Morton Club Together Updates

[HamCam]

Very disappointing update. Everything mentioned should be a given. We must be the only club in Scotland that thinks selling tickets online, offering hospitality and accommodating disabled fans is something to 'boast' about. Where are the new ideas on engaging with fans and increasing turnover? We really are a tinpot outfit under MCT.

[Toby]

They must think we button up the back. If this is what we’re getting from a 3 minute interview designed to show the club in the best possible light from their internal media, this podcast that they’re telling us they’ll be putting out will be a fucking hoot.

[TRVMP]

The Paul! The Debbie! The Paul and Debbie Twin Bin!

[port-ton]

Despite it being completely underwhelming progress, they are still tangible things that take time and needed done even if it only takes us back to a pre pandemic point, so I've not really any complaints about that.

The clear lack of any action or even vocalised plans from anyone in a position of power to bring the club forward are hugely concerning. Getting quite bored of being sold the bare minimum as if we've won a speedboat, or being told that the board have plans to make plans over and over again. 

Chris is quite new to the club and especially to the CEO role and judging by the wording in the article announcing his promotion he clearly felt he was doing more work than his role and pay intended him to so I'm not going to sit and criticise him.

The board again though have had a foot in the door for the whole year getting to know how to run the club pre-takeover and the fact that what's mentioned in that video is all the progress made behind the scenes falls entirely at their door yet again. 

[TRVMP]

33 minutes ago, port-ton said:

Despite it being completely underwhelming progress, they are still tangible things that take time and needed done even if it only takes us back to a pre pandemic point, so I've not really any complaints about that.

The clear lack of any action or even vocalised plans from anyone in a position of power to bring the club forward are hugely concerning. Getting quite bored of being sold the bare minimum as if we've won a speedboat, or being told that the board have plans to make plans over and over again. 

Chris is quite new to the club and especially to the CEO role and judging by the wording in the article announcing his promotion he clearly felt he was doing more work than his role and pay intended him to so I'm not going to sit and criticise him.

The board again though have had a foot in the door for the whole year getting to know how to run the club pre-takeover and the fact that what's mentioned in that video is all the progress made behind the scenes falls entirely at their door yet again. 

The part in bold really bears repeating. I'm sure these guys were doing something during that transition period but you'd be hard-pressed to see what it actually is.

While Chris just got the full CEO job and deserves a chance to prove himself, does he remember that the object of the enterprise here is running a professional football club which might be expected to win a match every now and again? I didn't hear a single mention of the football structure in his interview, nor the first team. Not even the youth team, come to think of it. This would have made sense when he was General Manager, but what is the structure now that he's CEO? "Do everything you were previously doing, only moreso" seems to be the size of it. Do footballing matters still lie with that unnamed coterie of four Board members? Does Chris have any input into them or any responsibility towards them? Coz no offence n'at but I can do without someone making hot chocolate for the carol singers if they'd be better served getting guys like Nick away from footballing decisions.

Edited December 3, 2021 by TRVMP

[DumfriesTon]

I'd had a look at when the Q&A with the MCT board was and had a wee rewatch- it was the 28th October so 5/6 weeks roughly. 

One of the questions was: 

What are the club doing to attempt to increase attendances? 

Graham Barr admits the club weren't doing enough. So what have we done since then to try and get more people through the gates?

Fuck all is the answer. Content to promote games isn't a hard thing to do. It doesn't need months of preparation to get promotional campaigns for games started.  

Having a good product on the pitch was something he mentioned about increasing attendances. What have we done since?

We've persisted with a dinosaur manager who hasn't got a clue, driving fans away with each game, yet he's still in a job.

He mentions reaching out to the Inverclyde community to get them into games. Have we done anything?

I don't live in the area (and I'm happy to be proved wrong here) but I'd guarantee you the club is doing nothing/very little to do that. 

He says the social media output needs to improve. What has changed? 

Nothing. As I said 6 weeks ago or so it doesn't take massive planning to get better social media content/timely news. At the moment we just get a 2/3 minute interview from Gus (to be fair, that's probably 2/3 minutes too long) from an interviewer who you can barely hear because of the background noise. It's tedious.

He said they want 'new and engaging' content with insight into players/behind the scenes etc so where is it? 

Maybe I'm being harsh and it's not a dig at Graham Barr specifically - he's the commercial guy on the board so probably bears the brunt of my rant. But that's now 6 weeks since that update, never-mind the fact MCT have been in the door full time for 6 months or so. 

Then you get that ridiculous 2 minute interview with Chris Ross to which we're expected to be doing cartwheels because we've got Carol singers in next week.

There just seems to be zero progress on anything at the moment - commercial side specifically.

MCT are taking us for a ride in which we're expected to be happy with the absolute bare minimum. 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by DumfriesTon

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, TRVMP said:

The part in bold really bears repeating. I'm sure these guys were doing something during that transition period but you'd be hard-pressed to see what it actually is.

Well the chief beard managed to swan around and get on everyone's tits by the time of the play-offs, which has set the tone nicely for their reign so far.

