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Why? Why is it such a stretch to simply believe a lower half, fan owned Championship Club can't stretch it's budget to up an employees wage during a cost of living crisis and said employee rightly just exercises his right to go somewhere else for a better wage. Seeing as the Imrie rumours turned out to absolute pish and the club has actually made half decent improvements in a lot of areas of the last year I can't understand why we continue to have the incessant knicker soaking from the fan base. Good luck to Chris in all his future endeavours, he did a good job while he was here!

Aye because we were such a model club when he applied for the post and accepted the role last summer.

(Photo- Gary Bradley) Out With The Old And In With The New… A Review of Morton’s 2021-22 Season, Part One. By Russell Gordon. After the rollercoaster ride that was season 2020-21, most Morton fans would’ve quite happily accepted a season of mid-table mediocrity with any realistic fears of relegation being extinguished as early as possible, even if there was no real danger of us threatening the play-offs at the other end of the table. Sounds boring on the surface perhaps, but whilst that was exactly what we got, it could hardly have been described as an uneventful campaign. With fans’ group MCT getting their feet under the desk before officially announcing the purchase of the club from an increasingly unpopular Crawford Rae in September, all eyes were on which direction the club would take and what lessons had been learned from the calamitous last few years of the Golden Casket era. It didn’t start well. Having scraped to survival, manager Gus MacPherson was handed a two-year deal as a reward for his “achievement”, which raised many an eyebrow amongst sections of the support who were somewhat underwhelmed by the former Queen’s Park and Queen of the South boss’s performance in failing to avoid the relegation play-offs in the first place. MacPherson’s first signing was to cause even more concern- former Morton trialist Alan Lithgow came in from Livingston on a two-year deal. Whilst Lithgow’s injury record can’t be ignored, the main bone of contention for many was a criminal conviction he attained in his younger days for an offence that a lot of fans found unpalatable. Former Raith striker Gozie Ugwu was charged with the unenviable task of trying to provide the goals for MacPherson's struggling side. (Photo-Gary Bradley) There were of course re-signings and departures again- Robbie Muirhead was handed a new deal, owing in no small part to his play-off heroics, whilst stalwarts such as Gary Oliver, Brian McLean, Cameron Blues, Michael Ledger and club captain Kyle Jacobs came back for more. Former Hibernian and Sheffield United midfielder Stephen McGinn was lured to title favourites Kilmarnock, whilst Ayr United boss David Hopkin decided to raid his former club for some of the stars who brought him so much success in his time at Cappielow. Few tears were shed over the loss of Cameron Salkeld and in particular Sean McGinty, but the losses of Markus Fjortoft and Aidan McAdams to the Honest Men weren’t greeted with the same relief or joy down Inverclyde way. Wingers Aidan Nesbitt and Craig McGuffie departed for League One minnows Falkirk, ultimately contributing to their heroic efforts to avoid the drop to League Two, which was nice for them. Joining Lithgow at Cappielow were Raith Rovers’ forward Gozie Ugwu, who brought a much-needed physical presence to the front line, and former Dundee and Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton- a signing that was perhaps unfairly mocked by many observers. Only time would tell if those calls were fair or not. Former ‘Ton full back Mark Russell would also return, having enjoyed a successful spell at Finn Harps in Ireland. It would be fair to say that in those early weeks of the season, the squad seriously lacked depth and experience, and just to exacerbate that problem, Morton were hit by a COVID outbreak on the eve of the season’s kick off. After a couple of dull pre-season friendlies; a 0-0 draw behind closed doors at Dumbarton and a 2-0 win over Cumbernauld Colts at Broadwood (God, I miss Highland tours), the intention was to start the League Cup campaign with a trip to Stranraer, for a game for which travelling