SpoonTon
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Posts posted by SpoonTon
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Cammy Blues' knack of being exactly where we need him to be is outstanding. Imrie obviously knows he can trust him to do that. And the way he played that bouncing, spinning ball right into Oakley's path for the second goal shouldn't be underestimated either.
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So if we get through and get a home draw in the quarter final, we only get a big crowd if there's no rain in the forecast? Or if we're in a playoff final, our capacity could be severely restricted by a rainy day? Only a couple of years ago we had restricted movement between the Cowshed and Sinclair Street end. We could have a larger capacity with that type of restricted movement in place.
There's really no trust in football fans, is there.
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28 minutes ago, thehustler said:
I just phoned Cappielow and was advised that the General Manager will be putting out a statement "in the next couple of hours" regarding the changes tonight re buying tickets. Because of the TV gantry the capacity for Cowshed AND Sinclair St is 2500. Therefore they have decided not to open ticket office. To be fair the fella was very apologetic and fully understands my frustrations. As I am an "out of towner" he suggested I get to Cappielow before 4pm to get a ticket or buy one online. I did tell him that such a late decision makes us look like an amateur outfit as they must have known the reduced capacity well before today. And 2500 seems very small for that area....
That's wild. I wonder how many cameras do they have in those areas. And I assume they must be using the far end of the cowshed for the presenters again. The Sinclair Street must hold about 1500 usually. Doesn't seem like there's going to be much space in the cowshed at all.
Can't imagine the BBC is going to get a very good reception tonight if they've denied us that much space. We had over 12,000* at Cappielow for a televised game 25 years ago.
*or 14000 or 13500 or 15000. I can't find a reliable attendance figure for that game.
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1 hour ago, dunning1874 said:
The club have done a great job of marketing this up to today, but this really doesn't make any sense.
They're just after saying late last night that "over 2000" home tickets have been sold. The three home ends of Cappielow combined hold well over 7000. Even if the capacity of the Cowshed has been reduced by something ridiculously huge like 2000 by the gantry, how on earth can there possibly be a limited number of tickets left today, unless thousands were bought overnight?
Also pretty poor to only say today that the ticket office won't be open, when those without a smartphone might have been waiting until tonight to buy their tickets then won't have a chance to get to Smiths today, whereas they could have planned for it if they'd known earlier in the week.
What hasn't made sense to me for a while is why the the barriers in the Cowshed haven't been moved back to where they were before they put up the banner to separate fans when they had the away fans in the far end of the Cowshed for a while. There must be a capacity of over 1000 in the unused area of the Cowshed. Which, being covered, would be very handy to use. If that's the case then it seems likely that the total capacity of the Cowshed/Sinclair St. areas has been reduced by at least 2000 for tonight.
That should, as you say, still leave around a 5000 capacity in total for the home support. So it seems strange that it would be limited at this point. And I do feel for anyone who was planning to buy a physical ticket tonight - not a great point to be putting out that message.
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2 hours ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:
I know loyalty is no guarantee in football and ultimately, money talks.
But I genuinely believe that Dougie will want to finish what he started , until the end of this season at least, with Morton
I'd certainly like to think that this is the case, but managers also know that their stock can rise and fall very quickly in football and opportunities to make a move up can be hard to come by. I'd hope that Dougie would see an opportunity here in the next few months that would outweigh the risk of Ross County in their current state, and I'd also hope that Ross County will sets their sights elsewhere, but I could understand if Dougie was tempted by a move like that.
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Ross County are exactly the type of team that I'd be worried about losing Dougie to. Teams like Aberdeen, Hibs, and Hearts don't come looking for managers from clubs like ours. Dougie would need to establish Morton in the Premiership before they'd look at him. Clubs like Ross County would be his most likely option of a step up. There's maybe a chance of League Two in England or something like that, but I'm not sure how realistic that would be either.
