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Tedious dirge, but fair play to Dunning for not being bored into submission.

It's the fixed starting point because it's when Muirhead lost form and the whole discussion is about his contribution from the point he lost his form. Including his unquestionable positive contribution before that date would therefore be irrelevant, because no one is questioning that he was very good earlier in the season. Moving the start date forward would make no sense because it is still when his ongoing spell of poor form started. You know this. I would avoid criticising someone for causing a tedious back and forth through a stubborn refusal to admit they're wrong with the incorrect use of statistics if the various claims I'd made in a thread included: 21 year old Michael Garrity is about to turn 24, a fact you didn't address when your error was pointed out Muirhead never plays on the right when he'd played on the right three days prior to you making that claim, a fact you responded to by moving the goalposts to claim Muirhead only starting on the right once all season is irrelvant, an argument you then dropped and failed to address when the fact of his other starts on the right was pointed out at your request None of the fringe players have shown they can make as many contributions to goals as Muirhead, then when it was demonstrated that one of the fringe players competing for a place had in fact been involved in as many goals since Muirhead's form deteriorated despite less time on the park, you pivoted to: Claiming Muirhead's 10 starts in that time period prior to Friday's game was the same thing as Garrity's 3 starts and 7 sub appearances when Muirhead had more than double the amount of time on the park, and finally now with every actual footballing argument expended you're reduced to semantics about what constitutes recent form. People get things wrong all the time, which certainly includes me being too harsh on Muirhead recently enough. You can quietly accept that you were objectively factually incorrect on any or all of these points and stop digging at any time.

This is how the passage of time works yes, what with February and March being more recent than January.

It's the latter. A more active style of supporter as seen at many clubs. Formed the group themselves, painted etc and their own cost (with club permission) and sell merch to raise funds for displays etc. https://cowshed.bigcartel.com/

There are absolutely no small margins to be discussed here. Dundee Utd were streets ahead in every department last night. On top of not actually being good enough, the majority of our players look heavy legged and extremely low on confidence. If we did get the penalty when we were 3-0 there was still no chance of us getting back into the game, let’s be serious here.

Looking forward to seeing that head steward trying to justify her existence for half an hour before kick off tonight by trying to find a swastika on each of these.

The fact that Boyd was handed a 2 year deal so we could have been stuck with him for another year had he not chucked it easily pushes him into the worst spot.

The young lads deserve a lot of praise for their efforts. You just hope they keep it going and become hooked on the club.

Someone is certainly moving goalposts to suit an argument here. Are you genuinely failing to grasp the extremely simple point that looking at the time period in which a player has lost form is the only pertinent sequence of games to look at when discussing a player's contribution while off form, so we're talking about February as the start point because that's when Muirhead lost form? Or are you simply being so obtuse that you're pretending to because you blundered into this by using factually incorrect statements to support your argument and can't admit you were wrong on those points, which is why you've quietly discarded those arguments once the facts have been pointed out and gone down the road of arguing about what time period can be used to judge recent form? Tough call tbh.

Power is a release for me. Obviously a class player, full of vision, can spray a lovely pass, you can see his movement makes a hell of a lot of sense. But we're shipping goals due to his lack of mobility, which is an inevitable aspect of his age. We can't count on a preseason to turn back the clock; it's just too much of a risk. So with all well wishes and admiration, and the hope that he won't be a stranger and that he'll remember his time here fondly, it's time to have an amicable parting of ways.

