Morton Club Together Updates

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

6 hours ago, vikingTON said:

1) There were plenty of external people willing to take on the role of sitting on the GMFC board before. Some of the MCT leadership also came out of the woodwork sharpish once a spot in the comfy seats and bragging rights at the golf club appeared on the horizon. There was no shortage of candidates for the last election so the idea that only the current leadership group would possibly want to do the job is not supported by any facts. 

As for the 'what football experience do you have' - that's why a chief criticism of the current GMFC/MCT mindmerge is 'not bringing in relevant expertise for football affairs'. None of the current leadership team have any credible football experience either: which is not an issue, if you understand how to delegate authority to someone who does. Letting the accountants and lawyers decide who gets to be the manager has already driven us into a completely avoidable ditch after about 0.3 seconds in the hotseat.

Learn lessons or be replaced. That's how accountability and fan ownership should work. 

2) John Hughes' levels of pashun are not alone sufficient to qualify someone to run a professional football team. This is not a social club. 

3) The huge flaw with your argument is that the Scottish national leagues are no longer a closed shop. Morton can not bump around shamefully at the bottom of a pile of utter permadiddy outfits as the club did in the early 1960s. If it does so again, it will now find itself in the Lowland and ultimately West of Scotland leagues playing 'Broomhill' and 'Caledonian Braves' at the equivalent of Parklea every other week. Which would mean the death of any meaningful football club in this community. 

Where I agree with your argument is that we should not be as obsessed as we have been recently about avoiding relegation and preserving this nick of a  'Championship status'. Circling the drain and being too afraid to make meaningful change is the quickest way to killing enthusiasm for this fan ownership idea. A spell in the league below is in my view essential to rebuilding and restructuring on a sounder footing than this ad hoc, just get 40 points and we're fine approach, but that restructure still needs to happen. It is a case of adapt or die now in SPFL football. 

I agree with this, but why do we have to wait until we are relegated to do the rebuilding and restructuring. Surely we can do both whether we manage to stay up or not?

[vikingTON]

5 hours ago, 9 Strathblane Crescent said:

I agree with this, but why do we have to wait until we are relegated to do the rebuilding and restructuring. Surely we can do both whether we manage to stay up or not?

We've literally just witnessed a summer in which the club gave out both fresh and multi-year deals all round, off the back of the 'success' of staying in the league through the play-offs. The abject failure that led to us competing in the play-offs was completely overlooked: if we end up finishing 8th, the club will be wanting a town hall reception. 

The incentives are not there for the people running GMFC to do anything other than try to kick the can down the road for another year, point to 'aye but the Championship prize money!' and hope that the manager will do them a slightly less shite turn with the same setup. Only relegation will deliver the reality check needed to force the long overdue rethink of how this football club should operate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The critical fact that the vast majority of the clubs you are directly competing against get access to more prize money after finishing higher in the league the previous season is never taken into account. Raith for example enjoyed well over a £100k headstart on GMFC in building their 21-22 squad. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by vikingTON

[capitanus]

21 hours ago, CM48 said:

Frustrating as it is for the team on the park to have been pish for what seems like forever there's a lot of people on here who seem convinced that changing the manager / new board / everything / really would fix it. Let's say we do go looking for a director of football who do we get? Someone who's got a lot of experience and managed fairly successfully at a higher level, perhaps keeping a small team in the top flight? Like Gary Holt? Or maybe even all the way to international level, like Craig Levein? What would Hearts and Falkirk fans opinions be on them? Duffy? Worked so well at Ayr that Hoppy's already away and Jim's having to take the team.

Also, if we get rid of the new board, who's taking that on? Does anyone on here know of people with footballing backgrounds and board level experience knocking on the doors at Cappielow and asking to join in? Especially when your reward is people who are unwilling or unable to do it themselves telling you where you're going wrong and how to fix it? Not saying you shouldn't expect criticism, just saying who wants that in their life? The Q+A wasn't great (being kind) but at least they tried something. If they all chucked it tomorrow then...I genuinely don't know what would happen.

I listened to Cornetto there, which I enjoy, but thought it was a bit funny that they were handing out pelters left right and centre about various inept performances at the club in between silences from 1 of only 3 contributors. I mean how hard is it to check that 33% of your podcast is missing before telling the world it's a "must listen"? 

I've done some work for the club over the last few years on a voluntary basis and had dealings with 2 chief execs and the new general manager as well as Crawford and a few of the new MCT team now on the board and Gus. None of them (ok, maybe one) seemed concerned about themselves over what was good for the club.

