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  1. Irnbru your bitterness towards MCT knows no bounds. You had your day - move on. Just to add I am not a member of MCT. I responded to the shareholder AGM e-mail, was sent a link and had no problem joining the meeting. My two boys also got send the e-mail but were not able to participate. The issue with some stakeholders missing out however requires to be urgently addressed. Gordon Ritchie appears to be the point of contact and I would hound him to get it resolved. As for the AGM, I am sure when one of the volunteers has a moment they will provide a proper summary. In the meantime my take on it as follows: - The loss in 2021/22 was concerning/alarming but has to a great extent been addressed after MCT took over. The feeling was historically costs were not as closely monitored when people assumed there was always a sugar daddy down the line to bail the club out. - This years accounts, when they are published (after the year-end in May) will show a healthy profit largely due to the cup game with Celtic bringing in over £200k. Even without this 'windfall' the Board are confident the club would break even. - Recent sponsorship deals are crucial to the financial balancing act. If I picked it up correctly, the main sponsor Dalrada provided a 12 month package with the option for a further 5 years. Dalrada require the club to share in their ambition for GMFC to succeed and the Board are optimistic/positive Dalrada will take up the option to exercise the option to extend sponsorship at the end of this season. - The majority of the new sponsorship monies has all gone to the manager to improve the squad hence the additions, contract extensions and loanees in January. - All players contracts have been reviewed updating from a template someone found on the internet to a more bespoke arrangement reflecting the modern world of football. - The Board are aware with success other clubs could come in for the manager and players. The Board have tried their best to protect the Club but accept if the money is right they will not stand in the way of an individual looking to better themselves. It is a difficult balancing act protecting the 'assets' without handing out lengthy and onerous contracts to players who maybe do not ultimately fulfil their potential (my words not the Board). - For the first time I heard people explicitly stating the ambition is not just survival in the league but promotion. Realistically recent results have made a title win more difficult but we should be targeting a play-off place. - Average gates are slowly increasing. - The ongoing ticket and entry farce at Cappielow was fully acknowledged. No quick solution this season but the proposed arrangements in the future should hopefully resolve the issue. - Proposals in hand to improve the fan experience and tidy up Cappielow. The Board are looking at the options for the parcel of land they acquired to do something similar to what Ayr provide in their car park. I believe it is a mix of something for the fans on the ground floor and offices above. - Importantly the proposals to replaces the 'Articles' were passed with only one minor amendment requiring (not optional) the Board to hold an AGM. - The three Board members, in attendance, highlighted they would encourage any fan to come forward for election to the Board if they believe they have something to offer. The Club is now 'ours' and it is up to us to ensure it not just survives but moves forward. I am sure there are aspects of the AGM I have omitted but hopefully the above is an accurate recollection of the main points I recollect.
    20 points
  2. Although not linked to the football on the park I thought some fans might like to hear about a good news story linked to Morton. A number of years ago, my kids donated all their old Morton strips to a charity in Rwanda. The charity was set up by people we know and has a focus on the benefit of sport to kids as they grow up. Back then there was quite a bit of media coverage and a number of photos used in the promotional material included youngsters playing football in Rwanda bedecked in Morton kit. A fellow Morton supporter picked up on the story, loved Morton being seen as a force for good and decided to donate a sum of money to the charity. Sadly, our fellow fan passed away last year but in a last act of largesse remembered the charity in his will. It was a generous and unexpected donation which the charity confirmed will assist them greatly in trying to improve the lives of children through education and sport. The only reason I am sharing this story is to flag up how our club Morton, without realising it, are not just helping people in the local community.
    17 points
  3. They send out monthly updates. I just pulled up the last one from the 16th. Here's a brief summary: Over 1,000 active members for the first time. Clear indication that they want to keep growing. Only a few cancellations even though we're in tough financial times. Statement of gratitude for all members old and new. Brian Bonar and Dalrada noted the large membership when deciding to come on board. Review of the last Volunteer Day with lewis McGrattan. Soliciting more volunteers for the future. Setting up an event for potential volunteers to learn more. Club has sold over 1,000 season tickets. Call to action to get an ST through Fanbase. Call to action for Viaplay Cup tickets and the upcoming hospitality offer for the Edinburgh game. This is the MCT newsletter, remember: MCT owns the club but does not formally direct or manage it, rather they (or rather we) nominate candidates who may then join the board of Greenock Morton FC Ltd. So what have Morton FC themselves been up to? Let's look at their latest communication - bear in mind this is weekly, rather than monthly: Ticket info for the game at County Ticket and hospitality info for the Edinburgh game Interview with Jack Bearne Call to action to get Fanbase to buy tickets Now, admittedly this is a bit thin, but again, it's weekly. Notice that one of the four items was an interview with a new signing, something the knicker-wetters think we'll never see again since we're apparently broke and the manager's chucked it. Meanwhile on the official site there's hospitality packages on sale for the league openers, a new announcement on subsidized season tickets for Morton in the Community (including an anonymous donation of over 3 grand - very nice, whoever did that). I'm not saying this is as good as it's ever going to be or there aren't little marginal improvements to be made, but people who think the club needs to stop the current plan and momentum to address a supposed recruitment crisis are hugely overreacting. We're in better financial shape than we've been in many a year, no debt hanging over us, we have almost a full squad in late July with at least one more reinforcement to come... what am I missing here? What's the lack of planning? What's the lack of updates? From what I can see both MCT and Morton are doing a good job of fulfilling their respective remits, and telling people about it.
    17 points
  4. I do. There’s a precedent being set here- Queen’s Park have serious ambitions about playing Premiership football and taking advantage of the rewards that entails, as do Morton. Morton have a capacity of around 11,500, which would probably be reduced to around 9,000 for a televised game, whilst Queen’s Park’s ground (if it is ever completed) will stand to have a capacity of around 2,000. By setting the precedent of allowing them to use a neighbouring ground that doesn’t belong to them, a whole new set of revenue streams is opening up to Queen’s Park that isn’t available to clubs such as Morton, Ayr United or Raith Rovers. We’re past the stage of blaming COVID for any delays in the opening of Lesser Hampden now- it’s been a shit show from start to finish and it’s down to Queen’s Park to deal with it, not for the SFA/SPFL to reward them with the opportunity to bring in massive crowds when clubs like ourselves are a restricted to what we’ve got. When Queen’s Park last played Rangers in league fixtures at Hampden, the attendances were 30,117 and 11,492 for Third Division games. That would be something like eleven times what they could bring in if they used the capacity they’d built for. This would be rewarding the folly of the Queen’s Park board for failing to get their house in order, and indirectly punishing their peers. Fuck them- they’ve made their bed, they should lie in it.
    17 points
  5. Since 2012, Rangers have put the names of every single person who put their hand in their pocket to save their club on every kit.
    17 points
  6. This is starting to get on my tits. Some fucking random make a stupid statement and all of a sudden it's fact. Fuck off. If Imrie leaves to go to Hamilton then so be it but until such times as he, or the club confirm it, can we please treat it as the pish it is. I see on Twitter the Morton fan's page demanding clarification on the rumours. Get fucked. If we're now insisting that every piece of shit rumour is addressed by the club we're going to need a full time shite shoveller. No rumours ever emerged that Gus McPherson was going to take over at Tinpot FC or Arse Biscuit United because he was a complete fucking charlatan. Dougie has done a good job but we finished below Hamilton so why on earth would they pay their manager 2 years compensation plus whatever Morton were entitled to?
    17 points
  7. The board really have to take a lot of credit. I can’t help but admire how they quietly get on with things behind the scenes when rumours are flying around to the contrary. There were a lot of folk convinced Grimshaw was away whilst they kept their counsel, and if we’re all being brutally honest, we’d have been delighted with just the one contract extension, never mind three. After all the rumours about Ambrose being suspended and seeing how well the club handled that, I had a suspicion they would be working away to get things sorted without reacting to press and social media gossip. There will be times that we lose out on guys who are out of contract, but it won’t be for the lack of trying to get them tied down and doing it without spending money they don’t have. It was only two years ago we made no signings in January, then brought in Justin Johnson, Kaziah Sterling and Jamie Butler after the window closed as we were battling relegation. The turnaround in the club in that time is absolutely wild.
    16 points
  8. The other spin off is that it allows the fans to identify a bit more with the players. The only positive impression I had about any of them was from a couple of pals that are also mates with Lewis Strapp. Other than that my impression a couple of months ago came from Lithgow and Muirhead cupping their ears to us. It’s not terribly important to a miserable old bastard like myself, but I think it can only be a good thing if it’s allowing younger fans to identify with their personalities and to see them having a laugh. I’ve never actually seen him name checked on the progress in terms of social media interaction, so it’s about time the lad Gareth got a well deserved pat on the back for his hard work. Also really pleasing to see Open Goal turning up at Cappielow today- again, not my favourites, but they’ve got a bloody big following, so a bit of nationwide exposure can only be a good thing.
    16 points
  9. I've tidied the thread up, with the main perpetrator now restricted to only posting in General Nonsense to avoid every match thread descending into the same bin fire.
