The Benchman: No fight, no commitment, no desire, no points

TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS: One “star” doesn’t make a team. You can build a team around a star, or you can have team of “ordinary” players who click as a team. How on earth Paul Pogba was chosen by his peers for the English Premier League Team of the Season goodness only knows. He is a talented player- of that there is no doubt- but a team player? Simon Stainrod was a star, but he was also an inspiration to his team mates. The SPFA recognised his ability and he was chosen by his peers as their player of the season.

IF TANNADICE WAS HALF AS NICE: That was dire. Where was the fight, the commitment, the passion and the energy? The second half was a training exercise for United and the game was dying on its feet. The biggest cheer of the half came with the announcement of Motherwell’s fourth goal to see off United’s city rivals.

FIGHT TO THE FINISH: Can we beat Ross County and hope that Ayr beat Alloa? That would mean a play-off place and an extension of the tension that envelops the team. Not for the nervous.

ANSWERS: Last week’s picture was of a Scotland B team taken at Dens Park. Ian Rae was the Falkirk player present.

TIERS FOR SOUVENIRS: The prospect of Falkirk dropping into the third tier of Scottish Football is a nightmarish one. Older fans will recall the darkest days when Falkirk FC fell of the football map and struggled to attract crowds. In season 1977/78 Falkirk finished in fifth place in the third tier. The following season saw the club miss out on promotion again and finished third. It was a dark period- and the writing was on the wall during the disastrous Centenary Year.

WHO WILL BUY?: Football Club for sale. Apply within. What is it about football clubs that attracts some of these “fit and proper persons” (not) who try to live out their fantasy of celebrity status. Bolton and Blackpool are but two examples that should shivers down your spine. Remember Michael Knighton playing keepie- uppie in a Manchester United strip for the Match of the Day cameras?

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: Falkirk fans longed for the end of the Deans Era? Protests, banners, demonstrations, visits to the Lauder butchers and all sorts of tactics were used. Finally- they left- and in came George Fulston, who popped up at Kilbowie Park on the last day of the season, shaking hands and living his dream as the new saviour of the club.

BLAZERS RULE: Couldn’t believe those running the EFL actually asked if the Bolton youth team could fulfil the fixture against Brentford last Saturday. The senior players were on strike, hadn’t been paid for weeks and badly let down by their employers. They were asking these young lads to cross a picket-line.

BENCHMARKS

Match rating: 5

Team rating: 4

Opposition: 6

Referee: S.Kirkland 6

Best Bairn: Harry Burgoyne