Toby

I try, sometimes I fail. Sometimes I don’t try hard enough. The communication that came from MCT yesterday advised that we plan holding a meeting in January. That’s still the case, and given that January is just around the corner you can be assured there’ll be a meeting in the very near future. In the meantime, I try to answer what queries I can on here. That doesn’t mean I have the answer to every question, though.

I really try not to get into a bun fight with folk nowadays, but I addressed the point about Graham’s interaction with the MCT board 2-3 hours before this, the second post from you asserting that he doesn’t engage with us. While it comes across as a dig at Graham and is without foundation, it also, perhaps inadvertently points to a dereliction of duty on the MCT Board’s part to suggest we would allow this to happen. I’ll assume you didn’t note my reply on the other thread as I quoted Greacan2000 rather than yourself.

Sam’s relinquishing his role as a director of GMFC Property Ltd, not the club.

Missed this earlier when I replied to ask Spot Ton who the sectarian bigots who hounded Jim McInally out of Cappielow for being a Catholic were. We’re in frequent contact with Graham. I wouldn’t say daily, more like hourly. He’s been a great help to the MCT Board.

Who were the sectarian bigots who hounded Jim McInally out of Cappielow for being a Catholic?

We’re obliged by law to provide 14 days notice and when a date is finalised will provide notice of at least 14 days. I’m not being deliberately difficult in saying this, but I don’t want to give you a date that we’re yet to set in stone.

There’s an MCT update email due to be sent out this week, which will cover a few topics, and now we’ve got our feet under the table I hope to provide this monthly. Any more frequently, unless in exceptional circumstances just bores people.. The subject of a member joining the club board was discussed at a meeting a few weeks ago, but with the manager situation, the weekend’s turnstile issues and a couple of other matters, we had to shelf that subject, but will discuss it at length when we meet up this week. We’re actively working on it, and hope to appoint someone in the near future, but I’d be lying if I gave you a precise date or nominee from our board. As regards the Dalrada deal/meeting. This is planned for January and we’ll advise of our intentions in the update mail, and follow that up with a mail that provides adequate notice when we establish a date for the meeting.

Frank McKeown (remember him?) appointed manager of Dumbarton.

On the subject of Murray, I wonder if the terms of his contract at big-spending Raith Rvoers is a reason why he’s not got a job yet. Given the exorbitant salaries the big-spending Fifers are rumoured to pay, and Murray having signed a lucrative new deal not long before being sacked by the big-spending Stark’s Park club, could it be a case that by going back into management he may have to forego some of the mammoth compensation agreed with the big-spending Kirkcaldy club?

Who were the sectarian bigots who hounded Jim McInally out of Cappielow for being a Catholic?

The first wasn’t a booking from what I recall- it looked more like he was fouled but Callum Scott (of Longridge at Firhill penalty fame) booked Adeloye instead of the Peterhead player. The second one he put his arm across the defender when jumping for a header. Not much in it but by the laws of the game it’s a booking whether you agree it should be or not. Ironically the sort of challenge that he normally infuriates us by not even attempting to go into. Despite how difficult an afternoon it turned out, I thought we were pretty good for the most part. We completely dominated the first half and missed a number of really good chances before being sucker punched and reacted well after half time to turn the game around with minimum fuss. The game turned completely on the red card as Peterhead smelt blood and threw everything at us, while we had no real out ball on the halfway line to give us any respite. Once the equaliser came it felt there was an inevitability that rather than our superior fitness seeing us through, the extra man would see us unstuck, but the players did a good job of dragging themselves through it. No complaints about the penalties either, especially given that we didn’t look to have too many natural takers on the park at full time. Longridge nearly ripped the net out. Peterhead aren’t a good side at all but you’re unlikely to get an easy ride against a team only a division below you in the big cup, as St. Johnstone found to their cost. It wasn’t pretty, but we’re through. And rather than hammering anyone for struggling against League One opposition I’m inclined to credit them for getting through a sticky situation when they could easily have crumbled.

