Source: Team_Talk
May promises tactical overhaul
May could not have asked for a tougher introduction to management in the Scottish Premier League than a game against Rangers after the champions unfurl the title flag.
His predecessor John Hughes urged Falkirk to stick to his passing principles when they played in Govan, but the last four visits, all defeats, saw them ship 15 goals.
May was quick to set himself apart from Hughes when he took over from the now Hibernian manager, and Rangers can expect to face a tighter formation.
"We are not going to go there all guns blazing," May said. "We will treat them with respect and play to our strengths."
Falkirk's passing game saw them outplay Rangers for much of their last domestic game but they still lost 1-0 in the Homecoming Scottish Cup final.
And May dismissed suggestions there was any sense of injustice about that result.
"Rangers won the cup final, simple as that," said May, the former head of Falkirk's youth academy.
"Falkirk played them last year at the beginning of the season and played very well and still lost.
"Big clubs and good teams get results and that's what we're going to have to try to achieve.
"It's all very well playing the best football in the league but if you keep on losing it's no good.
"People want to see winning football and the most important thing is trying to get the results."
The club have undergone a huge transition over the summer with more than a dozen players leaving and seven coming in.
May started his reign with a Europa League aggregate defeat by Vaduz of Liechtenstein but he is adamant Falkirk have made plenty of strides since then.
"We have certainly made progress," the former Motherwell and Hibernian player said. "If we didn't, we would be in trouble, to be perfectly honest.
"We are better as a unit; the players are fitter now; they have got a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve."
May added: "We're a wee bit more forward-thinking, a wee bit more direct. We are not going to play 100 passes just to get out our own half.
"We will look for penetrating passes rather than just keeping the ball for the sake of keeping the ball."
One of the newcomers, Brian McLean, is determined to repay May's faith after he was handed a centre-back role against Vaduz while captain Darren Barr was moved to right-back.
"That's my preferred position and it was a vote of confidence from the manager," said former Motherwell defender McLean.
"It's up to me to prove that decision was right. I'm not going to let him down or anyone else.
"Darren is a great player and has proved that by getting in the Scotland set-up. He is going to be a great right-back.
"It's all about creating a solid unit at the back. We proved that by beating Vaduz at home and we need to see if we can do that away from home."
