Match Preview/Thread - Airdrieonians vs Morton (6th April)

[vikingTON]

21 hours ago, Madton said:

That was a tough watch.

Airdrie simply the better team and will no doubt clinch 4th.

French and Power were the standout pish performers but most were poor.  O'connor must be raging not being in the team.

The only person he should be raging about is himself though. O'Connor has been unreliable at centre back since day 1 of the season, which is why he hasn't managed to nail down a starting spot ahead of a centre back playing in the Lowland League last season. Like too many others in the squad, O'Connor simply hasn't progressed from last season and that's why we are were we are right now. 

O'Connor is young enough and versatile enough to persist with (Broadfoot should obviously leave) but he hasn't earned a starting spot for a credible play-off team at this level. We need serious competition that will either get the best out of him and Baird, or relegate him to an auxiliary right back or cover role.

I wasn't at yesterday's game so can't comment on performances. I'll instead focus on results. While three points from four games against Inverness, Airdrie, Queens Park and Dunfermline is poor enough, our record of three defeats and one win is actually worse.

These were all do not lose six-pointers. If we had shitfested three draws and a defeat and QP, the damage would be salvageable. Instead we've contrived to directly place Dunfermline above us, give Airdrie a near unassailable cushion and revive Inverness' survival hopes all at the same time. For the first time under Imrie's tenure, the game management shown by his team has been amateur. 

The closest parallel for me is with the 2011-12 campaign, which had a couple of good runs of form only to fizzle out in a similarly risible manner. While we won't have anywhere near the same budget as Moore had over the summer of 2012, the purpose of action should be the same. We don't just need to 'build a squad' by adding a few more bodies - the existing squad needs a ruthless purge and upgrades pursued across the board. A centre back, two full backs, 1-2 central midfielders and a wide player are likely needed - that means that an equivalent number of players should also be heading out the door, otherwise we can't afford real upgrades. That's the hard reality we need to face, instead of making excuses about lack of game time or dreaming up Stephen Stirling levels of player development while sitting on the bench.

Edited April 7 by vikingTON

[LargsTON]

Must admit I don't recall O'Connor having any bad games.   

[vikingTON]

48 minutes ago, LargsTON said:

Must admit I don't recall O'Connor having any bad games.   

To take just one game - the first competitive game of the season - O'Connor got turned by a routine punt up the park by Ross County in the closing stages to give Simon Murray an easy finish. That cost us that game and has been the story of his season. 

I'm not calling for him to be released but he simply hasn't progressed into a reliable Championship centre back yet. Like many others on the fringes of our first team, they should be looking to themselves for answers about their game time or lack of it. Imrie's not deliberately picking a shite team to lose games. 

[TopCat]

2 hours ago, vikingTON said:

To take just one game - the first competitive game of the season - O'Connor got turned by a routine punt up the park by Ross County in the closing stages to give Simon Murray an easy finish. That cost us that game and has been the story of his season. 

I'm not calling for him to be released but he simply hasn't progressed into a reliable Championship centre back yet. Like many others on the fringes of our first team, they should be looking to themselves for answers about their game time or lack of it. Imrie's not deliberately picking a shite team to lose games. 

Completely agree with this last part. We've had two atrocious runs of form this season, only one of which can really be partly excused by an injury crisis. This would suggest that there are a number of first team players who just aren't good enough for a top half finish, along with squad players who aren't good enough to dislodge them. As much as I'd like to see all of our youth players do well, I'd be happy for the club to be ruthless with them in the summer as well.

Quitongo, French, Waters, Strapp and Broadfoot are the obvious wages that are likely to be freed up (plus anything left from Boyd and Harkness). We don't need replacements to compete, we need improvements on these players as well as on the likes of Blues and Gillespie. That doesn't look very likely if we hold on to all of our 'prospect' players.

[Scott]

Of the players out of contract I’d like us to retain: Oakley, Crawford, Muirhead, O’Connor, Strapp (unlikely), and Garrity who I think has a real bit of potential. 
 

Time to thank the others for their efforts and wish them well. I think we’ve actually got a likeable group of players whose effort can’t be faulted, but if we are striving to be better and aim higher then the club and Imrie need to be ruthless this summer. 

[RossMcC1874]

O'Connor was excellent last season along with Baird he doesn't become a bad player because of a few bad games, Broadfoot was a good player but he has clearly past it and Saturday was an prime example of this it should be Baird and O'Connor for the rest of the season. 

