing him in to that side without bolstering other areas was always going to be a waste of cash.  A team playing well and full of confidence would've brought more out of him but that's certainly not us.

[bairn88]

Just forced myself to watch the highlights of their goal. What the f**k is Mutch doing? Don’t think he’s a terrible keeper but he doesn’t half cost us a fair amount of goals at the same time 

[Harry Kinnear]

I’m not going to give the new board a hard time as I am aware that they have inherited an absolute mess. I will give them time to turn us around and steady the ship. I do however feel that this summer they are going to have to make a number of decisions that are probably going to be the most crucial in the future of Falkirk FC and they have to get it right.

The main decision is going to be who will be the manager. If we are stuck next season with 12/13 of the current squad then it cannot be Rennie as he has already shown that he cannot get them to improve performances. It appears to be that he isn’t commanded the respect a more well known manager in the Scottish game would and the players clearly aren’t bursting a gut for him.

I don’t know who the next manager should be and I wouldn’t like to be having to make that decision. I will give the board time and I pray to god they get the big decisions right. The future of our club depends on it. I fear if they make the wrong choice our ST numbers will drop significantly and we can’t afford that.