Here's what one match report of the recent Falkirk v St. Johnstone match reported started with:
"Santa hasn’t even started warming-up, but already the league championship can be gift-wrapped for delivery to Falkirk.
St Mirren and Clyde are trying manfully to hang onto the Bairns’ coat tails, but they won’t last the pace being set by a squad which is a class above the mediocrity of the rest."
If I didn't know better I'd have thought those words came from the buffoon that is John Hughes, or one of the other morons who work for Falkirk FC. For once they aren't. They aren't even from a Falkirk newspaper. They're from a Perth one!
According to this, Falkirk are much better than everyone else and will win the title easily, and that ourselves and Clyde might as well give up. Falkirk have risen above the mediocrity employed by everyone else. That'll be why they've only taken one point from two games against us and one point from one against Clyde. That'll be why Celtic's reserve side beat them 8-0 (that's eight) in the league cup. We were awful in the SPL but still only conceded five goals in our three matches against them, and that was their first team, one of those times trying to clinch the title!
Out of all the teams I've seen this season at Love Street, the best sure Falkirk were definitely not the best. Neither were Clyde. Partick probably put in a better performance than Falkirk, and Airdrie United were superb in the second half. But the best? Simple. Forfar Athletic.
By definition, division one is above division two in the pyramid (just thought I'd put that incase any Morton or Falkirk fans were reading this, or any sports journalists for Perth newspapers). Therefore, it's safe to assume that most of the teams in division one, with the exception of Raith Rovers and maybe one or two others, should be better, and play a better quality of football, than those currently occupying any place in division two. Falkirk have risen above the mediocrity of the SPL, so how on earth have Forfar managed to be the best team to visit Love Street this season?
Forfar rattled five past what, statistically, is a pretty solid defence. Until the last ten minutes or so at Love Street, by which point it was 2-0, Falkirk had rarely threatened the St. Mirren goal. Teams such as Hamilton, Airdrie, Partick and St. Johnstone have all looked good for about half a game, but Falkirk didn't manage that. They were maybe good for twenty minutes or half an hour.
How is this possible? Falkirk are the best team in the league, in the SFL, and have risen above the dross the other teams have offered up for them to try and beat. Could it be that the reporter in the Perth paper is talking mince?
If I was Gus MacPherson or Billy Reid, I'd have those two paragraphs pinned to the dressing room door and get the players to read it every day. If they are struggling for motivation, those words will surely provide it.
The media fawning is pathetic of Falkirk over the last five years has been pathetic. Now it seems that local papers have been infected with the disease. Let's hope that a few teams can rise above their station and give Falkirk a beating this season, and that Clyde or, preferably, Saints can pip them to the title. Then we might finally get a break from all the press nonsense about how wonderful the Falkirk team are. Don't bank on it though.
With Falkirk beating Partick Thistle last night, they are now five points ahead of Clyde and six clear of Saints. Six points with over half a season to go is nothing, but incase the newspaper men are thinking about proclaiming them as the new champions, here are two words for them. Greenock Morton.