EanieMeany Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Dougie is quoted in today's Tele saying "we have a squad of 20 players", which gets to the heart of the matter. He's entirely entitled to be pissed off at getting hit with a squad made of of players who simply should be not considered part of the first team squad, frankly. The wage budget has got to be absolutely tiny, given that the likes of King, McGregor et al surely can't be getting paid whatever an average senior first team player gets paid. We've only got 10 contracted players who are even remotely established: Lithgow, O'Connor, Strapp, Baird, Blues, Gillespie, Jacobs, Lyon, Quitongo and Muirhead. That's a stinking state of affairs. AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) Dick 'dick' Campbell was using the "we need to get to 40 points to survive" line for most of last season, when it was patently obvious that they were challenging for promotion by November. 3 hours ago, Jamie_M said: As long as he continues to be raging when we lose, rinsing the team for it and demanding better then I am fine with it (as opposed to the previous lot who doubled down on low expectations with proclamations that we couldn't possibly expect any better). When did Imrie rinse the team last season? He was certainly raging a lot, but my recollection of most post-match comments was railing against officials and praising the players, even when they had played very poorly (especially in the final four games). That's one thing I did not actually like about our approach last season. I was hoping that Imrie was biting his lip before ruthlessly emptying some jobbers in the summer. But instead it was new deals (or attempted new deals) all round with the exception of Ledger. This is why I'm not entirely buying this budget mewling: Imrie's talk and actions regarding the squad he inherited has been entirely consistent throughout. If he was re-signing players who were out of the picture last season then that would suggest that the purse-strings have really been cut; but I think we'd have seen the likes of Blues getting a new deal even if the budget was 10-15% higher than last season's. On the other hand, Imrie did show his dissatisfaction with the defensive, dung tactics that Gus was doling out, and his work in organising the team on the training ground has been clear to see. The next step is to add a more sophisticated attacking structure, but the foundations are usually solid regardless of the personnel which is the sign of good coaching. I might sound very critical of Imrie this summer but to be clear, I'd be slapping down a long-term contract extension right now and entrusting him to build a 5 year project here. But he's an inexperienced manager and I think we're seeing some of that right now. Edited July 23, 2022 by vikingTON 1 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 More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 30 minutes ago, EanieMeany said: We've only got 10 contracted players who are even remotely established: Lithgow, O'Connor, Strapp, Baird, Blues, Gillespie, Jacobs, Lyon, Quitongo and Muirhead. That's a stinking state of affairs. Hynes is 24 and was given an extended deal almost immediately under Gus. While I have no inside or outside knowledge of what he's earning, McPherson's other supposed contract dealings suggest that he might well be on an established first team wage. I'm also not convinced that there's much difference between Schwake and Pignatiello to a Quitongo/Gillespie in terms of cost. They're not playing for the sake of compassion and Livingston aren't in a position to just loan out players without significant wage contributions either. Edited July 23, 2022 by vikingTON 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 More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 1 hour ago, vikingTON said: Livingston aren't in a position to just loan out players without significant wage contributions either. Livi fans state they have a policy of 100% wage contribution or no loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 1 minute ago, Jamie_M said: Livi fans state they have a policy of 100% wage contribution or no loan. Would take that with a pinch of salt (I don't see how we could have paid 100% for Reilly) but it's certainly going to be a large portion regardless. It's not Chelsea, Man City or even the Old Firm handing out baubles here - we'll be paying a decent wage for all of them so Livingston don't have to. 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 More sharing options...
so72 Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 2 hours ago, Jamie_M said: Livi fans state they have a policy of 100% wage contribution or no loan. No way were a Part-Time team paying full-time wages for a young, unproven gk on loan last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, so72 said: No way were a Part-Time team paying full-time wages for a young, unproven gk on loan last season. Indeed, nor were Dumbarton chucking buckets of cash at Pignatiello . I can't really see either of the three being on particularly significant wages either way, it's not like we're talking somebody who's widely tipped to be a first-teamer at Celtic or Rangers in a year or two and we need to push the boat out a bit to get them - meaning no disrespect to any of the players, it's wee guys from Livingston who've spend the last year in the lower divisions. Either way though, the fact remains that we have only 10 contracted players who've had even one season as professional senior footballer players in any significant way*, two of whom haven't been near the Championship in a good few years. It would be interesting to know what exactly Dougie was told about all of this, it just seems unlikely that it would have been a pitch that would have been encouraging to a prospective manager but who knows. Anyway, my main point was that Imrie stating that we have a squad of 20 seems to me to be an indicator that nothing else is likely to happen with signings - it wasn't entirely clear if the likes of Garrity, McGregor and Easdale were supposed to be being counted as proper first-teamers, and that quite from Dougie seems to confirm that they are. 10 relatively-established players, 3 young loanees and 7 others of varying standard...it's not great. Perhaps we'll see 1 or 2 more players coming in (a centre-forward is essential, there's not really a choice in the matter), but I can't see the 3/4 (at least) signings that I think everyone agrees are needed materialising. *On Hynes, I keep forgetting he's actually relatively old, I keep thinking of him as a youngster since he kinda fills the role of one, which is what I mean by "in a significant way" - he's sort of just...there, for the most part, rather than being a major component. It's hard to see why he's still knocking about tbh (being under contract, obviously...), he does a passable job as cover but he rarely plays despite been here for some time now, why exactly he got that last extension is unclear. I'm not really knocking him as such, but we could most likely use the money he's earned more wisely. Edited July 23, 2022 by EanieMeany AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 After talking them up last season Imrie's post-match comments after Saturday are much more critical to say the least. I don't think anyone gets an entirely positive judgment - but he's almost certainly right about having to lift the standard of performance to compete this season. 