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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An utterly appalling afternoon in just about every way. I'm sick of being told how great Alan Power is when he's giving away soft goals like that first one and Brian Graham's at Firhill the other week. Same applies to Broadfoot- we've really got to look at lowering the average age of the squad in the summer- relying on guys who simply don't have any pace has been our Achilles heel all season. The downgrade that Waters is on Strapp has also been stark. He's like a 12 year old playing in an under 18's game. Three touches to control the ball and by that point the best pressing team in the division are all over him like a rash. I'll not even start on French on the other side. Ross's post above says more than any diatribe from me could. Quitongo was good- but we're too far down the road now to be giving him a new contract so he can sit on the treatment table all next season, that ship's sailed. Even the shite nature of our goal summed up how crap an afternoon it was. And last, but most certainly not least- absolutely disgusting to hear some racist fuckwit screaming not once, but twice, when Todorov was announced as man of the match over the tannoy that he was a "fucking refugee". I suppose I'm at fault like everyone else for not challenging him at the time, but having done that all the way back in 2006 when some wanker gave Marvin Andrews some of the same and having my ankles clipped walking out of grounds for a year or two afterwards I vowed I never would again, and don't blame anyone else for not wanting the hassle. But it can't go without comment. Hope the insufferable prick is proud of himself- or more to the point, I hope he's absolutely shiting himself if the club take a look at this forum and investigate. Dickhead.

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.

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.

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'?

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

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.

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.

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

0-5. One more goal from us and they'll be able to count them on one hand

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.

(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.

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.

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.

They’re fucking insufferable anyway.

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.

No, not the one where he sworded Celtic in their own midden, the other one where he made his triumphant return to Cappielow to help make Gus McFuckingPherson a distant memory. It's been some 2 years. Wild that he's the 8th longest serving manager in the SPFL at present. No bad for your first gig. Things haven't gone as smoothly this year but we seem to have turned the corner and can hopefully kick on. Here's to the next 2.

Blues plays whatever position he's asked to the best of his ability and rarely if ever let's the team down. Every squad needs a player like him that the manager knows he can rely on and will follow his tactical instructions. I do think there have been a couple of times over the years when he's been off his form that a week or two out the team would help him but I can always see why Imrie keeps him in the team. I'm a massive fan and become a bigger fan every year he's been at Morton.

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.

The absolute thundercunt that is Brian Graham scores an own goal to put hearts 1 up against the student bastards lol

Why would there be a cutoff though? If someone wants to pay full price for a ticket and rock up late - even just for the 2nd half for example, why shouldn't they be able to?

Further comment on the incredible defensive record. As far as I can see 9 clean sheets in 13 games has only happened twice before in the club's history. The final 13 games of 2002/03, which was obviously in the Third Division, and 66/67 when we cantered to the then Second Division title while the top flight was 18 teams. So we've never done it while playing at this high a level, although in 95/96 we did manage 8 in 13 which turned into 10 in 15. We've also only conceded 5 goals in total across these games, compared to 8 in 02/03 and it was 5 again in 66/67. This really is the type of run you wouldn't expect to see again for decades.

Good to see an original white knight for Iron Man provide such an obvious ridiculous response, befitting of the nonsense produced at that time between the club and the Trust's relationship: 1) A blatantly false misrepresentation of an already enormous queue at 2:40 as the fault of 'folk turning up 5 minutes before kick-off'. 2) Arguing under the premise that it is the job of paying customers to turn up long in advance of the event they've paid for, because the organisation running it is too incompetent to handle demand. Meanwhile, back in the land of reality, Cappielow following its gubbins 'upgrade' should not actually have a safety certificate for more than 5,000 people - because if we get a genuinely big crowd either in the cup or a promotion game, then there's an accident waiting to happen outside on Sinclair Street.

You love to see it.

