Squad for next Season

[SpoonTon]

2 minutes ago, Greacen2000 said:

Nothing new in that Tele article - just a bunch of lines lifted from the post match interview thrown together with a sensationalist headline.   He (quite rightly) said that we don’t have the funds to run with a squad of 25 players - that’s it.  I would be amazed if we don’t bring in at least 1 or 2 players on loan before the end of this month.  Anyone who has watched us (including the gaffer) can see that the squad is incomplete, and he has said more than once that he will only bring in players who will improve us, and isn’t willing to bring in guys just to make up the numbers.  The nicker wetting on here has been unbelievable.

We've ran out of money for new players about 4 times already this summer, so I'm assuming you're right and there will be at least another addition on loan over the next few weeks. We do seem to be in a pretty desperate place in the market, though. We've known about needing a right back for 3 or 4 months with no success yet. 

[Jamie_M]

37 minutes ago, Greacen2000 said:

Nothing new in that Tele article - just a bunch of lines lifted from the post match interview thrown together with a sensationalist headline.   He (quite rightly) said that we don’t have the funds to run with a squad of 25 players - that’s it.  I would be amazed if we don’t bring in at least 1 or 2 players on loan before the end of this month.  Anyone who has watched us (including the gaffer) can see that the squad is incomplete, and he has said more than once that he will only bring in players who will improve us, and isn’t willing to bring in guys just to make up the numbers.  The nicker wetting on here has been unbelievable.

This.

 

[SassenachTon]

The best right back on the planet isn't going to stop our forwards from missing sitters, or our midfield not turning up. We had 14 corners against Arbroath and didn't trouble them with a single one. Unless the boy's a miracle-worker, he's also not going to cure our injured players with a flash of his magic wand. I don't get the obsessive focus on one player in one position.

As I said before, Lewis McGrattan did a fine job at RB in the Ayr game. Put him there in the starting XI and get Broadfoot to fuck. Dougie has nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain.

Edited September 5, 2023 by SassenachTon

[SpoonTon]

44 minutes ago, SassenachTon said:

The best right back on the planet isn't going to stop our forwards from missing sitters, or our midfield not turning up. We had 14 corners against Arbroath and didn't trouble them with a single one. Unless the boy's a miracle-worker, he's also not going to cure our injured players with a flash of his magic wand. I don't get the obsessive focus on one player in one position.

As I said before, Lewis McGrattan did a fine job at RB in the Ayr game. Put him there in the starting XI and get Broadfoot to fuck. Dougie has nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain.

It's not an obsession, but it is the most obvious position where we're lacking a clear candidate for the role. While McGrattan did do ok there against Ayr, we did lose a goal from his side when he failed to close down a cross when he really should have (he left it to someone else as if he forgot he was the right back). And I'd rather have McGrattan playing further forward than at right back - and it's that kind of knock-on effect which is a big issue with the right back position. We would be better off with the candidates for that position playing elsewhere (O'Connor at centre back, Blues in midfield, McGrattan either out wide or replacing the injured Crawford). 

It won't stop our players missing good chances and it won't cause our midfield to defend better, but it is the most obvious weakness in the squad. Out of what we've got, I do think that McGrattan is worth another shot at right back but if Crawford is going to miss games then I'd also want McGrattan in midfield. I don't think it's surprising that there is an appropriate amount of focus on the right back position. 

Right now we're scoring goals at the same rate as last season, but conceding more than twice as many. There is no single defensive solution to that, but a capable right back would definitely help. 

[LargsTON]

It'd be nice to hear some detail as to what improvements are being made to the infrastructure of the club so we can draw our own conclusions as to why there's little money for players.  We're in danger of undoing a lot of the good work that's went on over the past couple of years the way things are currently unravelling.

[Tubes]

McGrattan needs to start games for us. Preferably not at RB.

Broadfoot is getting a fair amount of stick and rightly so in parts, but Baird has been absolutely honking aswell. Hopefully a win on Saturday kicks us back into gear

[irnbru]

5 hours ago, LargsTON said:

It'd be nice to hear some detail as to what improvements are being made to the infrastructure of the club so we can draw our own conclusions as to why there's little money for players.  We're in danger of undoing a lot of the good work that's went on over the past couple of years the way things are currently unravelling.