    15 points
  10. It's a bit more difficult to put the finger on than with Falkirk- there are specific incidents and behaviours I can point to with that horrible lot, but with Partick it's not quite as obvious, although they really are an odious club. I hate to use current custodians of a club when describing my feelings towards that club as in most instances they're merely passing through, be it for 10 months or 10 years, but Ian McCall really is the prick's prick. Their behaviour after their completely justified relegation in 2020 was despicable, and he continued his snide underhand digs at Murdo McLennan and the SPFL when he appeared on Off the Ball the other week. I couldn't possibly have statistics to hand, but Partick seem to have their viewpoint represented in the media (particularly BBC Scotland) more than any other club out with the big five clubs. Had we been shite enough to be in tenth place when the season was called, I can't imagine for a second we'd have received anything like the sympathy they got. The whining about "only" getting a £150,000 grant when Championship teams got half a million was another belter. If they weren't crap, they wouldn't have gone down, deal with it. And banning the SPFL from attending their poxy little title presentation on a weekday morning last summer so they could have their own wee party and play the victim right to the end was Rangerseque behaviour if ever I'd seen it. Cunts. Speaking of Rangers, this is a club who, at a time they marketed themselves as the "One Team In Glasgow" complained that the SPFL "only" gave them one pre-split home game each against Rangers and Celtic in 2016-17. If they're the "One Team In Glasgow", why would an extra fixture against one of those two clubs be so important to them? The reality is, that the whole reason for their existence is not that they are Partick Thistle, it's that they're not Rangers or Celtic. They don't really represent a community, they're merely there for weird eccentrics, and to oppose everything Rangers and Celtic stand for. What a shite reason for being. Which brings me nicely onto my next point. The one thing they're there to do, they do it dreadfully. "Hullo, Hullo; how do you do? We hate the boys in royal blue; We hate the boys in white and green; So fuck the pope and fuck the queen." We've been over this many times in the past on here, but I've made my opinion on this little ditty perfectly clear every time. Hypocrisy at it's finest, and passed off as humour by a fanbase that get's away with it as they brand themselves as "Glasgow's Great Alternative". Nah, they're fucking scum, just like the other two. I absolute despise their fanbase with a passion, and a few of the Twitter freaks in particular. That lad trying to compare them to the "Arbroath fairytale" last season stank of a toddler crying for the attention of a parent who's trying to deal with the newborn baby brother or sister. Grow up. That guy from Greenock that always seems to try to engage with Morton fans on Twitter is another tosser, and I can think of two others who I won't dignify by alluding to their nonsense. Remember partickthistlelad on here a few years ago that used to come on and try to be pals and preach respect at us? Do one. Stupid gimmicks like that with the strip, and that Kingsley character obviously work well for them and I suppose and you can't begrudge a club doing something that maximises their revenue, but it really is grating. There was a time about 10-12 years ago I was quite annoyed with a lot of Morton fans for taking up their hospitality off for a Friday night game between the clubs (we took a 0-5 doing that night), with Partick coining in a good few quid from our fans when they could've quite easily gone to Morton's hospitality on another day. A few folk weren't happy with my pointing that out, but I'd like to think most of our fans see through their minging lot nowadays, or at least the ones who I speak to. They get my gate money and that's it. No pies, not programmes, nothing. Bare minimum, and I'd urge everyone else to do the same. The only two clubs I apply that rule for are them and Falkirk. Firhill- First of all, it's an absolute shitehole, We know Cappielow, and particularly the stand, isn't great, and away fans often complain about it. But every club provides away fans with some form of seating. They get no worse than our home fans get in the stand, but with 8,000ish seats between the Jackie Husband and the stand behind the goal, deliberately choose to put all away fans in the shitiest part of the ground, in spite of the available alternatives. And let's talk about that stand- is it possible to even take a shite in there? What happens if there's a fire? How on Earth do you get onto the pitch? The place is bogging, and even worse than our main stand in my opinion. How it gets a safety certificate is beyond me. And that bloody pitch. They managed to use that as an excuse for not lasting the pace in the title race last season, having coined in money from Queen's Park, and having had their fingers burnt by letting it out to Glasgow Warriors a decade previous. And why did Morton and Hamilton Accies, for example, two teams who managed to HOUND them on that bog in the second half of last season, cope with that tattie field? Was it perhaps that Partick weren't actually very good, rather than the pitch taking them down to their opponents' level? There have of course been other thoroughly odious individuals associated with their rotten club- most recently Richard Foster got on my tits, but guys such as Derek Johnstone, Bertie Auld, Adam Strachan, Chic Charnley and Gerry Collins spring immediately to mind. Arseholes to a man. Did anyone find McCall's "dugmeat" comment funny last season? If Billy Brown or Gary Naismith said something like that, there's no way they'd get that sort of reaction from the media. It wasn't funny at all. I saw a Dundee United fan on P&B today describing them as try hards- nail firmly on the head. They're a bogging wee club, get them in the bin.
    15 points
  11. That was absolutely immense. Dunfermline were abysmal and McPake is an appalling manager, but so much of how poor they were was down to us making them look bad. The pressing killed them with Wilson, Crawford and Oakley utterly dominating the game, but every single player in a Morton shirt was excellent today. The second half in particular was just ridiculously good, Blues had a spell where he turned into Iniesta and created a tremendous chance every single time he touched the ball. If that had been 7 or 8 it would have been a fair reflection of the game. We are firmly in the driving seat for the playoffs now. We will inevitably lose a game at some point and we'll see how the team respond when it happens, but the way they're playing there's really no reason to doubt their ability to respond to a setback. I will be stunned if I ever see a better Morton manager than Dougie Imrie. The job he's doing is fucking ridiculous.
    14 points
  12. Previous, gutless, loser managers - see Gus 'slaphead' McPherson, James Grady, Jonatan Johansson or Raymond 'Ray' McKinnon - would be looking for a lap of honour and an end of the ground named after them for achieving such a margin of result with pishy wee Morton in second tier Scottish football. In stark contrast, an ambitious and highly competent manager calls out performance levels, when he knows that the underlying confidence level in the squad is strong enough to respond effectively. While on the longest unbeaten streak at this level since the 1980s. The contrast between a real fucking manager with goals and standards to the parade of imposters we have had previously couldn't be more stark right now. Long may it continue. That said, the club needs to take note of the key attributes that took Imrie over the top in the selection process, for when the inevitable happens and Sir Douglas moves to a (potentially much) higher level. If he had the player CV of 'Scott Brown, football manager - 'ambitious' club' then he'd already be the Hibs or Aberdeen manager.
    13 points
  13. Didn’t want to reply to this after the game last night, because the majority of us were in a good mood and enjoying a fine, hard-fought victory. Who the fuck do you think you are to be telling folk what they can and can’t “imply”, when you threw a bone out yourself yesterday, and had another foul mouthed rant at the manager hidden with a post stating that it won’t be tolerated in the Partick match thread little over a month ago? Over the last month or so, all you’ve done on here, and across on that other site is troll, double down on your rancid opinions, abuse the manager, ignore responses that have proved yourself to be wrong at almost every turn. I can live with that, it only goes to make a fool of you, but your shite yesterday got right under my skin, and I’m not having you telling me off for taking offence to it. There’s little doubt that that post you made further up this page was, at the very least, designed to get a reaction. Well done, it’s perhaps the first thing you’ve succeeded on in getting one from me. Let’s not kid ourselves though, nobody’s laughing along with you for getting your bite. You’ve shown yourself as what you are, something nobody had any doubt about in the first place anyway. You’re not controversial, you’re not edgy, you’re just a complete helmet.
    13 points
  14. Absolutely fantastic stuff today, on an afternoon that a lot went against us. Whilst going down to ten men was a massive blow, the importance of losing Wilson shouldn’t be understated. Oakley was outstanding until his red, and I really did fear for us at that point. I’d need a look at it again, but from where I was it was no more than a booking. Never like seeing a referee pull a red out so quickly- perhaps he’ll feel he made the right call, but I’d imagine most wouldn’t bring the red out having taken a bit of time over it. Some excellent performances all over the park, but to single out a few- terrific slog from Muirhead under extremely difficult circumstances. Gillespie‘s an excellent player, his game management and ability to draw free kicks out of teams is a huge asset, especially when down to ten men when you’re most reliable route to goal is through set pieces. Mullen was again outstanding. A real calming influence on his defence and in spite of Queen’s Park being pretty rancid he wasn’t fazed with anything thrown at him. I can’t remember a Morton goalkeeper whose distribution I’ve been so happy with in years. Strapp produced a performance for the ages. Absolutely outstanding individual performance from a player who really shouldn’t be anywhere near this level. We might only have him for a few more weeks, let’s make sure we enjoy him. And finally, the ball boy at the Wee Dublin End. I’ve called for years for us to have wee arseholes doing that job and slowing the play down when we need them too. Never seen a boy that’s been so downright lazy in his work and make me so happy in being so. Well done young man!
    13 points
  15. Where to begin with that utter horseshite? The most obvious fail: 1) The Celtic game. This was already accounted for in last season's budget - including the addition of new players at that time, and the club recording a profit for the second time this century. You don't get to count that revenue again this season - that's not how finance works. Ditto the Dalrada investment - only ongoing funding and sponsorship contribute to this season's budget. 2) You point to improvements on the revenue side without even once considering the other side of the coin: an inflationary environment where costs have risen by 10% across the board - and likely much higher for utilities. Simply retaining existing squad players increases costs for the club: they will quite rightly want an increase in their wages based on performance as well as their own bills to pay. The club's balance of income to outgoings is a constantly moving target - the costs do not magically stay the same from one season to the next, least of all right now. 3) 'Back the manager or lose him'. Utter nonsense - the reality is that the club will lose the manager regardless because he is a young, ambitious and clearly effective coach. Imrie is under contract for the foreseeable future though and signed up under conditions that were far more difficult than right now. While Imrie has every right to fight for the needs of the first team squad, we need to ensure that there will be a club years and decades after the current or any other manager has gone - that's the primary goal that GMFC has to ensure, every single year. Which leads us to the logical black hole in your foot-stomping tantrum: what is your causal explanation for the current budget stand-off? Do you believe that the GMFC board are squirrelling money away in illicit offshore accounts? Are they asset strippers looking to run the club into the ground? Why else are they withholding funds that you and others insist are definitely just sitting around waiting to be used on wunderkinds like 'Frankie Deane'?
    13 points
  16. Great, isn’t it? I couldn’t have imagined when walking out of the ground that glorious day in April 2019 just how things would have gone from bad to so much worse for them to the extent that they’re realistically looking at a fourth year in that division, with another monied club coming up from League Two and ready to storm past them towards next year’s title. Even when you consider how much of a shit show we’ve been for most of those intervening years, the Falkirk soap opera’s been fantastic viewing to soften the blow. There’s always someone worse off than yourself, and I for one couldn’t have cherry picked a bigger shower of bastards for that fate to befall. Get it up them.
    13 points
  17. 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.
    12 points
  18. It’s such a tiny thing but was really pleased to see this pop up on my phone when I got home from Kelty - we really have got our act together now. Working with Fanbase has been a great decision from the club and has made it much easier to get tickets home and away.
    12 points
  19. Imrie having a go at Lyon in the tele for his comments about leaving through the back door last week. Says although the information wasn't released, Lyon actually left the club in January and got a good payoff to pursue another career and went to Annan again because he could only play for us or them this season. Also says multiple managers gave him a chance and if he looks himself in the mirror and asks himself if he did enough to play for Greenock Morton then deep down he will know the answer. You come at the king then you better not miss
    12 points
  20. Never thought I'd be saying this but as soon as I clear some personal debts I'll be signing up. I had little faith in the fan ownership model but MCT are proving me wrong after an indifferent start. Well done to all involved.