I suspect you posted this around the time of yesterday's game in the hope that I'd barely notice it and you'd appear to have gotten the last word in, hence "won" this argument, but here we go. 1. I refer you to your post on 7th October on this very thread. You stated; These assertions are quite the opposite of a manager being prepared to give anyone a chance. You've actually gone as far as to suggest he's kept a player on in order to cover for his deliberate attempts to hound other players out of the club. While we're here, it's great to see you asking if Iain Wilson is an upgrade on Reece Lyon. That's worked out tremendously for you. 2. Yet, as he doesn't share what is said between himself and released players, you have used this to speculate as to how he has treated players as he isn't in the position to disclose those conversations. I didn't say that you said he should be sharing confidential information, but it's irresponsible at best, and vindictive at worst of you to throw allegations of mistreatment of players at him when he doesn't have a right to reply. 3. See my answer to (2). Imrie has to remain professional and can't bite back at unhappy released players. But you know that anyway. 4. Perhaps if you do agree, you'll understand that, having brought in far more quality in the middle of midfield in the form of Crawford, Wilson, Gillespie and Power, while Cammy Blues has kicked on, there is a reason that Reece Lyon, who appears to be the main character other than yourself in this wee soap opera, was deemed surplus to requirements. 5. The questions Imrie had to answer were to his employers, not to you or I. Not because he was neglecting the club's academy products, because it's part of his job role. However, you are intimating that Imrie has only recently started answering these questions. This isn't the case, as he has introduced academy graduates in the form of Davidson and Keay before in the midst this campaign of yours. 6. So, onto Davidson and Keay. Your response to this has really fucked me off. I pointed out that these players have been introduced from the bench and you're asking me to clarify how much gametime they've had because you lost interest for a while? This is information that is quite readily available, do you think I'm just making things up? Ignorance is not an excuse for you to throw the onus of proof onto myself. I will, however indulge you against my better judgement. Davidson came on against Elgin on 9th September as an 80th minute substitute. Keay was introduced six minutes later. In the next round against Kelty on October 14th, Keay came on as a 75th minute substitute. O'Boy came on as a 76th minute substitute against Bo'ness on 25th November, scoring in the 89th minute. He also came on as an 83rd minute substitute against Ayr on Tuesday. So far as I can see, Davidson has been an unused substitute on five occasions, Keay four times and O'Boy five times, including yesterday. Young goalkeeper Sam Murdoch has made the bench four times. I suspect you'll argue that being an unused substitute doesn't constitute being given an opportunity- I would disagree, and see it as a positive that these young guys are involved in the first team squad.

The inevitable karma inspired trajectory when you think you are better than Morton.

Efe Ambrose signs for Queen of the South and is deployed in Operation Keep Falkirk Down Again.

I am very comfortable with this being the situation - it is exactly what the club needs at the moment. We have lived outwith our means before and it didn't work out well. From our return to the 2nd tier in 06-07 right up until the disastrous 2013-14 season I reckon we would have been comfortably among the highest spenders in the championship, and look where it got us. One decent season where we finished 2nd and that's about it. After the relegation & appointment of Duffy, the late Rae-era austerity kicked in, and even then we were still making unsustainable losses. I am delighted that we now appear to be running a tight ship & have a proper strategy (on and off the field) in place.

I don't think it’s petty at all. Announcing that we’ll be herded into a cramped section of an old stand which for many will have a restricted view of the Railway End is hardly an incentive to sell as many tickets as possible. Why would folk want to do that instead of stand in relative comfort and mingle with their mates behind the goal? That said though, we can hardly ask Morton to stick up for us, here. They do similar to clubs like Ayr more often than not, making Cappielow a pretty miserable away trip. No wonder the club did fuck all over the Arbroath fiasco at Christmas time, they didn’t have a leg to stand on. It’s about time clubs got together and agreed a strategy on how to make away trips as good an experience as possible across the board, but as discussed in the thread I started in December, the clubs don’t care about away fans, and as such, their own fans suffer when travelling away. Rinse and repeat.