There are only a handful of players who should be kept for next season depending on what we want to achieve, but we clearly need more depth and more competition for places. The likes of Strapp and Oakley will probably be hunted by a few teams you could probably add Muirhead to that but he would be a much bigger gamble than the other two. 

[Chicken_Soup]

I wasn’t at the Airdrie game so I’m maybe not sharing the strength of feeling after such a bad performance, but I don’t want this squad ripped apart.

We’re looking likely to finish roughly where most expected us to, with some ups and downs along the way. I’d rather we keep the core of this group together and try to add more quality/depth than bin an excessive amount of starters who are decent championship players, and take the gamble that we can upgrade those on the wages we offer.

We’ll already have a high enough turnover as many leave who are too old, injury prone, out of favour or moving to better things. 

[ChampTon]

I somewhat agree with the sentiment of binning the majority of the squad. But we will again be one of the lower budgets in the division next season (I know the accounts suggest we'll having a better one next season) and we've got players who can do a job. There's a few that we can rid such as MacDonald, Gillespie and Power who will be commanding good wages I imagine. I'm not sold on letting Power go though but if we are being realistic I imagine he's for the cut. Promote Murdoch to the permanent back up keeper and we also have our young utility man in Alex King (hopefully) returning. O'Boy should also be utilised as a squad player.

I actually don't think we utilise the loan market all that well either to be honest and would like to see a few more in on loans to help bulk the squad. Although if Tyler French is anything to go by I'd rather we didn't.

[The Bewilderedbeast]

It'll be interesting to see who goe and who comes in.

At the Q&A session with the board a couple of weeks ago, John Laird made it abundantly clear that Morton would no longer be a club that players come to, to end their career.

Would imagine then, that Broadfoot and Power may well be going and there'd be no more signings like Ambrose and McLean.

Edited April 8 by The Bewilderedbeast

[SpoonTon]

Power has been good for us this season when he has been fit and has had his game time carefully managed. You can see the class he's had as a player over the years. He's outstanding when he's really on  it. 

But what on earth was he doing on the pitch on Saturday when it's quite clear he couldn't even run properly. Giving the ball away for the first goal is poor and watching him try to run back after losing the challenge in the build up for the second goal is a painful watch. It was the same at the beginning of the season. Obviously it's an issue with such a small squad that sometimes you're going to be tempted to, or have to, play players who aren't at their fittest but surely Power wasn't at match fitness for Saturday. Maybe that's just the reality of the squad we have, but you'd have to assume that Gillespie can't be very fit either given he wasn't selected to start. 

Edited April 8 by SpoonTon

[Chicken_Soup]

4 hours ago, ChampTon said:

I somewhat agree with the sentiment of binning the majority of the squad. But we will again be one of the lower budgets in the division next season (I know the accounts suggest we'll having a better one next season) and we've got players who can do a job. There's a few that we can rid such as MacDonald, Gillespie and Power who will be commanding good wages I imagine. I'm not sold on letting Power go though but if we are being realistic I imagine he's for the cut. Promote Murdoch to the permanent back up keeper and we also have our young utility man in Alex King (hopefully) returning. O'Boy should also be utilised as a squad player.

I actually don't think we utilise the loan market all that well either to be honest and would like to see a few more in on loans to help bulk the squad. Although if Tyler French is anything to go by I'd rather we didn't.

On French I may be in a very small minority but I think he’s been a good, if unspectacular, championship level right back for us over the season. I realise it’s irrelevant as we can’t even come close to affording his wages, so he’ll be off anyway.
While he’s not been on the level of Grimshaw or Brandon, he’s certainly a significant improvement on the likes of Pignatiello, Ledger, Hynes, Jacobs and the assortment of midfielders and centre backs we’ve featured there recently. He gets a lot of criticism but I’d be pleasantly surprised if right back is a position we’re able to upgrade on going into next season. 

[Scott]

1 hour ago, Chicken_Soup said:

On French I may be in a very small minority but I think he’s been a good, if unspectacular, championship level right back for us over the season. I realise it’s irrelevant as we can’t even come close to affording his wages, so he’ll be off anyway.
While he’s not been on the level of Grimshaw or Brandon, he’s certainly a significant improvement on the likes of Pignatiello, Ledger, Hynes, Jacobs and the assortment of midfielders and centre backs we’ve featured there recently. He gets a lot of criticism but I’d be pleasantly surprised if right back is a position we’re able to upgrade on going into next season. 