To confirm on the emboldened point- the reason this wasn’t mentioned to us was because it wasn’t an issue given that Imrie hadn’t been given three games to save his job. It wasn’t a case of information being withheld from us. This was pointed out to me this morning as a sticking point and I spoke to the chairman to clarify what I meant and said I’d clear that up.

Some may (nor may not, I don’t expect anyone to hang on any of my words) have noticed I’ve not had much to say on here since joining the MCT board. Given that my main sales pitch was transparency, I think it’s only fair that I do comment, albeit from a personal viewpoint, rather than the collective MCT board view. Some of our board may agree or disagree with me as I’ve not ran this by them, though the Morton board made it clear that I’m free share my opinions. Firstly, the reason I’ve not been so active hasn’t been any deliberate lack of transparency, more a case of being involved in regular calls, dealing with MCT comms (which have admittedly been sporadic), writing for the Tele and discussing Morton in my own private chats, there comes a point that talking, writing and posting about Morton all the time gets tiresome, even for me. However, I do feel the need to answer the quoted post, albeit belatedly. Again, this is personal opinion, so not necessarily that of the rest of the board, but when not in full possession of the facts, I don’t feel it is responsible of the MCT board, nor is it constructive to be commenting on such sensitive matters. We’re also volunteers with jobs, who were working at the point this demand to answer an unsubstantiated rumour was placed on us. I know that Dean and I are the prominent board members on this forum, so don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest this was aimed at us, but I wasn’t going to drop everything to deal with gossip, especially having given up some of my employers’ time earlier in the week to ensure a statement was released addressing Imrie’s departure. This didn’t just involve waiting by my phone to click a button as the process dragged on throughout Tuesday before finally being confirmed by both clubs. The club board have been open with us throughout the process of Imrie’s departure, and we’re grateful to them for that. I was also in receipt of Chris’s voice note, given that we’re friendly and have a working relationship, which differed greatly from their version of events. Being honest, I was fairly comfortable with the club’s version, having been given regular updates over last weekend, and while I didn’t want to see Imrie leave, didn’t see a problem with how Morton conducted themselves. That said, as is the case with most difficult situations like this, there are normally three versions of events, with the third being what actually happened, and somewhere in the middle. That’s not to say there are untruths from the Morton board, and Chris has conceded there were untruths on his version. But as I said above, without knowing for certain, it would be wrong of us to comment. I don’t know if John Laird gave Imrie three games to save his job- this was never communicated to us at a time the Morton board were open with a lot of sensitive information, so I personally don’t believe this to have been the case. On the subject of Chris, it’s a situation that I’m saddened by. I know there were folk he upset at times, and he could be divisive and made mistakes along the way, but I had, and still have a lot of time for the guy. It may not seem like much to a lot of folk, but a few years ago I was shovelling chips into boxes, and now I write a newspaper column. That’s a big deal for me, and for that opportunity I owe him a debt of gratitude. I really hope he gets over this and goes onto have a long and successful career. I get that I’ve not answered everything that’s been asked of myself or the board in the last week or so and apologise for not managing that yet. For example @Madton tagged me on P&B the other day. I’m not ignoring that but there’s a lot in it to cover so will ask the necessary questions and get back to you, though I’m definitely trying to steer clear of posting on that forum and getting into battles with fans of other clubs. This won’t satisfy everyone of course- I may have missed something and won't be able to answer any replies today given the long drive to and from Peterhead, but I’ll try to get to anything that is directed to the MCT board when I can over the weekend. In the meantime, if anyone has anything to ask at the game feel free. If you don’t know me, someone will be able to point you in my direction.

Who were the sectarian bigots who hounded Jim McInally out of Cappielow for being a Catholic?

Who were the sectarian bigots who hounded Jim McInally out of Cappielow for being a Catholic?