Oh, and congratulations to Imrie, Millen, and the players and other coaching staff for 16 games unbeaten, our new record in competitive football.

I see on twitter their fans aren't happy about the forums match preview, particularly about them spending big. Great work all involved. Rancid wee club who've gotten way above their station of late.

(Photo- Greenock Morton FC) The Greatest Showman- A Tribute to Andy Ritchie By Russell Gordon Being a Morton fan younger than 45 has been a hard shift- 36 years without top-flight football, Hugh Scott and administration, dropping to the Third Division, the 2004 collapse, 10-2 at Hamilton, getting knocked out the Scottish Cup by non-league Spartans and losing a League Cup Group Stage game on penalties to League One minnows Falkirk have been among the lowlights in that time. But what has emphasised Morton’s struggles in that time most has been the tales regaled to us by a generation that were only slightly older than my own about Morton’s adventures in the late seventies and early eighties. For so many barren years to follow such a fantastic period in the club’s history is galling in the extreme. And while Benny Rooney’s swashbuckling side, which enjoyed five years in the Premier Division, topping the table in late 1979, contained a litany of stars, one of those stars shone brighter than all the rest. No prizes to anyone who’s ever spent a Saturday afternoon on the steps of the Cowshed for guessing that that man was none other than the mercurial Andy Ritchie, arguably Morton’s greatest ever player, and without doubt, their most gifted. The young Andy hailed from Glasgow before moving to Bellshill at an early age, and finding himself following his fathers’ favourites, Motherwell in his youth, before joining up on the ground staff at Celtic in 1971 at the age of 15. As was often the case with Celtic’s young talents at the time, he was farmed out to the juniors, enjoying a fruitful spell at Kirkintilloch Rob Roy before signing professional terms at Celtic Park after a couple of years. But his time at Celtic had more downs than it did ups as, by his own admission, he didn’t live up to expectations in his time on Glasgow’s east end. With Jock Stein not around for a long time after a car crash, Celtic Park perhaps wasn’t what it normally was, and Andy didn’t keep his eye on the prize throughout his time there. With first team appearances limited, his relationship with Stein becoming strained on the legendary manager’s return and his frustrations reaching boiling point, Benny Rooney used his powers of persuasion to lure the 20-year-old to Cappielow, despite the offer of a four-year deal from Celtic being on the table. To make things better for Morton, Celtic were interested in goalkeeper Roy Baines, and the clubs came to an agreement that Baines would make his way to Parkhead in a deal that saw Andy and £10,000 head west. While those of us of a slightly younger vintage like to allude to the swap deal between Morton and Dunfermline in 2015 that saw Jim Duffy bring in Ross Forbes in exchange for the hapless Andy Barrowman as one of the greatest swap deals in history, even that doesn’t come close when we consider that Baines returned to Morton on a free in 1979. Andy debuted in a goalless draw against Clydebank at Cappielow in October 1976, and after scoring in a 1-5 derby defeat at Love Street, scored his first two home goals against Montrose ten days later, including a terrific free kick that was to prove a hallmark of his spell in Greenock. Unfortunately though, while Morton enjoyed a strong season in the First Division, the title went to Paisley, as a St. Mirren side led by a young(ish) Alex Ferguson took the division by storm, claiming the title in style, with a 6-3 win at Cappielow in the ne’er day derby proving a real highlight for the Buddies. Morton however, gained a modicum of revenge in the final derby of the season, beating the Saints 3-0 towards the end of the campaign thanks in no small part to a strike from Morton’s star man. But while many Morton fans’ eyes may have been looking towards