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2 hours ago, astuartm said:
If there is a continuous flow of people going through the turnstiles, turning up early would make no difference except make the cue that much bigger as there is no pause from 14:35, so with only four gates the speed of entry cannot not be increased Turning up early would only magnify the situation. We are told the same excuse at every 'big' game. Thought needs to be diverted to the proper solution and get rid of the blame excuse which we are sick and tired of hearing.
We've not actually had a really big game. My, pretty non scientific, calculations are that it could take up to 2 hours to fill the Cowshed/Sinclair Street (based partly on it being about 40 minutes to get it about a third full on Saturday). Efficiency could cut that by a bit, but by this point we should all know that a full house would be a disaster - I mean, they always were a bit awkward (thinking of Dundee utd and Peterhead games) but I'm not sure how it works be manageable at all now.
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3 hours ago, vikingTON said:
I misread your post but the main reason for that is that your original post does not stand up your argument anyway.
1) That some people joined a queue after you did doesn't address the most significant issue yesterday - the ginormo-queue that was already present, by the time that you and others politely request customers turn up at.
2) At least a few of those fans will likely have been waiting for the queue to subside before actually joining it. Just because they're behind you doesn't mean that they didn't turn up at their mandated timeslot.
3) Your assertion on another thread that it's not difficult to scan tickets "as long as you don't hold it too close" is an obvious contradiction in terms. How close exactly is 'too close' - where is the instruction about this at the gate? Or better still, where is a rest fitted underneath the scanner that would allow customers to automatically place their ticket at a scannable distance?
It's ridiculous to presume that the onus is on the customer to traipse to the ground half an hour before kick off - rain or shine - and to internalise the ins and outs of the club's white elephant infrastructure project, all before paying significant money to watch Championship football. They're not going to their place of work - they are spending their free time on a leisure activity. And with the eye-rolling mentality that persists among a minority of posters and club officials too (hopefully only a minority too), the chances are that they'll find something else to do with that time and money instead.
I think you've misread a few things, to be honest. I wish you'd go back and re-read things without whatever assumptions you seem to have brought to it.
On point 3, my repeated point is that people need to be shown those things. So I'm not sure why you're rewording what I already said. But, yes, once you understand how it works it's very easy (and that is precisely about learning how close is too close). Why there isn't more instruction on this, I have no idea.
And the main reason for my original post was about the club blaming an issue after the game that they didn't even try to mitigate beforehand.
On point 2, btw, I suspect plenty were late to the queue because of the traffic problems around the ground.
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5 minutes ago, TRVMP said:
They've been doing that for years but oddly enough, since this isn't the World Cup final, people aren't that enthusiastic about standing around in the street in a badly-managed crowd with no visible queue lines so that they can have a 20% chance of their ticket scan not working.
I guarantee people are showing up earlier than they used to on average, but even showing up at 2:40 isn't sufficient anymore. Hence the problem now lies entirely with the club and not the fans.
They didn't do it in any way I noticed this week.
I've already pointed out the fact that many, many fans arrived after I did at 2.54. And at no point did I say that the only problem was the time that fans turned up, or that the solution to the issue of only having 4 turnstiles was to forever saying turn up early. The point I was making, and I'll try to be clear because I really don't want to argue about something I agree with, was that the club can't complain about people showing up late of they didn't make it clear that they wanted them to turn up earlier.
The queue lines, or lack of, have been another annoyance of mine for years. It's so badly organised. We're certainly in no way making the best of a bad situation. It's the least we could try to do. But, and I'll say this again, a proper solution is very obviously required.
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2 hours ago, Toby said:
We’re well past the stage of telling people to arrive early being the starting point, though. That was maybe acceptable in 2017 when the turnstiles were first installed, but in 2024 the onus in finding a solution is being sat squarely at the feet of the paying customer, rather than the club.
There is no sign of the club taking feedback on board from the fans about this, no acceptance of their own culpability, no noises made about any plans going forward, just an explanation that it was the fans turning up late.
