dunning1874 Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 Every club needs to take the injury history of players into account, and particularly in our case with the smallest squad in the division minerals are clearly a huge concern. In Mullen's case, as with Wilson, their injury records only highlight how important they are to the team and how crucial it is we keep them. We've had 10 league games without Mullen this season and Saturday there was the first win without him. We've conceded 1.06 goals per games with him (only Falkirk and Livingston are better than that defensively) and 2.09 per game without him (no one else is close to being that bad). Meanwhile Wilson being in the team is the difference between promotion playoff challenging form and relegation battling form. We do need better depth so we don't go off a cliff when injuries inevitably happen which is the hardest part of recruitment for any manager and especially a Morton manager, but I'm hopeful with time Murdoch can prove to be a better second choice goalkeeper to Mullen than Woods or MacDonald have been, and we can always dream of a Grimshaw return in midfield. 2 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...
vikingTON Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 (edited) We really didn't have the smallest squad in the division this season, it was just loaded to the gills with sand dancers. Imrie was quite clear in pursuing greater depth compared to a starting 11 (or 14) after last season; we have ended up in essentially the same place for different reasons. Edited April 25 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...
Mr.Blue Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 2 hours ago, vikingTON said: We really didn't have the smallest squad in the division this season, it was just loaded to the gills with sand dancers. Imrie was quite clear in pursuing greater depth compared to a starting 11 (or 14) after last season; we have ended up in essentially the same place for different reasons. Yeah he's overloaded is with far too many wingers/ forwards meaning we lacked depth elsewhere. Moffat, Shaw, Davies, Reynolds, Garrity, Crawford Adeloye, McGinn and more recently Keay although we didn't know he was going to come into the managers thinking. 8 players for 3 positions is far too many and a waste of resources. Hopefully a lesson learnt for next season. There's a storm on the horizon And for that I can't see the sun For I'll keep a waiting on the pavement For the ice cream van to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONofmemories Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 Slightly concerning we've not renewed a single contract. Does that tell a story? TIME FOR CHANGE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Blue Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 21 minutes ago, TONofmemories said: Slightly concerning we've not renewed a single contract. Does that tell a story? Not really. The club/ players could be holding off until we know what league we are officially going to be in. Although we are 99 percent in the championship next season it would be silly to offer/ agree deals while we technically could end up in the Premier League. Long shot I know. The manager situation could be another factor. There's a storm on the horizon And for that I can't see the sun For I'll keep a waiting on the pavement For the ice cream van to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 23 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said: The manager situation could be another factor. I assume that was the story here was referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONofmemories Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 11 minutes ago, Jamie_M said: I assume that was the story here was referring to. Yes. TIME FOR CHANGE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 10 hours ago, vikingTON said: We really didn't have the smallest squad in the division this season, it was just loaded to the gills with sand dancers. Imrie was quite clear in pursuing greater depth compared to a starting 11 (or 14) after last season; we have ended up in essentially the same place for different reasons. Yeah it's obviously ended up being a reasonably sized squad and the imbalance with too many wingers v defenders was an issue, but it is the smallest squad in the division. More because several other clubs have outrageously huge squads than we have a small one. 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...
