Richie Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 I'm unsure why all the pundits seem to be having Falkirk quite high. Think they'll eventually struggle tbh. Not even as if they ran away with the Championship. Was won on last day. Premiership is a different Kettle of fish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 2 hours ago, Spiderpig said: I only saw the 2nd half and Shankland hardly touched the ball, he was anonymous, for me hes vastly overrated. I agree though both teams looked average at best, nothing to fear from either of them. Aberdeen changed shape a bit 2nd half and nullified Hearts for the most part. Hearts had the upper hand first half and Shankland scored an absolute peach, only for it to be VAR'd. He will score goals for them.this season if they keep feeding him the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 17 minutes ago, Richie said: I'm unsure why all the pundits seem to be having Falkirk quite high. Think they'll eventually struggle tbh. Not even as if they ran away with the Championship. Was won on last day. Premiership is a different Kettle of fish. I agree. They will probably do well the first quarter until teams suss them out. That might be enough to keep them out the shit, and McGlynn certainly seems intent on playing attacking football, but I dont see them competing for top 6 over the course of a full season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andalg Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 Should be seventh but hopefully Europe will distract top a couple of top 6 teams and we will sneak 5th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 A lot of folk getting carried away over one good performance at the weekend there. We did play well against Rangers, but they were bang average at best and we still very nearly allowed them to slink away with all three points. Our glaring weaknesses at both ends were badly exposed with the goal we conceded and our powderpuff efforts in the penalty box up the other end of the park and that will continue to cost us unless we address this asap. And if Rangers play as badly as that on a regular basis then they will be dropping plenty of points this season so I don’t think we can read too much into Saturday’s 1-1 draw. We will be bottom six this season, whereabouts in the bottom six only time will tell but I have my concerns and I still don’t believe that JBA will last the season with us. And we will do nothing of note in either cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star sail Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 I think it really could be a season that we finish anywhere from 3rd to 10th. I don't think Aberdeen or Hearts are going to be that much better than they were last season. McIness has been around for a long time and it a decent Scottish Manager but he is a safe pair of hands rather than a revolutionary. I think Hibs will be the strongest of the city teams. My concern is that for all the Scottish Managers are not the best at providing silky modern football, they are generally street wise and are fairly adept at sucking the life out of any team that is trying to play an expansive game. Kettlewell, McIness, Robinson, Goodwin ( don't know much about Falkirk's style) all fall into that category and if they can work out a way to nullify out threat and JBA struggles for a plan B we could suffer. Celtic struggled to a victory against a well organised St Mirren on Sunday so it will be no easy task to break these teams down. I am hoping that there will be no answer for our new style but experience of watching Scottish football tells me that the standard tends to get dragged down to the lowest common denominator. With the new additions to the squad I am confident that we will not be fighting relegation. I think the game against St Mirren will tell us a lot. I am going to go for the right side of the middle ground and go for 6th in the top half along with Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. That would represent a huge step forward particularly if it was entertaining along the way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 49 minutes ago, MJC said: A lot of folk getting carried away over one good performance at the weekend there. We did play well against Rangers, but they were bang average at best and we still very nearly allowed them to slink away with all three points. Our glaring weaknesses at both ends were badly exposed with the goal we conceded and our powderpuff efforts in the penalty box up the other end of the park and that will continue to cost us unless we address this asap. And if Rangers play as badly as that on a regular basis then they will be dropping plenty of points this season so I don’t think we can read too much into Saturday’s 1-1 draw. We will be bottom six this season, whereabouts in the bottom six only time will tell but I have my concerns and I still don’t believe that JBA will last the season with us. And we will do nothing of note in either cup. You keep being a miserable sod and let us keep getting carried away. Its the Ying & Yang of Steelmenonline! 