    12 points
  21. Not too hard to spot the subtext of "Billy Dodds is a bellend" there.
    12 points
  22. 12 points
  23. Their capitulation as a club is nothing short of magnificent. Truly magnificent. Horrible, horrible bastards.
    12 points
  24. I’m surprised to see no mention of the decision not to appoint a chairman to the board, but to take turns in who has the deciding vote at boardroom level- what an absolute farce. I’ve made it clear in the last few months that I’m concerned about the lack of accountability in the running of the club, and this policy goes no way in easing those concerns. A display of leadership and a preparation to be held individually accountable when things go to shit would go some way to easing those concerns, but am I surprised by the musical chairs policy? Nope, not in the slightest. This strikes me as the board operating a protection racket to look after themselves. The younger guys have something nice for a CV and the old guard can tell their acquaintances up the golf club/bowling club/lodge that they’re the director of a football club to impress them, whilst not actually having to face up to the rank and file- unless of course the questions are collated and vetted by the SLO, and the tricky ones filed away in the nearest bin. It is of course no surprise that the person I believe to be the main organ grinder; Mr. Ritchie, was nowhere to be seen on the video- the cynic in me would suggest a Warren Hawke-style holiday or sickie from him when the club’s AGM comes around. We’re more likely to see Lord Lucan crossing into the box for Maddie McCann to head in the winner at Hampden in May than we are to get answers off of him. There’s been a lot of hilarity about the farcical events at Falkirk’s Q&A the other week, but let’s not kid ourselves, Morton’s current board simply would not put themselves in the position to be lambasted by their support the way the Falkirk lot did. Yes, they came out of it looking foolish, but at the moment, our own board are coming across as self-serving cowards who aren’t prepared to take the rough with the smooth. I’m not sure what’s worse.
    12 points
  25. To answer Piehutt’s point about my labelling of Gordon Ritchie as arrogant, I’m not going to kid on I’m not privy to the odd wee titbit of information from mates, but it’s up to them to share it with the wider public if they feel the need to. That said, I’ve already alluded on this thread to what I believe to be his quite appalling treatment of Christopher Dodds at Montrose in May, when he apparently threatened to withdraw all his media privileges as a result of Christopher’s criticisms of Captain Calamity Sean McGinty the previous week. On a number of levels, this is just wrong. There’s been a big story about Rangers charging the media £25,000 a season for access and how this is their way of controlling negative output. I fail to see a difference here, other than scale. Do we really want to see the Tele being forced into avoiding criticism for fear of being banned? I’m sorry, but unlike the Rangers support, who seem to see criticism as a personal slight, rather than necessary on occasion, I want to see my club taken to task when things go wrong. It also begs the question as to whether Roger Graham or Jonathan Mitchell, two experienced journalists who had built up a bit of currency in their roles would have been treated in such a way. If not, I’d suggest this behaviour is tantamount to the bullying of a young boy at the early stages of his career, and is quite frankly shameful. I didn’t like a lot of things that the Raes did in their twenty years at the helm, and made my opinions known at the time. But ultimately, it was their club and if I wasn’t happy, nobody was forcing me to support the club. A fan owned club though, should in my opinion hold itself to higher standards as they are responsible to every one of their members and supporters- the people whose money has put them in the position they occupy. I was a bit late to the party when joining MCT as I initially had my misgivings, but I certainly don’t recall being asked to vote for Gordon Ritchie. Others may have been, before I joined up, but in the spirit of democracy, I’d urge everyone to ensure he’s not given another spell in office at either MCT or Morton themselves.
    12 points
  26. Cadden scores hat-trick for Forest Green but best of all Bombscare McGintys' og fucks up Hopkins weekend.
    12 points
  27. 0-5. One more goal from us and they'll be able to count them on one hand
    11 points
  28. I’ve just pulled five examples from this thread that contradict what you’re saying, and haven’t looked across any other social media platforms, where I’m pretty sure I’d find a few more. At which point are you going to accept that your interpretation of what happened yesterday appears fanciful at best? Your point about fans being realistic and turning up so close to kick off doesn’t cut it when we’re talking about fans turning up a full 15-20 minutes before the game starts. At £22 a skull, or as part of a £300-odd season ticket which about a third of that crowd committed to months ago, and with the third-lowest average crowds in the division, Morton aren’t in the position to be telling folk to take an extra half hour out of their leisure time to make things easier for the club, and they’re certainly not in the position to come onto social media after the match and blame the folk who so generously put their hands in their pockets to support them. I entered the ground at 2.30 yesterday- quite deliberately as I anticipated a shit show at the turnstiles and it still took me five minutes to get in, but with so many accounts from different folk differing from yours, the only conclusion that an objective observer can come to is that you’re talking shite. I don’t understand whether you see this as playing devil’s advocate, or are sticking up for your old pal Hawke (who doesn’t, and never did give a shiny shite about anything you had to say at any point in the past, never mind now), but given that this has happened every time we’ve had a relatively big game since 2017, there has to be a point that even you will concede that drastic action needs to be taken, here. For a club that is so dependant on folk turning up at the gates, this simply can’t go on, and your stance on this isn’t just unhelpful, it is in fact damaging to the club to take onboard such stances if they wish to find a resolution to this.
    11 points
  29. Following on from the comments on the match thread yesterday, I feel it merits a thread on it's own to discuss travelling away in this division- an experience that's proving more and more miserable with every passing season, and I feel every club, including and perhaps especially ourselves should be looked at for their merits or lack of. I expect someone (probably a Partick fan) will stumble across this and say how dare a Morton fan complain about other clubs' facilities, but we're paying customer's and not responsible for our club's failings, although by challenging them, we can hopefully see an improvement for all. Let's be honest, Cappielow's looked upon as perhaps the worst away game of the 42 in Scotland, and whilst I enjoy seeing away fans out in the pissing rain in the Wee Dublin End, or whining about the lack of legroom in the main stand, we should really be looking at alternatives to make going to football an experience that's actually worth the £22 you pay into Cappielow. So, with no further ado, the ten clubs in our division: Airdrie We haven't visited Airdrie since the glorious decima-winning season that will go down in folklore of course, and are due to visit in a fortnight. A soulless stadium that is a product of it's time, but not lacking in the basic facilities with decent bogs and catering and a passable bar inside the ground IIRC. It perhaps needs a bit of TLC, but nothing to really complain about. Given that it's been eight years, I'll update in two weeks time. Arbroath My motivation for starting this topic, and a real sad state of affairs. When Arbroath were promoted in 2019 I was buzzing. I had fond memories of visits from years gone by, and for a day out, it really is the best away day in the country. Train up, arrive at the train station at the top of the town and stop by some of the many delectable hostelries en route to the ground, with special mentions for the Foundry (now deceased but doing a Rangers in time for our return in April) and the Tutties, which, as a football ground pub, pisses all over the Norseman. But arriving in the ground to get greeted with that nonsense yesterday was ridiculous. What was (and still is) a charming ground, ruined by segregation policies after a few years above what was their natural level. There never used to be any segregation at Gayfield, and not a hint of trouble. Why now? You of course had the option of avoiding the rain by shoehorning everyone into the stand akin to Cappielow's at what was advertised at an extra £2. I'll also add that Morton advertised ground admission was £20 but when purchasing a ticket online we were asked to pay £21, but that could be Morton's mistake. But the explanation that it was to allow home fans behind the goal they would be attacking in the second half just goes to show the complete disregard away fans were treated with. The attitude of the head steward to the complaints of the fans was also poor- acting like a school master disciplining unruly kids when in actual fact he was paid to make the experience as pleasant as it could be for paying customers. When they did eventually relent 20 minutes into the game, I got the impression they expected some form of gratitude for giving us the bare minimum of a bit of shelter when we'd already been soaked for 20-30 minutes anyway. Catering's good, although I didn't find any black pudding in my pie yesterday. The steak and black pudding pies from a few years ago were much better. Ayr United Another product of it's time, but in a very different way to Airdrie. The shallow terrace at Ayr doesn't make for the best views, but it's not bad. A comfortable terrace that allows for a decent atmosphere to be created, although I await to see if away fans will be catered for anywhere in their new stand. I've not bought anything to eat at their ground in years, but my memory of it was that it was a bit overpriced. I'd probably have more against them if we were restricted to one end of the stand and the wee enclosure at the front like some smaller supports get, but it's not bad at all. Toilets are of course, very poor. The first club to introduce e-tickets at this level, which was quite widely criticised at the time, but has become the norm and works pretty well. It would be nice to be allowed into Cameron's Bar, but you can't have everything. Dundee United A really crap experience when we visited earlier in the season, which I believe I commented on at the time. First of all, the most expensive ground in the division, perhaps unsurprisingly, but there are other elements that made this such a shite awayday. The week we visited, United made a bit of a thing about improving the atmosphere at Tannadice, while simultaneously indicating to Morton that nobody would be allowed in the away end with a drum. Now, I'm far too old to be indulging in any of that myself, but if the young team like it, why spoil their fun? Does it really provide a competitive advantage to do that? Or are they just being arseholes? The catering and toilets were also crap. One tiny hut which provided a far more limited menu than that for the home fans (going by my United supporting mates' experiences) and is difficult to get to get away from once served as you're squeezing past those still queuing. It's a similar scenario with the bogs, which are basically in a dungeon with one way in and out, and no hand drier, so once they run out of paper towels, you're fucked/ Opening one section is also something that seems exclusive to away fans in Scotland. We didn't take many to Tannadice that day, but why shoehorn them all into one section when home crowds, even if sparse, can sit wherever they like? Does it save that much on stewarding and cleaning costs? Decent pubs around the ground though, Dundee's generally a pretty good day out if you don't bother going to the game. Dunfermline Dunfermline's inconsistent. Fine when you're behind the goal, often only get a couple of sections, but it's never that much of a problem. I don't like it so much when they put us in the main stand, but it's not the end of the world, and the season we had a section of the stand on the graveyard side of the ground I felt was fantastic. I wish they'd put us there all the time. The catering, specifically Stephen's steak bridies are outstanding, and there's no really issues