The main issue with the current squad is as soon as one of the starting XI is out of form/injured our fringe players are not doing enough. Garrity, Bearne and McGrattan are all decent on the ball but apart from that look lost in most games especially against better sides like last night. 3 of them have either made a decent impact off the bench or started a game well then died off, then when given another opportunity the following week have failed to take it. I don't think any of them are up to scratch at this level as of yet, or will ever be. I would look to move on all 3 players, or at least get them out to get more 1st team experience at a league 1 team. Blues and Crawford especially have been well off it for a few months now and contributed absolutely nothing. Power is in the same boat over the last few weeks as has Muirhead. The 4 of them are out of form and really need to be taken out the team for the 3 mentioned above, who haven't taken their chance. Id keep all 4 next year and hopefully they get back into form. I don't think we can question muirheads goal return over the course of the season. Gillespie hasn't impressed much all season wether it be starting or a few calamitous performances off the bench and his time is up at the club. I have just about ran out of patience with Quitongo, but willing to give him another 6m deal to prove his fitness and hopefully get back to his best. When on his game there aren't many better wingers in the championship. O'Connor has been a bit unfairly treated this season taken out of the team for Broadfoot who is finished. Him and Baird are still are best CB pairing and id keep the both of them. Watters isn't good enough at this level and I hope we are doing our best to keep Strapp at the club beyond the summer. Would love to keep Oakley but think there will be a few teams chasing his signature. Keep: Mullen, Baird, O'Connor, Strapp, Wilson, Blues, Power, Crawford, Muirhead, Oakley, Quitongo and incoming Jordan Davies. Get rid: MacDonald, French, Watters, Broadfoot, Gillespie, McGrattan, Bearne, Garrity, King

Muirhead started on the right on Tuesday with Garrity on the left. A player who plays on the right is directly relevant to the conversation about Muirhead's place in the team when Muirhead is starting games on the right. You were the one who claimed Muirhead is undroppable regardless of recent form because fringe players aren't doing enough. He is obviously getting a contract offer for his contribution over the season, but since the start of February he has 2 goals in 10 starts. In the same time period Garrity has 3 in 3 starts and 7 sub appearances. It is an indisputable fact then that in the last two months Garrity has contributed more goals than Muirhead, while on not providing a significant number of assists or set-piece threat, he literally assisted a goal from a set-piece on Tuesday; something Muirhead has not done since the Dunfermline game at the start of February. No one is saying Muirhead hasn't had a better season overall or that his current dip of form is going to last forever, but the idea that we have no one to displace him from the team just now while he's struggling is demonstrable nonsense.

I can't agree with anyone saying Muirhead and Crawford shouldn't be here next season. One is our top goalscorer while the other who hasn't been at his best this season with the ball has worked his arse off in every game he plays and has been unlucky not to chip in with a few goals. We absolutely need to upgrade some positions and improve strength in depth which is a challenge but we shouldn't be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Despite being a disappointment, French is safely out of the running for worst signing having at least contributed consistently to our winning run. Steven Boyd has that honour wrapped up and Jamie McDonald would be easily ahead of French too, he’s suffered from a combination of bad form, lack of sustained fitness and possibly just an overall lack of remaining ability for this level. Giving Harkness a free pass on the assumption we haven’t paid his wages since the injury, which is a total guess. Honourable mentions for goal of the season are Garrity’s volley against Airdrie, Muirhead’s second against Ayr and Muirhead’s tap in against QP at cappielow.

POTY: Mullen. Its nice to know we've a relatively safe pair of hands in the goal, although Oakley and Wilson are a close second. Mentallest decision of the year: Sending Alex King on loan again.

Totally forgot about that. Bullet dodged. I assume he got some kind of payoff but nothing close to the entirety of his contract.

Wilson POTY, difference between him in the team and out of it is striking. Mullen, Oakley, Strapp, Muirhead making up the rest. If we have a young player of the year (23 and under) it's Mullen (22 years old) by a mile. McGrattan and Garrity are the only other real contenders and neither comes close. Goal of the season the obvious Goatley strike. Best signing, Wilson but only because he's been here all season. Strapp otherwise. I could see the case for both. Boyd worst signing by a country mile. French has been a disappointment and should not be retained (if he's even available) but he's not even the player most directly responsible for sloppy goals conceded. Boyd on the other hand didn't fit in from day one and was a waste of a wage completely.

Over 100 of the "COWSHED" silk scarfs sold, some world wide.