AyrshireTon Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 1 hour ago, Mr.Blue said: Not really. The club/ players could be holding off until we know what league we are officially going to be in. Although we are 99 percent in the championship next season it would be silly to offer/ agree deals while we technically could end up in the Premier League. Long shot I know. The manager situation could be another factor. 100% now. McGhee needs some support, there's no-one backing him up. Hayes playing it forward, Bell being forced to do it all alone, now forward from Marr, here's Ritchie, still Andy Ritchie, look at the control... That is a marvellous goal from Andy Ritchie. Twenty minutes on the clock and Morton's supporters come alive. A goal which epitomises the control, the arrogance, the cheek of Andy Ritchie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Blue Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 4 minutes ago, AyrshireTon said: 100% now. Aye. Bit of a bastard that. Let's go on and get 5th. There's a storm on the horizon And for that I can't see the sun For I'll keep a waiting on the pavement For the ice cream van to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 5 hours ago, dunning1874 said: Yeah it's obviously ended up being a reasonably sized squad and the imbalance with too many wingers v defenders was an issue, but it is the smallest squad in the division. More because several other clubs have outrageously huge squads than we have a small one. It is simply not true that we ran with a smaller squad of actual, legitimate Championship players this season than Airdrie did for example. Counting some ringers for another team but not for us (because Imrie never plays them) is not a credible measurement of squad depth. Let us try again. How exactly would having better depth achieve more than the 48-ish point, obvious ceiling that we hit time and time again? Where would the money come from to afford genuinely effective cover options at this level - given that every other club would want such obvious dreamboat, versatile figures too? The reality is entirely opposite to what you claim. If we want to genuinely push beyond our solid points total for a promotion play off, then we should reduce squad depth and gamble more on the fitness of key players (like Wilson) who are available for us precisely because of such reasons. The risk from that small squad, high quality and high injury risk approach is obvious - but it is the only serious strategy to have us punch well above our weight in any single season. 'Adding squad depth' with the 9th biggest budget in the division can only guarantee midtable solidity at best. Which is not to be automatically rejected IMO, but we need to be crystal clear about the limitations we are embedding in such an approach. 1 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...
Popular Post dunning1874 Posted April 26 Popular Post Share Posted April 26 4 hours ago, vikingTON said: It is simply not true that we ran with a smaller squad of actual, legitimate Championship players this season than Airdrie did for example. Counting some ringers for another team but not for us (because Imrie never plays them) is not a credible measurement of squad depth. Let us try again. How exactly would having better depth achieve more than the 48-ish point, obvious ceiling that we hit time and time again? Where would the money come from to afford genuinely effective cover options at this level - given that every other club would want such obvious dreamboat, versatile figures too? The reality is entirely opposite to what you claim. If we want to genuinely push beyond our solid points total for a promotion play off, then we should reduce squad depth and gamble more on the fitness of key players (like Wilson) who are available for us precisely because of such reasons. The risk from that small squad, high quality and high injury risk approach is obvious - but it is the only serious strategy to have us punch well above our weight in any single season. 'Adding squad depth' with the 9th biggest budget in the division can only guarantee midtable solidity at best. Which is not to be automatically rejected IMO, but we need to be crystal clear about the limitations we are embedding in such an approach. Ah, I didn't realise we could just discount half the Airdrie, Queen's Park, Hamilton and Dunfermline squads on the grounds that all of them have made several pish signings. Do we discount Niall McGinn as having been a first team player for us just because he was absolute mince? Did Jack Bearne and Ally Roy in previous seasons and Lamar Reynolds in this one not count because they found themselves largely bombed out for not being good enough? Regardless of how poor they turned out to be or how little they played they were all signed as first team players, as with several signings for all the squads above. It's true that in Airdrie's case they were forced to scramble for more bodies due to an injury crisis, but it doesn't change the fact they signed them. Whether you discount or include youth players across the board for consistency - if you wouldn't count Keay and Murdoch for us you wouldn't count any similar Queen's Park or Airdrie youngsters - all of these clubs still have more first team players than us. This is an entirely simple and irrefutable matter of fact. As for the rest of it, as you said yourself the issue we had this season was signing too many sand-dancers. I'm not expecting defensive cover the standard of Wilson and Ballantyne (the Grimshaw remark above was flippant), I'm just expecting to have some defensive cover. Rather than needing to put Blues, Gillespie or King at right back whenever Ballantyne's missing, if we could have had an actual back up full back the defence and midfield might not have suffered so much in the event of injuries. We could have taken the wages spent on McGinn and one of Reynolds/Davies, still had no shortage of bodies on the wing and given ourselves better depth in defence and midfield with one signing for those two wages. That wouldn't have limited us any more in the quality we could add to the starting XI, is an eminently sensible thing to do when you know injuries are inevitable, and may have been enough to see us not having such major downturns in form when they happened. This season has been less drastic for it than last, but ultimately two seasons running you can directly trace poor runs of form to a spell without a key player. Having less severe swings of form whenever someone gets injured rather than going straight from promotion challenging form to relegation form could well be the difference between a mid-40s and low to mid-50s points total needed to make a credible playoff challenge that we just couldn't manage this season: we couldn't manage because of poor runs of form prior to signing a credible striker, then without Mullen & Ballantyne, then without Wilson. The approach of putting more of the budget into the starting XI would be the recipe for injuries to relegate us. 5 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...
