Is It Time For The Rae Family To Move Step Aside?

[vikingTON]

Time will tell but we can't keep being unsustainable either and spending money that isn't there.

 

According to Hawke the club made a profit last season. It's almost as if legit, first team success in the Championship is the key to the club breaking even, as opposed to a ruinous, youth-based, slash and burn policy that has already spectacularly failed before in 2013/14. 

 

I'm pretty sure it will have the caveat of' if they're good enough'..

 

Well given that the club has pretty much abandoned targets and ambition, it's not at all clear what level they're supposed to be 'good enough' for. There are already several players who are not good enough to influence a game at our level filling out our bench. It would even be in their best interests to get match experience at a much lower level instead of warming the bench every week. But 'sustainability' has kicked in, you can't really have a football club fielding three or four subs in 2017, and so here we are. 

 

If we can get a team of players that have come up through our youth teams and have played together and are successful then that would be preferable to journeymen every year.

 

 

But that's not going to happen as the club has a third-rate youth system, the club is going to receive a relative pittance in funding for its academy due to Project Brave, and its current crop are jostling with the mighty East Kilbride FC reserves in their current taste of 'competitive' action. 

 

https://spfl.co.uk/development-league/west/

 

Delivering first team success chiefly from that platform is a fantasy island scenario. And if we can move this thread closer to the original topic (the 'Q and A' thread has dealt comprehensively with current club policy), the chief reason for pursuing this plan is to get the Raes 'their' money back by unearthing a James McCarthy figure. Their financial interests should not be the primary aim of this once-proud, professional football club, and so for that reason it is time for them to go. 

[Malt]

Great post by Dunning.

[irnbru]

See Dunning's summation above. And let's bear in mind that we're attempting to do this with a THIRD TIER youth system. It's an abysmal business model and it will not reap the rewards that Rae, and Hawke, are desperate for. When we're playing a League One title decider in front of 1200 people Rae will realise that the damage has been done. 

 

I get where Dunning's coming from but don't agree that the main objective will be to have all young players - it will be to have all young players who are capable of performing at a high level. If they aren't then they won't be getting a regular game. 

 

I appreciate there's a few in and around the first team squad but the last two results haven't been because they aren't good enough they are because Duffy made poor decisions two weeks in a row. 

 

Our current squad isn't too bad but, that said, we're crying out for some options out wide so I'd be disappointed if we don't bring someone in soon.

[Malt]

To add to dunnings. Jon Scullion, Thomas Orr and the likes filled the bench regularly for Morton over the past few years and none of them were good enough for the championship with one playing for Beith and the other Queens Park. There was also McNeil who ended up at Greenock Juniors?

 

I see nothing to suggest that the boys we have on the bench will amount to much. I hope I am wrong but even success stories like Falkirk have stated they will follow a policy of youth already developed and experience.

[Malt]

Good post by clydeview also.

[Malt]

Only 2 people have said that the Rae's shouldn't leave the building...

[Alan_Partridge_Ton]

Dunning's post is spot-on.

 

I have huge reservations over the entire youth set-up - relying on it in any way, and promoting players to the first team squad when they clearly aren't good enough, is not going to end well.

 

Derek McInnes

Derek Collins

Davie Hopkin

John Anderson

Craig McPherson

Derek Lilley

Brian Reid

 

The above - Morton got all of them from boys clubs (aged 16-20 I guess), all went on to become Morton regulars and play at a higher level, some of them making Morton a lot of money in the process. Our best academy players of recent years haven't been a patch on any of these guys, with most of the top prospects failing to make it as pro footballers. The whole worth of having an academy has to be questioned.

I never thought I’d say this but can I hear more from Clydeview?

[Malt]

Even though I wasn't a fan, Davie Wylie came from a boys club.

 

What about Mahood? Where did he come from?

 

Who was the actual last 'product' of the Morton youth system who played youth and was sold or made the break through and was sold?

[cmdc]

Only 2 people have said that the Rae's shouldn't leave the building...

Name and shame

[Malt]

How did you vote lad?

[cmdc]

How did you vote lad?

I didn’t. I don’t really have a strong opinion either way - it depends who is able/willing to take it on, what their plans are etc.

[LinwoodTON]

I didn’t. I don’t really have a strong opinion either way - it depends who is able/willing to take it on, what their plans are etc.

 

I bet you were the type who wouldn't dump their burd until you had another one lined up. 

[cmdc]

I bet you were the type who wouldn't dump their burd until you had another one lined up.

^ shagger

[LinwoodTON]

^ shagger

 

You should try it. 

[irnbru]

Even though I wasn't a fan, Davie Wylie came from a boys club.

 

What about Mahood? Where did he come from?

 

Who was the actual last 'product' of the Morton youth system who played youth and was sold or made the break through and was sold?

 

The youth academy is, as it stands, still in early days so isn't really comparable to Scullion, Orr etc who came from other youth academies themselves (both St Mirren if I remember correctly). It will be another couple of years before we can really judge it's success and see how well players perform that have come up through the different age groups.

[Spot Ton]

Not if it's circling the drain in League One at the time. 

 

The future of the club shouldn't involve it being the sole domain of the Raes or any other owner. The goal should be to move the club towards a genuine board of directors as it had before. That's not going to miraculously solve the club's outstanding issues, but the genuine input of several local businessmen (ideally freshened up on a regular basis) would lead to better decisions than the wild fluctuations and eventual stagnation that have characterised the Rae era. There could even be a place for a credible supporters' body to have representation on the board, but one would probably have to be set up first. 

 

There is no clear path to that outcome and too many decisions lie ahead that could take the club towards disaster than people should be comfortable with. This late-period 'retrenchment to get the Raes' money back' stagnation is a rotten start though and for that reason the Raes leaving is preferable to the status quo. 

And here's me thinking that you said it wasn't up to the fans to come up with solutions.   Keep playing you could be onto something.

[Jamie_M]

And here's me thinking that you said it wasn't up to the fans to come up with solutions. Keep playing you could be onto something.

It still isn't.

[Jamie_M]

The youth academy is, as it stands, still in early days so isn't really comparable to Scullion, Orr etc who came from other youth academies themselves (both St Mirren if I remember correctly). It will be another couple of years before we can really judge it's success and see how well players perform that have come up through the different age groups.

Tell that to Hawke who is taking every opportunity to blow steam up that very type of youth product.

[irnbru]

Tell that to Hawke who is taking every opportunity to blow steam up that very type of youth product.

He's not though. He's saying the aim is to have as many players in the first team coming through the academy as possible - not that it's the be all and end all.

 

He wouldn't be doing his job if he talked it down and will want to make it as attractive an option as possible to young player.

[HamCam]

What the Board are choosing to ignore is that all the fans care about is results on the park. Prioritising kids in the match day squad over promotion is madness but tells you all you need to know about the lack of ambition under the current regime.