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Squad for next Season


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A bit out of the blue this signing I only hope that O'Connor hasn't got a long term injury as apart from a few shaky moments he has been really solid. Like other people are signing I presume lithgow is done as he hasn't featured at all this season. I think ambrose is a decent enough signing he has tons of experience and should help a relatively inexperienced defence. I'm not sure how much he has played over the last year or his fitness which is a slight concern but Grimshaw was the same and he has came good. 

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11 minutes ago, RossMcC1874 said:

A bit out of the blue this signing I only hope that O'Connor hasn't got a long term injury as apart from a few shaky moments he has been really solid. Like other people are signing I presume lithgow is done as he hasn't featured at all this season. I think ambrose is a decent enough signing he has tons of experience and should help a relatively inexperienced defence. I'm not sure how much he has played over the last year or his fitness which is a slight concern but Grimshaw was the same and he has came good. 

Not so sure about Grimshaw coming good tbh. He couldn't have got much worse than his debut but still question marks over him. 

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I think it's a good and sensible signing. Should be more than fine for this division. 

Dunfermline fans didn't have much good to say about him when he was there last year but he was partnered next to Coll fucking Donaldson and in a team attempting to play John Hughes Liquid Football (which worked out well for them) so it is going to be a totally different approach this year under Imrie. A defend your box and clear your lines approach will be fine for Ambrose and his experience and football intelligence should be beneficial. 

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45 minutes ago, DumfriesTon said:

I think it's a good and sensible signing. Should be more than fine for this division. 

Dunfermline fans didn't have much good to say about him when he was there last year but he was partnered next to Coll fucking Donaldson and in a team attempting to play John Hughes Liquid Football (which worked out well for them) so it is going to be a totally different approach this year under Imrie. A defend your box and clear your lines approach will be fine for Ambrose and his experience and football intelligence should be beneficial. 

Aye I'm hoping it will be a good signing. Had a read through some of his career there and it's impressive. Brian McLean done a job for us (at least in spells) and was older with less pedigree in the game. 

I think Ambrose is one of these players that people remember mistakes but you don't have a career like his without having a lot of qualities. 

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3 hours ago, RossMcC1874 said:

A bit out of the blue this signing I only hope that O'Connor hasn't got a long term injury as apart from a few shaky moments he has been really solid. Like other people are signing I presume lithgow is done as he hasn't featured at all this season. I think ambrose is a decent enough signing he has tons of experience and should help a relatively inexperienced defence. I'm not sure how much he has played over the last year or his fitness which is a slight concern but Grimshaw was the same and he has came good. 

Lithgow did feature in a few games for us recently and looked absolutely fine but he's obviously had another set back which is a shame. 

Even if Efe doesn't perform well enough to dislodge Baird and O'connor the rest of the season it's still good to have an actual centre back on the bench rather than rearrange the back line every time one of them is out. 

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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7 hours ago, irnbru said:

Not so sure about Grimshaw coming good tbh. He couldn't have got much worse than his debut but still question marks over him. 

He was dreadful for his first three games while clearly unfit, was fine in his fourth though faded badly in the last 20 minutes or so, then hasn't put a foot wrong in the last three.

I do actually agree that Efe Ambrose at his peak was a far better player than a lot of people in Scotland give him credit for. His reputation as an error prone figure of fun at Celtic, which obviously has a particular prominence for Morton fans, has clouded the fact that he's had a far better career than 99% of players who find themselves in the Scottish Championship could ever dream of.

The question is how far off that level he might be at 34, what with being relegated from this division last season. Still, we needed another centre back and he's not being managed by John Hughes, so we'll see how it goes.

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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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1 hour ago, dunning1874 said:

He was dreadful for his first three games while clearly unfit, was fine in his fourth though faded badly in the last 20 minutes or so, then hasn't put a foot wrong in the last three.

I do actually agree that Efe Ambrose at his peak was a far better player than a lot of people in Scotland give him credit for. His reputation as an error prone figure of fun at Celtic, which obviously has a particular prominence for Morton fans, has clouded the fact that he's had a far better career than 99% of players who find themselves in the Scottish Championship could ever dream of.

The question is how far off that level he might be at 34, what with being relegated from this division last season. Still, we needed another centre back and he's not being managed by John Hughes, so we'll see how it goes.

I've not written Grimshaw off completely but still unconvinced. I'd like to see him in the midfield with Crawford and Gillespie though. 

Ambrose will be an interesting one. If we were offered a player with his career and achievements without knowing the name we'd all be delighted. If nothing else it's an exciting signing and a bit unusual for us so I'm all for it for now. 

