Falkirk FC: Bairns boss John McGlynn reckons Scottish Cup opponent Mick Kennedy can have bright future in management

Kennedy’s sixth tier West of Scotland Premier Division leaders stunned the sporting world with a sensational 1-0 home victory over Premiership big guns Aberdeen in round four of the tournament on Monday night, a result widely rated to be the biggest shock in Scottish football history.

And McGlynn – whose team will travel to Darvel for a last 16 Scottish Cup tie being played on Monday, February 13, kick-off 7.45pm – is full of admiration for the efforts of Kennedy and his players.

"Unfortunately I didn’t see the Aberdeen game myself,” McGlynn told the Falkirk Herald. “I was at a manager and coaches’ meeting on the Monday night in Glasgow.

"But I will certainly be looking over it and the greatest congratulations to Darvel.

"By all acounts, from what I’m led to believe they thoroughly deserved to win and they get all the plaudits going because they have produced a great upset. From what I saw a little bit of, they were very well organised and they played very good football.

"Mick Kennedy’s pre-match talk was inspiring and it motivated his players. That’s what managers have got to do.

"Well done to Mick. He’s got the formula right there, he’s got everything right and he’s won the game.

"If Mick can keep winning matches on a regular basis then he will certainly have a bright future in football.”

McGlynn reckons that Darvel – who also won 5-2 at League One Montrose in the third round on November 26 – are no longer a surprise package given their cup pedigree.

"The only thing now is they’re not really a shock team,” he said. “It’s not a shock now because they’ve done it twice.

"They’ve got two scalps. It’s not easy to go to Montrose and win 5-2.

"To beat Aberdeen shows that Darvel need the utmost respect and we will certainly be doing our homework between now and that game and we will certainly not underestimate them.

"They’ve got a lot of players with a lot of league experience. More than half that team could easily play in League Two and possibly League One.

"They are in the sixth tier of Scottish football and that sounds dramatic but a lot of those guys have had league experience and they’re good players.

"They beat a team in the top tier and we’re two levels below Aberdeen then maybe they’re favourites.

"In the meantime we can’t take our eye off the ball in the league. The cup will always be a bonus but it is a massive opportunity for Darvel and ourselves to get to a quarter-final which would be phenomenal.”

Falkirk, second in League One with 38 points from 20 games, visit third-placed Edinburgh in the league this Saturday with kick-off at 3pm. The Bairns have won their last four games in league and cup.

“We’re on the same amount of points as Edinburgh,” McGlynn said. "They’re top goalscorers in the league, just by one from ourselves, so we will try and turn that around as well as keeping the momentum and the feelgood factor that we’ve got with the results that we’ve been getting.

"Edinburgh have done remarkably well to hang in there and you’ve got to give Alan Maybury (manager) a lot of credit. I know they won’t make it too easy for us on Saturday.

"We want to keep our run going and put some pressure on Dunfermline if at all possible.

"We’ve got two games in hand on Edinburgh. If we were to beat them, potentially we could create a nine-point gap."

Falkirk defender Coll Donaldson remains suspended for the Edinburgh game, with the Bairns having no new injuries.