He can’t judge the flight of a ball, shanks crosses out the pitch, gives the ball away when trying to pass it more often than not, and makes a habit of losing his man for crosses (see Airdrie’s 3rd on Saturday). The one thing he is good at is getting back in front of a wide player using his pace if they’re on the counter attack. He’ll pick up a decent wage non-league down in England, but I’d be disappointed if we didn’t look to improve on him for next season. If he was as good as Dundee fans said he was, the injury has clearly done him as a player. 

[irnbru]

10 minutes ago, Scott said:

He can’t judge the flight of a ball, shanks crosses out the pitch, gives the ball away when trying to pass it more often than not, and makes a habit of losing his man for crosses (see Airdrie’s 3rd on Saturday). The one thing he is good at is getting back in front of a wide player using his pace if they’re on the counter attack. He’ll pick up a decent wage non-league down in England, but I’d be disappointed if we didn’t look to improve on him for next season. If he was as good as Dundee fans said he was, the injury has clearly done him as a player. 

Aye, agreed. We can do much better than him.

[LargsTON]

5 hours ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:

It'll be interesting to see who goe and who comes in.

At the Q&A session with the board a couple of weeks ago, John Laird made it abundantly clear that Morton would no longer be a club that players come to, to end their career.

Would imagine then, that Broadfoot and Power may well be going and there'd be no more signings like Ambrose and McLean.

That's down to the manager surely and not John Laird?

[capitanus]

57 minutes ago, LargsTON said:

That's down to the manager surely and not John Laird?

Agreed.  

[BishopBrennan]

14 hours ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:

It'll be interesting to see who goe and who comes in.

At the Q&A session with the board a couple of weeks ago, John Laird made it abundantly clear that Morton would no longer be a club that players come to, to end their career.

Would imagine then, that Broadfoot and Power may well be going and there'd be no more signings like Ambrose and McLean.

It absolutely should not be the chairman deciding that. We're one of (if not the) lowest paying full time clubs in the country. The idea of completing ruling out recruiting older players dropping down from a higher level is absurd. 

[Jamie_M]

1 hour ago, BishopBrennan said:

It absolutely should not be the chairman deciding that. We're one of (if not the) lowest paying full time clubs in the country. The idea of completing ruling out recruiting older players dropping down from a higher level is absurd. 

That quote doesn't indicate who made any decision though.

In the latest GM video, he talks about weekly meetings between the manager, the chairman and the GM and that Dougie has presented his strategy for the team going forward.

So whilst that quote has come from Laird, it could just be that he knows the strategy that the manager has presented and they have all agreed to?

[dunning1874]

You can forgive a defender having terrible distribution if they are at least competent defensively. Michael Ledger could hardly cross the halfway line but was consistently solid defensively, while on the flipside someone like Carlo Pignatiello was capable of delivering a decent cross in the final third but routinely caught out of position or otherwise not good enough at the back.

French is the worst of both worlds: he combines the inability to do anything with the ball at his feet of a natural centre back stuck at right back like Ledger - and that comparison is pretty harsh on Ledger - with the positional cluelessness and general absence of any kind of awareness of Pignatiello. He's a poor man's Michael Doyle in the opposition half and a poor man's Reghan Tumilty in ours.

The only thing stopping him being the worst full back we've had so far this decade is a youth product who'd been kept around too long and now can't get a game in League Two in Hynes.

[Deego]

40 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

That quote doesn't indicate who made any decision though.

In the latest GM video, he talks about weekly meetings between the manager, the chairman and the GM and that Dougie has presented his strategy for the team going forward.

So whilst that quote has come from Laird, it could just be that he knows the strategy that the manager has presented and they have all agreed to?

Laird did say something along the lines of the exception to that would be if the manager puts forward a strong case for signing an older player.

[RossMcC1874]

The sad part is there was a player in there somewhere I remember my cousin who is a Dundee fan saying he was excellent and rapid but after a really bad injury it's clear to see he is just not at the level now he is scared to do anything and the distribution is abysmal. 

I do feel quite sorry for him because I don't think it's a lack of trying it's just him being scared to do anything on the pitch and it's difficult to say if that will ever change for him.