Of course, plenty would have turned up around five to and can’t really expect the be getting in at a reasonable time if they do that, but there are far too many folk who appeared to turn up around twenty to or quarter to citing their own problems for their complaints to be considered as invalid or untrue.
And therein lies the problem with folk who are unfamiliar with the system having to use them at the gate when there are time constraints. This isn’t their fault though, nobody just jumps on a bike are rides off into the sunset at the first time of asking. But how well are they being trained in how to use them? How patient or helpful are the stewards? Is this done at the expense of holding up others?
You can’t go issuing “bring a friend” calls like MCT did yesterday and then absolve yourself of all responsibility when folk bring friends and it all goes to shit.
Well past that point or not, it would have helped. As would helping to ensure more people knew how to scan their ticket. The situation would have been far worse if the online ticketing situation hasn't been sorted in the summer. The club obviously need to continue to move on the right direction and it's fair to ask why progress has been slow, but much of it could have been mitigated by communicating a bit better and asking people to turn up earlier. You might not like where the onus is being placed, but it was the most readily available practical steps that could have been taken this week. It's not an answer to criticisms of the system, or a shield to say that they are right and the fans are wrong, but something pragmatic to help the situation at hand.
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55 minutes ago, vikingTON said:
No it doesn't because the queue was already beyond the ticket office at 2:40. What you in fact found was the tail end of a queue that people had been standing in like spare pricks for the previous 20 minutes if not more already.
I'm not really sure what you're saying here or how it's relevant to what you've quoted.
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1 hour ago, TopCat said:
As usual, the stewarding was shite as well. Loads of people in front of me were really struggling with the scanner and holding up progress. The steward was standing off the side in front of the exit gate dealing with complaints, rather than standing showing folk the daft angle you need to hold your phone at.
The thing is, it's not really a daft angle and it's not difficult once you know how. Once you've done it once or twice you should know exactly where to hold it. As long as you don't hold it too close, it's very easy.
My issue, and the issue with the last system too, is that it seems very easy to print and laminate a picture of where to hold it and stick it at the entries, and also post short videos of how to do it on social media before games. I have no clue why we don't do that. It's clear that not everyone will know how to do it without being shown, but it should be easy to find ways to show people.
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I joined the queue at 2.54 and got in just after 3.10. The fact that the queue was still all the way up to the ticket office and around when I got in shows that there were a lot of people that arrived with no more than 5 minutes to go before kickoff. Even with double the number of turnstiles, we wouldn't have cleared the queue till at least 10 past.
I hadn't intended to arrive at the time I did, but I was held up before leaving and didn't expect to get in for kick off. I don't think we should deny that too many people turned up just before kickoff. But the club can't then complain afterwards when they didn't offer any clear and obvious advice on this in the lead up to the match. We all know there aren't enough turnstiles, and I have no idea how we'd handle an actual big crowd, but one thing we definitely can do is advise fans to turn up at an earlier time. We're in a rubbish situation which needs a solution or a contingency sooner rather than later, but right now the club needs to make a better job of planning for the situation we're in. That can start with advising fans to arrive earlier for games like this one.
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6 minutes ago, irnbru said:
Nonsense. I don't think many people would have kept McGregor at the time and multiple managers haven't thought Lyon puts in the effort needed consistently enough to play ever week. Strapp doesn't have a club either which suggests an issue (appreciate there's an injury but it was known he was leaving and he didn't have offers).
There's no way the thought that Mcgratten playing proves any sort of point has ever come into Imries head either.
What type of issue does that suggest with Strapp? Imrie preferred Waters. I don't think there needs to be anything negative towards Strapp in this. And I don't think many expected or wanted McGregor to leave - the majority probably thought he'd go out on loan and we'd see how things stood in the summer.
There's no evidence that Imrie has got it in for academy players, but they're not his players and that has always been abundantly clear. There's little or no space for them in his first team approach (which is the task he's been given, to be fair). Managers will always make errors in judgements about players, and there's nothing to suggest anything untoward in Imrie's judgements, but he maybe has got some wrong recently.