fans were officially banned from attending due to the restrictions. Those who chose not to travel didn’t miss anything- the match was called off on the morning as a result of Morton’s failure to raise a team due to the outbreak at Cappielow, and Morton were forced accept a 0-3 defeat. Incredibly though, Morton were able to field a team against East Kilbride only three days later, on a day of confusion as the club and the Telegraph told conflicting stories about whether the game would or would not go ahead, and whether anyone would be able to attend or not. In the end, the game was played behind closed doors in what was a bit of a public relations faux pas on the club’s part. With Gus MacPherson also in his sickbed, a shadow Morton team toiled to a 0-0 draw with their Lowland League counterparts, prevailing 5-4 on penalties to take the bonus point going into the game with top seeds Kilmarnock. With Morton effectively out of the tournament through very little fault of their own, the trip to Rugby Park, in front of a limited number of home fans brought room for optimism as Morton led for the vast majority of the match- young Lewis McGregor’s fine early strike was only cancelled out in injury time before the hosts went on to take the bonus point in a penalty shoot-out. The curtain came down on Morton’s brief campaign with a 2-1 victory over Clyde at Cappielow, as Robbie Muirhead took up where he left off in May with a double to crush any hopes the Bully Wee may have had of progression to the knock-out phase of the competition. With Morton’s interest in the League Cup meeting a premature end, focus moved onto the start of the league campaign, with much-fancied Dunfermline Athletic visiting relegation favourites Morton on the opening day. In front of a crowd that was again limited only to home fans, Morton could’ve considered themselves unfortunate not to collect all three points, having led through a first half Gary Oliver penalty against his favourite opponents. But in the end it took a Lewis McGrattan cross looping into the Pars’ net to salvage a draw as the Fifers claimed a rare, but memorable Cappielow point. Three points were to follow for Morton the following week at Hamilton, as Gozie Ugwu’s first half strike proved enough to separate the visitors from the newly relegated Accies, in spite of the ordering off of Cammy Blues late in the game. Four points from six, all was well in the world. But Morton being Morton, quickly dispelled any thoughts that we might have been in for a good season by losing 2-3 at home to early strugglers Queen of the South, and rounded off August with a 0-3 trousering at the hands of Partick Thistle in Glasgow. MacPherson had some major surgery to perform on the squad as the month reached its conclusion and the clock ran down on the summer transfer window. To be fair, corrective action was taken, with Mansfield striker Jimmy Knowles, Newcastle winger Tom Allen and centre back Oisin McEntee, and Brentford midfielder Jaako Oksanen (the latter two under-21 internationals for the Republic of Ireland and Finland respectively) came in the door, along with Livingston striker Gavin Reilly, all on season-long loans. Livingston loanee Gavin Reilly endured a difficult first few months of his Morton career. (Photo- Gary Bradley) The Challenge Cup, now known as the SPFL Trust Trophy, returned after a year in abeyance and Morton were handed a trip to Airdrie to face… Celtic B (?) Morton won 3-1, and that’s really all that needs said about such a farce of a fixture. We move on. September wasn’t to prove a vintage month- a respectable performance at Rugby Park saw the ‘Ton fall to a late Rory McKenzie winner for Kilmarnock before falling by the same scoreline to Raith Rovers at Cappielow the following week. Despite the beautiful sunshine that early autumn afternoon, the storm clouds were gathering over Cappielow. The month was rounded off at Somerset Park as Morton were reacquainted with a former boss in the week that we were freed from the shackles of Crawford Rae and finally became a community-owned club. That boss however, was to be Jim Duffy; successor to David Hopkin, who had already been emptied by the Ayrshire club as a result not only of their own slow start to the season, but also of fan mutiny against Hopkin. What we got was one of the worst football matches