HamCam Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Leaving aside the nonsense comment about minerals from Dale there always seems to be an element of good fortune in building a squad especially when you have a limited budget. While some players are more injury prone than others there will always be unexpected injuries throughout the season - the frustration for Morton is it is invariably to key players. At the outset to this season the Club acknowledged they took a punt on some left-field signings (Davies and Reynolds). Sometimes you get the rub of the green other times you are Morton. Where we could have helped ourselves though was in building a more balanced squad and not signing (despite what was the Club said) players past their sell-by date. Every close season we live in hope. This coming summer is maybe even more uncertain if the rumours come to fruition and we are looking for another manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopCat Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 On 4/25/2025 at 7:25 AM, dunning1874 said: Every club needs to take the injury history of players into account, and particularly in our case with the smallest squad in the division minerals are clearly a huge concern. In Mullen's case, as with Wilson, their injury records only highlight how important they are to the team and how crucial it is we keep them. We've had 10 league games without Mullen this season and Saturday there was the first win without him. We've conceded 1.06 goals per games with him (only Falkirk and Livingston are better than that defensively) and 2.09 per game without him (no one else is close to being that bad). Meanwhile Wilson being in the team is the difference between promotion playoff challenging form and relegation battling form. We do need better depth so we don't go off a cliff when injuries inevitably happen which is the hardest part of recruitment for any manager and especially a Morton manager, but I'm hopeful with time Murdoch can prove to be a better second choice goalkeeper to Mullen than Woods or MacDonald have been, and we can always dream of a Grimshaw return in midfield. Every squad needs plenty cover for central midfield, particularly if your key player is injury prone. We're also pretty unlikely to sign a 2nd choice keeper anywhere near as good as Mullen, so that's not an area which will give us an edge next season. Clearing out our 7/8 mediocre forwards for 4 good ones, plus Keay and a January signing is a reasonably achievable alternative for me. We've struggled badly against the bottom 4 at times this season and a lack of quality up front is a big factor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SassenachTon Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Sam Murdoch turned in another good performance today judging by some of the plaudits on P&B from big-spending Raith supporters. Good to see, and encouraging for us having a solid 3rd option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 (edited) 12 hours ago, dunning1874 said: Ah, I didn't realise we could just discount half the Airdrie, Queen's Park, Hamilton and Dunfermline squads on the grounds that all of them have made several pish signings. Who and where exactly were Hamilton, Queens Park and Dunfermline ever cited as examples of clubs operating with small squads this season? A: They weren't - you just created a ludicrous straw man to attack, in order to deflect from your original claim. Airdrie's average squad age is around 4 full years younger than Morton’s, and no, that isn't explained away by your fixation with McGinn (previously Broadfoot) alone. Imrie and the club assembled a perfectly suitable size of squad this season, with relative experience and depth that helps explain why we're comfortably midtable, while Airdrie stunk the place out for half a season. The reality's however is that there is nothing more to be gained from pursuing yet more 'depth'. You will never have all key players fit and not suspended all season long regardless - it is the lack of more widespread quality throughout the team that explains the ceiling that we have hit. Edited April 26 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...
