The Scottish Gas Scottish Cup 2023-24

[TONofmemories]

2 minutes ago, port-ton said:

That's both the Motherwell game and tonight that we fannies from that section have been throwing things at morton fans at the front of the Cowshed as well. It's a shame as that section have put in such an amazing effort to make cappielow a better experience for all Morton fans and are being let down by some idiots during the big nights at cappielow. 

So nothing to do with "that section" then. 

[port-ton]

1 minute ago, TONofmemories said:

So nothing to do with "that section" then. 

The passive aggressive nature of the quotation marks around that section probably putting in the hardest shift of the night there. 

[Deego]

People being spat on from the back of the shed too.

[HamCam]

Just made it home and maybe I am in the minority but I thought we missed an opportunity tonight. Yes we were up against it with our injury list but Hearts were no great shakes and when we got in their faces at the beginning of the second half they were rattled. I am not suggesting we should have chased the game afterwards but when players were out on their feet and your only sub is a full back I was surprised. I appreciate Imrie does not trust the boys on the bench but surely one of them was a better option than throwing Broadfoot up top. 

I know some don't like it but I love having a big away support as it creates a better atmosphere. Sadly though the basic infrastructure at Cappielow continues to let us down. A lot of fans missed the start of the game, yet again, as the scanners did not work (I am reliably informed it was the same for the Hearts support). As for the food offering in the Sinclair Street...

Well done to everyone for a great cup run this year but any chance we could get to see a Morton goal again?

[TRVMP]

2 hours ago, HamCam said:

Just made it home and maybe I am in the minority but I thought we missed an opportunity tonight. Yes we were up against it with our injury list but Hearts were no great shakes and when we got in their faces at the beginning of the second half they were rattled. I am not suggesting we should have chased the game afterwards but when players were out on their feet and your only sub is a full back I was surprised. I appreciate Imrie does not trust the boys on the bench but surely one of them was a better option than throwing Broadfoot up top. 

I know some don't like it but I love having a big away support as it creates a better atmosphere. Sadly though the basic infrastructure at Cappielow continues to let us down. A lot of fans missed the start of the game, yet again, as the scanners did not work (I am reliably informed it was the same for the Hearts support). As for the food offering in the Sinclair Street...

Well done to everyone for a great cup run this year but any chance we could get to see a Morton goal again?

In case you missed it, Hearts are third in the Premiership, beat the champions last weekend, have in their possession the country's top goalscorer (whom we managed very well), and while we did indeed have a positive spell at the start of the second period, that was game management on their part, knowing they had reinforcements for the closing stages when we would - without any bench options - inevitably tire. Their goal was a counterattack and if you go all-out after that there's only going to be one ending: they throw people forward to catch the out-balls and you're screwed.

It's just nasty to say Imrie doesn't trust the guys he's signed or whom he chooses to put on the bench. Again, this is the third-best team in the country. He's set our guys - who are a mix of good Championship players, former top flight players at the end of their careers, and youths - out with a plan, and throwing warm bodies at a plan for the sake of doing so is bad for all concerned. With no forwards on the bench, whom would you have put on with five minutes to go to hold the ball up against Sibbick and whoever the other one was at center-back? Was it:

Jack Bearne, a winger
Lewis McGrattan, a winger and midfielder
Michael Garrity, a midfielder (and a diminutive one at that)
or Sam Murdoch, a goalkeeper?

Remember, everyone was saying Broadfoot was done since he was playing at LL level, and Imrie has - with some admitted road bumps along the way - got both him and Power playing well. Shankland was left in no doubt whom he was up against tonight and said as much in his post-match interview. Will Broadfoot get any recognition for that - again, Shankland is the best striker in the country right now, and will probably go to the Euros? Or will he just get slated for not scoring a last-minute equalizer? In a game where we'd been on the back foot for the majority, except early in the second half, Broadfoot did an admirable job keeping them to relatively few open chances. He deserves credit for this - and so does Imrie for signing and playing him!

Long story short: if Imrie didn't trust Bearne he wouldn't be here, and if he didn't trust McGrattan and Garrity they wouldn't be getting minutes at all. Instead Bearne was signed and the latter two have played plenty, considering their ages. McGrattan has appeared in the vast majority of games this season, and Garrity (two years younger) is being carefully bedded in. They're getting an appropriate amount of football for the time in their careers and this is particularly true when you're up against, again, the third-best team in the country and a legendary Scottish goalkeeper who despite his age deserves to go to the Euros this summer.

