Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

How have Falkirk started their season ahead of reviving their rivalry with Dunfermline?

Falkirk manager John McGlynn. Image: SNS.
Falkirk manager John McGlynn. Image: SNS.

After finishing a lowly sixth in League 1 last season, Falkirk made yet another managerial change.

Since Peter Houstoun was let go in September 2017, Paul Hartley, Ray McKinnon, management duo David McCracken and Lee Miller, Paul Sheerin and Martin Rennie have all come and gone.

Former Raith Rovers boss John McGlynn is the latest man tasked with getting Falkirk back into the second tier.

He has been backed in the transfer market to do so, bringing in 12 players during the summer window.

Off the pitch

Falkirk’s off-the-field issues hit a nadir going on a year ago when things got heated, and at times contemptuous, during a supporters’ Q&A.

Director at the time Gordon Colborn was criticised when he asked fans to not boo players in case it made them nervous.

Gordon Colburn asks fans to not boo players:

Then-chairman Gary Deans later topped that by answering a detailed, well-thought-out question with “That’s a statement, not a question”.

Communication from the club has since improved.

A recent update following the end of the transfer window reiterated the main points of the business plan. These are:

  • To ensure a well-funded first team to maximise our chances of winning promotion.
  • To do so by growing income, tightly controlling costs and reducing operating losses.
  • To continue to seek new investment and other income to cover those operating losses.
  • To keep Youth Development at U16/U18 moving up to the next level from January 2026.
  • To add a Development Squad (between U18’s and first team) from next season 2023/24.

The Falkirk Supporters Society has also been started and has around 500 subscribers paying £10 a month.

The aim is to raise money and buy shares in the club.

On the pitch

After progressing from their League Cup group stage, Falkirk got off to a shaky start in League 1.

They looked to have turned it around with three wins on the bounce but the last two results left supporters with a severe case of deja vu.

Courier Sport last week argued that the defeat to Kelty wasn’t as surprising as it may look, even if it was the Marron Machine’s first league victory.

Regardless, it was a worryingly familiar setback for a side marooned in League 1 for four seasons now.

Key players

Forward Callumn Morrison continues to wow and frustrate for the Bairns and is the club’s top scorer in the league with three.

He is the most accurate crosser in the divison, finding his target 83% of the time and has more touches in the opposition area than any other League 1 player.

On the other side Aidan Nesbitt can be a threat but, like Morrison, can drift out of games.

Aidan Nesbitt (right) can be dangerous on his day.

Midfield is an area where Falkirk boast some talent, not least the experienced Stephen McGinn.

Falkirk have out-passed every side in the league other than Airdrie and have the highest passing accuracy with 83%.

Another player worth noting is Gary Oliver – for his record versus Dunfermline.

The striker scored six times for Morton last season and four of those came against the Pars.

Two seasons before that, at Queen of the South, three of his five goals across the season came against Dunfermline.

Potential weaknesses

McGlynn has chopped and changed his defence, sometimes enforced, conceding eight goals to Dunfermline’s one.

That’s not to mention the three conceded to Dundee in the cup.

Falkirk’s Gary Oliver was sent off when conceding a penalty versus Dundee.

There has been disruption between the sticks too.

Promising goalkeeper PJ Morrison was injured last month in the defeat to Airdrie.

That meant Nicky Hogarth was brought in on loan from Nottingham Forest until January.

He has conceded seven goals in fives matches in all competitions, though has made a few impressive stops along the way.

Hogarth’s double-save versus FC Edinburgh:

Conversation