🧡❤️🧡 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 1 hour ago, star sail said: My concern is that for all the Scottish Managers are not the best at providing silky modern football, they are generally street wise and are fairly adept at sucking the life out of any team that is trying to play an expansive game. Kettlewell, McIness, Robinson, Goodwin ( don't know much about Falkirk's style) all fall into that category and if they can work out a way to nullify out threat and JBA struggles for a plan B we could suffer. Celtic struggled to a victory against a well organised St Mirren on Sunday so it will be no easy task to break these teams down. I am hoping that there will be no answer for our new style but experience of watching Scottish football tells me that the standard tends to get dragged down to the lowest common denominator. I can see your point here. I reckon it's possible we'll be better away from home than at Fir Park this season. Can't see the fans of the likes of St Mirren and Kilmarnock tolerating their team sitting in against Motherwell at home, fans of the city clubs even less so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 34 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said: I can see your point here. I reckon it's possible we'll be better away from home than at Fir Park this season. Can't see the fans of the likes of St Mirren and Kilmarnock tolerating their team sitting in against Motherwell at home, fans of the city clubs even less so... And it's not sitting in that helps the style we want to play. It's more difficult to play high tempo, high press against a parked bus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texanwellfan Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 The phrase “fine margins” has been banded about for a good number of seasons now and it’s very apt in that, really, there is very little between 10 teams. I’ve believed that if we could improve even just a little bit we can get beyond that term and have more control over our results rather than relying on a lucky break or VAR decision or bounce of the ball. From the early signs I think we have taken a good step forward to achieve that improvement. Our attitude and style of play combined with having players who can actually control and pass a ball has us looking much better than we have for many seasons and might be enough to get us out of the pack or at least to be higher up the pecking order of the 10 teams. If so, then I don’t think it’s unrealistic to look for a top 6 finish and a European spot. The question is, as has been mentioned, how well can we maintain our form thru injuries, suspensions and individual dips in form. Of course the optimistic flip side to that is, the more we play this style the better we will get. Someone mentioned we also seem fitter but perhaps that’s just a benefit of having more possession, meaning that we don’t have to expend all our energy chasing the damn ball (not just when other team has it but when we hoof it up the park, usually as far away from our players as possible 😡) Early days but cause for optimism I think. Top 6 finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennyc Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 Celtic will be Celtic and finish top. I think Hearts and Hibs will both be much better than last season. Possibly strong enough to finish ahead of a currently poor Rangers side. Aberdeen for me are the one that is hard to gauge. Terrible first half yesterday but by the end of the day matched Hearts in all but the most important stat. Barring a collapse by any of them, those five should finish ahead of us. When injuries and suspensions kick in squad depth and finance play a huge part. So 6th for us if we improve the areas discussed and finish ahead of St Mirren. I don’t see much between them and us. United seem to be in transition so possibly bottom six. Not so sure about writing of Falkirk under McGlynn, if they can get their defence tightened up. For me Dundee for certain and hopefully Killie are trailing. I’ll reserve judgement on the new Livi for now. Martindale knows what he is doing so I suspect they might be better than last time up. That’s the sensible forecast. But that wee voice tells me fourth or even third is achievable. It’s the hope that kills you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Well Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 I think we will finish in the top 12. 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purestate Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 As others have said I reckon we’ll have some joy against teams who don’t just sit in but that also means they are more likely to be those who take advantage of our higher risk approach. Heart says 5th with far more good results and ‘nearly’ draws. Head says 8th with some real highs along the way but ultimately stifled by the SPL drudgery and frustrating losses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throughthelaces Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 7 hours ago, Richie said: I'm unsure why all the pundits seem to be having Falkirk quite high. Think they'll eventually struggle tbh. Not even as if they ran away with the Championship. Was won on last day. Premiership is a different Kettle of fish. I'd fancy them to stay up and do okay this year sometimes when a teams promoted it's almost like momentum carries them on and 2-2 with Dundee UTD for a team of falkirks stature is a fantastic result for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzlyg Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 7 hours ago, MJC said: A lot of folk getting carried away over one good performance at the weekend there. We did play well against Rangers, but they were bang average at best and we still very nearly allowed them to slink away with all three points. Our glaring weaknesses at both ends were badly exposed with the goal we conceded and our powderpuff efforts in the penalty box up the other end of the park and that will continue to cost us unless we address this asap. And if Rangers play as badly as that on a regular basis then they will be dropping plenty of points this season so I don’t think we can read too much into Saturday’s 1-1 draw. We will be bottom six this season, whereabouts in the bottom six only time will tell but I have my concerns and I still don’t