EanieMeany

Quite. Again, my argument here isn’t that Waters would be a bad or unreliable option, I’ve said before I’d be happy enough if he’s here next season; it’s only that I wouldn’t be in a particular rush to secure his signature at this juncture. If that’s how it is and he’ll be signing on, then so be it, the position won’t be a cause for concern with him in it; if it’s not him then chances are somebody comparable or better might come up. I don’t think it’s an outlandish suggestion that that could be the case as again, Waters is here because he’s what was available at the start of February - a time when options are limited - when we were forced into getting somebody in, and I’m not sure he’s been so impressive that he merits moving quickly for, and certainly not so much that punting Strapp for him is justifiable; it’s entirely possible that other, better options could present themselves over time rather than rushing into signing Waters up, and also unlikely that there’s going to be a huge queue of more illustrious suitors after him that would force your hand on the issue.

I wouldn’t be opposed to Waters being here next season by any means, to be clear, he’s an alright full-back; I just don’t necessarily think he’s shown that much quality or contributed so significantly to the team that it would be essential to get him signed up early, even without considering the comparison to Strapp. It won’t be bad news if he does indeed get kept on, by any means. With Strapp in mind though, we’re letting a much, much better player go without as much as a token offer for reasons that aren’t at all clear and (if Waters has indeed been provisionally offered a deal), don’t seem to be fully assessing the options to ensure the downgrade is as minimal as possible (Waters was a shrewd acquisition but he was also the available option when we were forced into bringing somebody in), and it’s also worth bearing in mind the right-back is almost certainly going to be a big step down from Grimshaw. It was always likely both he and Strapp would leave, of course, and that the replacements would be lesser players, but that just makes it all the more important you get the best replacements given how important those two were, and the authority they carry on the pitch and exert upon opponents. Again, Waters isn’t a bad player by any means, but good enough when we’ll also be without Grimshaw’s presence on the other side? If the right-back was the same level as him? I’m not so sure about that, but only time will tell.

Agreed on the first part, and to be honest I'm not sure Waters is quite good enough that his signing should be rushed into, especially when we're apparently just casting Strapp off. We could get worse, for sure, but I don't think it'd be impossible to get somebody a bit better. Either way, no point dwelling too much on it in this thread for now, we'll see what happens over the summer. Can't agree on the second part though. If we were in the same league as St Mirren then aye, maybe the Renfrewshire Cup games wouldn't be entirely necessary, but when we're not then I think they should definitely be played: they're far more interesting than some plodding friendly, they give a wee bit of a competitive edge ahead of the season starting and are a good way to get new players in tune with the club. It's also an extra few bob in ticket money, which ain't to be sniffed at. Derbies are so much better when there's hate figures and pantomime villains on both sides too, so annual meetings would allow them to develop a wee bit and help keep the rivalry fresh (especially for younger fans) rather than just something that used to happen. We still remember the likes of the Maisano brothers at Love Street, Reece Hands scream at their new dive, or Cham having an out-of-body experience as a footballer there too; I doubt many people can even remember who we've played in pre-season in recent years never mind specific moments like the ones there's been against St. Mirren. It's a no-brainer to reintroduce the Renfrewshire Cup, imo, and it's overdue.

There’s actually been some really smart Joma kits recently (their Villarreal centenary strip is an absolute beauty and would make a great Morton away one), so I’m more optimistic about what they might offer than I was to begin…but even at that, I agree, you just can’t whack the glorious invention of the Matchwinner era (unless we get Umbro involved, which should also definitely happen at some point). Football strips are so often really bland and boring these days, even things that ostensibly have an unusual design still end up looking flat and lifeless with the way it’s just printed on; I’d love to see us have a few 90’s style numbers with the level of detail in the material etc you got with those. Bring back chevrons and tiger stripes and weird green and white and black striped creations, I say. Also, it’s just occurred to me that of all the great Matchwinner strips, there wasn’t really any hooped ones. Not a complaint at all, the opposite really: if you deviate from the traditional style and nobody really notices, you’re doing something right.

Matchwinner trackies > play-offs*. The lack of decent leisurewear (as opposed to the generic training stuff with a badge stuck on) has long been a big hole in Morton's commercial offering - the only decent trackie I can think of was a Bukta one - so the prospect of Matchwinner stuff is a cracking development. *Maybe.

There’s obviously (well, presumably) been a lot of legal hoops to jump through regarding the ticketing situation, but it’s great news to finally have it sorted. Well done to the club for doing so.

More likely that that fanny O’Ware is just desperate for a bit of attention.

Lovely stuff.

Absolutely disgusting that one of those peasant outfits from Ayr and Grangemouth are going to be going to Hampden.

Agreed, it really has been excellent and it seems a team effort too although Gareth who does the socials has obviously made a huge difference since taking over. It's only a small thing, but the wee video of Dougie before the Partick game really helped make me feel it was a big game, and that we're right in this league for real - again, it's a small thing, but getting those right are what really makes the difference rather than just the odd picture of ticket prices or whatever. On a slight downside, I do hope the website can get rectified at some point. It could do with a proper revamp rather than the half-arsed botch job under the previous regime.

Raymond "Ray" McKinnon has been appointed as the new manager of Forfar, who currently sit bottom of the third division. Nothing against Forfar, I tended to quite enjoy the away trips up there back in the day, but it's gonnae be really fuckin funny watching that prick take a club right out the SPFL.

Tickled by Falkirk tweeting about their victory over "higher level opposition" after beating Maryhill minnows Partick. Poor wee Falkirk, languishing in the third tier, eh. Get it up them.

Aye, I'll hold my hands up to that after reading it all over again. Fair's fair. Nonetheless, I do find it all a bit vague, and I'll always be wary of anything that chucks about a load of buzz words and jargon over actual detail tbh (modernising the social media output, for example: what exactly does that even mean?), and indeed anyone who buys influence in a club on unspecified terms. Anyway, I think it'll genuinely be interesting to see what exactly is involved with this as it seems to be going a beyond a simple sponsorship deal, to find out what the plan is regarding Dalrada's involvement and input, how far the money will go and ultimately how it all relates to the million and one questions there already are regarding how things are currently going. An injection of an unspecified amount of money doesn't necessarily mean it's going to radically alter the picture apart from kicking the current can of woes down the road. There's no question this could potentially be very good, but it could also potentially not be good at all, and again I'm not particularly confident in either the club or the MCT boards' abilities to a) make the right choices and b) avoid being taken for mugs: see their initial acceptance of Crawford's "we'll keep the ground" scam. Again, the real worth of this will come in the details, not just the press release PR statement.

The money has bought a seat on the board though, and it would appear potentially a degree of influence on how the club is run although the extent of that isn’t particularly clear. That surely goes beyond the normal remit of a sponsorship agreement, does it not? I doubt many people would have been overly chuffed if the Easdales was granted those privileges off the back of sponsoring the strips.

Golden Casket donated Millions. Sorry