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Squad for next Season


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20 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

 I missing something?

 

Well he wasn't "recently released by Clyde" at all, which rather undermines 'GreenockPics' impressive ITK status within Scottish football.

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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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24 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

 I missing something?

 

1. That roaster's account is definitely one that should fall into the 'just scroll past' category.

2. He can't even get the team he was released by correct (Raith, not Clyde).

And 3. Unless said release had happened in August rather than today, the point remains - he can't sign for a league team until January.

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36 minutes ago, RossMcC1874 said:

Yeah our striking options are utterly rank and have been for months. Imrie obviously has been trying for a while but it's quite poor we still have no credible out and out forward. Time is running out and I genuinely have the fear we are going to be stuck with what we have until at least January. 

A striker is the difference between us genuinely being in the playoffs or scratching around at the bottom once again. 

The mistake that Imrie made was to tie up resources in re-signing Muirhead early doors, rather than focus on getting a replacement for Reilly/Ugwu. If he still wanted to retain Muirhead then he wasn't going anywhere that would do us harm - but we needed to get a number 9 first before indulging in such nonsense. 

That said, it is Imrie's first summer transfer window in management so I'm not going to hold it against him: young managers can only learn from experience. And the fact that the likes of Arbroath who have more resources than they've ever had before have failed to find a replacement for their number 9s over the summer - with a geriatric, bigoted fud of a manager - tells you that there's a genuine shortage in the market.

I'd much rather the club not waste money on another Kaziah Sterling level haddy right now on the off-chance it'll work. Because if there's a Jamie Brandon-esque loan opportunity in January, that's money thrown away that could stop us from adding that player. It's by no means ideal but it's better than panic signing utter dogshite. 

29 minutes ago, DumfriesTon said:

Assuming Lithgow misses out we're going into tomorrow with 1 fit centre back and 1 fit striker. Lyon and Garrity loaned out. Be about 4 players on the bench  Pretty shambolic recruitment and decision making from Imrie in the market this summer. 

That's simply not true. 

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:

The mistake that Imrie made was to tie up resources in re-signing Muirhead early doors, rather than focus on getting a replacement for Reilly/Ugwu. If he still wanted to retain Muirhead then he wasn't going anywhere that would do us harm - but we needed to get a number 9 first before indulging in such nonsense. 

That said, it is Imrie's first summer transfer window in management so I'm not going to hold it against him: young managers can only learn from experience. And the fact that the likes of Arbroath who have more resources than they've ever had before have failed to find a replacement for their number 9s over the summer - with a geriatric, bigoted fud of a manager - tells you that there's a genuine shortage in the market.

I'd much rather the club not waste money on another Kaziah Sterling level haddy right now on the off-chance it'll work. Because if there's a Jamie Brandon-esque loan opportunity in January, that's money thrown away that could stop us from adding that player. It's by no means ideal but it's better than panic signing utter dogshite. 

That's simply not true. 

Agree with the majority. Imrie has plenty of credit in the bank and with it being his first summer as a senior manager then I'm sure he will learn. Getting rid of Lyon and Garrity though when you can't fill a bench is a bit mad - not saying they're deserving of a place in the starting XI but at least it would give us some options off the bench. 

*one available centre back. Baird is suspended and sure I seen Lithgow in a cast last week. That leaves only O'Connor if I'm right.

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9 minutes ago, DumfriesTon said:

Agree with the majority. Imrie has plenty of credit in the bank and with it being his first summer as a senior manager then I'm sure he will learn. Getting rid of Lyon and Garrity though when you can't fill a bench is a bit mad - not saying they're deserving of a place in the starting XI but at least it would give us some options off the bench. 

*one available centre back. Baird is suspended and sure I seen Lithgow in a cast last week. That leaves only O'Connor if I'm right.

Pigniatello is a centre back. Strapp has also played centre back comfortably lots of times. That means we have five potential centre back options in our squad which is absolutely fine for any team at this level.

Garrity had his chance and failed to take it in the cup. We have McGregor in that position anyway so I fail to see what we're missing while he's away. 

I'm not concerned by our options off the bench as much as our lack of quality at the top end of the park. But if there's not a viable option out there then we can't just pretend that club have dropped the ball. 

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, vikingTON said:

Pigniatello is a centre back. Strapp has also played centre back comfortably lots of times. That means we have five potential centre back options in our squad which is absolutely fine for any team at this level.

