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Before we go anywhere, can we all agree that that minging mob are “Partick”, not “Thistle”? All in agreement? Smashing, carry on.

(Photo- GBR Photos) Raymond’s Revolution, Resignation and Relegation By Russell Gordon Transfer deadline day, be it at the end of August or January, is in the modern era of football a date marked in the diary of fans of every football club, and often a day that we all go through the emotional ringer, as we hope to hold onto star players that bigger clubs are sniffing around, shift on guys who haven’t lived up to expectations, or bring in the final pieces of the jigsaw to allow for the season’s ambitions to be fulfilled. But for Morton, the 31st of August 2018, five years ago today, was a deadline day like no other. Morton had gone through quite a summer of transition- Jim Duffy was relieved of his duties with a year remaining of his contract in spite of a relatively successful four years in the Cappielow hot seat, taking Morton up from League One at the first attempt and enjoying two relatively successful years in the Championship before a somewhat mediocre season which led many on the terraces, and perhaps the inner sanctum of Cappielow to believe that he had gone a bit stale and it was time for a change. Added to that was the sad passing of Morton’s benefactor, and former Chairman, Douglas Rae in June. With his son Crawford having taken over the role shortly before his father’s death, the decision was made to push the boat out for promotion to the Premiership. Season tickets were significantly reduced from around £300 to £200 and the club enjoyed extremely healthy sales, and the man entrusted with guiding Morton to the land of milk and honey was former Dundee United boss Ray McKinnon, a bit of a nemesis of Duffy’s in his Raith Rovers days, taking twelve points from twelve against a very good Morton side in 2015-16, before moving onto a less successful spell at the poisoned chalice that is the home dugout at Tannadice. The Rebuild And Start To The Season With some of the more high-profile stalwarts of the Duffy era, such as Ricki Lamie, Jai Quitongo, Thomas O’Ware, Gary Harkins and the mercurial Ross Forbes heading onto pastures new, McKinnon set about assembling a squad for the challenge ahead. Former ‘Ton heroes Chris Millar and Jim McAlister returned to their old stomping ground, although questions were raised about the decision to allow Andy Murdoch’s contract to expire for him to head onto newly promoted Ayr United. Keeper Ryan Scully came in to dislodge Derek Gaston, along with defenders Reghan Tumilty, Gregor Buchanan, Rory McKeown and Kerr Waddell, as well as Charlie Telfer from Dundee United and Motherwell loanee Ross McLean, and the marquee signing of Denny Johnstone from Birmingham City. The League Cup campaign wasn’t great, but could be put down to McKinnon’s new squad taking time to gel. Having led through a Michael Tidser free kick at Somerset Park, a Lawrence Shankland hat-trick sent the ‘Ton faithful home with a bloody nose. They were effectively out the tournament following a 1-2 defeat at Firhill a few days later before resounding victories over the group’s makeweights, Stenhousemuir and Albion Rovers. The league campaign started with a disappointing 2-2 draw with Queen of the South at Cappielow, with Morton giving up a two-goal lead through Tidser and McLean in the last 20 minutes to settle for a point. However, a Chris Millar double against Alloa gave Morton their first three points on the road. After a shadow side exited the Challenge Cup at Dumbarton, title favourites Ross County were next to visit Cappielow and it was Morton’s turn to come from behind. It took Tidser only a couple of minutes to cancel out Don Cowie’s opener on the hour, and a Bob McHugh goal sent Morton to the top of the league. Brilliant, what could possibly go wrong? A 2-1 win over title favourites, and eventual champions Ross County was the highlight of McKinnon's tenure, a mere six days before jumping ship. (Photo- GBR Photos) Deadline Day Departures The following Friday was a busy day for the club- after a morning training session, the squad descended on Cappielow for their annual photo session, with the supposedly affable gaffer adding in a very nice touch of asking the background staff that often go unnoticed to join in an extended group photo in a show of solidarity that appeared to show that this was a tight-knit group, all pulling in the same direction. Not a bit of it. After what by their deluded expectations was a poor season in 2017-18, Paul Hartley’s haphazard recruitment saw Falkirk suffering a very slow start to the new season, and the former Morton loanee was handed his P45. The Bairns had been rumoured to be after Ayr boss Ian McCall, but those rumours quickly dissipated and at some point on that glorious late summer’s day, the wheels were put in motion for a move to Grangemouth for McKinnon and his assistant, Darren Taylor, after only three months and three league games at Morton. Crawford Rae noted in his Club Statement that having left the Parklea training ground in high spirits after the morning session, and discussed the approach and tactics for the following day’s trip to Firhill, he was called by Falkirk’s representatives with a view to appointing his manager, an approach that was swiftly rebuffed. Soon enough, the story was out, and despite McKinnon and his pal’s smiling faces in front of the cameras, it was straight out of Cappielow and off to meet their prospective new employers. Within six hours of that first phone call, Falkirk announced their new manager, none other than former Morton boss, Raymond McKinnon. The reaction from the Morton support, and from inside Cappielow was one of fury, whilst the Falkirk support took great pleasure in their club’s ability, at what at the time they saw as being at their lowest ebb, to come in and help themselves to the manager of a comparatively high-flying rival. It was ironic to see that on the day, Falkirk also added Rangers striker Zak Rudden to their squad. One wonders if the striker would have been on McKinnon’s radar to bring to Morton had he not decided to jump ship without notice? McKinnon looked to have assembled what had the makings of a squad that could have challenged at the top end of the table before his abrupt departure. (Photo- GBR Photos) What Happened Next? With a makeshift coaching staff led by John Sutton and Derek Anderson on the touchline, Morton would lose 0-1 at Firhill before appointing former Finnish international Jonatan Johansson as McKinnon’s replacement and a descent down the table ensued. In