Match Preview/Thread - Morton vs Ayr United (26th March) - Page 3 - General Morton Chatter - TheMortonForum.com Jump to content
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Match Preview/Thread - Morton vs Ayr United (26th March)


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I said to my mate before the goal that I didn't think Imrie would make subs at 1-0 up after two subs were at fault for the Dunfermline goal. We didn't really look like conceding and were defending well again. 

In the end we conceded from a corner again anyway and the subs came on right away. Not every decision a manager makes is going to come off unfortunately. 

Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things!

 

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Poor end to the game. Think we all saw the goal coming and I was worried we were going to concede another. I know why we defend deep but it does invite pressure. We also need to sort out our defending at set pieces. 

Don't really think we can argue with the disallowed goals. Unfortunately in today's game the keeper gets far too much protection. 

We did miss Brandon. Was he injured?

There's a storm on the horizon

And for that I can't see the sun

For I'll keep a waiting on the pavement

For the ice cream van to come

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Another two points dropped late on from a near post header from a corner. Our goal was against the run of play, theirs wasn’t.

McGhee needs some support, there's no-one backing him up.
Hayes playing it forward, Bell being forced to do it all alone, now forward from Marr, here's Ritchie, still Andy Ritchie, look at the control...

That is a marvellous goal from Andy Ritchie. Twenty minutes on the clock and Morton's supporters come alive. A goal which epitomises the control, the arrogance, the cheek of Andy Ritchie.

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40 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

We did miss Brandon. Was he injured?

Illness according to the Tele guy on twitter.

The lack of subs killed us. We were starting to get a foothold on the half again around the hour mark, which is when the subs should have been made to ensure we stay on top. Instead of proactively trying to sustain our position, we wait until we lose the goal to react to the situation, by which time they're on top. 

Imrie was very quick to get on Lyon's back after the goal conceded last week (which I know he has now retracted) but he has to accept that the slow reaction to making changes has probably cost us the 3 points today.

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On the plus side a point further away from the bottom two. It was however another missed opportunity. An insipid performance highlighting our lack of creativity. Rather than striding boldly away from the relegation dogfight we are in danger of stumbling over the line. I hope though recent performances put to bed the notion that most of this squad should be offered new contracts.

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Not sure what that formation was, but I think Dougie decided to give our least fit players a run out. Last 15 we were sitting deeper and deeper and looked knackered. Hynes, despite nearly scoring a screamer, looked out his depth. Midfield was getting no tackles in and chasing shadows at times. I reckon we need 4 in that area and 2 of them should be Lyon and Blues (who is much improved and pops up with a goal from time to time.

We didn’t press them, let them knock it about, rarely played football on the ground, but nevertheless looked the better team for much of the game. How the ref didn’t show more cards for their repeated fouls is beyond me.

A point is ok and games are running out, so we are probably safe barring a total collapse. However we shouldn’t still be so near the bottom. We need to up our game a bit more and take our chances. Disappointed sums it up.

"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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Our midfield again were passengers. Granting the opposition too much space. 

We are crying out for someone in there to dictate play a bit, Lyon is about the only one with the ability to do that. Thought he looked dead on his feet after 15 minutes. Ugwu almost seems as if he's playing with an injury.

Our decision making was very poor today, we could've scored a few more with some smart passes - Reilly's shot that he dragged wide second half comes to mind. He plays that out to Hynes and we have an option to play in Muirhead who broke through.

We move.

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I think the limitations of the squad are beginning to show up across midfield and forward line. Dougie has probably done the best that he can but the lack of quality is making life more difficult than it needs to be. We should have enough to avoid the wrong play off but without a real change of fortune we've got no room to breathe and none of our games look straight forward. Giving away points at this stage to dead balls is killing us.

  Can't wait for us to scrape over the line and hopefully allow Dougie to rebuild with more of a team who reflect his mentality.

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Definitely 2 points dropped considering we were so close to getting 3 but to be fair they deserved a point. At points yesterday we looked decent but it just seems like we are very one dimensional long ball to Ugwu and hope for the best. On that note I think Ugwu has been pretty off it the last good few games not sure if it's fitness or an injury. 

Results were pretty kind to us yesterday which is a slight positive.

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16 hours ago, ChampTon said:

Our midfield again were passengers. Granting the opposition too much space. 

We are crying out for someone in there to dictate play a bit, Lyon is about the only one with the ability to do that. Thought he looked dead on his feet after 15 minutes. Ugwu almost seems as if he's playing with an injury.

Our decision making was very poor today, we could've scored a few more with some smart passes - Reilly's shot that he dragged wide second half comes to mind. He plays that out to Hynes and we have an option to play in Muirhead who broke through.

We move.

The opposition are getting too much space because we have only two central midfielders trying to cover an enormous space, to accommodate a (largely useless) player behind the front two. At the same time, Ugwu has stopped pressing and Muirhead didn't do enough of that either yesterday, so we aren't defending from the front as well as several weeks ago either. 

Either the attitude to pressing the opposition needs to change or the formation has to go. As soon as a team gets the ball beyond our forward line we get pinned back and are often just waiting on them knocking it out of play to regain possession. 

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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Would also like to give a special shout to Lewis Strapp, he's been different gravy since Imrie has come in. Filling in at centre half too and looking comfortable in doing so.