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 More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 I hope the Circus club are paying his full wage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 If a player is good enough to merit a contract, he shouldn’t be getting sent to that rabble. AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port-ton Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 3 minutes ago, EanieMeany said: If a player is good enough to merit a contract, he shouldn’t be getting sent to that rabble. Our former player Kirk Broadfoot plays for them. Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deego Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 Gucci bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 (edited) 27 minutes ago, port-ton said: Our former player Kirk Broadfoot plays for them. My point exactly. In all seriousness though, a one year deal then packing him off to an entirely unserious non-club managed by some guy from a podcast for a laugh doesn't really seem like the thing you'd do with a boy you have genuinely high hopes for...especially when we literally only have Easdale as a (nominal...) striker and other youngsters are getting flung in. It's not exactly the first place it'd occur to you to send a young boy to learn this trade, is it? Nothing against the lad, it'd be great if he turns out to be the new Ronaldo Nazario, just as good if he can fulfil the basic functions of a centre-forward in an even passable manner given the lack of other options available to us, but this seems...a bit odd, on the face of it. Edited July 26, 2022 by EanieMeany AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 A loan to the Lowland League is a reasonable enough route for a 17/18 year old at our level to take for their first experience of first team football. I despise the whole concept of the club in question and sincerely hope they cease to exist, but in terms of the level he's going to be playing at I don't really have any objection. There is of course the question of how short we are on centre forwards in the first team and the quality of those options, but if he isn't ready for Championship football we should be going and looking for someone who is good enough, regardless of whether this youngster is better than some others who are around at the moment. 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 More sharing options...
port-ton Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 They're playing in the league just now but they haven't put their starting lineup on twitter so no idea if he's in the squad. Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 As a genuine question: it says Gemmell becomes a senior player, was that previously the situation with boys coming from the Academy when we had a development squad? It rings a bell that you used to read about players signing development contracts, but I could be making that up! Again, this is just curiosity, I'm not trying to suggest there's anything untoward about the situation or the like. AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 (edited) 13 minutes ago, dunning1874 said: A loan to the Lowland League is a reasonable enough route for a 17/18 year old at our level to take for their first experience of first team football. I despise the whole concept of the club in question and sincerely hope they cease to exist, but in terms of the level he's going to be playing at I don't really have any objection. There is of course the question of how short we are on centre forwards in the first team and the quality of those options, but if he isn't ready for Championship football we should be going and looking for someone who is good enough, regardless of whether this youngster is better than some others who are around at the moment. It's not the level they play at to be fair, more the fact that it just seems a total joke of a club that won't be the best environment for whipping someone we presumably have to be hoping can do a job in the near future (why bother otherwise?) into shape, but who knows. Agree entirely on the last bit too, a marginal improvement on what we have isn't really much of a benchmark but at the same time it appears to be where we are - to stress again, I am not having a go at the player, this is nothing to do with him, it's just the circumstances which seem a bit curious given the position we're in. Edited July 26, 2022 by EanieMeany AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 47 minutes ago, Deego said: Gucci bro. gugdi bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port-ton Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 4 minutes ago, EanieMeany said: It's not the level they play at to be fair, more the fact that it just seems a total joke of a club that won't be the best environment for whipping someone we presumably have to be hoping can do a job in the near future (why bother otherwise?) into shape, but who knows. Agree entirely on the last bit too, a marginal improvement on what we have isn't really much of a benchmark but at the same time it appears to be where we are - to stress again, I am not having a go at the player, this is nothing to do with him, it's just the circumstances which seem a bit curious given the position we're in. I'm not really fussed about them as a club, but it seems Simon Ferry is a Kenny Shiels type of manager that demands they play passing football at all costs even if the players aren't up to it, so in terms of the level and the type of football they'll be playing it should stand him in good stead if he gets game time. Not sure if learning to play nice football on the deck will help him at Morton though. Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EanieMeany Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 2 minutes ago, port-ton said: I'm not really fussed about them as a club, but it seems Simon Ferry is a Kenny Shiels type of manager that demands they play passing football at all costs even if the players aren't up to it, so in terms of the level and the type of football they'll be playing it should stand him in good stead if he gets game time. Not sure if learning to play nice football on the deck will help him at Morton though. Yeah, maybe. I guess my point is probably more that if we're going so heavily on youth and pleading poverty so much, a player worthy of a contract would maybe be considered worthy of getting sent somewhere better than the team that finished near the bottom of the Lowland League last season, but I guess we'll see what happens and there's not really much point lingering too much on any of this, so good luck to him and hopefully we'll have ourselves a decent option come January. AWMSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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