believe that JBA will last the season with us. And we will do nothing of note in either cup. Jeez how to kill the mood!! I would like to think we didn't allow Rangers to play and they were fortunate to get a point. Yes things needing improved but it's the first game of the season under a new manager and new style. Only way JB will leave us will be if he gets pinched by a bigger team. I know it's hard but can you try and be positive just for once....go on......you can do it 🤪🤪 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellgirl Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 24 minutes ago, grizzlyg said: Jeez how to kill the mood!! I would like to think we didn't allow Rangers to play and they were fortunate to get a point. Yes things needing improved but it's the first game of the season under a new manager and new style. Only way JB will leave us will be if he gets pinched by a bigger team. I know it's hard but can you try and be positive just for once....go on......you can do it 🤪🤪 Completely agree. Jens will only leave if he does well and a bigger team go in for him and he wants to go. Nothing to indicate he won't stay with us long term. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfc Posted August 5 Report Share Posted August 5 It's still far to early to tell but top 6 should definitely be in our thoughts.i was worried coming into the season that the saga around lennon would be a negative distraction but thankfully it clearly isn't going to be.we look to have recruited quite well so far and if we can get another 3 or 4 then there's no reason why we can't have a decent season.were going to lose games along the way but if we can entertain a bit and look like we're actually going to win games then it's all I can ask as it's felt like a bit of a chore going to games for the last couple of season to watch a team that was happy to have no possession and barely created a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yassin Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 On 8/5/2025 at 12:17 PM, MJC said: A lot of folk getting carried away over one good performance at the weekend there. We did play well against Rangers, but they were bang average at best and we still very nearly allowed them to slink away with all three points. Our glaring weaknesses at both ends were badly exposed with the goal we conceded and our powderpuff efforts in the penalty box up the other end of the park and that will continue to cost us unless we address this asap. And if Rangers play as badly as that on a regular basis then they will be dropping plenty of points this season so I don’t think we can read too much into Saturday’s 1-1 draw. Given they've won twice, drawn once in Europe is it possible we made them look worse than they are? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewarkfanclub Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 17 minutes ago, Yassin said: Given they've won twice, drawn once in Europe is it possible we made them look worse than they are? Or maybe we are better than some people think? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJC Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 34 minutes ago, Yassin said: Given they've won twice, drawn once in Europe is it possible we made them look worse than they are? It’s possible that it’s down to a bit of both as as I’ve already said we played well on Saturday. However we only drew and it took a late equaliser for us to get that draw. Had that been a Dundee Utd or a St.Mirren or even a Killie playing Rangers the other night they would have beaten them, I’m quite sure of that. And Rangers for some reason tend to do okay in Europe but struggle against Scottish Premiership sides especially away from home. This Saturday against St.Mirren will be a big test for us and more of an indicator of whether we have improved or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Neils40yarder Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 Well as long as you're quite sure of it, that's good enough for me 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couttsy Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 It’s been an encouraging start, particularly the Morton and Rangers games. Our midfield looks in good shape with Watt, Fadinger and Slattery all playing well, and Just looking he might be able to contribute. I’m still concerned we need 1 or 2 centre half’s, 1 or 2 centre forwards and potentially a 1st choice goalkeeper. I suspect we’ll get 1 centre half and 2 strikers once the Miller deal goes through. As always I suspect whether we finish 5th/6th or 7th/8th/9th will come down to keeping our key players fit! I’ll predict 6th behind the city clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texanwellfan Posted August 7 Report Share Posted August 7 I’m hoping all of our clubs progress in Europe and that it wears them down for SPFL games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted August 7 Report Share Posted August 7 1 hour ago, texanwellfan said: I’m hoping all of our clubs progress in Europe and that it wears them down for SPFL games. That's good in the short term for our league chances. In the longer term, however, it generates significant amounts of cash for them that widens the gap in finances, and makes it easier for them to invest in better players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy H Posted August 7 Author Report Share Posted August 7 1 hour ago, texanwellfan said: I’m hoping all of our clubs progress in Europe and that it wears them down for SPFL games. Was thinking about that tonight, will make saturday fixtures a rarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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