you’re ever likely to see, between two absolutely horrible teams to watch, which ended goalless. Gus MacPherson and his backroom staff suffer through the turgid 0-0 draw at Somerset Park like the rest of us. (Photo-Gary Bradley) It was becoming increasingly obvious that Morton were going to endure a difficult season- the football was turgid and the support was becoming increasingly impatient with the manager. But whilst the Raith and Ayr games were truly awful, it’s perhaps more concerning when you play well and don’t get your rewards. When high-flying Arbroath came calling, few would have fancied Morton to take anything from a game against the league’s surprise package. With Jack Hamilton being beaten by his brother Colin on the cusp of half-time, Morton could’ve easily retreated into their shell, but an excellent second half performance, with a goal from Gary Oliver seconds after the restart, and a fantastic Cammy Blues strike to give Morton the lead, looked to have given us the three points. Lady Luck had other ideas though, and Oisin McEntee was harshly punished for the use of an elbow late on and Michael McKenna duly converted the resultant penalty to deny Morton what could’ve been two valuable points. Our saving grace at this point was Dunfermline’s abysmal start under Peter Grant, but surely that couldn’t go on forever? At least there was a break from league duty though, as the SPFL Trust Trophy campaign continued at Links Park. Whilst the rest of the country were enthralled by Scotland’s incredible late World Cup win over Israel, a hardy band of Morton fans travelled up to Angus to see Morton scrape past Montrose on penalties to book a quarter-final tie against Queen of the South. We were to clock up a fair few miles in October, with trips to Inverness for an insipid 0-2 defeat in which Lewis Strapp, who had spent most of the campaign playing in an unfamiliar left centre back role, reportedly felt the wrath of a furious MacPherson; and another uninspiring 0-0 draw, this time at Palmerston, the only highlight of which being Robbie Muirhead’s effort which was unfortunate to hit the bar. An improved performance at home to on-form Partick garnered yet another 0-0 draw which could’ve been more but was probably seen as a point gained rather than two dropped, before Hamilton came calling. An appalling Morton performance incredibly only saw the hosts a goal down deep into injury time when a high and hopeful Jaako Oksanen free kick was headed into his own net by Accies defender Reegan Mimnaugh to prevent a Halloween horror show for the ‘Ton faithful. Gary Oliver nets a last minute penalty against his favourite opponents to give Morton a 3-1 win at East End Park (Photo- Gary Bradley) But bad news was just around the corner- Dunfermline had finally decided to wield the axe and relieve the hapless Peter Grant of his duties ahead of a relegation six-pointer against Morton at East End Park. It seemed we needn’t have worried at this point however, as Gozie Ugwu’s goal was sandwiched by two from Gary Oliver (who else?) and Morton eased to three vital points against the Pars. They were to appoint John Hughes as Grant’s successor after that Morton defeat though and immediately got a new manager bounce, with a win at Inverness and a home to Ayr, whilst Morton were losing 0-2 at home to promotion-chasing Kilmarnock and 1-2 at Raith Rovers. The defeat in Kirkcaldy was to prove especially chastening, having led early on through Michael Ledger and meekly surrendered their advantage. A bad day was rounded off by the sending off of Alan Lithgow as tensions boiled over in the away stand, with Lithgow being the target of some fans’ frustrations, and squabbles breaking out in the away end. Alan Lithgow's two yellow cards at Stark's Park were to prove one of the season's lowlights. (Photo- Gary Bradley) With Morton celebrating the 100th anniversary of their Scottish Cup win this season, a cup run would’ve been nice- so a draw away to promotion-chasing Inverness was a most unwelcome development. The manager was under pressure, the board were meeting criticisms with a wall of silence, the fans were at each others’ throats, the relationship between players and fans appeared irreparable. If the winter of 2020 was a winter of discontent, we were bracing ourselves for what the winter of 2021 was about to bring…

