Leaderboard

I see that's us now advertising the Groundsman's position, without a single word to acknowledge that Mark Farrell left the club. As someone has pointed out on twitter, our esteemed GM got a full article announcing his departure, and we've heard nothing about Farrell, or indeed Andy Millen. Transparency eh.

All a club has to do is offer a deal on equivalent terms to what the player was earning under the previous contract in order to trigger the compensation. Given the season that Lyall had, there were always going to be other suitors for him, and the likelihood that he’d have got a better offer than we gave him last season was around 99.9%. There was no risk. And to be honest, if players/clubs/agents think that we’re out of order by squeezing what we can out of every deal, they’re in the wrong industry. While you want to see young players succeed, Morton aren’t a charity, and have to look after their own financial interests. If the fee was so insignificant that it didn’t matter, can I get my £295 back for my season ticket and just go to the games anyway? I dare say that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things. No, I didn’t think so.

"My primary motivation for returning was to help ensure the club's financial viability in the Championship. I believe we've achieved that goal." Ah yes, surely the bronze statue awaits on Sinclair Street for our selfless hero upon stepping down. Except that it is, as usual, self-serving bollocks of course. Acting with the primary aim stated (leaving aside the 'viability' of a model now dependent to a larger annual benefactor that Douglas Rae, so what is meant is 'fullll-time futba') would be a potentially valid excuse for MCT directors who were also on the GMFC board. We could reject that claim on their part too, but the conflict of serving two masters at once os clear. But last time I checked, Stuart Duncan was not sitting on the GMFC board in any capacity. There was no competing source of authority - the only role that Duncan had was as a member of the MCT board. Which raises some rather unfortunate questions for our erstwhile hero: 1) With what legitimate mandate did you act against the interests of the MCT membership you were elected to represent? When did you publicly state your prioritisation of 'fullll time futba' over the interests of the majority stakeholders in GMFC for full transparency and accountability, and when did you win sufficient support for that agenda? I don't recall that being on any candidate biography. 2) With what legitimacy at all did you act after both i) resigning from the MCT board in a tantrum and ii) canvassing support for an EGM against the remainimg board membership - an EGM that was conveniently discarded 0.4 seconds after you were 'co-opted' onto the interim MCT board? So no, I don't think there'll be a bronze statue forthcoming at all. If there is one lesson that new candidates should be embracing from this farcical last 6 months, it is that MCT board members must uphold a duty of fair representation and accountability towards the membership. If we continue to have MCT directors who get elected by default and then just run their own agenda, then MCT as an organisation will join GMST (see also Duncan, Stuart) in being a failed rump entity within 10 years.

They have been taking that tone about everything for a long time now and either need slapped down a peg or two or cut off.

Maybe it’s time we let go of Lamie. He was great while he was here, but time to move on.

Name another club that would have been proactively communicating any of that?

Aye, that's pish poor right enough. Mark and Andy both contributed far more to the club that Dale did, and deserve far more respect, thanks and acknowledgement than him. It would seem that absolutely nothing has been learned from the fiasco of the last couple of months, and that's not just disappointing, it's downright frustrating. Sad to say, but I have zero respect or trust for our chairman and board.

Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out Stuart.

Don't believe for a second that McKay is training with us or won't have better offers, and I'm very glad of that. He's still the same shiftless waster who'll only try when he needs a contract that he's always been.

Hopefully the club chairman and board are prepared to explain themselves at the next AGM because that's not acceptable. You offer at least existing terms and either retain one of the most sought-after midfielders in the division, or at least secure a few grand when you most likely lose them. The only irresponsible behaviour here is that of the club chairman and board for allowing this to happen, again. And I hope Brian Bonar is watching and unimpressed.

Whilst demands for the club to communicate regarding losing out on a potential assistant manager is obviously daft, I do think there is an ongoing comms issue that I'd like to see the club address and improve upon. The constant use of 'a club spokesperson' appearing in the Tele when reporting on a story. It might just be a pet peeve of mine, but for a fan-owned club who are supposedly looking to rebuild the trust and confidence of the fanbase, 'a club spokesperson' doesn't cut it. Why exactly are our club staff/directors refusing to put their names to their statements? The credibility of both the GMFC and MCT boards have been rightfully called into question over the last few months. At the MCT EGM to vote on the Dalrada proposal, we were offered rather mealy-mouthed apologies from Barr and Robinson for misleading the fanbase, and we were told that lessons would be learned by the individuals involved. Nameless individuals feeding information to the press doesn't come close to meeting that standard. How are we, as the club's owners, supposed to hold GMFC directors to account if we can't attribute information released to an individual? If we are looking to improve standards around the club then that is an easy first step that I'd like to see us take. I suggest two quick ways to do this would make a massive difference - record and release minutes from both GMFC and MCT board meetings (redacted where necessary), and making a blanket policy that all information released to the press must have a name attributed to it.