truth, Johansson’s defensive style never endeared him to the Morton support, and with his wife helping to make a club that never lacked comedy value even more of a soap opera with her social media interactions, Cappielow wasn’t a happy place for the majority of the season. One happy day though, was the return of McKinnon with his Falkirk team, seven weeks after his departure. With the Greenock Telegraph stoking the resentment in the Morton support by handing out red cards with McKinnon’s image alongside the message “Judas”, Falkirk planned an alternative route to Cappielow (whatever on Earth that may have been!) for “security reasons” but the only bloody noses they got were on the park, as Bob McHugh’s goal sent them back home pointless. Greg Kiltie's magnificent goal gave Morton the lead over McKinnon's Falkirk on a bad tempered night in Greenock, but the Bairn's battled back to deny Morton full points. (Photo- GBR Photos) Both teams continued to struggle as the season progressed, although Falkirk did have spells that you felt they were beginning to click only to prove false dawns. A couple of draws between the teams, 0-0 in December in Grangemouth and 1-1 in a bad-tempered affair marred by crowd trouble at Cappielow, saw both clubs in a relegation battle alongside Queen of the South, Partick and Alloa. With Alloa being that season’s “Arbroath” for Morton, it looked as though the points the ‘Ton were leaking to the Wasps could prove to be their downfall, but on a critical night that Morton collected a solid point at Somerset Park, Falkirk looked to have claimed a vital three points with a late winner at Palmerston. However, with it taking an age to clear the celebrating Falkirk fans from the pitch, Queens’ went straight up the park and won a penalty, Stephen Dobbie converting to deny Falkirk at the death. But the relegation battle really came to a head when Morton visited Falkirk on the third last game of the season in what looked pre-match to be a winner-takes-all encounter. A defeat would have sent Morton to the bottom of the table, but we needn’t have had any fears, as second half goals from Kilmarnock loanee Greg Kiltie and Charlie Telfer rooted Falkirk to the bottom of the table with only a trip to Tannadice and the visit of champions Ross County remaining. Kiltie and Charlie Telfer were the architects of Falkirk's downfall on a memorable afternoon in Grangemouth as Morton delivered some sweet retribution on their former boss to effectively send their hosts into League One. (Photo-GBR Photos) McKinnon had taken Ross McLean to Falkirk in January, and had been rumoured to be after Morton’s star man Michael Tidser, but the midfielder’s excellent performance contributed more than most to Morton’s fine victory. In the following two weeks, Morton secured their survival and incredibly, a top half finish before Johansson resigned on a bizarre final day which saw the Morton support toasting Falkirk’s relegation alongside the Dundee United fans, who had Dundee’s demotion to the Championship on the same day to enjoy. Not slow to immerse themselves in Falkirk and McKinnon’s misery, the Tele’s Twitter response to their penultimate day reverse at Tannadice was succinct and more effective than anything I could ever say in a couple of thousand words about the whole affair. “Lol” indeed. For McKinnon, it was relegation despite victory over County on the final day, before he helped himself to the out-of-contract Buchanan, Tidser and Telfer from Morton. But Falkirk were found guilty of tapping McKinnon and forced to pay an SPFL fine and compensation to Morton, coming to an estimated total of £100,000. For what? A place in League One. Michael Tidser's magnificent performance helped Morton to a vital victory in that crucial match in Grangemouth, but the decision to move onto Falkirk proved to be a foolish one from a footballing perspective. (Photo- GBR Photos) Where Are They Now? Of all the parties involved, Morton are undoubtedly in the best place. A club mired in controversy for years have settled under fan ownership and have finally got a manager in the club who has it upwardly mobile, despite the odd setback like last weekend. Falkirk on the other hand, are still festering in League One for a fifth successive season, having seen Raith Rovers, Partick Thistle, Cove Rangers, Queen’s Park, Dunfermline Athletic and Airdrie all winning promotion at their expense. They’ve seen boardroom shenanigans at almost every turn, often in the full view of the Scottish football public, and massive losses year on year as they throw money at promotion. Perhaps this year will be their year, but at what cost? Make your own mind up whether that is a statement or a question. Most of his players, and the subsequent ones to leave Morton for Falkirk, haven’t enjoyed any real success, with Michael Tidser’s short lived spell being the most high profile. Buchanan and McLean have dropped down the divisions, and only Telfer is playing Championship football, ironically having won promotion at Falkirk’s expense last season. For McKinnon, the axe fell in November 2019, the first of a number of Falkirk bosses who have failed to return them to the Championship. He did however, move onto Queen’s Park, where their relative riches allowed him a more pleasant passage to League One than his previous journey, but he was removed from his post before the season started. Currently the manager of Forfar Athletic, it’s clear a leopard doesn’t change his spots, as he appeared to resign from his Station Park role over the summer to take up the position of Duncan Ferguson’s number two at Forest Green Rovers, before Big Dunc was given his jotters, forcing McKinnon to go back with his tail between his legs having failed to plant himself in a role in Nailsworth. He was believed to have blamed goings on in the background at Cappielow, with then CEO Warren Hawke not receiving complimentary reviews from the bold Raymond, and some club sponsors also being cited as reasons for his departure. But, despite his promises at the time that one day the truth would come out, he’s never publicly spoken about his time in charge of Morton, and I for one doubt he ever will - he was approached by the Morton Forum for a podcast interview when in charge at Queen’s Park, but immediately declined. Whilst that day was one of many catastrophic ones in the last few years of following Morton, it’s fair to say it all worked out well in the end and we dodged the biggest of bullets with Raymond. There was a point in that season that Falkirk’s in house media described him as “honest as the day is long”. I for one, wouldn’t buy a car from him.