their local rivals with envy, they didn’t have to wait too long to enjoy success of their own. With Hearts and Dundee slumming it in the First Division, the two big city clubs were installed as favourites for the two promotion berths, but Morton had other ideas, with the ‘Ton’s 5-3 victory over the Edinburgh side (a scoreline we’d all happily see a repeat of next month) proving a real highlight. Although Andy didn’t score on the day, his performance in putting the Jambos to the sword was, by all accounts, imperious. The title was eventually secured on a memorable evening in Greenock when Airdrie were dispatched 3-1 and Morton took their place in Scotland’s Premier Division for the first time. Morton raised the First Division Champions’ flag with the visit on Celtic in August 1978, a match which ended in a 1-2 defeat, but should be remembered for what I believe was Andy Ritchie’s greatest goal for Morton. I’ll caveat by saying that it was before I was born, and that I’ve not seen all of his goals as many weren’t caught on camera, but while there were more celebrated goals, this is a hill I’m prepared to die on. Just some of Andy's collection of goals for Morton, including his wonderful goal against celtic on the opening day of the 1978-79 season. (Video- Leon Mooney) Morton would finish seventh in that first season, comfortably clear of relegated Hearts and Motherwell, and boasting Scotland’s top goal scorer and the Scottish Football Writers’ Player of the Year in Andy Ritchie, with 29 goals from 45 appearances. Andy collects yet another accolade from Morton boss Benny Rooney. (Photo- SNS) Under normal circumstances, a Scotland call up should have been on the horizon. But alas, international honours were to elude Morton’s talisman. Whether the stigma of being a part-time player, the fact that he represented an unfashionable club, or his supposed tempestuous relationship with the Scotland manager, his former boss at Celtic, Jock Stein, were valid reasons for his omission from the international squad at a time when Scotland were not short of quality in forward positions, what isn’t in doubt is that he should at least have been given his opportunity. How frustrated he must’ve felt seeing some of the players who represented Scotland some twenty years or so later under Berti Vogts in particular, who didn’t have an ounce of his talent. It can’t be much of a consolation to be regarded as Scotland’s greatest ever uncapped player. Morton’s peak came the following season however, as, with Roy Baines back at the club, they reached the top of the Premier League in November 1979, before two controversial defeats over the Christmas period saw them unjustly beaten by two Glasgow clubs who, if you believe their supporters, aren’t often the on the right side of refereeing decisions. The words “Sandy Jardine” are still words best not spoken in front of a certain generation of ‘Ton fans. And, I suspect, Andy’s teammate, Bobby Thomson. While Morton fell down the table on the back of those two defeats, it was small consolation that Aberdeen, led by former St. Mirren boss Alex Ferguson, denied the two beneficiaries of Morton’s festive misfortune, the flag. But Aberdeen, arguably one of the best teams in Europe at the time, had an Achilles heel. To quote the great man: “We won three Scottish Premier Division titles. We won three Scottish Cups in a row. We won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup. We played three up, four up and two out wide but we couldn’t beat f*****g Morton.” While the Dons did enjoy some success over Morton, ten wins for the good guys over that golden era took quite some doing. And none were more glorious than in a spectacular double header in February 1981. Having already beaten the champions 1-0 at Cappielow a couple of months earlier, Morton travelled to Pittodrie on February 7th and returned with another 1-0 win thanks to a terrific Drew Busby header to shock their hosts. But it was the following week, on Valentine’s Day that Andy scored his most fondly remembered goal for Morton, as Cappielow enjoyed perhaps