Queen's Park made Callan McKenna first choice as a 16 year old in 2023, despite their massive overrating of Calum Ferrie, with Ferrie only getting back in because McKenna got injured, then keeping his place once McKenna was fit again in December as the latter was obviously away to the English Premiership in January. That got Queen's Park a fee of £300K up front with add-ons that could take it considerably higher. If a significant factor for the club in giving Murdoch a two year deal is the prospect of a decent transfer fee, we need to give him games at a decent level rather than loaning him to League Two. Start with him in goal and if he visibly isn't ready then fine, bring another first choice in, but he's already been thrown into first team games unexpectedly and looked good so far.

Got to love how you keep attempting to bounce back after being made to look like an absolute fanny.

You’ve remembered enough, thanks very much.

Exactly. Too many mewling, moaning cunts expect to know the ind and out of the football club and for it to be plastered all over the media. When this doesn't happen the communication is awful, a shambles etc. However what they don't see is the club following confidentiality and having some respect for current, potential or previous employees.

He's much better than other Scottish keepers that have had a cap. Fair play to him.

Carlin was hung out to dry by his manager. There was an option to take him out of the firing line and Ally Maxwell refused to do it, even brining himself on as an outfield substitute rather than taking the heat off his clearly struggling goalkeeper. Perhaps if Carlin had better support it might not have ended the way it did for him.

Don't agree with some of the Woods comments. He had some very good games for us last season, Livvy away stands out where he was brilliant and had clean sheets against Pars, Hamilton and Livvy again. Aye he wasn't great in the Falkirk game but who was. Think he was carrying an injury towards the end of the season but his performances in his limited game during the 1st half of the season were good IMO. Wouldn't be surprised if Dougie gives him a chance to be number 1 with Murdoch number 2.

Piss poor as per and making a rod for their own backs. We need to clear some of these absolute clowns out, thankfully Dale is on his way already so that’s a positive start. The lack of transparency and lack of communication on anything other than early bird season tickets and “The Heartbeat of Inverclyde” patter is infuriating.

Doing it wrong. Anyway. We're about to confirm some signing news.

Tele confirming Ryan Duncan and Mark Ferrie are on trial as well as youngsters from down south former Accrington Stanley winger Lewis Trickett and former Harrogate forward 18 year old Oli Robinson (not 29 year old Farnborough player Ollie Robinson who everyone's favourite ITK know it all posted on here last night and swiftly deleted).

He'll always have his winner on his birthday in Grangemouth and his red card that started Duffy vs Lennon.

Not the same Ryan Duncan the one we have on trial was at Hearts B and is a central/attacking midfielder. Was with them last year and played in the lowland league.

No matter how small the fee might have been for Lyall, this is totally unacceptable from the club. If it turns out that Keay is in the same boat then serious questions need to be asked.

This sort of shite is just as bad as allowing the club to fall under a FIFA embargo, a complete dereliction of duty.

I will trust Imries judgement on this one dont remember much about Albinson he has played a good number of games so at least has experience at the level. Considering the turn around of some players under Imrie anything is possible. Hopefully a few more in the door this week.

Unlikely as he’s a player/coach. Although with albinson signing, I can only imagine it’ll be him and Murdoch competing for the no1 jersey, with woods being 3rd choice and being the sub goalie if either of the other two are unavailable. I’m a bit meh with albinson, although a goalkeeper who’s played nearly 100 games at this level at a good age of 28 isn’t to be frowned upon, would much rather him play than a punt from a keeper down south, as we’ve seen in the past how going down that route can go (ie ramsbottom).

East Kilbride has announced on X a fixture this Saturday at 2 pm with Morton as the opposition. I should have said subject to the approval of the SFA.

Kian Taylor ex Preston scored the equaliser then Ryan Duncan and Mark Ferrie with the other 2.

Trialist keeper is Charlie Albinson. Wearing number 1 would normally say that means he's pretty much signed? And Moore at 6 so that's likely the couple to be announced soon that Imrie hinted at.