Btw the pop up ads on this site are frustrating the life out me. Hard to read on my mobile.

Correct it's not popular. Now fuck off

We just lost our last two league games by a collective scoreline of 1-7, at home, to significantly worse sides (on paper at least) than Dundee United. The only thing required right now is to try and stop that rot and it has happened a week (or two) sooner than could be reasonably expected. Couldn't give a toss about a missed opportunity for 3 points - getting 1 up there is a big step in the right direction.

There were a lot of old men shouting at clouds, as is often the case at such meetings. One guy making a fuss about why the club board and the MCT board don’t include the same people and another bizarrely accusing the club board of lacking ambition to get promoted because the manager chooses to pick Kirk Broadfoot every week. All four candidates were elected onto the MCT board and Sam Robinson stood down, but will remain on the club board. A lot of the business was box ticking, such as correcting the wording of some of the constitution to align with how the world works nowadays when discussing gender etc. and Sam made the point that operations behind the scenes are a major focus, with someone at Alloa previously telling them that they saw Morton as a full time club with a part time infrastructure, the opposite of themselves. A point of note was that football wages account for 70% of turnover, which I would say isn’t too bad for a club of our size- I could be wrong. I asked about the land that’s been excavated between the ground and the Norseman, and it’s very much a case of watch this space in regards to a community hub, but don’t expect anything too soon, and they might initially use shipping containers before something more permanent to test the water on the appetite for such a facility. Gordon confirmed that there had been no contact at all from Inverness re: Dougie, and told us of some very nice news the club received yesterday. I’ll leave that to the club to announce rather than blabbing on here, as it’s something to make a song and dance about.

