Morton Club Together Updates

[HamCam]

I really do not believe the fans do not want MCT to succeed especially when you consider how many continue to provide financial backing despite growing reservations about delivery. I have always taken the view it would be a long-term project but at some point you have to see some tangible progress. The takeover is still 'nearly' there, the squad is threadbare with little sign of the quality promised, the ticketing process remains an ongoing issue, marketing is almost non-existent, the website is a mess, communication is almost always reactive than pro-active... The net result is the rapid erosion of goodwill with the likelihood contributions will not be renewed never mind increased.  None of this might matter to the majority of fans if Morton were winning...

[TheGoon]

Pleased to see some sort of statement with regards to the Lithgow thing, not pleased to see it on the MCT account which has 20x less reach than the club’s. Feels like the’re just trying to sweep it away. 

[SpoonTon]

I didn't expect MCT to come in and be immediately great at running a football club. Dougie ran the club for many years and was never really great at it. Crawford had been about the club for years and he was abysmal at it. I'm willing to be patient because there isn't an alternative our there right now. 

That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be questioning and criticism. Morton still seem as leaderless as we were under Crawford, and there are still loads of little issues which all add up. I think that constructive criticism and guidance is important at this point. There are some murmurings that perhaps some of this isn't being taken on board. I'm out of the loop here - I have no idea what is being meant by certain people being arrogant or others being ignored or whatever else. I simply have no details to actually make a judgement on any of this. 

For me, I'm happy to judge progress over the next few months and what emerges over the course of the season in terms of the club as a whole. This isn't a free pass, but unless there is clear evidence that something fundamental will prevent progress I think it's fair to allow those at MCT to start to grow into the running of the club. I'd have been shocked if they came in and were immediately organised and actually really good at it. 

[piehutt]

3 minutes ago, SpoonTon said:

I didn't expect MCT to come in and be immediately great at running a football club. Dougie ran the club for many years and was never really great at it. Crawford had been about the club for years and he was abysmal at it. I'm willing to be patient because there isn't an alternative our there right now. 

That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be questioning and criticism. Morton still seem as leaderless as we were under Crawford, and there are still loads of little issues which all add up. I think that constructive criticism and guidance is important at this point. There are some murmurings that perhaps some of this isn't being taken on board. I'm out of the loop here - I have no idea what is being meant by certain people being arrogant or others being ignored or whatever else. I simply have no details to actually make a judgement on any of this. 

For me, I'm happy to judge progress over the next few months and what emerges over the course of the season in terms of the club as a whole. This isn't a free pass, but unless there is clear evidence that something fundamental will prevent progress I think it's fair to allow those at MCT to start to grow into the running of the club. I'd have been shocked if they came in and were immediately organised and actually really good at it. 

Completely agree. 

If you have had discussions or contact with anyone, share them for others to become more informed. 

It would be good to know about the budget for players and if this has been aggressive or conservative. I suspect we would be shocked if we knew what GC were covering most seasons and it will take time to get our revenue streams back up to what we all hope they should be. 

 

[HamCam]

17 hours ago, HamCam said:

I really do not believe the fans do not want MCT to succeed especially when you consider how many continue to provide financial backing despite growing reservations about delivery. I have always taken the view it would be a long-term project but at some point you have to see some tangible progress. The takeover is still 'nearly' there, the squad is threadbare with little sign of the quality promised, the ticketing process remains an ongoing issue, marketing is almost non-existent, the website is a mess, communication is almost always reactive than proactive... The net result is the rapid erosion of goodwill with the likelihood contributions will not be renewed never mind increased.  None of this might matter to the majority of fans if Morton were winning...

Tick one box along the road to tangible progress.

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

On 8/31/2021 at 4:18 PM, TheGoon said:

Pleased to see some sort of statement with regards to the Lithgow thing, not pleased to see it on the MCT account which has 20x less reach than the club’s. Feels like the’re just trying to sweep it away. 

This is just another example of how disjointed the organisation is. Whether you agree with the Lithgow thing or not there should have been one statement released and it should have come from the club and not MCT.  There needs to be a proper demarcation of responsibilities or else there is a danger at some point of the club and MCT releasing different communications on the same subject. There needs to be defined roles and responsibilities, written down so that everyone understands their role and where their responsibility starts and ends, for everyone involved at Cappielow or else it will end up a shambles.

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

On 8/31/2021 at 4:27 PM, SpoonTon said:

I didn't expect MCT to come in and be immediately great at running a football club. Dougie ran the club for many years and was never really great at it. Crawford had been about the club for years and he was abysmal at it. I'm willing to be patient because there isn't an alternative our there right now. 

That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be questioning and criticism. Morton still seem as leaderless as we were under Crawford, and there are still loads of little issues which all add up. I think that constructive criticism and guidance is important at this point. There are some murmurings that perhaps some of this isn't being taken on board. I'm out of the loop here - I have no idea what is being meant by certain people being arrogant or others being ignored or whatever else. I simply have no details to actually make a judgement on any of this. 