with buying tickets online or the toilet facilities. Used to be a pain in the arse waiting in a long queue to buy a physical ticket outside the ground, but we've moved on from that. Downsides are that it involves visiting Fife, which is never one for the bucket list, and the bar at the ground. On occasion you might get into a separate bar in the main stand if it suits them- otherwise it's a covert operation to get in. Similar policy to Dundee United with the drum- someone call the Fun Police. Probably the best in the division all told, though. Inverness Crap. The novelty about visiting that place has well-and-truly worn off in the years since they were admitted to the league. There's often a disdain from police and stewards towards away fans on arrival, based on the assumption that they're all hammered after the long journey. I've often seen guys looking a bit jolly getting knocked back just out of nastiness. Very much like bouncers knocking back teenagers from nightclubs just to satisfy their egos. I get that if folk are hammered then you've got to draw the line, but a more common sense approach could have been used a number of times. Admittedly at the 0-5 defeat in August 2019 there, our behaviour was pretty dreadful, but it could've been helped by not having such an antagonistic approach in the first place to folk wanting to stand that the back of the stand without blocking anyone's views. In the game early last season, my mates and I stood at the wee area between the stand and the catering/toilet area (not too dissimilar to the bit at Somerset Park) before kick off and were shepherded into the stand for kick off because "it's an all seater stadium). On a beautiful day, with less than 100 Morton fans there, why force them into a stand when they could enjoy a bit of sunshine while watching the game? Added to that, every seat in the stand was filthy anyway. Eventually they relented like yesterday, but they're just making their own problems in the first place. Toilets and catering aren't anything to write home about- pretty basic, but no real complaints on that front. Morton We have to do much better. There's certain things I can't comment on, such as catering and toilets in the away end of course, but we know about the problems with the main stand and legroom, a legacy from the Hugh Scott era. Legroom's a common complaint with most away fans, but it always seems like Raith in particular, probably because they're regular visitors who rarely get any other sections opened. I much enjoyed seeing the Partick fans moaning about the puddles in the Wee Dublin End when we beat then in November last year, but let's be honest, it's poor. It wasn't uncommon about 10 years or so back to see away fans getting a section of the Cowshed, and there are clearly still provisions that allow it. Much as it's easy to stick two fingers up to the away fans and tell them to pay up and shut up, we need to get our own house in order. I'm not asking for millions to be spent in order to bring the place up to the lap of luxury, or even offer the best facilities in this league, but if Morton expect our own fans to be well treated on the road, we have to up our game. We can't of course ignore our stewards- a constant problem for home fans and they don't carry a good reputation amongst our visitors. It was a good laugh from the Cowshed seeing them battling with presumably pissed up Bo'ness fans, but have any of us stopped to ask what their role in the disorder was? They may not have been at fault at all, but there's enough history to suggest that they might not have been completely innocent in that carry on. Hopefully with the land that's been bought and excavated, there'll be some form of club facility opening in the no-too-distant future, which will allow away fans in, unlike at Somerset Park, but for now of course, we can't include the Norseman as a positive for any visitors. Only positive I can give us is ease of ticketing purchase through Fanbase, but this is only a recent development. And even still, advertising all away tickets for the Wee Dublin End, even when away fans are being housed in the stand has caused confusion, and can put folk off when the forecast is rain. A lot of work to be done. Partick A bit of a mixed bag. While the fans of the two clubs clearly don't get on, I suspect it extends beyond that to boardroom level. Considering Partick are blessed with fairly plentiful modern facilities (down to their own efforts it has to be added) there's no real need to house away fans in a crumbling old relic of a stand such as their main stand when the crowd is projected at 3-4000. Why do that other than a GIRUY? If our away away end toilets are as bad as theirs then we've got a hell of a lot of work to do. And I'm still not sure what would happen in there in the event of a fire. Moving us from one side of the stand to the other a month ago was another strange one. Why move the away fans to a section that's got a more restricted view than they had in the section you've now left empty? Perhaps that'll change after the fallout from Brian Graham's red card. I believe it's the same caterers (Pie Sports) that we use, but with slightly more variety, and that away fans are allowed into the Aitken Suite, but can't comment on either really, given that I refuse to give them a penny more than my admission. Obviously relatively easy access for anyone via public transport and plenty of amenities around it in terms of pubs etc. Pity you often see Partick fans in said pubs. Queen's Park Anyone who was stuck in Greenock with the flooding that day should count their blessings- grim. Hampden gets a hard press at the best of times, and they shouldn't even be allowed to play there, but that was piss. First of all, I'm in no doubt that until the Telegraph kicked up a stink, they were quite happy to sit back and tell everyone tough luck, the tickets were non-refundable. Add to that the airport-style security scanning every single person as they go into the ground was way over the top, and in normal circumstances (i.e. when most of our support couldn't get out their street, never mind to the game) would cause massive delays getting into a ground that is 1/50th full. Can't really complain about the facilities, although it is the main stand of the national stadium, so it should be good. Catering was ridiculously overpriced- I took one look at the menu boards and walked away out of principle. Like Firhill, easy enough to get to and plenty amenities around it of course. Raith Rovers Another ground that's a product of it's time and is a vacuum for atmosphere. No real issue with any of the facilities. Bogs and catering are fine, similar to behind the goal at Dunfermline in that you get a couple of sections but aren't really shoehorned, but I just find it totally soulless. Can't complain about buying a ticket through Fanbase, and the Novar Bar a couple of streets away is a gem of a pub. The atmosphere's probably improved this season as the locals come crawling out the woodwork with their good form, so that's maybe not a relevant criticism anymore. Whilst we're fortunate enough to always get the stand behind the goal, I've seen examples of smaller supports getting put in that bizarre main stand, which must be really bad. Also, you've got to go to Fife. Anyone else got anything to add? I'd like to think that, as a fan-owned club, we can lean on MCT and Morton ensure repeats of yesterday's nonsense don’t happen, and that we can look at our own failings in order to find ways to improve. Capitanus made a point to me years ago that people in this country all have their consumer rights until they either enter a football ground or a licenced premises. I'd include public transport in that since he made that comment. A real grim state of a affairs, that shouldn't be allowed to happen, but I suspect will only get worse, as I don't think that nonsense legislation that was proposed a few months ago not to be slightly amended and rear it's ugly head again.
    11 points
  30. That was terrific yesterday, the most impressive of three excellent wins in a week. The start was superb and we were unfortunate not to be 2-0 up, but there was a noticeable dip after Wilson's injury. No fault of Power or Gillespie, but the two of them together just aren't going to provide the same energy as one of them beside Wilson, Blues or Crawford and it let Queen's Park settle into the game a bit, for all that we were still the better team. The red card is a travesty of a decision, it's a textbook cynical yellow with no question of a red card. You wouldn't have thought you'd be seeing an even worse decision within 10 minutes, but the penalty award was an absolute disgrace. Luckily it was a terrible effort and justice was done but full credit to Mullen who had a great game. You naturally feared the worst needing to survive a whole half with 10 men, but what a shift every single one of them put in. Obviously you're on edge in that scenario, but ultimately they created just one clear cut chance with the free header they should have done better with, while it's inevitable they're going to get crosses in and someone is going to lose a runner once when you're under that amount of pressure. They also had the long range shot which saw Mullen pull off another great save, but again it's inevitable that one of those will go on target eventually when we're forcing them to shoot from that range as they couldn't play through us. Ultimately we looked as much like scoring in the second half as they did, and that's a huge testament to the defensive shift. Muirhead looked like he was done in after an hour but time and time again he would burst into life to take us up the park and eat up seconds winning throw-ins or corners. I thought that was Blues' best game for Morton as well, he was everywhere defensively. Time and again he was the one flinging his head in or getting his laces through the ball in our box. To suddenly be sitting only four points off the top four after where we were a week ago is wild. All three wins have been a bit different as well which is another really encouraging sign. You've had the game hanging in the balance at 1-1 at Arbroath where they've had their own chances to win it: earlier in the season we could easily have lost that, but we were the ones being clinical when our chance came and getting the win. You have the dominant performance against Inverness where we struggle to find the second goal, again you maybe get sucker punched if confidence is lower and you get desperate over failing to take your chances to kill the game, but they kept at it and eventually got that second, then held on once it went back 2-1. Then you have yesterday where it's proper backs to the wall to cling onto a lead, going a whole half a man down having played in midweek when our opposition didn't. Three different types of test, three games that could all easily have seen us only taking one point or even ending up losing, and coming away with nine points. That's absolutely fantastic and bodes very well. That we're still only two points from 9th tells us how urgent it was for the turnaround to start when it did, but we've got genuine reasons for optimism that we can continue this now rather than simply clinging to blind hope.
    11 points
  31. (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.
    11 points
  32. You really need to dry your eyes on this. Retro shirts are rarely, if ever, exact replicas of the originals. Mine haven’t arrived yet, but having seen Dean’s on Saturday, if you’re going to complain about the poor printed quality, the badge is the same quality as the one I had in the nineties. What do you want? Quality or accuracy? You can’t have both. Maybe you feel you’ve got neither but the quality is definitely consistent with the shirts of the time. Stamping your feet and demanding a refund over tiny little inaccuracies is pathetic.
    11 points
  33. It's still crazy to me that we're a couple of years into fan ownership, the club has proved itself sustainable (via not making an annual loss) for just the second or third time post-Hugh Scott, we had a good run in the league with a small squad, the club owners have got the fans back onside and have secured vital sponsorship at a time when a lot of firms are tightening their belts... and it's once again panic stations in July. edit: and they took a gamble on Imrie, which paid off due to Imrie's hard work and demands for excellence, and each repaid their faith in the other with a contract extension that keeps an excellent young coach with us for the forseeable future! But apparently We Need A Statement because Imrie, well-known for being such a shrinking violet who wouldn't harm a fly to get his point across, is itching to improve the squad.