Garrity had his chance and failed to take it in the cup. We have McGregor in that position anyway so I fail to see what we're missing while he's away. 

I'm not concerned by our options off the bench as much as our lack of quality at the top end of the park. But if there's not a viable option out there then we can't just pretend that club have dropped the ball. 

The last sentence is true. We can't just sign people if not up to it. 

 

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35 minutes ago, irnbru said:

The last sentence is true. We can't just sign people if not up to it. 

 

All the sentences are true: it's called fact-based analysis. 

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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It's been a mixed window all in. The midfield options have turned out to be decent despite the loss of Wilson. Gillespie, Crawford and Grimshaw, once the latter is match fit, is a better first choice three than we could have put out at any point last season. With McGrattan showing up well in sub appearances as well as King impressing we have the options there now to keep players colosally underperforming away from the team, as has been seen with Lyon being punted on loan and should now be seen with Blues having a lengthy spell out the team.

The first choice defence has turned out well enough too, with Baird surpassing expectations so far and Pignatiello being solid. While Pignatiello is a downgrade on Brandon you simply aren't realistically going to find a player of Brandon's calibre for the Championship in January and I'm very happy with Pignatiello so far. O'Connor has had some shaky moments but largely been fine. The concern is the lack of decent cover once a couple of players are out, but Pignatiello's versatility and the emergence of King are a big help, while Grimshaw being another right back option at least puts Hynes further away from the team.

Schwake has been excellent as well and looks to be another season of upgrading on what we had before in goal. This is inevitably going to stop at some point and we'll end up with a dud eventually, but we can enjoy it while it lasts regardless. I do wonder if Hamilton being second choice at Livingston this season may end up with him and Schwake swapping places next season but we'll see.

It's mixed despite the positives above because nothing has gone right up front. Quitongo has been better than expected and has really been the sole cause for a bit of optimism so far, but leading the line isn't his game and even if he remains fit all season you're not going to get even an Ugwu level goal return out of him, which was itself insufficient.

Despite being able to get some slack having missed much of pre-season with an injury, Muirhead's performances so far indicate that the best he can manage at this level is the impact sub role where he contributed well under Imrie last season: no good league performances this season so far. Kabia was a signing worth making as a young player who, like Pignatiello, was a standout in a lower division, but as sometimes will be the case with wingers making that step up he's just miles off being ready for it: one good league performance so far. Obviously Muirhead will start through the middle rather than on the right today and hopefully that sees an improvement, but failing that both he and Kabia should be getting lengthy spells on the bench, with no choice but to persist with Quitongo through the middle having failed to add anyone better. Discounting those two would leave our options to play up with Quitongo in a 4-3-3 as McGregor and one of McGrattan or King, which isn't great but I'd definitely rather see them given a shot there than persist with players offering nothing.

On what we've seen so far, there simply aren't the goals in this team to compete. None of Ugwu, Reilly or Oliver scored enough and that's why we were the lowest scorers in the division last season, but they managed 19 league goals between the three of them while Quitongo, Muirhead & Kabia look like they'll struggle to manage 10. Hamilton, Dundee and Ayr are all games where we created enough chances to win comfortably and didn't have anyone good enough to take them. That's seven points thrown away already.

Maybe once we get a settled first choice midfield with a run of games together and other players get a chance in the front three something will click in attack, but it needs to happen quickly - this is a big month which will see the division start to take shape with gaps forming at either end.

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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2 hours ago, dunning1874 said:

It's been a mixed window all in. The midfield options have turned out to be decent despite the loss of Wilson. Gillespie, Crawford and Grimshaw, once the latter is match fit, is a better first choice three than we could have put out at any point last season. With McGrattan showing up well in sub appearances as well as King impressing we have the options there now to keep players colosally underperforming away from the team, as has been seen with Lyon being punted on loan and should now be seen with Blues having a lengthy spell out the team.

The first choice defence has turned out well enough too, with Baird surpassing expectations so far and Pignatiello being solid. While Pignatiello is a downgrade on Brandon you simply aren't realistically going to find a player of Brandon's calibre for the Championship in January and I'm very happy with Pignatiello so far. O'Connor has had some shaky moments but largely been fine. The concern is the lack of decent cover once a couple of players are out, but Pignatiello's versatility and the emergence of King are a big help, while Grimshaw being another right back option at least puts Hynes further away from the team.