For me, I'm happy to judge progress over the next few months and what emerges over the course of the season in terms of the club as a whole. This isn't a free pass, but unless there is clear evidence that something fundamental will prevent progress I think it's fair to allow those at MCT to start to grow into the running of the club. I'd have been shocked if they came in and were immediately organised and actually really good at it. 

Why, I don't buy that. They had Gordon Ritchie staked out at the club for months and his role was to learn the ins and out of how the club operated. There was no reason why they couldn't have been organised other than there was a lot of navel gazing going on rather than planning for when they actually got the keys or at least a key to the front door. I get really frustrated at the lack of basic good management and forward planning that hasn't taken place long before the papers were signed. It just smacks of folk who don't know how to organise and plan ahead.

Edited September 2, 2021 by 9 Strathblane Crescent

[Toby]

To answer Piehutt’s point about my labelling of Gordon Ritchie as arrogant, I’m not going to kid on I’m not privy to the odd wee titbit of information from mates, but it’s up to them to share it with the wider public if they feel the need to.

That said, I’ve already alluded on this thread to what I believe to be his quite appalling treatment of Christopher Dodds at Montrose in May, when he apparently threatened to withdraw all his media privileges as a result of Christopher’s criticisms of Captain Calamity Sean McGinty the previous week. On a number of levels, this is just wrong.

There’s been a big story about Rangers charging the media £25,000 a season for access and how this is their way of controlling negative output. I fail to see a difference here, other than scale.

Do we really want to see the Tele being forced into avoiding criticism for fear of being banned? I’m sorry, but unlike the Rangers support, who seem to see criticism as a personal slight, rather than necessary on occasion, I want to see my club taken to task when things go wrong.

It also begs the question as to whether Roger Graham or Jonathan Mitchell, two experienced journalists who had built up a bit of currency in their roles would have been treated in such a way. If not, I’d suggest this behaviour is tantamount to the bullying of a young boy at the early stages of his career, and is quite frankly shameful.

I didn’t like a lot of things that the Raes did in their twenty years at the helm, and made my opinions known at the time. But ultimately, it was their club and if I wasn’t happy, nobody was forcing me to support the club. A fan owned club though, should in my opinion hold itself to higher standards as they are responsible to every one of their members and supporters- the people whose money has put them in the position they occupy.

I was a bit late to the party when joining MCT as I initially had my misgivings, but I certainly don’t recall being asked to vote for Gordon Ritchie. Others may have been, before I joined up, but in the spirit of democracy, I’d urge everyone to ensure he’s not given another spell in office at either MCT or Morton themselves.

[capitanus]

2 hours ago, Toby said:

To answer Piehutt’s point about my labelling of Gordon Ritchie as arrogant, I’m not going to kid on I’m not privy to the odd wee titbit of information from mates, but it’s up to them to share it with the wider public if they feel the need to.

That said, I’ve already alluded on this thread to what I believe to be his quite appalling treatment of Christopher Dodds at Montrose in May, when he apparently threatened to withdraw all his media privileges as a result of Christopher’s criticisms of Captain Calamity Sean McGinty the previous week. On a number of levels, this is just wrong.

There’s been a big story about Rangers charging the media £25,000 a season for access and how this is their way of controlling negative output. I fail to see a difference here, other than scale.

Do we really want to see the Tele being forced into avoiding criticism for fear of being banned? I’m sorry, but unlike the Rangers support, who seem to see criticism as a personal slight, rather than necessary on occasion, I want to see my club taken to task when things go wrong.

It also begs the question as to whether Roger Graham or Jonathan Mitchell, two experienced journalists who had built up a bit of currency in their roles would have been treated in such a way. If not, I’d suggest this behaviour is tantamount to the bullying of a young boy at the early stages of his career, and is quite frankly shameful.

I didn’t like a lot of things that the Raes did in their twenty years at the helm, and made my opinions known at the time. But ultimately, it was their club and if I wasn’t happy, nobody was forcing me to support the club. A fan owned club though, should in my opinion hold itself to higher standards as they are responsible to every one of their members and supporters- the people whose money has put them in the position they occupy.

I was a bit late to the party when joining MCT as I initially had my misgivings, but I certainly don’t recall being asked to vote for Gordon Ritchie. Others may have been, before I joined up, but in the spirit of democracy, I’d urge everyone to ensure he’s not given another spell in office at either MCT or Morton themselves.

Reading this reminded me of this article from a few months back in the Smelly Tele: 

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/18987304.morton-bosses-called-police-explosive-leaked-document/

In particular this part:

"Under one section headed 'CEO ROLE AND FUTURE: Gordon Ritchie', the author makes a series of claims about Mr Ritchie, a senior official from MCT who was recently appointed to the Ton board to help prepare for the transition to community ownership this summer.

The document accuses the lawyer of 'actively interfering and undermining CEO position - cutting across CEO role by going direct to senior players and the assistant manager by discussing player retention and targets and in the case of one player telling him his likely role going forward'.