[TRVMP]

53 minutes ago, DumfriesTon said:

He mentions reaching out to the Inverclyde community to get them into games. Have we done anything?

I don't live in the area (and I'm happy to be proved wrong here) but I'd guarantee you the club is doing nothing/very little to do that. 

In any case community engagement should largely be the domain of the Community Trust. I get that the CT's remit isn't to get fans into games but it's a nice side-effect of people being engaged with Morton. If part of MCT's remit (and by extension the Board's remit) is to get fans paying into games then community outreach is the thin end of the wedge; a competitive first team and a buzz about the place on the playing side are by far the most meaningful ways of doing that.

I'm not complaining about things like the carol singers, events like these being good and nice things and a positive aspect of the club... but if the club's Board and CEO (separate from the Community Trust) starts treating these things as either ends in themselves or ways of engaging with the support then we're in deep bother. The primary reason why most people who care about Morton care about Morton is that it's a professional football club whose first team competes in the SPFL. That is the core product, that is the part that people stand in the rain for, that is the part that people pay money for. And I think a few Scottish clubs are, if you'll pardon the expression, sniffing each others' farts and talking about governance and community engagement and best practices to the expense of their core business. I think Morton are in real danger of becoming one such club.

Again, this is not to impugn in any way the Community Trust, nor the work they do, nor the community stuff the Club does in addition to it. These are good things. But the club's board's main focus absolutely must be first team affairs, and I'm increasingly concerned that it isn't.

[TheGoon]

Not that it’d be met with much enthusiasm, but there hasn’t been a single mention of our Scottish Cup game on Tuesday or how to obtain tickets for it. 

[TRVMP]

1 minute ago, TheGoon said:

Not that it’d be met with much enthusiasm, but there hasn’t been a single mention of our Scottish Cup game on Tuesday or how to obtain tickets for it. 

Noticed that earlier, it's not even on the fixture page. Nor, for that matter, is the result of the original fixture from six days ago in Inverness.

Is there one guy at all at the club, just one, who actually knows what Morton is? A professional football club, which plays football matches that people like to watch because they like football and the Morton football team that plays it?

[vikingTON]

1 minute ago, TRVMP said:

Noticed that earlier, it's not even on the fixture page. Nor, for that matter, is the result of the original fixture from six days ago in Inverness.

Is there one guy at all at the club, just one, who actually knows what Morton is? A professional football club, which plays football matches that people like to watch because they like football and the Morton football team that plays it?

I think you'll find that 'Morton' is a holding company that exists to pick up second tier prize money cheques/community grants and avoid just enough pesky away matches from cup progress to register a token profit. 

It's the bean-counter version of playing Train Simulator: Engineers Edition on their PC, only with added brownie points in the golf club lounge. 

[irnbru]

41 minutes ago, TheGoon said:

Not that it’d be met with much enthusiasm, but there hasn’t been a single mention of our Scottish Cup game on Tuesday or how to obtain tickets for it. 

But at least cappie will have the mcgills logo on for it. 

[Mr.Blue]

22 hours ago, port-ton said:

Brian Gillan and Stuart Duncan and its for MCT board not Morton board. Apart from that a very accurate post

This is the MCT thread and I thought it obvious that everyone would know what board I was referring to!

 

[BigHogTon]

Hearing Brian Rice is ready to come in, was told if we didn’t win today he was in on Monday for Scottish Cup game. What would we say. Same source that told me JJ was going.

[hoodless]

31 minutes ago, BigHogTon said:

Hearing Brian Rice is ready to come in, was told if we didn’t win today he was in on Monday for Scottish Cup game. What would we say. Same source that told me JJ was going.

TTG. Gants on Tuesday then if that haddie gets it. He 100% will then. 

[TaunTon]

4 hours ago, BigHogTon said:

Hearing Brian Rice is ready to come in, was told if we didn’t win today he was in on Monday for Scottish Cup game. What would we say. Same source that told me JJ was going.

Nightmare.

[SpoonTon]

4 hours ago, BigHogTon said:

Hearing Brian Rice is ready to come in, was told if we didn’t win today he was in on Monday for Scottish Cup game. What would we say. Same source that told me JJ was going.

Incredibly odd. 

There needs to be some reflection and a proper process. It doesn't need to a lengthy process, but it would feel like a mistake to rush to an uninspiring choice. 

[vikingTON]

The board's decision to hand McPherson a new deal in May was wrong but the reasoning behind it was understandable - though foolish. I don't get why they would suddenly accept 18 months of costs and an enormous dent in their legitimacy right now, just to appoint Brian Rice who has been out of a job for months already.

[port-ton]

Taking too long to fire a manager compared to our relegation rivals and then hiring one of those said fired relegation rival managers would really be something else. 

[Guest capitanus]

15 hours ago, port-ton said:

Taking too long to fire a manager compared to our relegation rivals and then hiring one of those said fired relegation rival managers would really be something else. 

Suggesting Barry Ferguson is something else too.