Schwake has been excellent as well and looks to be another season of upgrading on what we had before in goal. This is inevitably going to stop at some point and we'll end up with a dud eventually, but we can enjoy it while it lasts regardless. I do wonder if Hamilton being second choice at Livingston this season may end up with him and Schwake swapping places next season but we'll see.

It's mixed despite the positives above because nothing has gone right up front. Quitongo has been better than expected and has really been the sole cause for a bit of optimism so far, but leading the line isn't his game and even if he remains fit all season you're not going to get even an Ugwu level goal return out of him, which was itself insufficient.

Despite being able to get some slack having missed much of pre-season with an injury, Muirhead's performances so far indicate that the best he can manage at this level is the impact sub role where he contributed well under Imrie last season: no good league performances this season so far. Kabia was a signing worth making as a young player who, like Pignatiello, was a standout in a lower division, but as sometimes will be the case with wingers making that step up he's just miles off being ready for it: one good league performance so far. Obviously Muirhead will start through the middle rather than on the right today and hopefully that sees an improvement, but failing that both he and Kabia should be getting lengthy spells on the bench, with no choice but to persist with Quitongo through the middle having failed to add anyone better. Discounting those two would leave our options to play up with Quitongo in a 4-3-3 as McGregor and one of McGrattan or King, which isn't great but I'd definitely rather see them given a shot there than persist with players offering nothing.

On what we've seen so far, there simply aren't the goals in this team to compete. None of Ugwu, Reilly or Oliver scored enough and that's why we were the lowest scorers in the division last season, but they managed 19 league goals between the three of them while Quitongo, Muirhead & Kabia look like they'll struggle to manage 10. Hamilton, Dundee and Ayr are all games where we created enough chances to win comfortably and didn't have anyone good enough to take them. That's seven points thrown away already.

Maybe once we get a settled first choice midfield with a run of games together and other players get a chance in the front three something will click in attack, but it needs to happen quickly - this is a big month which will see the division start to take shape with gaps forming at either end.

I'm not quite as optimistic about Schwake so far. There's loads that's good about his game, but I think he also shows his age at times. That's not really a criticism, because it's what he's here to learn (be more commanding, etc.).

The other big issue for me is that a midfield three of Grimshaw, Gillespie and Crawford has essentially zero goals in it (excluding penalties). Add that to a forward line which doesn't score and the problem just becomes bigger. For me, I think that makes the midfield recruitment not so great. The team looks like it will be solid, but a team without a decent goal threat gives itself problems because the opposition, sooner or later, figure out they can commit more to attacks without fear of being punished. In that sense, recruitment hasn't been great because there is a major lack of goals throughout the team. As a side note, I thought an aspect of this was evident when we got a few kick late on against Arbroath, just outside the box, and no-one looked like they wanted anywhere near it (until Jai stepped up and hit a tame effort). 

I'm not sure how much to blame Imrie for this. I think the job he was given was incredibly difficult. And I suspect he knows the issues but hasn't been able to find the players he needs. It could be that's he's done well with the hand he's been dealt. 

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11 hours ago, irnbru said:

The last sentence is true. We can't just sign people if not up to it. 

 

The issue I have is Dougie has known we would be in this division for the best part of 5 months.

He has had plenty time to speak to strikers, agents etc and build a balance squad, yet he has failed to do so. No doubt he has had budget challenges but he still signed 10 new players, still re-signed players etc

Don't buy the argument that no players are available to him, his job is to source players.Bullen managed to source Akinyemi, McGlynn brought up Gozie, Duku from down south a couple of seasons back,  Hopkin signed Adeloye last season etc. Not saying it's easy, far from it, but it's his job ultimately to convince players/strikers to play for him and he has had the time and budget available to do that. 

Of course I get the not wanting to bring a player in for the sake of it, but at the same time could also take a risk on a young player as you just never know. Declan McManus was a young player we knew nothing about and didn't expect much from. Turned out he won us promotion that season.

Really fear for us now, expect us to be bottom 2 at the turn of the year 

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25 minutes ago, Madton said:

The issue I have is Dougie has known we would be in this division for the best part of 5 months.