    11 points
  34. They’re fucking insufferable anyway.
    11 points
  35. I'd like to petition the moderators to add this as an emoji:
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  36. (Photo-gmfc.net) 1922 And All That- Morton’s Finest Hour And A Half By Russell Gordon One hundred years to the day. A lot has happened since- we’ve had another World War, the creation of the BBC and the NHS, the reconvening of a Scottish Parliament, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the formation of the EU and Britain’s decision to join and its decision to leave, not to mention the death of our opponents from that famous day amongst many other changes. In football, the World Cup was yet to see the light of day, and European competition hadn’t even been thought of. What isn’t terribly well known is that seven years previously in 1915, Morton had in fact won the War Shield- an equivalent knock-out tournament that was arranged as the Scottish Cup went into an abyss throughout the First World War. Stanley Seymour notched the winner against Rangers in a 2-1 victory as Morton took home the Shield. I can’t find any reports from the final itself but assume Rangers’ goal was a penalty. But it wasn’t until the 1919-20 season that the Scottish Cup was again competed for, after being shelved for five years. Successes for Kilmarnock (having trailed Morton 2-0 in the Semi Final and beaten Albion Rovers in the Final) in 1920 and for Partick Thistle in ’21 must’ve drawn envious glances from Greenock, but Morton’s day was to come in 1922. The club was enduring a stop-start season, with their home form in the league greatly contrasting their form on the road. Morton had suffered only two defeats at Cappielow- a 1-2 loss to eventual cup final victims Rangers in November and a 0-3 capitulation to Clyde in January. There were some notable league wins; 2-1 against Aberdeen, and 5-1 and 4-0 pastings of the previous two seasons’ cup winners; Kilmarnock and Partick, respectively. They failed however, to win away from home until defeating Albion Rovers 2-1 at Cliftonhill on the 3rd of January- the day after that 0-3 home defeat by Clyde! Whilst the away form was disappointing, the greatest indicator of this inconsistent form perhaps came a week after Morton’s demolition of Killie in December as, a week later they travelled to Falkirk (remember them?) and were hammered 0-7. Merry Christmas. On a more positive note, Morton got the upper hand across the two Renfrewshire derbies, winning 2-1 at Cappielow and collecting a point from a 1-1 draw at Love Street. They were to end the season 12th in a 22-team league and finished the campaign drawing with Celtic at Cappielow as the Glasgow side took the title on the final day, but their fans were to be attacked with rivets from the shipyards as the infamous Cappielow riot ensued. Morton's hero of the road to Hampden ,George French would tragically miss out on the club's biggest day. But it was on 28th January the cup campaign kicked off, with a routine 4-0 victory over non-league Vale of Leithen. Goals from Bobby McKay and a George French hat-trick saw the ‘Ton ease through against the Innerleithen side. It wasn’t quite so straight forward a fortnight later though, as a Clydebank side who would eventually be relegated from Division One would prove far more stubborn opposition, cancelling out a first half McKay opener to earn a Valentine’s Day replay on their own turf. There was to be no cup romance for the underdogs though, as Morton made no mistake second time around. It was the McKay and French double act again that were to make the difference- this time a first half double from the former, before the latter added a third in the second half. A last minute Bankies consolation took a bit of gloss off a fine result, but Morton had negotiated what could’ve been a very tricky replay with minimum fuss. Next up was the visit of Clyde to Cappielow in Round Three, which saw a resounding victory against the Bully Wee, gaining revenge for that league reverse the previous month. No prizes for guessing where the goals came from- McKay netting the first before French’s double sent Morton in 3-0 up at the break. With the clock running down, Alex McNab added a fourth before Morton keeper Davie Edwards was denied a shut-out by another last-minute consolation. There was to be a major upset on the day though as eventual champions Celtic were knocked out by Hamilton Accies, 3-1 at Douglas Park. A door had been opened for Rangers to end their 19-year hoodoo without collecting the cup. Or so they thought. Trainer William Kennedy and Manager Robert Cochrane plot the downfall of Rangers. Onward it was to Fir Park for a Quarter Final tie that would send a chill down the spines of Morton fans in modern era. Whilst our two cup defeats of the last couple of seasons there have been not only respectable, but very unfortunate, we’ve seen a 0-2 a 0-3, a couple of 0-4s and a 0-6 in both the Scottish and League Cups in my time watching Morton, just off the top of my head. But in 1922, Morton were to come out on top- the only time they have ever won at Fir Park in the Scottish Cup. In a thrilling tie, Alf Brown was to give the visitors a first half lead, and it took until the 75th minute for the Steelmen to restore parity. Any hopes they had of heading to Cappielow for a replay were dashed four minutes from time though as George French was again to prove the hero for Morton, banging home the winner for the good guys. Semi Finals, here we come! The Semi Finals saw champions Rangers play cup holders Partick Thistle and Aberdeen face Morton. With both Hampden and Celtic Park being used for league games on the day of the Rangers v Partick tie, it was agreed that Ibrox would host the tie between the two Glasgow clubs. It’s been suggested that money may have changed hands in order to soften the Jags’ stance on neutrality, but those were never proven, and I can’t imagine that two clubs with such proud moral fibres would ever indulge in the passing of brown envelopes, so we’ll move swiftly on. 58,000 saw the holders fall to the Light Blues; Rangers winning 2-0 thanks to a goal from Geordie Henderson and a Sandy Archibald penalty (of course). George French doubles Morton's lead in the Semi-Final win over Aberdeen at Dens Park. (Photo- The Courier) But it was a trip to Dens Park for Morton to face the Dons in front of 25,000 on the 1st of April. There were to be no April Fools on the Morton side though, as the Greenock’s finest produced a scintillating performance to shock the favourites and proceed to the first Scottish Cup Final in their history. Once again, George French was to prove the hero with a first half double, which was added to by Alex McNab in the 52nd minute. Again, Morton were to concede late on, but the damage was done, and we were in the cup final! There was only the small matter of Rangers in the way of Morton and glory. How Cup Final Day looked a century ago from Mount Florida. So, Hampden it was- in front of 75,000 people one hundred years ago today. Morton were undoubtedly the underdogs, and were dealt a massive blow with the absence of star striker George French on the big day through injury. That the man who had scored nine goals en route to Hampden would miss out on Morton’s big day, and against their toughest opponents of their cup campaign, was a terrible disappointment for both the player and boss Robert Cochrane. The final itself wasn’t a classic, with difficult weather conditions not helping to make a spectacle of a game that was reported to have been littered with fouls, so much so that Rangers were reduced to ten men, with captain Andy Cunningham forced to retire with a broken jaw in those days before substitutions were permitted. Oh well, never mind. Morton's hero on the big day, Jimmy Gourlay was the first player ever to score from a free kick in a Scottish Cup Final. By that point however, Morton were already a goal to the good. Rangers’ keeper Willie Robb had been penalised for overcarrying the ball from his box and Jimmy Gourlay scored from the resultant free kick to give Morton a twelfth minute lead. The ‘Ton were forced to defend for long spells to hold onto their lead as Rangers’ winger Alan Morton tormented the underdogs’ defence all afternoon and a succession of corners came to nothing before the referee’s final whistle signified the single greatest moment not only in Morton’s then 48-year history, but in the history of sport, and possibly in the history of anything, truth be told. It was the job of Provost W.B. McMillan to accept the trophy on Morton’s, and the town’s behalf, his last duty as Provost a month before his death, having acted as Morton’s President for some 27 years. Champagne was borrowed from Queen’s Park as Morton had, perhaps cautiously decided not to pack any for their big day, but the celebrations weren’t quite in full swing as the team caught a train to Hartlepool for a friendly which had been previously arranged for Monday the 17th. On their return to Greenock, 10,000 gathered at Cappielow to toast their heroes and the cup took its rightful place in the Cappielow boardroom (or pavilion, as it probably was at the time). A cartoon depicting Morton's day of glory in the Hampden rain. There were three remaining league fixtures after the final, including of course that draw that saw Celtic take the title on the final day before being sent on their way after a day of violence on East Hamilton Street as Cappielow attracted it’s biggest ever crowd, officially 23,500; but whilst that day belonged to Celtic, nothing was ever going to detract from Morton’s monumental achievement in bringing the cup to Greenock for what to date, was the only time ever. When will we see their like again? Scottish Cup Final, 15th April 1922 Greenock Morton (Gourlay, 12) 1-0 Rangers Morton: Edwards, McIntyre, R Brown, Gourlay, Wright, McGregor, McNab, McKay, Buchanan, A Brown, McMinn. Rangers: Robb, Manderson, McCandless, Meiklejohn, Dixon, Muirhead, Archibald, Cunningham, Henderson, Cairns, Morton. Referee: T Dougray (Bellshill) Attendance: 75,000. Thanks to Leon Mooney for his copies of archive match reports, the images provided and for fact checking the article. Other information taken from The Official History of the Scottish Cup: The Story of Every Season 1873-2016, by David Potter and Phil H Jones. All uncredited images are courtesy of Leon Mooney.
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  37. I know MCT have spoken about their links with other fan organisations before and how the sharing of expertise can be beneficial, FOH being one of them. I don't doubt that building and maintaining relationships like these can be useful, especially so when MCT were first starting out and advice from organisations who'd already successfully handled a fan takeover would have been invaluable, but I hope that generally they're discerning about who they should build links with and remember that ultimately these organisations are also running competitors to the club. I note that Falkirk have also got a fan subscription scheme up and running, Falkirk Supporters' Society, planning to build up to a 26% stake, and have had over 200 fans sign up. I also noted that in an online discussion around increasing membership one of their appointed spokesmen stated that "fucking Morton" have managed to have over 850 members. I'd hope that, even aside from the obvious that it's Falkirk, that kind of condescension would ensure MCT wouldn't give such an organisation the steam off their pish if they were to come looking for a working relationship.
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  38. Will MCT be tolerating discussion of a club employee whose clownshoes decision-making will get us relegated the season anytime soon? I'd like full disclosure on how the decision to offer a two year deal was arrived at, so that I know who to blacklist for all future MCT elections to the board. And we should also turn our attention to those on the GMFC board, whose track record in decision-making that affects the first team has been utterly disastrous. If fan ownership is to mean anything, it means accountability for the decisions made by representatives.