Another pretty misleading headline. The boy at the tele needs his wings clipped. https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/23772129.morton-chiefs-strengthen-off-field-operations-not-team/

Effe Ambrose pumps plucky wee Partick out the cup with an 87th minute winner for QotS

The defence is clearly not in an acceptable state and we can't persist with just the four we have for half a season, but waiting for quality to come along rather than flinging a contract at anyone who's available, eg Michael Doyle, for the sake of it is an approach which has already worked for us in the past. As for the suggestion that one bad defeat and the squad not being complete come the start of September means Dougie Imrie is not that good a manager, this is a ridiculous take. He is quite clearly the club's best manager in decades, and even if we regress this season that will continue to be the case. If he did apply for the Dundee job or any other top flight job which becomes available then that's fine: an ambitious manager who's doing a good job is eventually going to get an upwards move and that's to be expected. Provided he's applying/being approached for jobs through the proper channels and not performing a Ray McKinnon style snaking then that's part and parcel of actually having a good manager for a change.

Ambitious young manager wanting a top flight job? No way, impossible, sack him now for being unloyal, disloyal, and for wanting to eat 'pehs' in a way that excludes his employer.

You not think the “get tae f**k Dougie!” bit might be the thing that sticks in the craw a bit more than the general criticism of the guy?

I'm saying your constant moon howling isn't justified just because we've had a poor start to the season. If Imrie thinks King is better on loan than being a squad player here, then he has more than enough credit in the bank to be able to make that decision without smooth brains like you wailing about it just because King happened to come through the academy.

Hopefully he sees you outside the ground and goes in with a cynical two-footer.

Raging we didn't just give a deal ti Doyle or sign Strapp for right back now...

Come on, you’re one of the best posters on here, but under no circumstances will I accept anything negative about Ross Forbes. You’re better than that.

The consensus is probably that the club has our blessing to take the approach of waiting for a September, Liam Grimshaw type signing rather than into rushing into a signing which the management don't believe will really benefit us in the long long. But the consensus will undoubtedly also be that any approach, this one included, is a risk which will be judged as the season progresses. Signing a right back of the equivalent quality of a Ben Sampayo, Jamie McCormack, Kevin McCann, or Grant Evans is probably going to be of little use right now. As would continuing to fail to find any right back, or signing a mediocre one in a few weeks time. The bottom line is that the approach itself is not the thing that will be judged - the outcome will be judged.

Things are pish the now but we're in jump-the-shark territory if we've reached Lewis Strapp being touted as a centre half or right full back in a back 4.

To mark five years to the day since Ray McKinnon joined Falkirk in 'dubious' circumstances, Russell Gordon takes a look back at Ray leaving, Falkirk's subsequent relegation and what has happened since.

Blues hasn't been poor at all. He's done well playing out of position and when played in midfield he's worked hard albeit not doing much offensively which is a concern. The guy deserves some leeway.

Would you not have to go to games to boo?

If you are having any issues please feel free to email me at mark.kelly@gmfc.net and I will happily get you booked in. Not on here often so please pass my email on to anyone having any issues with anything

One of the most unappealing traits to me (just a personal opinion) of fitba supporters in general is how quickly anyone involved in management can descend from hero to zero in the comparative blink of an eye. It wasn't so long ago that virtually every post on this forum was full of gushing praise for the new Messiah. Now - I'm seeing comments like the one above. So draw breath, and consider that Dougie's working with a tight budget, and he's now got more injuries in his small squad than anyone has a right to. Our long-awaited new RB lasted one game before being crocked. He's not responsible for any of that - it's a steaming pile of shite which has been dumped in his lap, and he's the one who has to deal with it. Not us. So cut the man some slack FFS. It's exactly at times like this that as supporters - we should be backing him, not denigrating him. He's made mistakes and there's clearly a side to his personality which frustrates many, but he's maybe showing his inexperience. If there's anyone who can pull us out of the current quagmire - it's him.