I think that's the key point for me. It's all doom and gloom on the park after a couple of pumping and a clearly unbalanced squad but if there's good happening elsewhere then that doesn't feel as bad but there needs to be some transparency on that, moreso when it's a fan owned club.

[dunning1874]

Not the first time the Tele's editors have attached an entirely misleading headline or sub-headline to an article which suggests nothing of the sort.

There is clearly still money there and we are clearly going to sign more players. The only comment that's came out of the club recently that has even been possible to interpret as if we won't was Imrie saying in his Partick preview that he's content with the squad we've got ahead of the August deadline. I took that as him saying he's comfortable the squad we have currently can compete in games in the meantime so he wasn't going to rush into anything when we still have another month for loans and no time limit on free agents, not that he won't make any signings at all.

[AyrshireTon]

There’s been an email from MCT. Am at work so can’t post the gist of it here at the moment. Hopefully someone else can elaborate fully.

Good to see communication and personally I’m fine with the content of it.

[RossMcC1874]

Update from the board | 06/09/23

Club News 27 seconds ago

Through engaging with our SLO Steven and the Morton Club Together Board, as well as seeing the dialogue on social media over the last week to ten days, we felt it worthwhile to provide an update on supporters.

Everyone at the club has been disappointed with the last couple of results, and it has been frustrating how injuries have hampered us so far. Last season we were fortunate with very few players out injured over the course, whereas this year we have lost several early doors including Jack Baird, Grant Gillespie, Jai Quitongo and George Oakley. For any squad in our division, losing multiple key players is extremely challenging.

We are currently operating with a squad of 18 players, with Michael Garrity out on loan. This squad number has always been the manager’s target, however, there is still some budget available to add to the squad.

The manager is keen that this money is spent well and not used to panic sign because of a couple of bad results. A good example of this last season was the signing of Liam Grimshaw in September which would not have been possible had the Manager not been patient with his budget.

There has been a lot of mentions of the income from the Rangers game that we have seen. For total transparency to our supporters, the club generated around £235,000 in gate receipts from that game and it is a significant boost to the club’s finances. Since the draw for that game was made, we were able to increase the Manager’s budget which helped add Alan Power, Jamie McDonald and Iain Wilson to the squad. Alan and Jamie in particular have arrived with great experience, and the additional budget helped make these signings possible.

However, as a community owned club, we also have to be very aware of our spending. Right now, significant investment is required off the park. We are in the process of recruiting a General Manager, a post which had previously been occupied on essentially a volunteer basis, and once that person is in post, we will be carrying out further recruitment to strengthen our off-field operations. This is key to helping the club to grow off the pitch and become a more sustainable business, less reliant on prize money and gate receipts.

In addition, it is no secret that Cappielow is a structure which is going to need investment in the coming years, some of which will be required sooner rather than later. We need to start building a fund for these works and ensuring that we have the finances to make improvements where necessary.

We have also been extremely grateful to Dalrada for their support, it cannot be understated how important their backing has been, and how much it has helped get us off to a positive start with community ownership.

Finally, we have to highlight the incredible contribution from our supporters via MCT membership and season ticket sales. With over 1000 members and 1200 season tickets sold, your support really is unbelievable, and we thank every one of you for that.

All that being said, the context for the business is that for 20 years, it largely ran at a six-figure loss. In recent years, this loss has been £200-300,000. Thanks to Dalrada, MCT, season tickets and cup draws, we will likely post two profits in a row which enables us to start building a rainy-day fund.

Everyone at the club is working extremely hard to make a success of community ownership to give supporters a club that they can be proud of both on and off the pitch.

[irnbru]

Good update and SLO work - I saw he had tweeted about chasing this up the other day. 

[Jamie_M]

4 hours ago, dunning1874 said:

The only comment that's came out of the club recently that has even been possible to interpret as if we won't was Imrie saying in his Partick preview that he's content with the squad we've got ahead of the August deadline. I took that as him saying he's comfortable the squad we have currently can compete in games in the meantime so he wasn't going to rush into anything when we still have another month for loans and no time limit on free agents, not that he won't make any signings at all.

Yeah, and the timing of that was clearly an attempt to temper expectations around the 'deadline' which largely doesn't affect us but fans get really caught up in.