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  39. I don't think this really addresses the problems most people have (which the update seems to partially attempt to do). MCT is the conduit to the club for its members. The people running things at the club need to be visible and accountable to these members as they wouldn't be there without them. It doesn't really matter if they are on both boards or not so I don't think there's any confusion as the update suggests. The fact there is a crossover actually makes it a bit worse for me though. Most members haven't heard a word from the people who've been on both boards (apart from a few snippets from Graham Barr) so there should 100% be more transparency here as there is (or was) a direct link from MCT member to these MCT board members through the MCT channels. The obvious example is that Gordon seems to be the main decision maker and is running things at the club (which is a privilege he only has because of the members) but has been totally anonymous and the impression most have (rightly or wrongly) is he doesn't take on any accountability. This is a direct result of a lack of transparency and might not actually be the case. Like it or not, the main thing for members is how the club is run and not how MCT itself is. The relationship between the two separate bodies and how fans get involved and updated needs to be the focus, not who's on the MCT board doing marketing, etc. Even if over time it is the case that the club is more at arms length from MCT, when the mood amongst the fans isn't good there's no excuse for MCT not being proactive in addressing concerns with the club and relaying these back to fans asap. There's clearly some unrest now with significant concerns being raised over a few months (using here and Twitter as a guage). An SLO led Q&A wouldn't have been needed as much if MCT were proactively updating on what's happening at the club and there was more transparency across the board. As it stands, the impression most people have is that the board members have free reign with no accountability and there's no acknowledgement that they're in that position because of the MCT membership. Edit to add - the updates are appreciated and the last paragraph might be a frustration the MCT board share so are essentially caught in the crossfire and taking the flak (I obviously wouldn't expect an answer on that from an individual!).
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  40. (Photo- www.tellhimhespele.com) The Flying Finns by Russell Gordon Tuesday's deadline day drama certainly had us all glued to our phones, in what was perhaps the most exciting day of positive movement in and out of Cappielow since the inception of the windows, around a generation ago. Even when Douglas Rae opened the purse strings in the January of 2015 to bolster our promotion charge with the signings of Peter MacDonald, Ross Forbes and the re-signing of Declan McManus, our enthusiasm was tempered by the farcical nature of Michael Tidser's arrival in spite of his ineligibility to actually play until the following season. But with the arrival of Finland Under 21 international Jaako Oksanen on loan from Brentford, it was only natural that those of us of a certain vintage looked back fondly to Nordic influxes of days gone by. I wouldn't be doing them justice to attempt to write about the Great Danes of the 1960s, such as Kai Johansen, Carl Bertlesen, Borge Thorup, Jorn Sorenson, Preben Arentoft and the man in black, Erik Sorenson; but my memory does stretch back to the arrival of Finland internationals Janne Lindberg and Marko Rajamaki in the autumn of 1994. We were first exposed to Janne a month before his arrival at Cappielow when he played for Finland in their opening Euro '96 qualifier against Scotland, inadvertently assisting John Collins' goal as his clearing header fell nicely on the Scotland midfielder's left foot, for him volley the national team into a 2-0 lead in Helsinki, a result Scotland would hold onto as they started what would become a successful qualifying campaign. One of world football's most iconic figures of the 1990s... tussles with French midfielder Didier Deschamps. (Photo-Getty Images) The autumn of 1994 wasn't a happy time at Cappielow. The club had been relegated to the Second Division for the first time in their history, amidst a season-long injury crisis the previous year, and league reconstruction that saw Morton being amongst five clubs relegated from the First Division. A stuttering start to the campaign in '94 did little to suggest that Morton would be pushing for a speedy return to the First Division though, only for them to turn up at Shielfield Park in Berwick with two trialists from Finnish club MyPa47 in the ranks. The result on the day wasn't to be a positive one, as Morton fell to their third league defeat in a row, 1-2 to the hosts having previously fallen 0-1 to Clyde at Cappielow, and suffered a 0-3 hosing at Palmerston Park. But it didn't take Allan McGraw and the board long to decide to take the plunge on Janne and Marko, and a fee of £250,000 found its way to Kouvola, unthinkable for Morton in these times. The signings of the Finns were by no means a quick fix, as results remained inconsistent towards the festive period. Whilst over a quarter of a century has passed, and my memory could be playing tricks on me, the Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock in my mind proved to be the turning point of the season, against what was a very good Premier Division team at the time. My standout memories from the 0-0 draw at Rugby Park in late January were Stephen McCahill's header narrowly clearing Dragoje Lekovic's crossbar to deny us a shock win, and the imperious performance on Janne on the day. Alas, Morton were to suffer a narrow extra time replay defeat by the Ayrshire men at a bouncing Cappielow, but kicked on from there, with three wins in February, including an absolutely crucial 1-0 win over Stenhousemuir, only a week after their incredible Scottish Cup slaying of Aberdeen; courtesy of a goal and fantastic performance from Marko. But Morton being Morton, it was never going to be that easy, and a sticky patch in March kept things interesting in what was to be a four-way battle for promotion between ourselves, Dumbarton, Stirling and Stenny. Things were to come good the following month though with crucial wins against East Fife and Clyde, before a memorable 4-3 win on their return trip over the border set up what was effectively a title decider against Dumbarton. Of course, it was all to end joyously, as Marko's incredible goal put the icing on the most delicious of cakes, and we retook our place in the second tier at the first time of asking, bagging a nice little silver pot in the process. Derek McInnes was to win the Player of the Year award, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge the contribution of our two imports. Whether Morton would've been in the promotion race without them is seriously doubtful. A couple of awestruck admirers watch on as Janne launches a Morton attack at Ibrox in 1995. (Photo- Chris McNulty) What wasn't in doubt though, was that Morton with their two Finnish stars were a force to be reckoned with, as they took the following season by storm, with Janne, Derek McInnes and Alan Mahood pulling the strings in midfield and Marko providing a flair on the wing that is still spoken about in glowing terms even now. Whilst there were a number of great performances and results that season, particularly early on, it was on Morton's visit to St. Mirren in late September that Marko perhaps produced his finest performance in a Morton shirt, as he absolutely tormented the Saints defence in a 4-1 win, cementing his place not only in the hearts of the Morton support, but as a hate-figure amongst the Buddies faithful. What a man. Of course, that incredibly exciting team was to come up just short, owing in no small part to the departure of Derek McInnes to Rangers and the season-ending injuries to Janne and Alan Mahood. Marko was to continue to do his bit to drag us through, with vital goals in the run in against Hamilton, both home and away and an admittedly howling miss in the vital 1-0 win at home to fellow promotion hopefuls St. Johnstone. He was of course to equalise in the final day showdown against Dundee United, but Morton were left to rue their misfortune and look forward to the following season. Marko leads the charge in a 3-0 win against Clydebank at Cappielow, on the opening day of the 1996-97 season. (Photo- Chris McNulty) The 1996-97 campaign was to prove both players' final season at the club, and was an anti-climax for us all, as a much-fancied Morton failed to live up to expectations, finishing the season in eighth place, comfortably clear of relegation, but miles away from a promotion play off place, never mind runaway champions St. Johnstone. There were to be highlights, however- Marko's early season winner against Falkirk was delightful, as winners against Falkirk tend to be, and there was the incredible League Cup tie against Aberdeen which ended in a 3-7 defeat, with Morton coming from 0-2 down with 15 minutes of normal time remaining to lead 3-2 going into the last minute, only to suffer another hard-luck story. In truth, with promotion becoming a more remote prospect as the season progressed, McGraw put all his eggs into the Scottish Cup basket, with a fine replay win against Dundee setting up a quarter final with Kilmarnock at a near capacity Cappielow. There was to be no hard-luck story to this cup defeat though, as Morton were resoundingly trounced 2-5 by Killie, in spite of a brief second half fightback. As the season petered out, and the players' contacts ran down, their departures became inevitable and a really thrilling, but oh so brief chapter in Morton's history was to reach its conclusion, to be succeeded by the Scott era, which I'm sure is an article or two for another day. Janne was to go onto pastures new in Germany with FC Saarbrucken before finishing his career back at MyPa47 and embarking on a career in coaching in his homeland, whist Marko was to enjoy brief stints at Hamilton and Livingston, even playing against Morton for the Accies, also finishing his career in his native Finland, with TPS Turku and enjoying a successful coaching career. Both have returned in the intervening years to visit, Marko turning out in a testimonial in 2006 as well as attending a game against Hamilton in 2012 and receiving a rapturous reception. To my knowledge, Janne hasn't made a match on his return, but his daughter Nanne has been a vocal supporter of the club through her social media accounts, so it would be rude not to give her devotion to the cause a mention! Since their departure, we've seen Jani Uotinen flying the flag and collecting a Third Division winners' medal in 2002-03 for his troubles and Jonatan Johansson's fast flowing, easy on the eye (or something like that) brand of football help us secure safety in the rollercoaster 2018-19 season. Let's be honest though, Morton fans love a signing from that part of the world, and will surely take to Jaako. No pressure, but there are some pretty big shoes needing filled, young man! Thanks to Jonathan Mitchell for his contribution into the research for this piece and to Chris McNulty for his help with archive photographs.
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  41. Ordered an Uber today and my driver was none other than Andy McLaren. Good to see him looking happy and healthy.
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  42. I've tidied this thread up a bit. If you want to continue the erm...riveting...conversation this thread descended into, you can find it in General Nonsense.
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  43. Thankfully, as well as announcing the signing for us, Hamilton have also been getting him up to speed by letting him train there for months and playing him in bounce games, to no reward of their own. The biggest example of a Nigerian taking advantage of Hamilton since the one that phoned them and emptied their bank account.
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  44. Proof if needed why fan owned isn't fan run. If you want Morton to make money off their facilties then you can't have a caveat that it's only fine as long as it's not people you don't like. The club aren't going to run a survey before every booking. People are actively generating bad publicity for the club to pursue personal agendas.