Everyone seems to think that relegation is the apocalypse. Of course I don't want us to go down, but what's more important is that there's always a club there to support and I can't help thinking the more we hound out people who are willing to actually try and take things on on behalf of the supporters, the worse the caliber of those who then take over will be. Again, Cornetto were already coming out with "At least when the Raes were there..." stuff this week. Do I think Dean and co. should go because of the silent gaps and that I don't agree with some of their content? Absolutely not, it's obvious they're passionate about the club and that's both brilliant and the most important thing by a mile. It's why I listen and enjoy it so much.

And again, not saying it's fun being pish and 2nd bottom of the league, but surely the fact the new directors and staff in place are passionate enough about the club to put the time in to get involved in running it all is the most important thing? MCT getting the amount of people to sign up is a brilliant achievement. Lessons on how to not be so bad at answering fans questions will have be learnt along the way as I don't see who or what the alternative is? Saudis? Easdales? Anyone on here?

It might be over 20 years ago now but since liquidation I just want the club to always be there. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's enjoyed great times (and shite) following Morton in every league they've played in since I was a kid. And despite now many fans unease and disappointment in the running of the club this season, along with results on the park, I still feel the club won't go down the toilet and I'll always be able to and watch a Morton team playing at Cappielow. And I know it's a (very) long shot, but we could be 6th by Saturday evening. (Too much?)

 

Too long, didnt read.

Next.

[AyrshireTon]

Wasn’t sure which thread to mention this in, but those Easdale chaps are trying to buy Derby County,

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

4 hours ago, AyrshireTon said:

Wasn’t sure which thread to mention this in, but those Easdale chaps are trying to buy Derby County,

Did make an offer to take Morton off of Crawford Rae's hands but wanted Golden Casket as part of the deal.

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

On 11/4/2021 at 9:35 PM, vikingTON said:

We've literally just witnessed a summer in which the club gave out both fresh and multi-year deals all round, off the back of the 'success' of staying in the league through the play-offs. The abject failure that led to us competing in the play-offs was completely overlooked: if we end up finishing 8th, the club will be wanting a town hall reception. 

The incentives are not there for the people running GMFC to do anything other than try to kick the can down the road for another year, point to 'aye but the Championship prize money!' and hope that the manager will do them a slightly less shite turn with the same setup. Only relegation will deliver the reality check needed to force the long overdue rethink of how this football club should operate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The critical fact that the vast majority of the clubs you are directly competing against get access to more prize money after finishing higher in the league the previous season is never taken into account. Raith for example enjoyed well over a £100k headstart on GMFC in building their 21-22 squad. 

Don't agree, there are people within MCT who know we need big changes but like all change it takes time, effort and commitment.

[The Bewilderedbeast]

5 hours ago, AyrshireTon said:

Wasn’t sure which thread to mention this in, but those Easdale chaps are trying to buy Derby County,

Hope they do, the million pound deal taking Alexander off our hands will come on handy.

[vikingTON]

3 hours ago, 9 Strathblane Crescent said:

Don't agree, there are people within MCT who know we need big changes but like all change it takes time, effort and commitment.

Such as?

The time to commit to change was this summer - they went for 'stability' instead. There has been zero discussion from anyone in a leadership capacity within MCT about whether insisting on full-time contracts might be a useless model. There's also absolutely nothing to suggest that the GMFC board - which is not the same as MCT - recognises any such need for a fundamental rethink, so long as 'survival' and 'Championship prize money' are preserved.

Only relegation can force a reckoning with a first team structure that isn't working. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by vikingTON

[TRVMP]

Announce Dunning

[Admin]

Submit any questions you have for the MCT directors below, you can also PM the Admin account or e-mail them to TheMortonForum@gmail.com.

[capitanus]

On 11/8/2021 at 6:04 PM, Admin said:

Submit any questions you have for the MCT directors below, you can also PM the Admin account or e-mail them to TheMortonForum@gmail.com.

I logged on with a view to sending across a question for the 'MCT Directors', but i appreciate that i may be too late.

The question was whether they feel that Morton have set a very dangerous precedent by recruiting a convicted sex offender, and whether it is worth abandoning your principles for a couple of seasons service from someone that may be considered a good player, but still remains a sex offender.

