Match Preview - Morton vs Dunfermline - 23rd March

[so72]

We have scored one goal in 6 games. Alarming, now need to be worried about the other playoffs. I'm sure we can put a run together like l the end of last season but we need to start scoring goals asap.

[capitanus]

Morton are now closer to ninth in the table than they are to third.

This isn't good form.  Have the players believed their own hype?

[Scott]

Imrie basically calling out McGrattan in his post match interview, which is poor when Broadfoot, Crawford, French, golden boy Blues and Muirhead were all miles off it. 

[Tubes]

McGrattan is always an easy target it seems. Far worse on the park than him at times today. Broadfoot, Blues and French in particular being horrendous.

Was Strapp coming off an injury? Not surprised we make that change, and instantly we are switched off down the left side at that quick corner for the goal. Mullen should be doing better too, looked like he went with the wrong hand aswell?

Something needs to change, that’s giving me the absolute fear today. 

[DaftTon74]

what ever happened to “the cowshed” btw? Do they only turn up for big games? 
 

 

[ChampTon]

12 minutes ago, DaftTon74 said:

what ever happened to “the cowshed” btw? Do they only turn up for big games? 
 

 

Surprised they weren't in attendance since Celtic and The Rangers weren't playing today. 

Only a handful of them are real Morton supporters.

[Toby]

19 minutes ago, DaftTon74 said:

what ever happened to “the cowshed” btw? Do they only turn up for big games? 
 

 

A lot of boys probably still over in Amsterdam for the Scotland game, in fairness.

[BishopBrennan]

6 minutes ago, ChampTon said:

Surprised they weren't in attendance since Celtic and The Rangers weren't playing today. 

Only a handful of them are real Morton supporters.

The majority of them were in Amsterdam for the Scotland game. 

[HamCam]

For all the acclaim the team received for the unbeaten run they have to accept the subsequent drop off in form has been unacceptable. What is most disappointing is the lack of leadership from the senior pros and the inability of players given more game time to take the opportunity. McGrattan is rightly singled out. I had high hopes the boy would kick on this season but watching him in recent weeks he is going through the motions. He was clearly not alone today and I hope this is taken into account when we look at which members of the squad we look to retain next season. This team has a soft centre and seem unable to overcome adversity such as conceding the first goal. Once again we are in danger of a season which offered so much promise petering out. The dream of third place now looks like a delusion.

 

Edited March 23 by HamCam

[irnbru]

42 minutes ago, HamCam said:

For all the acclaim the team received for the unbeaten run they have to accept the subsequent drop off in form has been unacceptable. What is most disappointing is the lack of leadership from the senior pros and the inability of players given more game time to take the opportunity. McGrattan is rightly singled out. I had high hopes the boy would kick on this season but watching him in recent weeks he is going through the motions. He was clearly not alone today and I hope this is taken into account when we look at which members of the squad we look to retain next season. This team has a soft centre and seem unable to overcome adversity such as conceding the first goal. Once again we are in danger of a season which offered so much promise petering out. The dream of third place now looks like a delusion.

 

To be fair if it was one game in isolation we could say there was a missed penalty and a couple of cracking saves/ bad misses and we would have had 3 or 4 on another day. The problem is the overall performance wasn't great and it's been the same for a few weeks. 

Think we need to get Garrity and Quitongo in for Muirhead and McGratten and get down the wings a bit more next week. 

[vikingTON]

53 minutes ago, irnbru said:

Think we need to get Garrity and Quitongo in for Muirhead and McGratten and get down the wings a bit more next week. 

What evidence shows that this would be an effective approach? How many goals/assists have those two options added this season, that lead you expect that we will break our current duck in the next match?

The same question applies just as much to McGrattan or Bearne.  Absolutely none of this cast of wide options reliably deliver anything at all. It's like having four Stephen Stirling figures rotating around the line-up at the moment, who suddenly become twice as good the week that they're not actually on the park. Enough of these wingers. 

What's actually needed is a reset to executing the basics well. Play the ball directly towards Oakley and actually press as a unit the second ball wherever it drops. Then start playing football in the opposition third of the park instead of fannying around with it in the back four. That has always been the key to our success and we have unintentionally deviated from it. 

[irnbru]

6 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

What evidence shows that this would be an effective approach? How many goals/assists have those two options added this season, that lead you expect that we will break our current duck in the next match?

The same question applies just as much to McGrattan or Bearne.  Absolutely none of this cast of wide options reliably deliver anything at all. It's like having four Stephen Stirling figures rotating around the line-up at the moment, who suddenly become twice as good the week that they're not actually on the park. Enough of these wingers. 

What's actually needed is a reset to executing the basics well. Play the ball directly towards Oakley and actually press as a unit the second ball wherever it drops. Then start playing football in the opposition third of the park instead of fannying around with it in the back four. That has always been the key to our success and we have unintentionally deviated from it. 

I think Garrity has been a threat when he's come on and the others haven't been. Quitongo gives us a bit more energy and makes defenders worry about him so it keeps us a bit higher up the park. Don't really disagree with the last paragraph - it's what we're best at - but the players who have been starting haven't really been great so our options are limited. 

[vikingTON]

1 minute ago, irnbru said:

I think Garrity has been a threat when he's come on and the others haven't been. Quitongo gives us a bit more energy and makes defenders worry about him so it keeps us a bit higher up the park. Don't really disagree with the last paragraph - it's what we're best at - but the players who have been starting haven't really been great so our options are limited. 

I asked for evidence of both players' contribution to goals - those are purely vibes based preferences. Which nobody would have said for Quitongo in our previous two home games either btw. 

Our wide options are objectively poor by the standards of the league - though we probably also have one of the lowest investment in that area of the squad too. No Championship manager or defender would be having sleepless nights about how to deal with any of them;. it is not even remotely our strength, so doubling down on it is the wrong answer. 