He has had plenty time to speak to strikers, agents etc and build a balance squad, yet he has failed to do so. No doubt he has had budget challenges but he still signed 10 new players, still re-signed players etc

Don't buy the argument that no players are available to him, his job is to source players.Bullen managed to source Akinyemi, McGlynn brought up Gozie, Duku from down south a couple of seasons back,  Hopkin signed Adeloye last season etc. Not saying it's easy, far from it, but it's his job ultimately to convince players/strikers to play for him and he has had the time and budget available to do that. 

Arbroath went into the summer with more money available to offer players than ever before in their club's history and a manager who is both highly experienced in the transfer window and has snaked hotshot forwards from Livingston on a regular basis in recent years. Go to their thread on P and B and check out their thoughts on not getting a striker this summer. Their tantrums could be copy and pasted with yours right now. 

If the same issue is affecting (at least) two totally different club/management structures at the same level, then the problem is with the market and not the individual. 

Edited by vikingTON
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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 hours ago, Madton said:

The issue I have is Dougie has known we would be in this division for the best part of 5 months.

He has had plenty time to speak to strikers, agents etc and build a balance squad, yet he has failed to do so. No doubt he has had budget challenges but he still signed 10 new players, still re-signed players etc

Don't buy the argument that no players are available to him, his job is to source players.Bullen managed to source Akinyemi, McGlynn brought up Gozie, Duku from down south a couple of seasons back,  Hopkin signed Adeloye last season etc. Not saying it's easy, far from it, but it's his job ultimately to convince players/strikers to play for him and he has had the time and budget available to do that. 

Of course I get the not wanting to bring a player in for the sake of it, but at the same time could also take a risk on a young player as you just never know. Declan McManus was a young player we knew nothing about and didn't expect much from. Turned out he won us promotion that season.

Really fear for us now, expect us to be bottom 2 at the turn of the year 

It’ll be okay x

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2 hours ago, Madton said:

The issue I have is Dougie has known we would be in this division for the best part of 5 months.

He has had plenty time to speak to strikers, agents etc and build a balance squad, yet he has failed to do so. No doubt he has had budget challenges but he still signed 10 new players, still re-signed players etc

Don't buy the argument that no players are available to him, his job is to source players.Bullen managed to source Akinyemi, McGlynn brought up Gozie, Duku from down south a couple of seasons back,  Hopkin signed Adeloye last season etc. Not saying it's easy, far from it, but it's his job ultimately to convince players/strikers to play for him and he has had the time and budget available to do that. 

Of course I get the not wanting to bring a player in for the sake of it, but at the same time could also take a risk on a young player as you just never know. Declan McManus was a young player we knew nothing about and didn't expect much from. Turned out he won us promotion that season.

Really fear for us now, expect us to be bottom 2 at the turn of the year 

Imrie has stated that he had no relocation money or accommodation to offer players. So the English market, for players like Adeloye, Ugwu, and Akinyemi, is pretty much shut off to him. That one's on the club/tight finances. 

I do wonder what players he might have taken a chance on, or if we could have pushed the boat out for a striker instead of signing a player in a less necessary position (i.e. Grimshaw). We can't know for sure from the outside. It's clear that Imrie's had an incredibly difficult job on his hands, but I'm sure he could have made different decisions - who knows what those decisions might have been. 

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1 hour ago, SpoonTon said:

Imrie has stated that he had no relocation money or accommodation to offer players. So the English market, for players like Adeloye, Ugwu, and Akinyemi, is pretty much shut off to him. That one's on the club/tight finances. 

I do wonder what players he might have taken a chance on, or if we could have pushed the boat out for a striker instead of signing a player in a less necessary position (i.e. Grimshaw). We can't know for sure from the outside. It's clear that Imrie's had an incredibly difficult job on his hands, but I'm sure he could have made different decisions - who knows what those decisions might have been. 

What annoys me is he let 2 go out on loan just before end of the transfer window and look what happens we have only 4 on the bench today. 

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Big B

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21 hours ago, vikingTON said:

Pigniatello is a centre back. Strapp has also played centre back comfortably lots of times. That means we have five potential centre back options in our squad which is absolutely fine for any team at this level.

Garrity had his chance and failed to take it in the cup. We have McGregor in that position anyway so I fail to see what we're missing while he's away. 

I'm not concerned by our options off the bench as much as our lack of quality at the top end of the park. But if there's not a viable option out there then we can't just pretend that club have dropped the ball. 

I think it's safe to say that Pignatiello is not a centre back. 

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