Leaving aside certain attention-seeking fuds (I do not count you as one of these) there really does seem to be this idea that Imrie's somehow throwing away wins by refusing to "trust" young players. It's absolutely idiotic. What Imrie knows, as a guy who came relatively late to the senior game, is that sometimes experience is what's needed. Just look at Queen's Park: they thought they could play a bunch of youngsters and have them play it out from the back, and that ended up with relegation form. Now they have a couple of old heads and they look fine, and the young players they have will be better for the experience. It's just not the case that you can go up against Hearts and throw the kids at them and come away with a better outcome than we had tonight, and people need to stop acting as though Imrie's sandbagging us by refusing to make Logan O'Boy captain.

tl;dr: Scottish fans' fetish for putting the kids on is stupid. It's not borne out by the stats or simply by facing the right way at games. Imrie did nothing wrong. We held out own against a team that will send at the very least two players to the Euros in summer and will play in Europe next year, and we did it without our most vital player. There is absolutely zero scope to criticize Imrie for this game and everyone who does so should be hanged in real life.

Edited March 12 by TRVMP

[TopCat]

8 hours ago, port-ton said:

That's both the Motherwell game and tonight that we fannies from that section have been throwing things at morton fans at the front of the Cowshed as well. It's a shame as that section have put in such an amazing effort to make cappielow a better experience for all Morton fans and are being let down by some idiots during the big nights at cappielow. 

Admittedly there were also a few blootered folk trying to start fights at the back of it as well (including one particular pain in the arse in a bobble hat and tracksuit who seemed to spend fully 2 hours acting a hard man). 

A few bumpers aside, I thought the whole operation was relatively slick compared to previous big games. The club deserves credit for that. Hopefully this gives them a bit of confidence that minor improvements make a difference.

[Alibi]

I was surprised at Waters being brought on as a sub rather than a more attacking option given we were a goal down, and yes, with hindsight Power should maybe have impeded the runner in the build up to the goal, but overall we matched them all over the park. Mullen was superb, and his kick outs from hand were reaching the D of the opposition’s penalty area - astonishing for a player carrying an injury. Strapp was immense despite some rough treatment. Shankland was reduced to mediocrity. With Oakley on, we would have won that but can’t fault the effort and commitment of the entire team. Now let’s bring that to the league starting with giving Partick a doing on Saturday. Imrie still doing a great job so let’s get the playoffs on his cv.

[Greacen2000]

Great performance from the entire team.  We could have nicked a win (and were well worth it) but for a couple of outstanding saves from Gordon - the one from Strapp in particular was just ridiculous.

We could do far worse than lining up like that for the next few games - or at least until Oakley & Wilson become available.  Having the extra centre half gave the fullbacks licence to get forward a bit more and a few of our chances came about that way.  Put in that sort of a performance we would rinse other championship sides on most weeks.

Now that the cups out the way, we can focus fully on hopefully securing a playoff spot.  Although on paper it looks like our form has dropped, I think that a lot of positives can be taken from our last 2 games - especially when you consider how many key players we have been missing.

[Stevie Aitken's Love Child]

Anyone able to find the attendance figures from last night? 

[Cet Homme Charmant]

Proper boot in the haw-maws last night, losing a goal so late in the game after playing so well. Having slept on in though I'm a bit more philosophical about it now. All said and done it was a very decent cup run, and while it's obviously disappointing for it to come to an end, at least we went out fighting and with our heads held high. Every player gave their all and did the club and themselves proud, and you can't really ask for any more than that. On another night we could have nicked it, but it wasn't to be.

On the positive side, we can now focus 100% getting into the playoffs. If we can get Oakley and Wilson back and fit, we're surely in with a right good shout. And considering the first tie will in all probability be against plucky wee Partick, it's something to relish. All to play for!

[ChampTon]

After last night, I hope we back the boys in big numbers this weekend. They're more than deserving of it.

If Raith beat them tonight we have a game in hand over Partick and a chance to close the gap or to go ahead of them on GD Saturday.

[AyrshireTon]

In the past I’ve come away from cup exits against top flight teams feeling angry because of heinous referring, bad luck or satanic cheating by the opposition. Last night I just felt deflated, yet proud of the performance. Whilst we matched Hearts, I felt that we didn’t really trouble them much except for a brief spell in each half. It was hard to argue with the result.

The goal was avoidable but it’s hard to lay blame. The players were toiling and we’ll never know what might have happened if the subs had gotten the chance to come on before they scored. I feel that extra time would have drained us and maybe have seen a harsher scoreline in the end.

Good atmosphere, aside from a few numpties. Great to see the place full and jumping again. 
Really hope we can start scoring again and keep our push for the playoffs.

[The Bewilderedbeast]

Like others have said I'm gutted to have lost such a late goal.

But being pragmatic about it, I rather have lost in 90 minutes rather than lose to a late extra time or on penalties given that we're still in with a shout of the playoffs. 

[GiGi]

19 hours ago, Deego said:

People being spat on from the back of the shed too.

Aye it's that same section of wee guys at the back of the shed that have caused a bit of hassle before. Chucking food, spitting. Bound to be a few sore faces for it eventually.