Squad for next Season - Page 49 - General Morton Chatter - TheMortonForum.com Jump to content
TheMortonForum.com

Squad for next Season


Recommended Posts

Blues absolutely is culpable in the second goal, and it sums him up to a large extent - he's so utterly irrelevant to the action, so peripheral and so ineffective that he manages to avoid looking like he's done something wrong when in reality the simplest understanding of positioning, awareness and perception would most likely see a credible Championship midfielder dealing with the danger either via an interception or blocking a space. Having the nerve to turn round and shout at Schwake was laughable and all so typical.

A lot's been made of him at the first goal but the bit at 1:20 of the highlights is him in a nutshell (although credit where it's due, the wee pass before was very well spotted and executed), he just stands watching their player coming out their box to win a ball uncontested before letting them stroll right up the half-way line. The idea that he works hard just isn't really true at all, he constantly gets by-passed either due to having absolutely no positional awareness or by not bothering to make a challenge or both (off the top of my head, look at the lead-up to Clyde's penalty where he just stands watching their player win a loose ball around the half-way line and then picking a pass; look at almost any chance we concede and you'll see the exact same thing happening), he hides from being a passing option, again probably a mix of not having a clue where to be and just not actually wanting the ball and forces everything round him to have to adjust. Pointing at other players and shouting at them isn't actually working hard or getting stuck in.

We really should not underestimate just how pivotal Wilson was with his ability to cover the whole pitch, nor the fact that he shouldn't have had to do that and his own game was hampered by having to do everything instead of his own thing - there was many occasions he'd literally run past Blues from the opposition box back to ours to make a challenge that Blues was much, much closer to to begin with, and he'd routinely be back in the defensive shape before Blues if an attack broke down. The same thing applies to Lyon with Gillespie in the team - which isn't to say Lyon is/was blameless - but whilst Gillespie plays his own role with aplomb, it's by definition a relatively fixed one and the gaps are there all around with Blues' invisibilty and Lyon does not posses the attributes of Wilson to plug them. Even at his best that's not going to happen.
 

It's a structural issue that isn't going to go away as long as Blues is in the team even if another player can cover sufficient ground to mitigate it, so complaining about another player not following instructions when that exists and impacts on the other player’s decisions is somewhat myopic and at the very least it was surely worth giving Lyon one last shot alongside Gillespie and Crawford to see what he could do with real footballers around him before booting him out. If that didn’t work, so be it, but we’re in no position to write off a player that was very justifiably given an extended contract months before.

Whilst there's not much point dwelling too much on Lyon and there's a risk of getting into the "Griffiths could still be a 20 goal a season striker" Celtic Da territory by spending too much time talking about him - it has to be acknowledged there's a bit of a recurring theme with him, although in doing so there's also other factors there such as previous managers being utterly fuckin shite - I think it just seems pretty jarring to be so completely ostracising the player who was absolutely crucial to the initial run of under Imrie that ultimately proved decisive in the end whilst Blues gets to play every minute of every game no matter how bad he is, and then getting rewarded with a new contract especially when Imrie is always talking about repeated errors. I think that's got to be pretty demoralising for the likes of McGrattan and King, even leaving Lyon aside. 

The overwhelming majority of what Imrie's done and is doing has been and excellent and taking the Lyon situation in isolation, I'd be more than willing to trust his judgement being right even if I think it's a shame it's turned out that that way, but when you put in the context of a far, far worse player playing every minute of every game at the expense of others (again, McGrattan has more than earned a go in his place), getting a new contract and even getting the captaincy for a game, it's not quite so clear that it's being handled correctly. If we see Blues starting again on Saturday ahead of King or McGrattan after the comments about repeated errors, it'll be hard not to see it as a rare example of poor management from Imrie and compounding a far from convincing transfer window, and unlikely to do much for the moral of other options. You can't maintain high standards when you keep allowing one and only one player to get away with failing to meet them.

Cameron Blues is one of the very worst players to get a regular spot for Morton in recent memory, and there's no mitigating factors for his presence in the way there has been with most other diddies.

 

Edited by EanieMeany

AWMSC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, port-ton said:

The attempt to win the ball was poor and I remember groaning at the time, but after that he's still got himself behind the ball along with the majority of the team. 

And does what exactly when he's there? Simply getting behind the ball is not an achievement or credible central midfield play on its own, and it is exactly this sort of lowest possible benchmark nonsense surrounding Blues and other obvious haddies that explains why we are a consistently mediocre outfit. 

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just the ridiculously weak attempt at a tackle in the build up to the second either, although that's his main contribution to it. Several players and the system could get a share of the blame for this, but when the ball goes out wide Pignatiello looks totally lost. That's primarily because he's been left with two men to pick up so gets caught between the two of them and is in two minds about going to press the ball.