its greatest ever day. With the Dons visiting for a fourth round Scottish Cup tie, it was he who stole the show twenty minutes in, as he collected a driven John Marr pass on his chest, turned Iain Considine and left him on his backside before being faced up with the imposing sight of Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Jim Leighton, who he managed to curl the ball beyond, and into the bottom corner with the outside of his right foot. Morton would record a third successive 1-0 victory over Ferguson’s side, emptying them from the cup in the process. Andy's magnificent goal against Aberdeen in the 1981 Scottish Cup fourth round is fondly remembered by Morton fans of his era. (Video- Leon Mooney) Morton would reach the semi-finals that year, where they would fall to a 1-2 defeat to Rangers in controversial circumstances. Andy had been left out of the starting XI, much to the regret of Benny Rooney, but his late penalty, following Jim Holmes ordering off for an innocuous tackle that had reduced Morton to ten men reduced the arrears to 1-2. To top off a bad day, Bobby Thomson was again ordered off, admittedly for a scything tackle for which a red card was referee Brian McGinlay’s only option. Thomson reportedly apologised to his teammates at full time, telling them he “had to do it”. After that season, Morton’s team began to break-up, but Andy was to stick around until their relegation in 1982-83. He was very much a victim of football’s policy on players’ contracts in his era, with the clubs holding all the power and able to command a fee for players even if they were out of contract, which restricted his opportunities. Celtic had tried to buy him back early in his time at Morton, while Hearts and Sheffield Wednesday also had offers rebuffed, and when he eventually moved on it was to Motherwell. His time at Fir Park was brief though, as were subsequent spells at Clydebank, East Stirling and Albion Rovers, the latter as a player coach. Another goal is notched, this time against Kilmarnock at Cappielow. (Photo- SNS) Sadly though, his playing career was over by the age of 28. Other jobs in the game followed, at Hamilton, St. Mirren and Celtic, with what must’ve been an attractive gig scouring the continent for talent as the Bhoys emerged from the doldrums in the mid-nineties. Life wasn’t plain sailing though, as Andy had his vices. Bookmakers weren’t his friends, and at his lowest point he would find himself asking old pals for a couch for the night as he tried to get himself back on his feet. But latterly, his working life took him back to Cappielow in an ambassadorial role, although he was often a familiar figure on Sinclair Street before taking up employment from the club again. The COVID pandemic unleashed Andy to the world as an unexpectedly magnificent co-commentator. Who can forget the line about a drunk man chasing a balloon??? Since then, he’s been a regular host in hospitality, always quick to entertain and introduce his fellow ex-Morton heroes to the hospitality guests, enhancing the experience for all. I’ve only ever been fortunate enough to meet him on a couple of occasions, and despite never having seen him play, I’ve always felt that I gave off the impression of being like a schoolboy in awe of his hero, such is his legend around these parts. Everyone at The Morton Forum wishes Andy Ritchie a long and enjoyable retirement and would like to thank him for everything he contributed to our club and to Scottish football, on and off the park. I hope and trust that he won’t be a stranger in the years to come. Bibliography Greenock Morton 1874-1999, Vincent P Gillen, 1998 Morton Greats, Graeme Ross, 2004 The Price of Vice, Andy Ritchie, 2012 The battle of Celtic Park: Rangers, Morton, Andy Ritchie and a hideous crime count, Graeme Ross, The Scotsman, 11th April 2021 Sir Alex Ferguson: We won league titles, three cups in a row and dumped Real to gain European trophy.. but we still couldn’t beat f*****g Morton, Anthony Haggerty, Daily Record, 12th December 2015 Thanks to Leon Mooney for his help in fact checking.