dunning1874 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 2 hours ago, vikingTON said: Who and where exactly were Hamilton, Queens Park and Dunfermline ever cited as examples of clubs operating with small squads this season? A: They weren't - you just created a ludicrous straw man to attack, in order to deflect from your original claim. Airdrie's average squad age is around 4 full years younger than Morton’s, and no, that isn't explained away by your fixation with McGinn (previously Broadfoot) alone. Imrie and the club assembled a perfectly suitable size of squad this season, with relative experience and depth that helps explain why we're comfortably midtable, while Airdrie stunk the place out for half a season. The reality's however is that there is nothing more to be gained from pursuing yet more 'depth'. You will never have all key players fit and not suspended all season long regardless - it is the lack of more widespread quality throughout the team that explains the ceiling that we have hit. You are, not for the first time, constructing a gargantuan straw man yourself here. Someone has made a point based on a fact, you have disagreed with the conclusion drawn from that fact, you have decided to dispute the irrefutable fact rather than the conclusion. We have a smaller squad than Airdrie, and everyone else in the division. This is a fact. The average age of Airdrie's squad does not change your factual inaccuracy. 2 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...
vikingTON Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 1 hour ago, dunning1874 said: You are, not for the first time, constructing a gargantuan straw man yourself here. Someone has made a point based on a fact, you have disagreed with the conclusion drawn from that fact, you have decided to dispute the irrefutable fact rather than the conclusion. We have a smaller squad than Airdrie, and everyone else in the division. This is a fact. The average age of Airdrie's squad does not change your factual inaccuracy. We do not have a smaller first team squad than Airdrie. You are just wrongly placing any and all irrelevant regens in that category, when similar regens at Morton are consigned to 'apprenticeship' roles and so magically don't count. The stark difference in age and experience between the paper 'squads' you are referring to gives lie to any serious claim that our squad depth was weaker at any point this season. Your immediate, humiliating climbdown from claiming Hamilton, Dunfermline etc. as examples of waif-like first teams is noted. 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...
dunning1874 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 8 hours ago, vikingTON said: We do not have a smaller first team squad than Airdrie. You are just wrongly placing any and all irrelevant regens in that category, when similar regens at Morton are consigned to 'apprenticeship' roles and so magically don't count. The stark difference in age and experience between the paper 'squads' you are referring to gives lie to any serious claim that our squad depth was weaker at any point this season. Your immediate, humiliating climbdown from claiming Hamilton, Dunfermline etc. as examples of waif-like first teams is noted. No climbdown here: I simply listed every club below us in the league. Every club below us, like every club above us, in fact has a larger first team squad than Morton. Airdrie's first team squad, not including any of their regens: Kieran Wright, Cade Melrose, Alex Bannon, Cammy Bruce, Flynn Duffy, Sam Graham, Mason Hancock, Dylan MacDonald, Lewis Strapp, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Craig Watson, Aidan Wilson, Rhys Armstrong, Adam Frizzell, Gavin Gallagher, Rhys McCabe, Dean McMaster, Liam McStravick, Lewis McGrattan, Lewis McGregor, Chris Mochrie, Aaron Reid, Ben Wilson, Ricco Diack. 24 players. Feel free to explain which of these obviously first team players should be eliminated from this list. Morton's first team squad: Ryan Mullen, Gary Woods, Cammy Ballantyne, Zak Delaney, Dylan Corr, Jack Baird, Morgan Boyes, Cammy Blues, Grant Gillespie, Iain Wilson, Aaron Lyall, Ali Crawford, Owen Moffat, Nathan Shaw, Michael Garrity, Niall McGinn, Jordan Davies, Lamar Reynolds, Tomi Adeloye, Filip Stuparevic (only fair to still include him as it was only injury that sent him back to Motherwell). 20 players. Even if you include Murdoch and Keay we still have a smaller first team squad. If your next move here to continue digging rather than admitting you're wrong is going to be arguing that anyone who's under 21 but was nevertheless obviously signed to be part of their first team doesn't actually count because of their age, good luck explaining why Dylan Corr and Aaron Lyall aren't being arbitrarily discounted from our first team squad by the same criteria. They have a less experienced first team squad, but it is evidently a larger one. Like I've already said, I agree that we built a reasonably sized squad and simply redistributing the budget so we carry fewer wingers to allow better defensive depth would be a better use of our resources than running with a considerably larger squad that spreads us thin. This doesn't change the undeniable fact that we have the smallest first team squad in the division. 2 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...
Doddie Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Might be a quiet close season. Under a transfer embargo https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/25132069.morton-chaos-placed-fifas-registration-ban-list/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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