Power and Broadfoot both look like their hamstrings haven't extended all the way at any point this season. It's brutal watching the rest of the team being dragged out of position to deal with their lack of movement. Either/or might be alright if we had 5 in midfield and a centre forward capable of pressing for 90 minutes, but we don't. Imrie's period of success last season came from us being the best-drilled, hardest-working team in the league. Its hard to see how that's achievable with multiple immobile players in the starting XI.

FFS, here we go again.

Anybody calling for Imrie to go at the moment is too short minded. He has definitely earned more than the first 6 games of a season over his time with us so far. Having said that we really need to start picking up points starting with 3 at home to Airdrie next week. We have had a difficult run of fixtures so far with 2 difficult away games in a row. Even the arbroath game at home is no fluke as they've done the same away to Thistle today. Injuries are not helping us and the gamble with French hasn't paid off as that looks another recurrence of his previous injury. We really need to find someone else now to get Broadfoot out the team and hope Oakley is back for Saturday.

I liked Lewis a lot for his energy and commitment, and a fair amount of skill as well. But as I've mentioned a few times, his relative lack of height for a defender could limit his opportunities of playing at a higher level where a dominant aerial presence is a prerequisite. No idea of course if that is a factor in the reason he hasn't been snapped up yet, it could also simply be because he's still not yet fully fit, but it wouldn't surprise me if it is. I'm sure he'll find another club eventually, but I suspect it will be at championship level, or lower. I'm sure he do well wherever he ends up, and like all Ton fans I wish him well.

Indeed. My favourite so far has been the guy in his late forties labelling Calum Waters a wanker because his Twitter account is protected (I never even knew Waters had a Twitter account). Absolute wrong 'un behaviour off the bat. An awful lot to take out of yesterday's game, but I have to admit I was surprised in the United fans' reaction when I read it. Having driven my mate back to Greenock then driven home to EK it was about 9pm by the time I saw any reaction, and I was quite taken aback by quite how angry it was, and how much of it there was to the game. Maybe it was because I saw it all after four hours without looking at my phone, rather than being drip-fed it. Thought we played some decent stuff yesterday, very much like the second half against Raith, which we completely dominated. As GiGi points out, Goodwin was quick to alert Munro to what he sees as our underhand tactics, but I do wonder if that game played on his mind. Brass neck of a guy who had a twenty-year career as an absolute hatchet man. Complete folly from Broadfoot to get into the wrestling match with Moult which could've resulted in a penalty, although Broadfoot gesticulating that Moult had him by the baws doesn't really fit in with the "dark arts" narrative that appears exclusive only to Morton. Munro struck me as unwilling to make any decision at all unless forced, such was his failure to give penalties at either end of the park, and the fact the linesman alerted him to Cudjoe's elbow suggests that the referee's hand was very much forced. Probably a red, and doesn't show Waters in the best of lights for milking minimal contact, but refreshing to see a linesman actually getting involved in a game at this level. It's years since I last saw that. Of course, whilst he didn't throw cards around like confetti yesterday as he did in Kirkcaldy, he completely lost control at the game (like he did in Kirkcaldy)- a sure sign of a poor referee that can't get the balance right between being too lenient and too harsh. How on earth he's on the FIFA list I'll never know. The Dundee United support strike me as an extremely angry mob. I've got a lot of mates who support them, but they're generally from the west, so perhaps not indicative of their support as a whole. These folk on the east aren't to be trusted. I suspect there's a lot of frustration hanging over not only from last season's humiliation but from years of underachievement. They look like a club that's in a bad, bad way, with internal wranglings behind the scenes and a miserable support. I suspect that their reaction to yesterday isn't helped by their decline and the fact that "teams like Morton" aren't just turning up to watch them put on a show. Also, and it's maybe a bit hypocritical for a Morton fan to say it given that most away fans don't enjoy visiting Cappielow, but Tannadice is a really shit awayday. £25 is at least better than the £27 we expected to pay, but one small section open for an admittedly small support, a cramped bog with one sink and no hand drying facilities, a tiny, over priced pie stall which doesn't take cash and is understaffed, and banning away fans from taking a drum, preventing them from creating any atmosphere, in a week that they made steps to improve it for home fans smacks of a club who not only see away fans as an inconvenience, but as a necessary evil that they'd happily not allow in if they could get away with it. Finally, Alan Power was magnificent.