Need to make it count. No point laughing about it if we make a cunt of it tomorrow.

Aye, he just called us a “small club” which sums up why he should never have managed us.

Agreed. I understand his frustration and desire to set the record straight, but it only goes to provide validation in the tiny minds of such people for their insufferable trolling when they’ve already been put firmly in their box by their fellow posters.

Another belter from the stewards at the turnstiles already. Guy going in beside me with his boy was pulled for bringing a flag in and the flag searched for an offensive message. The flag had been bought minutes previously from the club’s official merchandise van! These people are beyond parody.

Funnily enough I did overhear a steward explaining to someone that they'd suggested themselves to the club having handheld scanners several months ago, but the club said it wasn't possible. As this was a bit ahead of me in the queue and was a response to someone having a go while the crowd was generally pissed off and noisy I didn't pick up if this was because the SPFL/SFA wouldn't allow it or something else. This is objectively untrue. There were literally hundreds of people who joined the queue 10 minutes before the game and were still outside the ground 10 minutes after kick off. See even if it was true that fans turning at 2:58 and expecting to make kick-off was the cause? This still wouldn't be an absolution for the turnstiles, because before Warren's white elephant people could and did walk out the Norseman and straight into the crowd without having to queue. It is an easily observable fact that trying to get into the ground is far, far worse than it ever was in the past. That's beside the point anyway, as people were inconveniencing themselves by getting in the queue earlier than they ever had before Warren's legacy, and were still left standing outside for 15 minutes of the game. The current custodians of the club have inherited this mess so the root cause isn't on them, but tough shit, they are now Morton FC so it's their shambles to fix. A tweet blaming when fans arrived isn't acceptable, the issue is there simply aren't enough turnstiles. You'd think if Warren Hawke could count we wouldn't have ended up with just 4 turnstiles when you evidently need 8 as an absolute minimum, but this is the hand you were dealt in inheriting 20 years of gross incompetence from charlatans. Considering how costly they were in the first place with that idiot overseeing procurement I don't know how easy it is to fix, but they need to at least double the number. It won't be a popular choice with how much money more turnstiles will divert from other areas if it ends up a six figure sum again, but it'll cost us more not to do it in the long run. How many people "brought a friend" today for a big game with Morton in good form, got to experience a good atmosphere and saw us play well, but nevertheless won't come back because they paid £22 to stand in a barely moving queue for 25 minutes?

God, you really are an insufferable prick

Good to hear but we'll need to have a sound financial footing to achieve that, realistically speaking. It's high time that MCT made another push to try and convert more supporters into owners of the club too. Don't get me wrong, having around 1000 subscriptions is already a huge success, but we're still missing a trick by not trying to get even 50 more folk added to the scheme right now. Finances are tight at this time of the year, but if we're not going to capitalise on the goodwill right now then we'll regret that opportunity missed. It's an investment in obtaining more results like today instead of circling the drain in the seaside leagues like Queen of the South.

*Partick

Correct it's not popular. Now fuck off

He’s not really said anything that’s out of order- said he understands it but it’s not for him. If only was the same furore about Open Goal’s employees blatantly accusing Morton of corruption last season when discussing the 10-2 at Hamilton.

While I thoroughly approve of Imrie's parting blow, it's regrettable that his antennae weren't finely tuned enough to detect the sort of fucking loser who would choose to drop a level because mah family/bank balance/whatever bullshit excuse, to hound them out of the club in advance. I expect absolutely zero loyalty to GMFC itself from the vast, vast majority of our employees, but anyone who chooses to join the Titan submersible of Scottish football clearly didn't have what it takes to succeed in professional football in the first place. Hopefully Montrose Bay is attracting a pod of orcas this summer.

There was more of this yesterday, and hardly a coincidence that it comes a couple of days after the General Manager admits to having a tense discussion with the security company. No point in smiling, waving folk off and wishing them a happy weekend when she’ll be behaving like a little Hitler next week because it’s ingrained in her and she can’t help herself. Just own your behaviour and get a job that you’re more suited to- i.e. one that doesn’t involve working with the general public. That’s the positives though. The negative was their stupid insistence on giving the visiting Reggiana fans who turned up for the first time in a good while a hard time for putting up a flag that was no more than 2x3ft in size up. Bureaucracy over common sense as usual. You’d think most football clubs would welcome visitors like them with open arms, yet at Cappielow you’ve got guys on radios making a fuss about the most trivial issues when they should in fact be there to make the experience of going to a football match as pleasant as they can for paying customers.

Haha. Aye, I was quite please with that. The boy calling me bitter and unprofessional was a belter- I write for a fans’ website because my pal runs it, not for FourFourTwo. Perhaps the Raith fans could look a bit closer to home when seeking examples of unprofessional content being published online.