With nothing imminent it was a natural thing to try and do, an attempt largely undermined by the Tele's headline writers might I add.

Good update from the club, most of which was pretty obvious.

 

 

[TONofmemories]

Another pretty misleading headline. The boy at the tele needs his wings clipped.

 

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/23772129.morton-chiefs-strengthen-off-field-operations-not-team/

[TRVMP]

It's an excellent statement and it's very clear. It should have gone without saying, in my opinion, but people panicked so much that I guess they felt compelled to point out the obvious: we simply can't throw money we don't have at speculative signings, the manager has earned our trust, and if we're to keep the club going as a professional concern we can't be relying on an Old Firm game every season and need to build for a sustainable future.

This is going to be very tough but I trust the MCT Board and the club Board.

[irnbru]

1 hour ago, TONofmemories said:

Another pretty misleading headline. The boy at the tele needs his wings clipped.

 

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/23772129.morton-chiefs-strengthen-off-field-operations-not-team/

That whole opening big is nonsense so can't even blame the headline writers. 

[irnbru]

18 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

It's an excellent statement and it's very clear. It should have gone without saying, in my opinion, but people panicked so much that I guess they felt compelled to point out the obvious: we simply can't throw money we don't have at speculative signings, the manager has earned our trust, and if we're to keep the club going as a professional concern we can't be relying on an Old Firm game every season and need to build for a sustainable future.

This is going to be very tough but I trust the MCT Board and the club Board.

I don't think it should go without say tbh. It's fairly obvious we can't just throw money at players and have to stick to a pretty tight budget but when the budget gets an unexpected top up and we've previously said we're not making a loss then there's a bit of a gap to fill especially when it's clear the squad itself has big gaps. 

For a team that's owned by the support then there should be a bit more transparency there. No need to go into any amount of detail but stuff at this level is ideal. There will be people that join the dots and get to what they've said and others who completely panic (or people like me in the middle!) but it's important to keep everyone on board.

If nothing else it shows a good job being done and should encourage people to get behind the whole thing. 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by irnbru

[vikingTON]

The update is fully informative and professional in nature. On the other hand, we need to be moving on from this radio silence, then enormous, one-off update as soon as enough folk complain dynamic. More regular and reliable communication would have defused at least some of this in advance. If we're putting some of the money into a fund then that could have been stated shortly after the Rangers game was played: we don't need the exact revenue figure to signal that intent.

It's possible that a board meeting was required first, but that only underlines the need for a serious GM to have responsibility for keeping things ticking over. 

[BishopBrennan]

Club communication has come a long way from the horror show that was communication in the Rae era, which must be credited, however as mentioned above we are still incredibly reactive rather than seeking to be pro-active. The cycle currently seems to be fans moan about X on the Forum and on social media, followed by the club issuing a statement or something similar addressing the issue. The next step is to flip that model on its head. 

 

[TONofmemories]

4 hours ago, BishopBrennan said:

Club communication has come a long way from the horror show that was communication in the Rae era, which must be credited, however as mentioned above we are still incredibly reactive rather than seeking to be pro-active. The cycle currently seems to be fans moan about X on the Forum and on social media, followed by the club issuing a statement or something similar addressing the issue. The next step is to flip that model on its head. 

 

That might well be the case to an extent, but when the person writing articles for the tele blatantly distorts the content of the clubs statement for, I presume, clicks, there's always going to be this storm in a teacup because folk often see headlines and take as gospel. 

Morton fans themselves created a problem by constantly suggesting we should spunk the money from the Rangers tie on a bunch of players, coupled with poor journalism, it's no wonder they've had to clarify their position today and its a perfectly reasonable statement. The tele then go on to print another extremely misleading headline. I'd be furious if I was the club.

A really poor few days from those at the tele in blatant clickbait headings. Someone ought to have a word

[port-ton]

The spin of the statement on the back page headline of the tele today is " Morton need big investment to strengthen" which makes it sound like we are in financial trouble rather than the fact it goes on to quote the statement saying that infrastructure needs investment and the club are putting money aside for it for when it's needed. 

I've bought it almost daily over the summer for any transfer news etc to read at breakfast but they're not getting any more sales from me until they sort out their ridiculous spinning of headlines.