Also, the club are recruiting someone for a Child Protection/Safeguarding role.  Surely signing a convicted sex offender sends out the message that the club DO NOT take issues such as these seriously, and value some short term results for the first team over important matters such as the safety and welfare of youngsters entrusted into their care.

[Toby]

This pretty much sums up my concerns about the last Q&A organised by the SLO.

“We’ll answer your questions, but only if it’s on our terms.”

Let’s not kid ourselves, this isn’t about how long they’re going to persist with Gus McPherson, and they’ll continue to dodge the question about why they signed a convicted sex offender.

Morton’s concerns about commenting on an individual employee really don’t have precedence over the fans’ and community’s over the dangers that said employee could potentially pose.

[GiGi]

Upon revealing? What the MCT team think they'd be asked I wonder? This is not a good look tbh. If they're happy to answer questions (some questions) via a 'feedback loop' they should be happy to have someone answer them publicly on the podcast.

[gmfc23]

Bed well and truly shat tbh. These charlatans need emptied as soon as possible before we become any more of a tin pot embarrassment of a club. 

Give us your money don't speak out n do as your told where have we seen this before. 

[port-ton]

I don't think any company should be answering questions regarding the hiring of someone with a criminal record etc, but questions about the manager should be fair game, even if they give answers the fans don't want to hear. 

These board members need to be willing to put themselves in uncomfortable situations because the goodwill built up from the takeover has long since eroded as they stumble from one mis-step to another. 

I've went from excited to disappointed to angry at how the club is being run and we are only in November, the next stage for me is apathy and that's the stage when MCT should really worry about with regards to fans. 

[TRVMP]

20 minutes ago, port-ton said:

I don't think any company should be answering questions regarding the hiring of someone with a criminal record etc, but questions about the manager should be fair game, even if they give answers the fans don't want to hear. 

These board members need to be willing to put themselves in uncomfortable situations because the goodwill built up from the takeover has long since eroded as they stumble from one mis-step to another. 

I've went from excited to disappointed to angry at how the club is being run and we are only in November, the next stage for me is apathy and that's the stage when MCT should really worry about with regards to fans. 

They'd have no need to answer questions if they'd pre-empted them with some kind of acknowledgement or statement. Of course, people may still disagree and may still want to ask questions, but then the club could say "we've spoken on that already, see our initial statement, no further comment." It wouldn't please everyone, but it would be something.

Clyde published this four days after they signed David Goodwillie in 2017:

Club Statement - David Goodwillie | 3 Apr 2017 | News | Clyde Football Club (clydefc.co.uk)

Again, you can agree with it or you can disagree with it, but it's there, it's clear, it spells out exactly what the club's thinking was and why they made the decision they did.

What Morton have done is utterly shite it. And I say that as someone who's absolutely fine with Lithgow playing for us.

[TheGoon]

Yeah I’m not impressed with that at all. At the very least, some sort of blanket statement about Lithgow (which would look ridiculous this late on but hey ho) would’ve helped. Avoiding questions about it entirely is a dreadful look. 

[Hej]

Bored beyond tears to be still hearing about people banging the Lithgow drum in November tbh

[TRVMP]

14 minutes ago, Hej said:

Bored beyond tears to be still hearing about people banging the Lithgow drum in November tbh

Which is fair enough, but it's now well enough established that, for whatever reason, the club's reluctance to go on the record about this is at cross-purposes with their stated aim of being more responsive. An entire podcast that they signed up for is cancelled because they don't want to speak about employees. Right, fine. Now what, when someone wants to know about an employee? Is that the cast-iron policy going forward? Does it apply to the club Board or just to MCT?

I'm sure the shan, not-at-all-back-of-a-fag-packet "Feedback Loop" will have all these answers and more, when it's convenient.

edit: To reiterate, I'm fine with Lithgow being here. What I'm not fine with is MCT using him as a shield to help the club's Board dodge their responsibility to the club's owners, namely the MCT membership.

Edited November 10, 2021 by TRVMP

[port-ton]

Would have preferred that the board members addressed the Lithgow question politically on air and in general terms of employees with criminal offences. Some People wouldn't like the answer but it's much better to face a question and front up why you won't answer than refuse to answer it in the pre screening stage. 

Feel like a compromise could have been made between the podcast and the board members as there are so many questions needing answered that I personally would rather MCT be pressed on from outside sources rather than answering it without the chance of any follow up questions. 

The people who care about the Lithgow situation clearly care about it passionately, but there are many questions regarding MCT's running of the club that every single fan cares about and answers are needed urgently.