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With the disclaimer that you can’t always get the full measure of things via watching the streams, I’m not really sold on the idea of Grimshaw having shown his worth either. He done well on Saturday in an unfamiliar position which was definitely encouraging from him, but as a full-back I think the jury is very much still out on whether he’s so good that he’s worth a wage to bench Pignatiello if he’s not going to take the obvious place in midfield. At the risk of splitting hairs over @dunning1874’s post about Grimshaw not  putting a foot wrong, he was pretty suspect in the only real chance Hamilton had near the end of the first half in that game - only one moment, tbf, but typical of his play in previous games. 
 

As for Ambrose, it’s definitely true that the reputation he has for clangers is   a bit exaggerated and also from a miles higher level against better forwards, but at the same time it’s not without merit either, and it’s also true he’s not had the best of times recently. The difference here compared to his last club though, is that he’s coming into a team with a more than competent manager who has crafted extremely solid units out of not very much, and who can find solutions to different circumstances. Look at the difference in Lithgow last season under Dougie, the transformation there was huge so you have to fancy that he’ll also be able to get the best from a significantly better player with so much experience at the top level…so long as there’s still a best to be had. 

Edited by EanieMeany

AWMSC

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He also faced Messi twice in 2012-13, a 2-1 win for Celtic that they mention about as much as we mention our SWORDING of them the following year and a 1-2 defeat in the Nou Camp. As well as two appearances against Barcelona in 2013-14. Their second 0-1 home defeat in consecutive midweeks and a 1-6 trousering in Catalonia, although Messi didn’t play in either.

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5 hours ago, TRVMP said:

Just curious - is Ambrose our only ever player to have faced Lionel Messi? (2014 World Cup.)

He also faced him for Celtic in 2012 Champions League.

Nacho Novo, Champions League 2007.

Andy McNeil, David Van Zanten for Hibs, David Robertson for Dundee Utd - Barca pre-season tour of Scotland in 2008.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Toby said:

He also faced Messi twice in 2012-13, a 2-1 win for Celtic that they mention about as much as we mention our SWORDING of them the following year and a 1-2 defeat in the Nou Camp. As well as two appearances against Barcelona in 2013-14. Their second 0-1 home defeat in consecutive midweeks and a 1-6 trousering in Catalonia, although Messi didn’t play in either.

I was at that game - bit of a struggle to get a ticket for the home area as they don't allow folk with a passport of the away team's country to buy tickets.  Eventually got a German tourist to buy a couple of tickets for me.  It never occurred to me just to ask one of the Celtic fans to get them for me, as half of them have Irish passports and so loads of them were buying tickets for the home sections.  Great night, especially when Barca scored in the last minute to win the game.

"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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11 hours ago, Scott said:

I trust Imrie not to sign a dud. Hopefully he does well here. 

All managers sign duds. Ferguson signed the likes of Massimo Taibi, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba at the peak of his powers at Manchester United. The difference between a good manager and a dung manager in the transfer market is the overall hit rate. Which means we shouldn't abandon scrutiny at the door because there's always a significant risk to a signing.

I'm not convinced by this move at all. Firstly, the ability of Ambrose to play at this level given his recent career trajectory is questionable. But more importantly, there's a huge opportunity cost to this. Funds that go to signing Ambrose cannot now go towards getting a no. 9. Despite our upturn in form, we still need to upgrade our first pick choice in that position as a matter of top priority and are unlikely to do so now. Rather than getting our top or even 3rd/4th choice target, we are going to be at the back of the queue. 

The second cost is that it leaves our squad unbalanced. There may be two injuries limiting our defensive options right now, but what will happen if two of our forwards are ever missing through injury or suspension? There is literally no cover for that at all in the current squad. Having just regained a balanced team that can effectively hound opponents, I do not want to see us having to change shape and tactics again for such a completely predictable and small-time 'crisis'.

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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I can see the logic in signing a backup CB to keep the instructions to the team as simple as possible rather than shuffling in-form players out of position. Imrie has a defensive issue to sort at the minute, the forward line might need to wait until January.

That said, putting aside the argument around his experience vs his reputation for errors, Ambrose has looked a spent force for 2 or 3 seasons now. This looks like a pricey plan B for us.

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37 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Probably time to worry about what striker we are likely to get again - Griffiths is back in the country and training with Livi of all places (based on where we normally look for players).

Wouldn't be totally against giving him a short term deal or pay as you play.

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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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47 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

Wouldn't be totally against giving him a short term deal or pay as you play.

Why? He's been terrible for years, has a lot of baggage and his choice of who to message is... questionable

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