Thought Russell had an excellent game too yesterday.

I would go 5-4-1 next week if we have players fit. I'd take a draw against a bang in form Killie side. 

Hamilton

Brandon - McEntee - Ledger - Lithgow - Strapp

Oliver - Lyon - Wilson - Blues - Russell

Reilly 

It's a bit of a thankless task playing lone striker but Reilly presses really well and holds the ball up a lot too. I think we need some more bodies in midfield with some width. 

Bring Ugwu/Muirhead off the bench for a physical presence.

 

 

 

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I think it’s clear now that Imrie’s first 4/5 games created a bit of a mirage regarding what this squad might be capable of, and the reality which has been repeatedly proven before his arrival and since that period is that most of our players simply aren’t good enough and shouldn’t be playing at this level, not for a club that should be having designs on a promotion tilt. At this point it’s just about scraping our way until the end of the season and picking up points whatever way possible, to the point that there’s almost little point in bothering with too much analysis of games. Every area needs to be overhauled except at left-back if Russell stays.

Imrie managing to find a way to make even that happen is a remarkable achievement - we’d be staring relegation in the face with any other manager we’ve had in god only knows how long - so the sooner this season and a good chunk of the squad is out the way the better and we can look forward to a much better year next time round. 

AWMSC

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20 hours ago, DumfriesTon said:

Hynes just looked lost. He's not good enough but thanks to Gus, we've got him for another year. 

Hopefully we can try get some sort of mutual agreement and let him go. Same with Jacobs. 

I think that's harsh on Hynes - his biggest problem has been defending but he didn't put anything wrong on that side of his game. We've been spoiled a bit by how good Brandon has been for us - as second choice (presumably cheap) cover goes, Hynes did what was needed yesterday.

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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1 hour ago, EanieMeany said:

I think it’s clear now that Imrie’s first 4/5 games created a bit of a mirage regarding what this squad might be capable of, and the reality which has been repeatedly proven before his arrival and since that period is that most of our players simply aren’t good enough and shouldn’t be playing at this level, not for a club that should be having designs on a promotion tilt. At this point it’s just about scraping our way until the end of the season and picking up points whatever way possible, to the point that there’s almost little point in bothering with too much analysis of games. Every area needs to be overhauled except at left-back if Russell stays.

Imrie managing to find a way to make even that happen is a remarkable achievement - we’d be staring relegation in the face with any other manager we’ve had in god only knows how long - so the sooner this season and a good chunk of the squad is out the way the better and we can look forward to a much better year next time round. 

Don't really agree tbh. Two manager of the month awards out of two and our form in the last 5 games is a 1 win, 1 loss and 3 draws, one vs top of the league and the other we've lost late equalisers. With a budget of 8th or 9th highest in the league we have a squad performing to their expectations at the bare minimum. 

Performances have dropped so I'd agree that the squad that we have now isn't at the level needed for next season, but there's a core squad there that have been more than competitive in almost every one of Imrie's games and for me we should be looking to add the missing pieces to it rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water. 

Hamilton, Strapp, Ledger in defence have all been worthy of new contracts, and you could make an argument for Russell being a very useful player to have. 

Blues is definitely worth a new contract, Wilson has been decent and had his best game for us on Saturday. Oliver probably one I'd let go. 

Ugwu and Reilly over the course of the season have more than earned new or permanent deals. Ugwu getting a rough time from fans just now but the things being said about him just now were being said about Reilly before Christmas, but because one was off form at the beginning of the season and one at the end the one off form at the end is being called lazy or not interested. We've all said for weeks he needs rested and looks shattered. He's not been rested at all and now despite that the narrative has changed to him being lazy etc which just doesn't make sense to me. Muirhead couldn't have done much more than has been asked of him by Imrie either so if he's offered a new contract then there can't really be many complaints. 

Not all the above players will be offered new contracts and not all of the players offered them will accept them, but in my opinion we should be adding to the weaknesses of this competent and competitive  squad, not replacing them. 

Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things!

 

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33 minutes ago, port-ton said:

 

We've all said for weeks he needs rested and looks shattered. He's not been rested at all and now despite that the narrative has changed to him being lazy etc which just doesn't make sense to me.  

I don't think he looked shattered - instead, he looked disinterested if the ball wasn't played directly to him and was more interested in picking fights with the centre back yesterday. We don't know if Ugwu or any other player is carrying an injury - there's likely a few in the squad that are banged up at this stage in the season - but that's no excuse for putting the hard work in on the park. There's no reason why a professional player can't be expected to cover ground for 70 minutes each week and 90 if kept on the park. If he can't or isn't doing that, then he shouldn't be playing. 

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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2 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

Where's this 8th or 9th-highest budget in the league chat coming from?

We've known since the golden casket funding was pulled that we've been at the bottom of the full time ladder in Scottish football in terms of budget. We've obviously got a higher budget than Arbroath but there's no way in our first year of fan ownership that we've got a bigger budget than at least another two teams in the division. 

I don't personally think that if you have competent recruitment that budget matters too much in this division, but get it wrong on our budget and it could lead to disaster. Having a squad as competitive as ours with our budget is an excellent starting block to improve next season in my opinion. 

 

 

Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things!

 

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