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15 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:
Doesn't the fact the Lewis hasn't found another club yet kinda vindicate Dougie's decision to let him go? Unless of course he's still not fully fit.
I don't think he is fully fit. I also think it's a bit of a strange one. Many fans had Strapp as our best player over the course of the last calendar year, but the longer he hasn't played the worse he seems to get for some. A fully fit Strapp would have no difficultly finding a club at this level, I'm sure.
I actually think the issue is that Imrie is pretty ruthless about the way he goes about it. He did it with Jacobs when he first came in, and there was some ill feeling in that one as well. From what I've heard, if Imrie doesn't want you or like the way you go about things then it might not be very pleasant (we can all see the way he is with McGrattan as well). In Imrie's defence, he's working with an incredibly tight budget and his ruthlessness has been part of his success here. It's going to feel unpleasant for some, but that's the job he's been tasked with. It's pretty easy to see it from both sides.
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23 minutes ago, Greacen2000 said:
It could be that or it could just be in support of his friend? I know Strapp has attended several games as a fan since being let go so that wouldn’t suggest bitterness towards the club(although the same isn’t neccesarily true about his feelings towards the gaffer).
That's kinda what I mean - I've seen nothing at all to suggest bitterness towards the club. He's not joining up supporting his mate (who has been in the same boat with him in regards to not being wanted by Imrie) with liking something supporting Morton losing (he doesn't really need to join those things up). He can support McGregor, dislike Imrie, and still like Morton. Specifically liking something with someone giving the shh sign does suggest he relates to a bit of bitterness there but I suspect that's all towards Imrie.
As with all cases, though, my speculation could all be rubbish!
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9 hours ago, port-ton said:
Im not actually in the slightest bit bothered by any bitterness he may have towards the club however he was happy to take the applause from the fans on the final home game of last season and still has many fans raging that he left/desperate for him to rejoin so it seems a bit strange just cause he doesn't like Imrie.
The thinking maybe isn't that joined up, though. Any time I hear whisperings from certain people around the club, it's about how unfairly they think Imrie treats/has treated certain players. So I think there probably is quite a bit of bitterness towards Imrie from a certain group.
I think the point is that there are those who think Imrie has been wrong about players like Strapp, McGregor, Lyon, etc and think he's not gone about things in the right way. The enjoyment is probably getting one over Imrie and the rest just kind of rolls into that. A family of a former player who thinks he's not been treated fairly is probably going to be pretty partisan towards their family member. And Strapp is probably just thinking about it through his bitterness towards Imrie.
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18 minutes ago, Cat10 said:
I still think that we need a striker as Muirhead cant play that role very well
Yeah, this might be less of an issue if we had a different type of wide player or if we were set up a bit different because Muirhead is scoring goals and has been in positions where he really should have been scoring more, so from that point of view the only issue has been his finishing could be better. But generally he's not the best at bringing others into play and joining things up. He works hard but isn't the quickest at pressing either. With the team we have and the way we're set up, we either need to do more to make up for Muirhead's weaknesses or find a solution at centre forward which helps bring other attacking players into the game more.
Hopefully Oakley will be back sooner rather than later.
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55 minutes ago, dunning1874 said:
I was hoping we might add someone who can play centre back if French and O'Connor are both out a while, as Blues or McGrattan at right back is less of a problem than Broadfoot at centre back, but another natural right back and defensive cover is still no bad thing. You'd expect Harkness in for French will be the only change tomorrow then.
Another centre half is something that would definitely help right now, but is Broadfoot in defence a bigger problem than Power in midfield right now? I'm still hoping that will change sooner rather than later, but Power is personally costing us goals and isn't helping the performances of those around him either. And would Imrie even drop either of them? I'm hoping for our midfield 3 from last season to be reinstated tomorrow, and I wouldn't want Bearne to have to come in for McGrattan either.