This is precisely where you are wrong, because those two records are exactly the same thing to the manager of a professional football club. Players who make substitute appearances are expected to contribute just like starters. They're not thrown on to the park as a sympathy act. It doesn't matter whether you have 90 minutes or 25 minutes to deliver - the bottom line to Imrie or any other manager is the sum of a player's total contribution on the park to the team. The explanation for why your beloved squad players are not starting is entirely straightforward then: they haven't actually contributed enough to dislodge Muirhead or indeed any other starters in the pecking order. Being a standout in one game against Queens' Park and then being a bag of turds against Airdrie the next week merely confirms the existing pecking order. You believe that this is unfair and want their contribution to be weighted based on minutes off the bench, cherry-picked 'recent form' 'analysis', and a host of other mitigating circumstances, but the reality is that professional football isn't 'fair' in those terms and these excuses shouldn't and largely don't apply.

True, but the main issue with that is that he's too slow and stiff to get close enough to do it a lot of the time.

I’d have been happier with Power leaving the studs in a bit more often and committing professional fouls to stop attacks, rather than letting opponents run past him so easily when he’s our deepest midfielder.

We've had a hard time from other managers, pundits and (to some extent) referees this season and the 'big bad Morton' line has been an easy excuse for folk to justify performances when we were steamrollering the whole league in the middle of the season. However, some of our players discipline has been terrible in recent weeks. Baird made an arse of himself last night, Broadfoot has had a few moments of losing the plot and Power has been leaving the studs in a few times too often. The overall number of fouls we're giving away and bookings we're picking up isn't constructive at all - it's one thing to play with physicality and aggression and another to lash out when things aren't going your way. That needs reigned in for next season.

Because he was still playing well three months ago. He had not lost form in January, hence his form in January is irrelevant to a discussion about his contribution since he lost his form. I reckon it's five: Kelty and Rangers in the League Cup, Airdrie and Kelty at home in October, Ayr on Tuesday, without mentioning all the times we started with him on the left and switched wings during the game.

The 'last two months' is quite clearly arbitrary. Why not the last three months? Who decreed that two months was the definition of recent form - other than it suiting the purpose of your cherry-picking exercise? And in any case even by your own goalpost fixing exercise, we seem to have 'player on a terrible run of form who should definitely be dropped' on level pegging with 'guid young player - start him instead and/or award new contract too'. I for one think that we should accept neither benchmark of performance as acceptable next season, which means upgrading on our existing options by providing serious competition instead. He has played on the right several times throughout the season. Fooling absolutely no-one: how many times has Muirhead started on the right hand side of our forward line this season? Be extremely specific.

Power's error at the first goal is such a basic one for a player of his experience. He tries to hand his player off to someone who already had someone to mark, and that second delay allowed Doherty to get away from him and score the goal. So frustrating to have experienced players making errors like that. Broadfoot at the 3rd and Baird at the 4th as well. Such avoidable goals from individual errors. We look spent, though. We have to remember that when fully fit we went on such a long unbeaten run. We've gone from Strapp at left back to French trying to cover at left back (and he's not even very good at right back), and some of our better players look out on their feet trying to carry the load recently. Poor ends to the season isn't down to some sort of curse, it's a reality of what can happen with small squads and a lack of quality depth.

What because he scored a goal, he doesn't work in this system without Oakley as evidenced by 1 win in 10 games since he got injured and the 1 game we won Oakley was back. Scoring a goal from a break in the box doesn't make you motm infact picking out any morton player as our MOTM tonight is the real terrible take.

Absolutely rotten player. Our motm. Terrible take.

Team looked knackered right from the start but FFS they make it hard for themselves. That Baird fluffed passback for example. We seemed unable to string two passes together and we didn't win any second balls. The Quitongo incident looked a clear penalty and in fact the "dive" for which he was booked looked as if there was slight contact. We looked a wee bit better when Bearne came on. He needs to start against Arbroath to make us more creative and let us drop the hoofball tactics. Apparently Strapp out for the rest of the season but Oakley's injury not too serious and might be back next week. Hope that info is correct as BBC Scotland are strangers to truth as we all know. Three point at Arbroath will keep us safe but FFS how did it ever come to this. Anyway at the end of the day beating Dundee United was not really expected and it didn't turn into a real hammering as looked likely at one point. Still, don't want to be going to Inverness on may 4th without at least a 4 point advantage.