 

[dunning1874]

I don't have an issue with Imrie calling out McGrattan, because hamstrung as he might be by having the wretched excuse for a footballer that is Tyler French behind him, McGrattan has had chances to step into the starting XI and has played very, very badly. That was probably his last start in a Morton shirt today and if he doesn't get another chance before being released in the summer then tough shit, you had your chance to step up and didn't take it.

What I do have an issue with is throwing barely concealed digs at someone like McGrattan when a player who casts himself as a linchpin of the team escapes criticism from Imrie entirely. I'm absolutely not saying it would be appropriate for a manager to start bodying players in public, but he's obviously doing it of his own accord already. If you're going to have a dig at anyone, call out the player who has spent the last two months delivering performances Adam Coakley would have been embarrassed with.

Today is genuinely the angriest I've been at a Morton performance in Imrie’s time in charge, and Robbie Muirhead is the reason. Footballers miss penalties, that is entirely reasonable and forgivable, but what's not forgivable was seeing him only then start to try for the first time in 2024. In that 10 minutes after taking the most telegraphed penalty of all time he was absolutely bursting his arse: showing for passes, pressing centre backs, competing for every high ball. Things he has steadfastly refused to lower himself to for the last six weeks, because he thinks he's above it, and it was only today when the dropped points were undeniably his fault that he finally decided it was worth his while to leave first gear and try to make a difference, but it was too little, too late. I'm genuinely fucking aghast at how brazen he's been about it and I can't see how anyone could justify offering him a contract at this point: if this is your approach to Championship football then enjoy your mid-table League Two finish with East Kilbride next season.

[RossMcC1874]

Muirhead has got to be one of the most frustrating players I have seen in years play for us. 

Of course the talent is there but his body language and work rate at times is laughable he turns up when he wants but the frustrating thing he thinks he can get away with only trying sometime because of the talent he has. So far this year his contribution has been non existent and it's so annoying to watch I think the reason he gets so much stick from certain fans is because of this another example of someone who could play at a higher level but nobody would touch him with a barge poll because of the attitude and lack of commitment, I though he had screwed the nut but recently he has gone back to the same old Muirhead we saw for years. 

 

 

[TONofmemories]

Really wasn't impressed with Imrie moaning about budgets in hospitality. We're 7 games or so to end of season. Time to maybe get over it?

[LargsTON]

9 hours ago, dunning1874 said:

I don't have an issue with Imrie calling out McGrattan, because hamstrung as he might be by having the wretched excuse for a footballer that is Tyler French behind him, McGrattan has had chances to step into the starting XI and has played very, very badly. That was probably his last start in a Morton shirt today and if he doesn't get another chance before being released in the summer then tough shit, you had your chance to step up and didn't take it.

What I do have an issue with is throwing barely concealed digs at someone like McGrattan when a player who casts himself as a linchpin of the team escapes criticism from Imrie entirely. I'm absolutely not saying it would be appropriate for a manager to start bodying players in public, but he's obviously doing it of his own accord already. If you're going to have a dig anyone, call out player who has spent the last two months delivering performances Adam Cookley would have been embarrassed with.

Today is genuinely the angriest I've been at a Morton performance in Imrie’s time in charge, and Robbie Muirhead is the reason. Footballers miss penalties, that is entirely reasonable and forgivable, but what's not forgivable was seeing him only then start to try for the first time in 2024. In that 10 minutes after taking the most telegraphed penalty of all time he was absolutely bursting his arse: showing for passes, pressing centre backs, competing for every high ball. Things he has steadfastly refused to lower himself to for the last six weeks, because he thinks he's above it, and it was only today when the dropped points were undeniably his fault that he finally decided it was worth his while to leave first gear and try to make a difference, but it was too little, too late. I'm genuinely fucking aghast at how brazen he's been about it and I can't see how anyone could justify offering him a contract at this point: if this is your approach to Championship football then enjoy your mid-table League Two finish with East Kilbride next season.

I totally agree with all of this.  Muirhead has infuriated me for weeks now too.  Its clear to see why he's had so many clubs, his attitude stinks at times.  His talent is undoubted but his work ethic is appalling.  I'd much rather have seen Garrity starting out wide and Muirhead benched as he contributed zero yesterday both in terms of productivity and effort.  

[TopCat]

It's all the more annoying because this shift in attitude comes after a decent period of really applying himself and playing well.

His performances have slid back to be every bit as bad as the covid season - swaggering around the pitch, drawing out of tackles, standing still and chuntering to himself with his head down. He's a talented footballer but he's a big baby. 

[irnbru]

1 hour ago, TONofmemories said:

Really wasn't impressed with Imrie moaning about budgets in hospitality. We're 7 games or so to end of season. Time to maybe get over it?

I do have some sympathy here. A small squad is obviously impacted more by injuries like we seen at the start of the season but it also leaves options limited for when players aren't in form so more difficult to shake things up a bit. There's players that know they'll start regardless because no one else is pushing them for a place in the team. 

That said, we can only spend what we've got and a couple of signings haven't paid off but you can't get them all right. I know the baird budgeted for 8th but I think Imrie has done enough to add a bit more to the budget for a higher league place - I'd like to think it's low risk and Imrie would get more consistency across the season if he had more money to spend. 

[Scott]

1 hour ago, TONofmemories said:

Really wasn't impressed with Imrie moaning about budgets in hospitality. We're 7 games or so to end of season. Time to maybe get over it?

He needs to give it a rest. He’s got a boy on the bench that he handed a 2 year deal to, yet never gives him a fair chance. Granted Boyd wasn’t great, but he did the same with him too with the 2 year deal. The budget has been there but he’s wasted it on those players.