McGlynn aims to keep 'punching above weight'
Falkirk have come a long, long way under John McGlynn. Languishing in League One with no sign of revival, their upturn in fortunes rested on the appointment of the former Hearts and Raith Rovers manager three years ago.Since then, the trajectory has almost entirely been one way. Upwards.Under McGlynn, Falkirk are reborn and now take their place at the top table of Scottish football for the first time in 15 years.With just over a month until their opening Premiership fixture against Dundee United, McGlynn tells BBC Scotland about their remarkable journey, and assesses just how far they can go.
How will Falkirk approach their top flight test?
After back-to-back promotions, adopting an eye-catching, attacking style of play, there's incredible excitement among long-suffering Falkirk fans."We'll respect the league, it's a really tough league, but we want to go up and mix it," said 63-year-old McGlynn. "We know we'll have to punch above our weight but that's what we've done."We're up for it. We're there on merit and want to embrace the challenge and be positive in how we go about things."We want to maintain the style as best as we possibly can."That mentality served Falkirk well after promotion from League One.In preparation for their Championship-winning season, McGlynn cited the example of Ipswich Town to his squad. After promotion from England's third tier, they went straight up again to the Premier League. Falkirk used that template effectively but will look to stop there given the Tractor Boys' recent relegation. However, despite often hearing promoted managers speak of survival as the priority, it's clear Falkirk's ambitions lie beyond that."Who won the league the year before in the Championship," McGlynn asked rhetorically."Dundee United? Where did Dundee United finish? Fourth."We can take them as an example. The year before that, was it Dundee. Tony Docherty did remarkably well, they got top six. "I appreciate they have not been five years in League One but I think there's an example there that you can go up and do well."So what would satisfy McGlynn?"Top six would be an incredible achievement," he said without hesitation.Continuity in the squad has been key to their success and it seems will be a theme again with the experienced Brian Graham and Scott Bain the only additions so far, with a few loan options potentially to follow.
Little time for reflection as toughest test looms
"It's been a little bit of a whirlwind," McGlynn conceded when reflecting back to those Championship-winning scenes, and everything that's happened along the way in Falkirk's incredible rise."I'm not really sure it's really sunk in. I think it'll be in years to come where maybe you can reflect and think that was a bit of an achievement. The ambition kind of flows on to the next stage and the next stage now is the Premiership."It's worth considering that some Falkirk fans simply don't know what's it's like to be a Premiership club. They were last in the top tier in 2010.Three years ago there was absolutely no sign of the success they've now lived and delighted in."We've done something that is not so easy to do," McGlynn explained."Having to start basically from scratch, coming into a team that was finishing sixth in League One. Two seasons later, invincible and then in the third season getting into the Premiership. "It's a great achievement."That achievement led to back-to-back manager of the year acceptance speeches at the PFA Scotland awards.McGlynn is the only man with three of those prizes and it's something he seems genuinely taken aback by."Quite embarrassed, actually, to be thinking that I'm the one who's got three," he said."There have been so many great managers in Scotland. Very proud, very honoured, very privileged to be in that position."
Falkirk academy returns
As Falkirk struggled in the lower reaches, cutbacks had to be made and one area that was controversially scrapped was their youth academy. The place the likes of Scott Arfield emerged from has now been reinstated to the delight of all connected with the club."We're going ahead with a full-scale academy," McGlynn explained. "We're ready to go from under 10, all the way up. "It's huge for the Falkirk public to have their academy back in place. There was a big uproar at the time."It will take time and it might be a few years down the line before we can be producing players that are playing in the first team and possible sellable assets."At least now we have that infrastructure. There's been too many local players going to every other football club because there's been nothing here for them, and now that's not the case."You can hear the full interview with John McGlynn on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound on Saturday 28th June from 14:00 BST.
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