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  45. (Photo- Source Unknown) Five of the Best- Scottish Cup Upsets by Russell Gordon The Scottish Cup. Quite simply the greatest competition in sport, never mind football. And with Morton's involvement in this season's competition starting (and most probably ending) this weekend, we can still at least dream of Kyle Jacobs leading the lads up the stairs at Hampden on the 21st of May to repeat the feat of their predecessors from a century previous. Whilst the greatest upset in Morton's history took place on 15th of April 1922 on Glasgow's southside, that's a topic for the anniversary, so we'll first wander back a mere 74 years to the 1947/48 season; Celtic 0-1 Morton, 27th March 1948. Semi Final. Most Morton fans will be aware that our only "other" appearance in the Scottish Cup Final was against Rangers in 1948, when we eventually succumbed to a replay defeat in fading light at Hampden in front of a record aggregate crowd for a final. But how did we get there? Morton's run to the semi final was relatively straight forward, with routine routs of minnows Ayr United, Falkirk, Queen's Park and Airdrieonians before being drawn to face Celtic at Ibrox in the last four. Admittedly, this was a Celtic team who finished 12th in a 16-team league that season, only a point and two places above Morton, who just avoided the drop. The class of '47/48 who disposed of Celtic on the way to the club's second Scottish Cup Final. (Photo- Greenock Morton 1874-1999, Vincent P Gillen) But Morton headed into the tie minus two key players, with Johnny Divers and the legendary Tommy Orr missing out. According to Vincent Gillen's Greenock Morton 1874-1999, the critics were said to believe Morton had "no chance". They were replaced by young Eddie Murphy and Tom McGarrity, and it was Murphy who proved to be the hero. After a stalemate in ninety minutes against overwhelming favourites, he was to net a dramatic winner from 14 yards past the despairing Celtic keeper Willie Miller in the first period of extra time to empty the Glasgow side from the tournament. A story with some striking parallels to a League Cup tie some 65 years later, come to think of it. Quite how many corners Celtic made a complete hash of in that semi final is something I can't confirm, unfortunately. Morton 1-0 Aberdeen, 14th February 1981. Fourth Round. As with the tie against Celtic in 1948, there wasn't as much between the two clubs as there is in the modern era. Unlike that semi final, this was a clash of two extremely good football teams. Aberdeen were the champions of Scotland at the time, and although Morton were to finish just above the drop zone, we'd bite the hand off anyone offering us eighth in Scotland's top flight now. Dons' Manager Alex Ferguson's hoodoo against the 'Ton was well publicised at the time, and Morton had in fact gone to Pittodrie a week previous and recorded a 1-0 win. But Cappielow perhaps saw its greatest day on Valentine's Day 1981 as Andy Ritchie's incredible 20th minute goal, which saw him plant the despairing Ian Considine on his backside before delicately placing the ball beyond Scotland keeper Jim Leighton as his international teammates Willie Miller and Alex McLeish could only look on in awe at the sheer brilliance of the control and finish. McLeish was involved at the other end as he nodded down for Andy Harrow to fire a low volley which was brilliantly turned round the post by Roy Baines. And Baines was also to deny former Morton striker Mark McGhee on a couple of occasions, with McGhee's complaints earning him a place in the book as he claimed Baines had fouled him. As someone who was too young to enjoy this particular match, I can only hope that the Cowshed were as sympathetic to McGhee's protests as our own generation would likely be. The final whistle was met with rapturous applause from the home support as Morton progressed to a quarter final with Clydebank, winning 6-0 at Kilbowie after a 0-0 draw at Cappielow, before falling to Rangers in a controversial Celtic Park semi final for which the mercurial Ritchie was dropped from the starting eleven, but still managed to convert a penalty in the 1-2 defeat. Aberdeen on the other hand, would win the next three Scottish Cups and put paid to Real Madrid in the Cup Winners Cup Final of 1983, which goes a way to show the magnitude of Morton's achievements in regularly troubling Scotland's best side of that era. Probably Cappielow's finest ever goal, on perhaps Cappielow's finest day, from Morton's finest ever player. There were however to be other great Cappielow strikes as Morton disposed of supposedly more illustrious opposition in years to come. (Video- Leon Mooney) Morton 2-1 Dundee, 23rd January 1999. Third Round. Morton had dispatched of the Dees only two seasons previous en route to a quarter final showdown with Kilmarnock, but this time around were a division below their big spending opponents, who had been promoted to the newly formed land of milk and honey of the SPL as champions in 1998. But with the introduction of a winter break in Scotland's top flight, the Dens men were caught cold by a Morton side who came out the traps with two first half goals to seal the tie. The game had, however been in doubt, as a power failure at Cappielow led to a 35-minute delay to kick off. But the wait was to prove worthwhile, as Owen Archdeacon's rasping 30-yard strike had future Scotland keeper Rab Douglas grasping at thin air on the half hour, before Ross Matheson's close-range finish doubled Morton's advantage. Eddie Annand reduced the arrears, but it was to no avail as the Ton progressed to a fourth round tie with Clyde. A 6-1 rout of the Bully Wee ensued before Morton fell to Celtic in a live TV quarter final at Cappielow, Henrik Larsson and co. managing to do what the Bhoys of '48, and indeed '13, couldn't. (Video- Leon Mooney) Ross County 1-2 Morton, 25th January 2003. Third Round. With Ross County in the First Division back in 2003, this result may not be one that would immediately raise too many eyebrows, but this was a massive boost for a Morton side struggling for consistency as they tried to negotiate their way out of Scotland's bottom tier after Hugh Scott's disgraceful neglect and the subsequent administration had seen Morton relegated in consecutive seasons. Having already disposed of eventual Highland League winners Deveronvale 4-3 at Cappielow in a second round tie that wasn't without it's scares, around 600 Morton fans travelled up the A9 and found themselves singing in the rain as the 'Ton felled County by two "Super" Alex Williams strikes to a David Winters counter. Williams also found time to miss a second half penalty, but it wasn't to dampen the spirits of the sodden Morton faithful who had plenty to celebrate as they descended to their buses and to the Mallard to toast what really felt like the club's first real positive step on the road to recovery. We would of course win the league that season, but the cup campaign was to go no further than a disappointing 0-2 home defeat by Stranraer. However, in spite of how sadly it all ended for Williams, we've never seen an out and out goal scorer like him since. Often folk think what might have been, but what memories he did give us. (Video- Leon Mooney) Morton 3-1 Kilmarnock, 7th January 2007. Third Round. What is it about Cappielow, cup shocks and absolutely incredible goals? Move over Andy Ritchie, get out the way Owen Archdeacon, and step forward Chris Templeman. Jim Jeffries' Killie side rocked up at Cappielow for a tie that brought back memories of a number of cup disappointments against the Ayrshire side in the 90s, with Morton exiting the '94, '95 and '97 tournaments at home to Kilmarnock. But with two divisions separating the sides, this was to be Morton's turn. Morton had led the Second Division from the first day to the last, and taken care of East of Scotland League Annan Athletic in the previous round to set up a mouth-watering tie in front of a raucous crowd which created a crackling Cappielow atmosphere. After a first half stalemate, it was Kilmarnock who took the lead- Colin Nish netting a beautiful volley from Garry Hay's cross on the left two minutes after the break. From there on, it was all Morton though, with Templeman at the centre of everything. He was to find himself unfortunate not to score on a couple of occasions before finding himself on the end of a sweeping move that his own good defensive work had started. His deflected effort found a way past Graeme Smith in the Killie goal to level the affair just after the hour. The game was turned on its head 7 minutes later as Templeman took Chris Millar's cross on his right foot before acrobatically volleying Morton into the lead with his left. Cue utter bedlam. The often clumsy and awkward journeyman, who Morton had paid an eye-watering fee for two years previous, turned in the performance of his life and should've had a penalty after being scythed down by Gordon Greer. Fortunately referee McCurry waved play on and within seconds, Jim McAlister laid the ball on a plate for Paul McGowan to extend Morton's lead and send us through to a fourth round tie at Fir Park. Morton would lose that tie 0-2 to the Steelmen in front of a massive travelling support, but it's amazing how many people in their twenties you hear describing the Kilmarnock game as their first Morton match. There can't have been too many times the club have got folk hooked in the last generation or so, but that was certainly one of those days. And for a guy who would become a school janitor in later life, I'd like to think that Chris Templeman has a story or two to tell some wide-eyed school kids about the day he turned into Pele. (Video- KillieFC TV) There won't be too many expecting a glorious cup run this term, but let's not kid ourselves, the thrills the Scottish Cup provide are exactly why we love football. Be it a day out at an unfamiliar non-league club like Turriff or Beith, a brilliant shock like Kilmarnock and Aberdeen at Cappielow, or even the shame of defeats at places like Peterhead and Spartans, the possibilities the tournament provides are endless, even for a club of our size. Hopefully one day...
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  46. Noticed that earlier, it's not even on the fixture page. Nor, for that matter, is the result of the original fixture from six days ago in Inverness. Is there one guy at all at the club, just one, who actually knows what Morton is? A professional football club, which plays football matches that people like to watch because they like football and the Morton football team that plays it?
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  47. The Easdales who are our major sponsors and the former chairman who allowed the transfer to fan ownership being guests at a game really shouldn't be major news. If the board start having to publically comment on nonsense like that then we might as well shut the club down. So many more pressing matters of concern than that.