Horrendous. Hard to single out anyone for being the most shite, but Blues and Crawford were anonymous again, just like they have been for months now yet seem absolutely immune from being dropped. Overhaul needed in the summer - we are utterly brutal to watch.

Golden Boy Broadfoot at it again. Simply not good enough.

BBC commentary team could all get a backup job as fluffers for this united team .

These are tremendous

The only two players who play on the left hand side are Garrity who has been okay, nothing more than that, and McGrattan who categorically has not contributed more than Muirhead either since January, August or indeed any other period you're now setting your stats by. While Bearne's performances are likely overrated too, they're irrelevant because he doesn't even play on that side of the park. I'm far from President of the Robbie Muirhead Travel Club, but the idea that our current wide options are an adequate replacement for his contribution to the team in this existing setup is demonstrable nonsense. The simple facts show that all the alternative options put together do not deliver as many goals, do not deliver a significant number of assists and also do not deliver any potential threat from set pieces. Which is likely why Imrie files all this mewling in the bin too. We lack serious competition which might get the best out of Muirhead if, for argument's sake, we assume that he and Oakley stay. Unless we change system, then our forward options next season would look like this: LW - Muirhead CF - Oakley/Muirhead/Davies RW - Davies/Bearne The priority should quite clearly be adding a capable, left sided forward. Which involves giving a sincere, thanks for your efforts but cheerio card to our current two options there as well as Quitongo on the opposite side. That's the only way to step up to the next level within a budget, instead of this endless, clutching at straws exercise for players who simply haven't shown enough.

Quitongo would be one of the first out the door if it was up to me. He has attributes very few at this level possess, but even when he is fully fit he's woefully inconsistent. Wilson and Oakley both have bad injury records, but the difference with those guys is if they're playing twenty games in a season rather than forty, they're going to give a solid contribution in 90% of those matches. Quitongo doesn't have that. Add in his technical deficiencies, lack of game intelligence and poor decision making in the final third and it's an easy decision for me. He's simply a luxury we can't afford.

There’s a lot I agree with regarding ruthlessness in squad building, but binning Garrity at the end of this season would be madness. He’s a young, low earner on a sharp upward trajectory whose strengths are not replicated anywhere in our squad and will be incredibly difficult to find externally, certainly not without significant cost. He’s already contributing goals and assists at championship level and with Mcgrattan presumably moving aside he should be challenged to move up the pecking order, not out the door.

Bearne plays a completely different position to Crawford though. Who, specifically, was available to replace Crawford in the same role for the team? Which of our left sided players has demonstrated the number of goal contributions that Muirhead has produced this season - including multiple from set pieces? The reason why Imrie 'persists' with those two players is perfectly obvious - they offer abilities that cannot be replaced by the current squad, because the alternative options are simply not good enough.

On the face of it a point away to Ayr is a reasonable outcome, however, not getting a win contributes to the feeling, once again, we have shat the bed at the business end of the season. Too many passengers in the squad and a lack of quality to adapt when things are not going our way.

As it stands I’m sure it’s Mullen, Baird, Wilson, King, O’Boy and Davies

I can stomach the style of football we play under Imrie when we're seeing success on the park but my patience is running thin now.

I never want to see Broadfoot, Power or French in a Morton shirt again after tonight. Absolute wage thieves

I understand the reason specific players are undroppable but when they are in the team the only ones that come to mind are: Mullen, Baird, Strapp, Wilson, Crawford and Oakley. We noticed a desire from Muirhead when Imrie started him on the bench for a while, I think he lacks that currently. The likes of Garrity and Bearne getting the odd 15/30/50 minutes to impress are more bizarre than David Iron's 45 minute trial. They both have the ability to be good wingers at this level but they, more so Bearne, play very few minutes. Someone will have the numbers on Bearne but he was the best player on the park by miles against QP. Two wingers either side of Oakley is what I would want. Pace and ability to take on a player and deliver for Gorgeous George to fire home, we severely lack that currently.

I'm told Jais making the decision if he's fit or not..

recent posts from VT on this thread have been total dug shite.