Maybe Pignatiello just needs to take the risk of going to the ball, but that's not really his own fault. He should have someone helping him out, whether that's Muirhead actually bothering to track back for once or one of Blues or Gillespie coming across to pick up the spare man. Muirhead is nowhere near it while Gillespie and Blues are both inside the box picking up nobody, and yes you need one of them there to cover the space but not two of them. Blues is far from the main culprit for that goal (that's O'Connor being on his heels) but he's absolutely contributed to it.

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake

Oh Lord, Brian Wake

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe just me but I inferred from Imrie's comments his issue with repeated mistakes rests with the centre-backs rather than Blues. In the circumstances, Imrie may be making the case to bring back Lithgow in some capacity. While Blues has improved since he arrived and scored the odd goal he is clearly not the answer in midfield. Too often Blues is the invisible man and the game passes him by. As for the Lyon issue, the lad only has himself to blame for having been moved out on loan. We can all see he has talent but it is surely no coincidence manager after manager does not trust him to hold down a place in midfield. His performances this season have been dire albeit no worse than Blues. We can only hope Imrie has some luck in the loan market with the priority being a striker and the icing on the cake an alternative to the ever present Blues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HamCam said:

Maybe just me but I inferred from Imrie's comments his issue with repeated mistakes rests with the centre-backs rather than Blues. In the circumstances, Imrie may be making the case to bring back Lithgow in some capacity. While Blues has improved since he arrived and scored the odd goal he is clearly not the answer in midfield. Too often Blues is the invisible man and the game passes him by. As for the Lyon issue, the lad only has himself to blame for having been moved out on loan. We can all see he has talent but it is surely no coincidence manager after manager does not trust him to hold down a place in midfield. His performances this season have been dire albeit no worse than Blues. We can only hope Imrie has some luck in the loan market with the priority being a striker and the icing on the cake an alternative to the ever present Blues.

I agree with this. In terms of individual errors, I suspect maybe O'Connor could be a main target of criticism. I think Lithgow will be back in when fit. 

While Blues is the weakest part of the central midfield, the other part of it is Kabia and Muirhead. At times I felt like we were a man down because we weren't getting enough out of those two. We simply need new signings to offer increased competition and quality in the front three positions. I don't think either has been good enough to warrant a starting place so far this season.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah O'Connor has made a few mistakes and I think he may be the culprit imrie is talking about. I think he is a decent centre half he is strong and good in the air but he is prone to the odd mistake I think lithgow will probably be playing next week. The only issues Lithgow is painfully slow and feel we will be really exposed at the back with him there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is Lithgow's lack of pace really that much more glaring than O'Connor and Baird? I haven't seen either of them as sprinters nor has our defensive line been noticeably higher to my untrained eye. 

 

Peter Weatherson is the greatest player since Ritchie, and should be assigned 'chairman for life' 


onsP5NR.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The debate about who is to blame, with several players being mentioned as potentially culpable, points to the old adage “you attack as a team and defend as a team”. I’m delighted that Imrie was given the new deal, as he appears to have the no nonsense attitude we so badly needed. However I’m a bit concerned about some of his decision making and his man management skills. For Lyon to be sent out on loan, and Strapp being on the bench whilst Blues and Kabia play every match, appears like the manager is unable to get the best out of individual players, and is possibly guilty of picking players who give him the least trouble off the pitch or in training, rather than swallowing his ego and picking the best players. The suggestion to play Strapp at left back with King further forward seems so obvious a solution that it seems something is amiss between Imrie and some of the players. This also gives out the wrong message to the team that all players aren’t being treated equally. I hope I’m wrong and that this is all sorted out quickly to get our season on track.

  • Downvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, DreamOakTree said:

The debate about who is to blame, with several players being mentioned as potentially culpable, points to the old adage “you attack as a team and defend as a team”. I’m delighted that Imrie was given the new deal, as he appears to have the no nonsense attitude we so badly needed. However I’m a bit concerned about some of his decision making and his man management skills. For Lyon to be sent out on loan, and Strapp being on the bench whilst Blues and Kabia play every match, appears like the manager is unable to get the best out of individual players, and is possibly guilty of picking players who give him the least trouble off the pitch or in training, rather than swallowing his ego and picking the best players. The suggestion to play Strapp at left back with King further forward seems so obvious a solution that it seems something is amiss between Imrie and some of the players. This also gives out the wrong message to the team that all players aren’t being treated equally. I hope I’m wrong and that this is all sorted out quickly to get our season on track.

You're wrong 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, TONofmemories said:

Can't see them letting him go to another championship rival unless agreed he doesn't play against them.

Aye I agree. He won't be coming to us

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, TONofmemories said:

Kelty apparently. Dick won't let him go championship for obvious reasons, nor high level league 1 presumably to protect their interests in event that they meet said team in playoffs.

No clue where Kelty Hearts train but using travel as an excuse for not getting to Perth where Arbroath train then rocking up at Kelty 25 mins down the road would be a good laugh. 
Seems obvious he hoped he’d get a move to ourselves and it’s not gone through as planned, now the dummy’s been spat. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...