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Club Statement 24 November 2021


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It is an important point that we ask - what would rehabilitation look like in his case? It would look like not reoffending, and getting his head down and doing his job. He's doing that. In that sense, he's done what Morton as a club, and Scotland as a society, have asked of him.

The alternative is that any given employer and the entirety of society don't offer scope for rehabilitation, in which case every similar sentence is effectively a life sentence. That may be - and in my view is - appropriate in the case of certain hellish crimes. But not this one.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the club's choices here this seems to be a key point.

edit: Morton as a club had no scope to ask anything about it so I've edited this post, but you know what I mean. Morton hired him to play football, that's what he's doing.

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8 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

It is an important point that we ask - what would rehabilitation look like in his case? It would look like not reoffending, and getting his head down and doing his job. He's doing that. In that sense, he's done what Morton as a club, and Scotland as a society, have asked of him.

The alternative is that any given employer and the entirety of society don't offer scope for rehabilitation, in which case every similar sentence is effectively a life sentence. That may be - and in my view is - appropriate in the case of certain hellish crimes. But not this one.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the club's choices here this seems to be a key point.

edit: Morton as a club had no scope to ask anything about it so I've edited this post, but you know what I mean. Morton hired him to play football, that's what he's doing.

Noncing is a life sentence.  The alternative is don't be a nonce. 

That is why sex offenders are most often segregated from the other inmates when they go to prison, as they get singled out for punishment beatings, slashings etc. from other prisoners.  

I am actually surprised that in the tough environment that is Scottish Football that no player has decided to give him a really vicious tackle.  He has been rather fortunate in that regard.

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1 hour ago, cmdc said:

No idea, and it isn't relevant. We did sign Lithgow and so as a potential employer his conviction was irrelevant to Morton and as an employee his conviction is irrelevant to his treatment by the club. There is no duty on fans to agree with the signing or to treat him in any particular way (albeit some of what has been said about him is borderline actionable), but there absolutely is such a duty on Morton as his employer.

Which is your right - but (thankfully) you can't lawfully achieve that and my personal view is it is inconsistent to talk about moral bankruptcy and also to single someone out for a hard time who is rehabilitated.                      

And why is it wrong to suggest that the club is morally bankrupt?  Morton have knowingly signed a journeyman footballer whom we previously rejected as he committed multiple sexual offences.  Morton have shown no regard towards the thoughts and feelings of the supporters in this manner, or the safety and wellbeing of the female staff or female supporters, or the children or the various vulnerable groups associated with Morton.   He can kick a ball about a field, so we're expected to conveniently forget about everything else!?!  

I would much sooner that Morton died a dignified death than resorted to signing wrong'uns of this type to achieve some short term results, which incidentally haven't materialised.

In fairness to yourself, you have argued a very good case that despite being a convicted sex offender and nasty pervert he has certain rights enshrined in law, which mean that employers can't treat him in an unfair manner.  However, considering that he isn't all that great a player and has this troubled past which he wont escape, this would have been a very good reason for avoiding signing him in the first place.

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5 hours ago, TRVMP said:

It is an important point that we ask - what would rehabilitation look like in his case? It would look like not reoffending, and getting his head down and doing his job. He's doing that. In that sense, he's done what Morton as a club, and Scotland as a society, have asked of him.

The alternative is that any given employer and the entirety of society don't offer scope for rehabilitation, in which case every similar sentence is effectively a life sentence. That may be - and in my view is - appropriate in the case of certain hellish crimes. But not this one.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the club's choices here this seems to be a key point.

If a dodgy accountant gets caught cooking the books and skimming the company's money for themselves, their chance of returning to their previous career is zero, spent conviction or not. That's hardly a hellish crime and yet we don't have all this pious, nonsense hand-wringing about rehabilitation. 

It's unclear why exactly a professional and 'community' football club should be under any greater societal obligation to allow rehabilitation to take place in a chosen profession. I'm sure that there are many successful careers in flogging Herbalife for a dung ex-footballer, away from the public eye. 

The site is supposed to be a place for the extended 'family' of Morton supporters - having an affinity with people that you don't know, because you share a love of your local football club. It's not supposed to be about point scoring and showing how 'clever' or 'funny' you are, or just being downright rude and offensive to people you don't know, because you can get away with it. Unfortunately, it seems the classic case of people who have little standing/presence in real life, use this forum as a way of making themselves feel as if they are something. It's sad, and I've said that before..

 

So, having been on Morton forums for about 15 years I guess, I've had enough... well done t*ssers, another Morton supporter driven away. You can all feel happy at how 'clever' you are

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29 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

If a dodgy accountant gets caught cooking the books and skimming the company's money for themselves, their chance of returning to their previous career is zero, spent conviction or not. That's hardly a hellish crime and yet we don't have all this pious, nonsense hand-wringing about rehabilitation. 

It's unclear why exactly a professional and 'community' football club should be under any greater societal obligation to allow rehabilitation to take place in a chosen profession. I'm sure that there are many successful careers in flogging Herbalife for a dung ex-footballer, away from the public eye. 

The answer to this (be[ing] specific) is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

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6 minutes ago, cmdc said:

The answer to this (be[ing] specific) is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Which of course doesn't apply to banks or indeed many other professions that do not on fact embrace rehabilitation within their industry. 

It's almost as if the practice of employment rights and the precious lawyers' view don't match up! 

The site is supposed to be a place for the extended 'family' of Morton supporters - having an affinity with people that you don't know, because you share a love of your local football club. It's not supposed to be about point scoring and showing how 'clever' or 'funny' you are, or just being downright rude and offensive to people you don't know, because you can get away with it. Unfortunately, it seems the classic case of people who have little standing/presence in real life, use this forum as a way of making themselves feel as if they are something. It's sad, and I've said that before..