Denied. Do we have any fucking information yet from GMFC regarding the assistant manager position, which may/may not have been vacated 7 weeks' ago by my back of a fag packet calculation?

Lamie would have been an ideal signing to add some experience at the back, as a direct replacement for Baird.

You'd need to be exceptional at the age of 17/18 to be a first choice 'keeper ready for this level of football. I can't readily think of other goalkeepers who have done that so young. He'd be worth a fortune to us if he was.

I think that's a reason to go into the League Cup with Murdoch as first choice - the little we've seen from him suggests he's a much better keeper than Woods - and then if he struggles we can bring in a replacement, rather than making a default assumption that his age means he isn't ready.

Given that Imrie was looking for an emergency loan signing at the end of last season, and only played Murdoch when he had no other choice, I expect we’ll now bring in a new first choice keeper. Murdoch played well in those games but a loan at a higher level than the juniors would be better for him this coming season.

Turned 24 in May so not sure how that would work, but it’s a cast iron guarantee that if we were entitled to money a similar scenario to Lyall’s would have played out and we’ll have fucked it.

Do you fire all your posts into ChatGPT before posting?

Jackson Longridge I'm gonna keep on dancing with Jackson Longridge I'm gonna keep on dancing down in Cappielow Park I'm gonna keep on dancing with Jackson Longridge Jackson Longridge! Don’t worry, I announced it yesterday in here

Longridge confirmed Bastard, along with Gourlay

Only ones that looked remotely like footballers on that list were Oksanen and Colville.

OK, "good" was overstating it. "Could physically play football a bit" is closer. Newby never looked within a million miles of the required standard, Kudus was occasionally effective.

Also shite. Nope.

Just heard that Jackson Longridge has officially signed for Morton – really happy with that one! Thought he’d be a great fit, and now it’s confirmed. Solid defender with good experience, exactly what we need going into the new season. So let’s get this chant started Morton fans! Jackson Longridge I'm gonna keep on dancing with Jackson Longridge I'm gonna keep on dancing down in Cappielow Park I'm gonna keep on dancing with Jackson Longridge Jackson Longridge!

A few new faces there, Moore being the number six but two either side of him must be trialists aswell. longridge, Moore and now being linked with harry cochrane would be a decent start to the summer business.

We already knew there was a likelihood of this happening because of the deal being delayed, it was one of the biggest issues with the timing. While Lyall was always likely to have other offers and therefore putting a contract on the table would have been extremely low risk, a far bigger issue is Keay, and remember that if a player moves outside Scotland then the offer had to be made 60 days before rather than 14 days before to ensure compensation. Putting an offer of the same value as previous contracts in front of Murdoch and Keay initially to ensure compensation in the event they left would have carried literally no risk with the pittance they'll have been on previously, whereas Lyall could potentially have saddled us with an unaffordable wage. Put in a word to them that if the deal went through the wage could be revised upwards and they weren't expected to sign on whatever youth players get, it's just to ensure a fee if they move on. The sum we've missed out on through not making the offer for Lyall was possibly as small as four figures. The sum we'd miss out on for Keay would be much bigger.

I think everyone knew that there would be serious interest in Lyall from other clubs and there wasn't any real likelihood that he would have stayed with us. It seems like an extremely small risk (if any risk at all) to have offered him a new deal in order to secure even a small amount of compensation. After all, Imrie took on a young player and gave him significant game time (even when he struggled to adjust at first) and helped him become a better player. We did exactly the job we were supposed to do in order to secure that compensation. Who's making these decisions?!

If only we had a chairman with experience as a football agent who could advise us on transfer matters and help us plan to avoid scenarios such as this one.

Centre back is the obvious and potentially difficult gap to fill in the squad (needing at least two good signings there) so it's encouraging to see us target that as the priority.

No, go and search the MCT thread where this was discussed. Then come back to state what parts of the update you disagree with.

The ease with which people at Cappielow just lie to the fans is really something. I can accept that things sometimes get muddled but there is actually not a club policy, nor an SPFL/SFA policy, banning children under the age of two. Check for yourself: https://gmfc.net/club-policies/ Or is this just another thing decided by our not-a-chairman? Is this another example of the brilliant governance of the current regime, who can just make up new rules in an email to an individual and not have them reflected in their own documents? The vibe I get from Cappielow right now is one of complete and utter contempt for the paying customer.