    10 points
  48. (Photo- Gary Bradley) Never In Doubt. A Review of Morton's 2020-21 season, Part Three. By Russell Gordon. Montrose away it was then, after it had looked like Morton were going to be forced into renewing hostilities with old pals, Falkirk. On paper an easier tie, but given Falkirk's spectacular (not to mention hilarious) collapse, that possibly wasn't the case. Morton made their second trip in just over a week up to Angus and could have been forgiven for having a bit of trepidation about what lay ahead. With Cove Rangers playing Airdrieonians in the other tie about 40 miles up the road, Morton were seen by the bookies as the favourites to come through the play-offs. You'd have been doing a well to find a Morton fan who shared their optimism, but how often do you see a poor bookmaker? Things couldn't have got off to a better start- within five minutes of the kick off, Aidan Nesbitt won the ball in the middle of midfield and prodded it forward to Kalvin Orsi, who squared for Gary Oliver to finish at keeper Allan Fleming's near post to give us a lead and settle the nerves. All this panic was much ado about nothing, then. Not a bit of it. Morton, as had happened so often this season, retreated into their shell and allowed their hosts to impose themselves on the game to such an extent that the half time whistle was a relief when the referee blew. But the relief was to prove short lived, as 12 minutes into the second half, the hosts' pressure finally paid off- and from a defensive point of view it was a howler. Markus Fjortoft's slip allowed Gable Endies' striker Russell McLean in and the Norwegian was also slow off the mark to close down the big forward after his initial effort was blocked by Brian McLean. The second attempt was curled into the far post past a diving Aidan McAdams to level the scores. And 20 minutes later, Montrose completed the turnaround, as Graham Webster got onto the end of a fine move to give them a lead at the halfway point in the tie. Whilst the performance was atrocious, Morton could take comfort in the narrow deficit going into the second leg at Cappielow three days later. To say that Gus McPherson shuffled the pack for the second leg would be the understatement of the season, with Chris Millar and the two Cammys- Blues and Salkeld, coming in from the cold for Morton's biggest match of the campaign. The changes were to prove pivotal, with Millar's magnificent performance in an unfamiliar right back position proving a real highlight on a nervy night at Cappielow. But for a while it didn't look like Morton would be in too much bother as they came flying out the traps immediately- again it was a fifth minute strike from Oliver that started us off, levelling the tie and handing Morton the momentum. Salkeld made it two from close range in the twentieth minute and by this point, the Ton could've been forgiven for thinking they were on easy street- but again, Mclean levelled the tie 10 minutes before the break, his strike eventually taking the tie to extra time. But as the game wore on, and into extra time, Morton's superior fitness began to tell as the part timers visibly tired. The introduction of Luca Colville, Nesbitt and Craig McGuffie gave us a greater attacking impetus as we began to pin Montrose further and further back, with penalties appearing to be their best option. Morton were spared a sixth shoot-out of the season in the nick of time though, and it was due to a piece of luck genius from substitute McGuffie. The ex-Ayr winger nutmegged Montrose forward Craig Johnston on the left-hand side and advanced towards goal, but with everyone inside the box expecting a cross, he clipped the ball over 'keeper Fleming's head and into the net at his far post. Oh, to have been in the Cowshed for that moment. Morton were through to the final after a hell of a scare, but there was to be plenty of drama in the other semi-final, too. Craig McGuffie's wonder strike sent Morton into the Play-Off Final in the most dramatic of fashions. (Photo- Gary Bradley) After a 1-1 stalemate in Aberdeen, Cove looked to have advanced to the final when Rory McAllister put the visitors 2-1 up at New Broomfield in the second minute of stoppage time. But Jack McKay took them to extra time a couple of minutes later (more of 94th minute goals in deepest, darkest Monklands to come) to change the course of the tie. Callum Gallagher settled it in the second period of extra time to take the Diamonds into a winner-takes-all double header with Morton. There's always a bit of needle attached to a game with Airdrie of course, but to add to the excitement, after 14 months locked out, both clubs were allowed 500 fans into their home legs. The scramble began- with around 460 season ticket holders, briefs were to be at a premium for the second leg, with no away fans allowed. Even with so few tickets left on sale though, Morton still managed to throw a couple of administrative errors into the mix, because, well, they're Morton, so where's the fun in doing things properly? The original batch were sold to season ticket holders in spite of not having been printed, and when it came to the public sale of the few leftovers, the advertised time of sale was put back before reverting again to the original time slot after folk who had swapped shifts rightly kicked up a stink. On a positive note though, the club did manage to get permission for another 100 to be seated in the Wee Dublin End. There was to be the return of some well-kent faces as 600 fans were allowed to attend the second leg of the Play-Off Final. (Photo- Gary Bradley) But the ticket sales were the least of Morton's worries. After not missing a minute of the season, Aidan McAdams finally succumbed to a hamstring injury, ruling him out of both legs of the final. With no fit senior keeper on the books, McPherson turned to Motherwell's Scott Fox, who came in on an emergency loan. To add to those woes, Kyle Jacobs' season came to an end in the first half when he fell awkwardly and had to be replaced by Reece Lyon. Even with these blows though, Airdrie weren't causing any real concerns to Morton, with the best chance of the half falling to Cammy Salkeld, who headed wide from close range. The Diamonds had one chance of note in the second half, McKay volleying wide from a corner. But as the game wore on, Morton began to turn the screw, and again the introduction of Nesbitt saw an added impetus to their play. Lyon was unlucky to strike the inside of Max Currie's post a few minutes from time, but it was deep into injury time that the breakthrough finally arrived. From a needlessly conceded corner, Blues played the ball short to Brain McLean. The captain clipped the ball into the box where Robbie Muirhead took advantage of a lapse in concentration in the home side's camp to give Morton a priceless winner. All of a sudden, after a season from hell, we were ninety minutes away from survival. Lyon might even have made it two before the final whistle were it not for a fine stop from the Airdrie custodian. Robbie Muirhead's late winner at Airdire secured a vital lead going into the second leg of the fianl at Cappielow. (Photo- Gary Bradley) Scottish football's biggest crowd of the season rolled up at Cappielow for the second leg, and whilst that might not quite be as big a boast as it would appear under normal circumstances, the excitement and anticipation was palpable. And what a treat Morton served up. Without having to chase the game, they played with a freedom that had been missing all season, and the tie was effectively over in the twelfth minute. Muirhead added to his first leg goal with a volley that will go down in the memory of a generation of fans the way Ritchie's goal against Aberdeen in 1981 and Templeman's against Kilmarnock in 2007 have. The crowd were in raptures and Morton sought to turn the screw, narrowly failing to increase their lead on a number of occasions before Oliver converted from close range after McGinn's effort had struck Currie's crossbar. There was to be no hiding place for Airdrie as their hopes of a return to the second tier after an eight-year sabbatical were to prove just too much of an ask. Nesbitt should've made it three from close range in the second half before Muirhead did put the cherry on the cake. As the final whistle went, the 600 inside the ground and the boisterous crowd on the car park celebrated like we'd actually won something. For a first trip back to the football in over a year, it couldn't have gone better- Morton were safe, and after a season of catastrophe, shooting themselves in the foot and being treated by our peers as a joke club, we'd come out it at the other end. Gary Oliver leads the celebrations after making it 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate to assure Morton of Championship football for another season. (Photo- Gary Bradley) But how do we conclude reviewing season 2020-21? Who were the heroes and the villains? Where do we go from here? For such a terrible season to end so spectacularly, we should of course be careful not to think that all is rosy in the world. This was a poorly assembled squad which did just enough to preserve their Championship status, and is already being dismantled by the man who assembled it, as he looks to get the gang back together down the coast. Gus McPherson staying on for another two years hasn't exactly got the juices flowing for everyone, but looking at the list of his most recent predecessors, I wouldn't be too upset about his appointment. There can surely be no complaints about the re-signing of Kyle Jacobs, who all the rumour-mongers had going to slum it in League One with Nesbitt at Falkirk; and McLean, who, in spite of his advancing years, had a good season for Morton last term. Credit has to go to the players for pulling Morton through what was an extremely difficult season though- a squad that was hamstrung every step of the way by a disinterested chairman, self-absorbed manager who made an absolute mess of his recruitment and a Chief Executive who couldn't organise a menage. Many of them were extremely limited, shouldn't have and won't ever play at such a high level again. Some of course, deserve more credit than others- when losing your captain for the play-offs is seen as a boost it tells you all you need to know about said captain. Not appointing a manager for three months and allowing McAlister to leave mid-contract were scandalous decisions, and indicative of just how little regard the chairman had for the club as we started to circle the drain. A more cynical man than myself might suggest that they were acts that looked to sabotage the club's Championship status. I'd prefer to consider them as mere a stupidity, based on a complacency in the boardroom as the arrivals of Messrs McPherson, Millen and McGinn sought to redress that initital folly, and eventually saved our bacon. A special mention has to go to Anton McElhone, who in spite of not being a qualified manager, and having no interest in being one, took the reins through that very difficult period and actually had the best record across regular league games of the three who took charge. Lang may yer lum reek, Anton! What is absolutely certain is that money is sure to be tight this year as well, so the same mistakes as last term cannot be made this time around. MCT have had a couple of directors in the inner sanctum of Cappielow for a while now- here's hoping they've taken onboard how not to run a football club.
    10 points
  49. At this point the fan backlash against MCT is wholly self-inflicted. As discussed after the Tele story with Crawford Rae, their communication with both their own members and the support continues to be reactive and only happens after people start asking questions of them, rather than appearing to have any kind of strategy to either keep people updated or more cynically to control the story. As we said then, it's entirely feasible that delays to the takeover are entirely outwith their control and can't be helped at their end. Considering that we're now less than two weeks from the league season starting and approaching two months overdue that would still set alarm bells ringing regardless, but what can be helped is communicating about it properly. They're not even attempting to do this. I saw on twitter that Graham Barr has a newborn baby (congratulations to him!) so understandably he's probably stepped away for at least a few days and no one could question not devoting much time to MCT as a result, but surely this is why you have a whole leadership team and a group of directors, so others can take over the communications side of things for however long he's away. At this point with such a massive delay and the impending start of the league season, we should be getting an absolute minimum of two updates a week on the takeover. If there are no new developments then fine, tell us there are no new developments. That might lead to negative comments and concern every time an update goes out, but it's better than having total silence until you're forced into saying something by a story in the Tele or so many fans complaining about being left in the dark, with resentment and cynicism building up in the vacuum of being told nothing. Tell us what you are doing aside from the ownership situation, because the continuous silence only creates an impression that absolutely nothing is going on or being done. I'm sure that's not the case and they are all working hard on various matters, but if none of us are told what's going on then thinking nothing is happening or that the silence is the product of arrogance or disinterest isn't only going to be widespread, it becomes the only rational conclusion with the information we have available. The silence until pressured to speak doesn't only apply to the takeover, answers about season tickets and direct debits only came after people kicking up a fuss on twitter as well. Perhaps these issues could have been addressed if they'd had someone ready to step into the General Manager role immediately from June 1st to manage things properly, but that level of planning just wasn't there. I said before that even if you want to give the benefit of doubt they're making it extremely difficult. I really do want to give them the benefit of the doubt; I don't want to naturally feel cynical about everything Morton's owners do having been forced into that attitude by 20 years of Golden Casket's mismanagement, I want this to be a great success, I've been a member and put my money in ever since the debt cancellation was announced because I do believe this simply has to succeed. However there's just nothing to cling to to give the benefit of the doubt. They're not running a primary school tuck shop where we can say they'll learn as they go and it doesn't matter if they spill the juice all over the floor at first because they'll get better at it, it's a professional football club and volunteers or not we need some sign of competence. There aren't any. It's simply not good enough and every single day of silence drains their credibility further in the weeks where MCT as an organisation can least afford to get things wrong. It's hard to imagine how this summer could possibly have been more shambolic or done more damage to confidence in their ability to run the club short of announcing that the takeover is cancelled. The first impression created this summer is critical to their success and getting more people on board, but there's nothing good to say about it.
    10 points
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