We watched the Rae's run our club to the point of irrelevance with barely a word being spoken by half the fan base. Now because there are questions about how tough things are we are hearing that the Rae model might have been a better idea. This is going to be hard and anyone who thought it was going to be a stroll and that mistakes and missteps would never happen need to adjust their expectations.

But wages weren't the issue suggested by you or the poster you quoted. The club being "a shambles" is what you feared the issue was. So I ask again why? Why do you think, currently as things stand, Chris left because he thinks the club is a shambles? Besides the well documented issues with the ticketing website (which is pretty much out of the clubs control) what has occurred recently that points to a shambles within Morton. I disagree slightly on the wages issue too. If we managed to get Chris in on those wages then the salary must be in some way appealing. I'm pretty certain a club like Morton with no big financial backer will constantly be reviewing finances but if there's simply no room to manoeuvre in terms of offering an increase then of course there's an issue with skill retention. Sadly, football is by far not the only industry facing these challenges. My own industry, the railway, is currently struggling with this just now thanks to the pandemic.

As Dunning says, we're lucky football is the industry it is because in most places, a broken sales funnel is instant failure. But there's only so long we can rely on "ach, they're going to buy it anyway." Even people who have every intention of purchasing might have a change of circumstance in the next week, the next two weeks, and then that's their money gone from Morton. Really have to get a handle on this that doesn't require a lengthy trip to Smith's or Cappielow.

I had the same issue. The shitshow of a website is something MCT inherited rather than being a mess of their making (cheers Warren) but now we're this far into their tenure anything Morton are getting wrong has to be a reflection on the current owners. This needs fixed; if you have people willing to put £295 into the club you can't end up losing out on that because your website doesn't work and they can't or won't travel to Cappielow or Smiths for it. Mugs like me and most others posting on this forum are going to buy one anyway, but you have to make it as easy as possible for people. If someone's swithering about it and has a moment of 'fuck it, why not?' after a bit of good news or being talked into it by a mate you can't throw an obstacle in their path that makes them decide not to bother.

Another one for the Ignore pile.

What is questionable about the viability of the ownership model? It is owned by a fans' organisation and there are no debts beholden to anyone. There are certainly valid questions about the viability of full-time football and about the viability of a club business model that so heavily relies on matchday revenue, but those are club issues, not ownership issues. They were there when GC was busy writing indefinite and near club-killing IOUs to itself (which curiously received a fraction of the concern from the fanbase in any given season than the current regime), and they'll still be there if the mythical, dreamboat outside investor rocks up at Cappielow tomorrow as well.

Sack yourself as well. You're a storyteller.

4 posts in total- this one quoted, one saying Quitongo was signing last year, 1 saying Brice Rice was taking over the week after Gus was bagged and the last one saying Jake Hastie was signing alongside a Hibs striker. Might want to have a word with your source, he's absolutely pish.

Not paying a decent wage to a CEO is something that raised plenty of eyebrows on here at the time the job was advertised, and with good reason. Anyway, the simple fact is that paying a fairly low wage is not going to work particularly well if it means somebody is going to leave after just over 6 months in the job and I think it would wise for the board to review the finances and try to increase the salary for the CEO position. It's probably unlikely that there's many particularly great candidates available for the wage on offer and for the size of the job involved, and there's probably also not a huge number of people in Ross' position, i.e. somebody with a bit of experience in other roles and ready to move into that kind of position for the first time, which means the chances of getting somebody good are reduced and if we do, they'll probably not hang about long either. There's been a turnaround in the club's performance for sure, but at this point it's still just about getting the basics in place after decades of neglect. It's not going to be easy at all to move things forward if we're not able to attract or hold on to people who are up to the job.

gmfctickets website currently under maintanence and should be back up and running by 2pm. Hopefully they are sorting the issues mentioned above.

It's probably right for McLean to move on, but using a game against the team that are probably going to finish 4th in the top flight (not really sure how you can try to spin that as making them anything other than a significantly better team than Morton, tbh) which spun on a dodgy penalty deep into extra time and *collectively* bad play to lose a goal in the last minute is just a very unfair example to use for writing a player off tbh. McLean is not prime-Baresi, but he's been a decent player for us over the piece. Far from perfect, but that's the level we're operating at and given the circumstances he's equipped himself pretty well in both performances (for the most part) and particularly leadership on the pitch. We're simply not going to get defenders who are flawless over a season and we're certainly not going to get ones who can go toe-to-toe with a top end Premiership side, so there needs to be a bit of realism here. If Lithgow were to leave and McLean was to stay on a fairly low wage as cover in case we were wanting to play a similar type of back 3 to this season at any point then it wouldn't be a terrible thing but nor would it be particularly catastrophic if he leaves.

Aye, a mistake through tiredness deep into extra time after not conceding in 110 minutes against the fourth best team in Scotland. Thanks for confirming.