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22 minutes ago, Hej said:
There's no way he's as tall as 5ft 11. Wherever that's listed has to be an error.
He's dwarfed by Reece Lyon in this photo, who can't be any taller than 6ft 1.
According to Google, there's a 5cm difference between them. Not a chance.
Maybe. I also would've had Lyon as slightly taller than that - so I don't know about the accuracy of either. Strapp didn't look terribly small the times he played LCB (small for a centre back but not ridiculously so for the left side of a back 3), and he looks an average height for a full back.
Looking at a few more pictures, maybe 5'9 or 10 might be more accurate for Strapp.
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Where does the Lewis Strapp is too short thing come from? At 5ft11", he's as tall or taller than loads of other full backs we've had, and loads of full backs at a higher level. I didn't hear people questioning the height of Jamie Brandon or Liam Grimshaw. He's the same height as the likes of Paul McGinn and Stephen Kingsley and taller than the likes of Greg Taylor. Obviously sometimes managers like a really tall full back, but I can't seeing height as being a particular barrier here.
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1 hour ago, vikingTON said:
He's scored 2 goals in 36 appearances at this level, which is not bad at all but makes your claim unrealistic.
The reality is that unless the middle of the squad gets completely hollowed out by absences, King wouldn't get too much game time here this season but can get it elsewhere. I'd prefer not to have signed Wilson and prioritised support elsewhere, but that cover needed for injuries and until French signed has now left us overloaded in central midfield.
I doubt we'd have seen King play more than 180 minutes between now and Christmas other than the Kelty game tbh.
He scored those two in the final month of last season. Quite a few of his appearances earlier last season were at left back. I'd argue that there's every indication that in the more advanced role he had improved and shown that he can be a goal threat at this level (and useful to have around the squad).
It hopefully should be better for us in the long term, but I do think it takes something away in the short term. If the performances of our new signings had been better then it would maybe be something I'd feel better about.
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King's the kind of player who could have popped up with 2 or 3 important goals between now and Christmas, so while it should be good for his development in terms of continuing to learn about roles, following instructions, game discipline and so on, it will definitely be a loss for us.
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28 minutes ago, DreamOakTree said:So the consensus is the club have our blessing to continue the season without a right back?
The consensus is probably that the club has our blessing to take the approach of waiting for a September, Liam Grimshaw type signing rather than into rushing into a signing which the management don't believe will really benefit us in the long long. But the consensus will undoubtedly also be that any approach, this one included, is a risk which will be judged as the season progresses.
Signing a right back of the equivalent quality of a Ben Sampayo, Jamie McCormack, Kevin McCann, or Grant Evans is probably going to be of little use right now. As would continuing to fail to find any right back, or signing a mediocre one in a few weeks time. The bottom line is that the approach itself is not the thing that will be judged - the outcome will be judged.
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Cappielow in Quarters
in General Morton Chatter
Posted
The smaller central gantry was a big improvement on what went there before, that was helpful last night.
There's no ladies toilet or catering in the Sinclair Street end, that's probably the immediate issue there. But I don't see why you can't have stewards restricting the access between the Cowshed and Sinclair Street end (it has been done before). As much as fans might want to be dry on a terrible day, we've never had an issue with fans choosing to cram in too tight over getting wet. The fact of the matter is that getting a bit wet in the rain is actually far more pleasant than being too tightly squeezed under the Cowshed. I think the overall question surrounds finding the comfortable capacity to allow for a good balance.
I mean, what happens on a beautifully sunny day when we're shooting towards the Sinclair Street end? Or if there happens to be a penalty shootout at that end. You could make plenty of cases for fans wanting to be in different parts of the ground at different times. We have to have plans in place to manage those situations. There also needs to be some trust in the fact that spectators know to choose the area which isn't full. If you go to a concert you know that you can't all rush towards the stage - there are plenty of events where you have to manage where people go and have some trust that they won't all go to the same place. As long as you don't actively funnel them all there, you'll be fine.