Great point in a game where a defeat was expected. Vital to stop the rot with two winnable games coming up and hopefully that's hopefully a big confidence boost going into that.

Figured this was a better place to discuss it than the Challenge Cup thread. As said there, Rangers B v Alloa will be at Cappielow. I'm actually really unhappy about this. If Rangers come waving a wad of money around asking to rent Cappielow for their youth teams to play games here, then that's one thing and I get the club are constantly looking for ways to bring money in. Some people might have an issue with allowing them any presence in Inverclyde at all and I see that argument, but I can equally see why the board would go for that: it's exactly the arrangement we had with Celtic years ago when we weren't facing the same financial challenges. Agreeing to this when it's not youth team fixtures alone but their B Team taking part in first team competitions is an entirely different matter and completely unacceptable. To allow them to use Cappielow for this game is also giving explicit approval of B Teams being in the tournament in the first place, when every club with the best interests of Scottish football at heart - and especially a fan owned one - should be pushing for their removal from the competition. Some top flight clubs have stopped entering B teams into the tournament and there's an opportunity to push for their removal, while the inevitable return of another B team proposal next summer despite the humiliation the SFA endured with the Conference League being pulled before even reaching a vote means we can't be complacent. There's a principle here that simply shouldn't be broken, and now whenever a proposal does come up again there'll be fingers pointed at Morton fans when we speak up against it, just as there were with Dumbarton and Airdrie, noting the hypocrisy that our club were happy to take 30 pieces of silver from B Teams in the first place.

The update is fully informative and professional in nature. On the other hand, we need to be moving on from this radio silence, then enormous, one-off update as soon as enough folk complain dynamic. More regular and reliable communication would have defused at least some of this in advance. If we're putting some of the money into a fund then that could have been stated shortly after the Rangers game was played: we don't need the exact revenue figure to signal that intent. It's possible that a board meeting was required first, but that only underlines the need for a serious GM to have responsibility for keeping things ticking over.

It's an excellent statement and it's very clear. It should have gone without saying, in my opinion, but people panicked so much that I guess they felt compelled to point out the obvious: we simply can't throw money we don't have at speculative signings, the manager has earned our trust, and if we're to keep the club going as a professional concern we can't be relying on an Old Firm game every season and need to build for a sustainable future. This is going to be very tough but I trust the MCT Board and the club Board.

Nothing new in that Tele article - just a bunch of lines lifted from the post match interview thrown together with a sensationalist headline. He (quite rightly) said that we don’t have the funds to run with a squad of 25 players - that’s it. I would be amazed if we don’t bring in at least 1 or 2 players on loan before the end of this month. Anyone who has watched us (including the gaffer) can see that the squad is incomplete, and he has said more than once that he will only bring in players who will improve us, and isn’t willing to bring in guys just to make up the numbers. The nicker wetting on here has been unbelievable.

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I wouldn’t say Ferguson quite fits into the bracket of an Alex Rae or a Bomber Brown, tbh. Of course he had a spell at Rangers, but it was a fairly brief, unhappy one, for a number of circumstances before he found a club that he was lauded at in Everton. It’s going to be an absolutely box office appointment one way or the other though, he’ll provide no shortage of entertainment. First off the bat, I’ll be watching with interest to see if Daft Raymond will shamelessly try to slither out of Forfar to take the assistant’s role.

Good shout. I'll never forget how incensed Bobby Thomson (re the sending off) was because of that bass feigning injury.I was in the stand that day, I'll never forget the rage towards him by all the fans about me. Bobby had to be dragged off the pitch twice! They named a stand after Jardine, should have been a theatre .

Mods ....

Really gets on my nerves when people call us Greenock, especially when its people being paid on Sportsound for example. If I'm talking to someone who knows Scottish football I say Morton. If I am talking to someone not that interested in football, someone abroad or a young person who only knows Celtic/Rangers then I'll say Greenock Morton.