By reading this and the above I reckon there may have been more than an element of truth about this.  

The thing with Solicitors, they're well educated professional people who understand the law and legal process but that does not automatically make them astute businessmen by virtue of.  It seems like this guy is in danger of alienating the very people he is meant to serve with his actions.

[TRVMP]

The current site doesn't have the Challenge Cup game tomorrow on it, nor the results for the last two games.

Posting it here since I know MCT read it.

[Toby]

2 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

The current site doesn't have the Challenge Cup game tomorrow on it, nor the results for the last two games.

Posting it here since I know MCT read it.

Good to see them doing something right, then.

[TRVMP]

Just now, Toby said:

Good to see them doing something right, then.

I did wonder if the Celtic B snub wasn't deliberate. But not having the last two results is a bit poor.

[Jamie_M]

31 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

I did wonder if the Celtic B snub wasn't deliberate. But not having the last two results is a bit poor.

Could be worse, you could be on there trying to find out who Lewis McGregor is.

[TRVMP]

3 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Could be worse, you could be on there trying to find out who Lewis McGregor is.

Just looked at the squad page. All the new signings are missing too. Lots of photos missing for players who've been here for ages, such as Russell and Hamilton. No photos from this season and one player is even in the kit from a season before that. (If we've not had the photoshoot this season, fine, but that doesn't account for this mistake.) Different photo dimensions. All stuff that one person with a give-a-fuck-o-meter would want fixed. None of it is huge, but it's part of a greater whole of tinpottery.

[ChampTon]

Remember the 'hype' they tried to create with the new website?

[Jamie_M]

4 hours ago, TRVMP said:

Just looked at the squad page. All the new signings are missing too. Lots of photos missing for players who've been here for ages, such as Russell and Hamilton. No photos from this season and one player is even in the kit from a season before that. (If we've not had the photoshoot this season, fine, but that doesn't account for this mistake.) Different photo dimensions. All stuff that one person with a give-a-fuck-o-meter would want fixed. None of it is huge, but it's part of a greater whole of tinpottery.

Aye, lots of issues. The McGregor one particularly stood out for me as he is getting starts and he is non-existent on the first team, development or academy squad pages.

3 hours ago, ChampTon said:

Remember the 'hype' they tried to create with the new website?

Fit for purpose. What that purpose is though is anyone's guess.

[TaunTon]

5 hours ago, Jamie_M said:

Aye, lots of issues. The McGregor one particularly stood out for me as he is getting starts and he is non-existent on the first team, development or academy squad pages.

Fit for purpose. What that purpose is though is anyone's guess.

In a strange way this stuff annoys me far more than some of the other faux pas.

I don't expect an all singing and dancing website to be a top or even secondary priority but updating the site in a timely fashion is an easy quick win that would demonstrate the difference between the old regime and the new. It really  is a basic issue that is easily resolved but once again it's an afterthought.

I'm relatively patient and understand that there will be significant demands on a fairly small group of people but please don't continue to tell me how important fan engagement and communication is if you cannot deliver the most basic information consistently and professionally.

[Deego]

20 hours ago, TRVMP said:

Just looked at the squad page. All the new signings are missing too. Lots of photos missing for players who've been here for ages, such as Russell and Hamilton. No photos from this season and one player is even in the kit from a season before that. (If we've not had the photoshoot this season, fine, but that doesn't account for this mistake.) Different photo dimensions. All stuff that one person with a give-a-fuck-o-meter would want fixed. None of it is huge, but it's part of a greater whole of tinpottery.

This stuff really does my nut in. It might be partially because I'm an internet weirdo but for me it just adds to the overall amateur image of the club. 

The whole website is embarrassing to begin with, but I'd like to think they'd at least populate it with the right content.

Actually just checked and it's all been updated...

In the spirit of complaining about things and then having them sorted, I'd just like to say that the website is so, so shite. I'm a big fan of the design work that MTC did for Hearts and Motherwell.

[Jamie_M]

3 hours ago, Deego said:

Actually just checked and it's all been updated.

Lewis McGregor disagrees.

 

 

Good to see some updates. 

[capitanus]

21 hours ago, Deego said:

This stuff really does my nut in. It might be partially because I'm an internet weirdo but for me it just adds to the overall amateur image of the club. 

The whole website is embarrassing to begin with, but I'd like to think they'd at least populate it with the right content.

Actually just checked and it's all been updated...

In the spirit of complaining about things and then having them sorted, I'd just like to say that the website is so, so shite. I'm a big fan of the design work that MTC did for Hearts and Motherwell.

It shouldn't be too hard even for an organisation reliant on volunteers to keep their content current and up to date.  If organisations such as Bowling Clubs or Golf Clubs can do it, then why not a professional football club?

Considering one of the cohorts from the MCT is Graham Barr who is responsible for Media and Communications, this should surely fall under his remit.