 

So, having been on Morton forums for about 15 years I guess, I've had enough... well done t*ssers, another Morton supporter driven away. You can all feel happy at how 'clever' you are

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3 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

Which of course doesn't apply to banks or indeed many other professions that do not on fact embrace rehabilitation within their industry. 

Correct. Doesn’t apply to accounting (and some other areas of employment) as an exemption to the Act but does apply to football which is not exempt.

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8 hours ago, capitanus said:

I suppose that you reckon that the club have never passed on signing someone for non footballing reasons?  How many times did Morton pass upon the chance of Rowan Alexander as manager, despite being the best available candidate, for example?

We're away from the point of the thread here, but there has been no point in history that Rowan Alexander was the best available candidate for the Morton job.

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Oh Lord, Brian Wake

 

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4 hours ago, dunning1874 said:

We're away from the point of the thread here, but there has been no point in history that Rowan Alexander was the best available candidate for the Morton job.

Absolute bollocks, he was on countless occasions but you just failed to see it.

Rowan Alexander is now the greatest manager that Morton never had.

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Considering that people making any reference to this situation inside a stadium is grounds for the club to issue statements and launch investigations, will they be making a statement about Lithgow's celebration last night?

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Oh Lord, Brian Wake

 

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To bring this to what is hopefully it’s conclusion, I was present at Cappielow last night at a meeting with Gordon Ritchie and Stewart Farmer as a witness for the perpetrator, whose identity I’m sure most are aware of anyway.

We had what I would describe as a cordial yet hostile meeting in which both parties put their points across and he accepted his guilt and provided explanation for what he did. There were of course agreements and disagreements on both sides about a number of related matters but we left the meeting to for 5 minutes to sit in my car before being called to hear their decision.

He’s been banned for 18 months from Cappielow, reduced to 3 if there’s evidence that his conduct on social media is different from what it has been, as this was also brought into the club’s case against him.

There’s a right to appeal with two different directors, but he won’t be taking it up.

I’m sure some fans will be pleased/disappointed* with the severity/leniency* of the punishment (delete as appropriate), but I’m relatively satisfied on his behalf, providing he takes heed and learns to rein it in a bit.

There we’re no handshakes or anything on our departures, but hopefully both parties got what they were looking for from this.

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18 hours ago, Toby said:

To bring this to what is hopefully it’s conclusion, I was present at Cappielow last night at a meeting with Gordon Ritchie and Stewart Farmer as a witness for the perpetrator, whose identity I’m sure most are aware of anyway.

We had what I would describe as a cordial yet hostile meeting in which both parties put their points across and he accepted his guilt and provided explanation for what he did. There were of course agreements and disagreements on both sides about a number of related matters but we left the meeting to for 5 minutes to sit in my car before being called to hear their decision.

He’s been banned for 18 months from Cappielow, reduced to 3 if there’s evidence that his conduct on social media is different from what it has been, as this was also brought into the club’s case against him.

There’s a right to appeal with two different directors, but he won’t be taking it up.

I’m sure some fans will be pleased/disappointed* with the severity/leniency* of the punishment (delete as appropriate), but I’m relatively satisfied on his behalf, providing he takes heed and learns to rein it in a bit.

There we’re no handshakes or anything on our departures, but hopefully both parties got what they were looking for from this.

I don't know who the individual concerned is, but when was this de facto kangaroo court set up?  Are we now not allowed to vent our frustration at some of the dross we sometimes see on the pitch any more?  I am not entirely comfortable with these individuals being allowed the power to impose bans for expressing a view, when incidents of racism and the like appear to go relatively unpunished.  Particularly as one of the adjudicators has been accused of some somewhat inappropriate behaviour himself (I don't know the exact details but something involving a journalist I believe).

On a more practical note, if the individual concerned wants to get into Cappielow, perhaps a disguise involving a white beard and a Santa suit would do the trick at least for the month of December.

"Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it."

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1 hour ago, Alibi said:

I don't know who the individual concerned is, but when was this de facto kangaroo court set up?  Are we now not allowed to vent our frustration at some of the dross we sometimes see on the pitch any more?  I am not entirely comfortable with these individuals being allowed the power to impose bans for expressing a view, when incidents of racism and the like appear to go relatively unpunished.  Particularly as one of the adjudicators has been accused of some somewhat inappropriate behaviour himself (I don't know the exact details but something involving a journalist I believe).

On a more practical note, if the individual concerned wants to get into Cappielow, perhaps a disguise involving a white beard and a Santa suit would do the trick at least for the month of December.

A few things to address here- I wasn’t too comfortable with how the hearing was set up, hence I joined my mate to make sure he was supported. I don’t like the idea of elected representatives banning the folk who in theory elected them, but as was pointed out to him, it’s much better than police charges and a day in a court of law, as could’ve been the case. He wasn’t just expressing his views and venting his frustrations, which he conceded at the meeting.

Also, the racism investigation is in it’s infancy. Like with my pal, we all know who’s involved there, but it was mentioned at the meeting (not by ourselves as I felt whataboutery would do his case no favours) and made very clear to us that they’ll be taking in extremely seriously, and that his case is relatively minor in comparison. On a similar note, I didn’t bring the journalist issue up as I was there to help my friend’s cause, not use some whataboutery to attack The guy acting as judge and jury. There’s a time and place for that.

Finally, I know the Santa hat suggestion’s tongue in cheek, but the best solution is to suck it up, do what he’s told for the relatively short period of three months and start behaving on his return to Cappielow after that. It’s not worth it for a far more lengthy ban. Hopefully a lesson is learned that there are ways of expressing your displeasure.

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The way this season's been so far, some would say that attending the games is a worse punishment than a three month ban.

"Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it."

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