Sadly I'm finding myself thinking along similar lines here too. Since around the end of last year there's certainly looked to be a transformation in the running of the club and it seemed Chris was starting to do a pretty good job, but it was very much only the beginning of the journey. People are going to move on, but whatever the reason it isn't really great news at all to be losing such a key figure such a short time with the club still a long way from being running at optimum level. There's a lot riding on the next appointment,

Seemed to be doing a good job and anytime I have had communication with him he's been very responsive and helpful. Shame he's leaving.

DavidVizeSPFL found.

If we're going to play the "link every player Livingston let go because Imrie has worked with them" game this summer, Jack McMillan and Craig Sibbald are both leaving. McMillan is primarily a right back but has played at left back a lot as well along with having runs of games at centre back and in holding midfield, so as well as being a first choice right back he could give us the cover in other positions that we're going to be in dire need of if we don't want to throw more of the budget at eg a back up left back. Sibbald would be a quality addition and would also let us have a narrower front three rather than trying to obtain two extremely difficult to find at this level wingers who aren't sanddancers, but you'd expect several clubs who can pay more in both the Championship and League One to be after him as well.

Don’t really care, tbh. I’m happy for Cadden and that’s about it.

I'll take a 5% commission. Anyway, whilst I get that this is a moot point, upwards of £300 to watch a football club for which even a top-half finish in the second tier of Scottish football is a rarity will never not seem excessively expensive, especially when it's in a stadium which, as much as I love it, doesn't even have hot water taps in the toilets. Ticket prices are what they are, but nonetheless Morton fans are paying premium pricing for a sub-par product - the club's expenditure may well be going up, but so is everybody else's and if that continues then the sheer, blind loyalty that allows that situation to persist ad nauseam might begin to falter. The demise of the streaming option and the signs of what the squad might look like are not huge selling points as it stands, so whilst surviving relegation and the arrival of Imrie have brought a bit of optimism, the club can't just sit back and expect punters to just part with their money without showing there's going to be something in return. As for MCT, I think there really needs to be a serious bit of reflecting on what it actually is. I've had my reservations about the overall project from the off and whilst there has been some progress, I'm not convinced that it's doing the job it could or should be doing. I was particularly struck by the Tele referring to MCT as a "fan investment group" recently. Now obviously that's what it was initially, for good or ill and it's not a new term, but seeing it described as that at this stage of the game was a wee bit jarring, not least because its probably the blunt truth. Is that really what the ownership of a club should be? I really don't think so, but it's hard to avoid the feeling sometimes that it's no more than source of funding and the conduit for a wee clique to entrench themselves in the boardroom with no accountability. I'm not sure exactly what the perfect version would look like, but I think a socio-type model would be the most appealing, whereby there's some kind of rewards/entitlements based on contributions. For example, £10 a month would get you £x amount off strips, %y discount of hospitality, access to a couple of events throughout the year etc - the SSC membership is probably a good comparison for a basic package, with increasing benefits for higher contributions, edging towards the Business Club thingy. All of this as part of a revamped organisational structure that had clear aims, hierarchies, targets etc etc, and the clear understanding that MCT representatives on the board were there on behalf of members and accountable directly to them and not just there on a free-lunch ticket.

No issue with the pricing. Everything else in life is on the up cost wise and morton will be feeling that too.

I bought a season ticket last year because with streaming it made sense. I also bought most of the away games too so a bit of income spread around the division there too. Absolutely no way that’s the case this year as actually getting to home games is becoming a bit of a struggle & likely I will only make it to a few games. A retrograde step frankly and fuck UEFA. At our level, is it really necessary to cut people off from their team? Do they think anyone will as a consequence pay to watch the elite teams instead?

Haha yep fair enough, although I see their manager has really bought into their project and jumped ship as soon as possible.

Or, he realised what a shambles the club is and is getting out rapid. Never thought he'd last long tbh. Probably paid pennies for a position that would otherwise command a respectable wage.

It's probably not that strange when we'll be hovering the drains for an alternative.