It's as clear a red as you'll see for Cudjoe. A deliberate and calculated sly elbow on the face. Broadfoot did get away with it and in a VAR situation - like Ibrox - he wouldn't have done. We were well worth the point and the "Urubs" and their commentary team can get fucked.

A challenge to find a journalist who's even more of a bellend than McCall to write that piece, but they managed it with Kevin McKenna. An insufferable dickhead. His nephew is shite as well, which is why he was released by Queen of the South in the summer, having been pretty much bombed out after Bartley took over when they were eighth, and hasn't found a club yet. He is of course the player who collided with 'The Edge' on that glorious day in Grangemouth.

They "commentators" are a fucking joke. Dundee utd are angels and would never ever commit a foul. Morton are the devil , assaulting continuously or throwing themselves to the ground in endless simulation.

Perhaps he's seen the error of his ways and given "Frankie Deane" a four-year contract.

I always want us to take this competition seriously and try to win it rather than fannying about with the squad, but I think giving players who need gametime a start here and putting out the strongest XI possible aren't going to be too dissimilar. The players who really need to build their fitness due to lacking a pre-season or coming back from injuries are Baird, Wilson and Power. As the obvious change to the defence is taking Broadfoot out the firing line and we want Baird & O'Connor getting games together as a partnership so someone else needs to come in at right back, those three are likely all getting a game anyway. Whether Imrie wants to try Wilson at right back having mentioned versatility when he signed or put Blues there again there's a space for Wilson regardless, assuming Gillespie and Crawford are definitely out and McGrattan plays further forward. The other players who haven't really been getting starts are Mullen, King, McGrattan and Bearne. If you're going for the strongest XI there's no argument for putting Mullen or Bearne in but you could argue for McGrattan and King. There's a question mark over whether Quitongo's injuries mean he's also needing game time or is best getting a rest to fully recover. Even if Quitongo is still in the team, you could argue for Boyd losing his place anyway, so either way give King a go in the middle in place of Crawford since Blues isn't an option there, then McGrattan and one of Quitongo/Boyd out wide. Obviously McGrattan through the middle as a direct replacement for Crawford would also be an option. Considering how seriously Imrie took this competition last season I suspect he probably will throw Mullen and Bearne in for a game as well, but I don't think that's going to end up too far away from our strongest possible team anyway.

This being the case, you could probably give him a pass for the one about us having no money to strengthen the squad (since the article itself was literally just a series of quotes with nothing else added). Not so much with the more recent one he posted after the club statement. That article contained some hum dingers such as " in urgent need of significant investment to strengthen off-field operations and not the team after running up consecutive six-figure annual losses" and "in the wake of financial losses in the region of £200,000 to £300,000" - both of which would suggest to the casual/uneducated reader that the club is currently(or has recently been) running at that sort of a loss and in financial dire straits, when in fact this is something that was the norm under the previous regime, and something which (so far at least) we have been able to avoid under community ownership. The unaccredited quote about "a source" saying we had farmed Garrity out to raise some extra funds sounds a bit fishy too - clearly he is not a high earner, and the gaffer has already stated that he has been sent out to get game time under his belt because we are well covered in his area. Having said that, I don't think that this should just be about the journalist who wrote the copy and certainly wouldn't want any sort of witch hunt against him - the responsibility for everything printed lies with the editorial team. This is a Morton & Greenock Telegraph issue and shouldn't be about individuals

It's not even the headline. There's an article about the statement and it's just wrong. It's either on purpose to sensationalise things or the journalist can't read.

Off you pop mate. Fucking arsehole.

O'connor and Baird must start as our centre half pairing then go from there. Broadfoot has no place anywhere near the starting eleven. RB is clearly an issue but until we sign someone Blues is our best option. I'd also have McGrattan starting before Boyd every week too. Aside from Ibrox Power has been an absolute ghost.

Wilson and Power in the middle were just as bad as the defence. Midfield was rotten.

Folk pissing the bed over a lack of signings. Take a look at the likes of Ayr and ICT who have signed absolute no marks to fill positions in their squad. The 2 boys Ayr had at right back against us is a prime example. I'd rather work with what we have and focus on an above average loan or free agent than sign shite like they have or rush a signing in because the window has a few hours left open.