CM48

No argument. Like I said, just asking a question.

Can’t we fix the roof (I presume we all agree it has to be fixed) while waiting on insurance money? Not and expert and not having a tantrum, just a genuine question. Do we have such poor cash flow, even with Dalrada cash now agreed? I thought there was still a small surplus in the bank despite our “manageable loss”? If we go ahead with the works before payout does that ruin our claim? As someone else said, it did happen several months ago.

I filmed the whole thing last night and have posted it up on-line with a private link. I emailed Chris from the MCT team just after midnight to let him know. He replied before 6:30am this morning to say he'll need to check with MCT and GMFC boards regarding sharing the footage. If it is shared I apologise for the audio being very uneven, but if you play with the volume as it goes along pretty much everything can be heard.

I can understand wanting this to all be done with after a trickle of mild assurances. However these concerns have only been addressed because of MCT members asking pertinent questions and demanding some explanation regarding the recent running of the club. Voting yes with the current offer will dilute MCT members ability to do this in future. Too many concerns have not been adequately addressed. Unless you equate “transparency “ as being “totally invisible” then the claims from John Laird that he wanted to be transparent have been proven to be false. The 2 MCT reps on the board have still not officially put their names to any response to allegations made against them and anything said in their defence has been leaked anonymously. I want to be comfortable with a yes vote and I am unsure how the club moves on and recovers from a no vote but I can’t trust anyone looking to avoid scrutiny in any walk of life, and have to question the motives of those insisting that they know best and should run things. Why are they the best people to be in charge, and why do they want to be? There has been no one taking responsibility for any of all of this nonsense and over 1000 paying MCT members deserve better. Sorry if that was a bit of a rant.

I’m inclined to take that more or less at face value even though Dalrada are on the shirts and have their name attached to Cappielow, which isn’t nothing in return. What I still don’t get (along with many others on here) is that last paragraph equating to keeping on those at board level who’s actions seem at complete odds with what Mr Bonar is looking for? Again, the Dalrada money was coming into the club before our current Chairman was in place and it feels like things were better run at the club a few years ago compared to now.

"Scheduled payments have not been missed as such, but a more robust payment schedule is being proposed as part of this new deal so that GMFC can budget from a cashflow perspective more accurately." "As such"? What does that mean exactly? If they weren't missed then why do we need "a more robust schedule"? Details of missed/not missed payments would be nice. "We have had a few comments regarding GMFC Board selling shares, to be clear the GMFC Board cannot sell MCT shares, this is an MCT Board and MCT membership decision." As many others have asked...CAN THEY ISSUE MORE SHARES? "It is extremely uncommon for full agreements and contracts such as this to ever be shared publicly. This document is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be shared in full with the membership" This whole situation is "uncommon" and sharing with MCT MEMBERS isn't "public" we are the owners. It may of course then be leaked publicly...like the FIFA ban was...or all the stuff in the very first post in this thread. Can we ask you to trust us the way you'd like us to trust you and let us see it? John Laird has probably seen it, I'm putting more into the club than he is I believe? "The interim MCT Board have been notified that for as long as Dalrada remain as a principle club partner, they wish to have John Laird as Chair of the Club continuing to provide strategic support." To what level do they "wish" this? Does their financial support get withdrawn if our chair (who has no financial interest of his own in the club) leaves or is asked to stand down? I'm not saying he should. Maybe he's bringing loads of brilliant stuff to the table we don't know about? You would have to assume he doesn't believe in MCT or he would have signed up, so why would he act in the best interest of us MCT owners? Of course you can love Morton and want the club to succeed without being an MCT member, that said and perhaps I'm being naive, but I'm not sure any other owner(s) of a football club would want a chairman who doesn't believe in them having that ownership. I've offered to film the meeting next week which I hope I can share for those unable to make it. I'd rather be filming promos about why it's a great idea to join MCT, I really would.

While waiting for the cup final to start I thought I’d have a trawl through any communication we have had from the chairman. This extract is from him on the announcement that he would be our new chairman 18 months ago. I’d be interested to hear how well he thinks he’s done in achieving the goals he set out… “My role will involve several key duties covering, 1. Providing strong leadership and guidance to the Board of Directors. 2. Leading the Board and focusing it on setting a challenging but achievable strategy vision. 3. Overseeing the business and setting high governance standards. 4. Develop the club and position the club to achieve its goals and objectives. This is a community club and my vision for it begins with strengthening the connection between you, the supporters, and the leadership of the club. The fans are the heartbeat of all clubs, and you are no different. Communication and teamwork are of paramount importance, and I will be as transparent as I possibly can. Whilst you may not agree with every decision I make; I will always put the interests of the club first.“

This is roughly what I was hoping for by offering filming. I’m now at the stage where I wonder whether it’s worth interviewing some of the posters on here who have the biggest concerns? Mainly because I believe there are a lot of supporters out there who are being asked to vote who have only read the official MCT correspondence and are never on here (lucky them). Perhaps an online video outline some of the worries posted on here might have them better informed? I too have no personal grudges or really any relationships with anyone involved but we keep getting closer to the vote and the silence from those in favour giving us more details, or accounting for their actions, is deafening.

A lengthy post about…not much. Sorry. In the spirit of transparency and good communication, my name is Craig and I sometimes do some filming for the club and Morton in the Community. With all the recent nonsense I reached out to the GMFC board members a few days ago through an email to Dale to offer them the chance to do quick interviews to explain their position on the upcoming vote and why, as well as hopefully explaining some of their recent actions. I also emailed coms@MCT with the same offer, and Graham McLennan and through him those who have recently stepped away. I also said in all my communications that I would share everything (hence this). In the past I had a few dealings with Graham McLennan and a few texts messages with Graham Barr while I was doing ‘Ton TV match days during lockdown. I don’t know any of the others. The only 2 who got back to me were McLennan and Barr. McLennan was open to the idea as he felt fans should have as much information as possible pre-vote. Graham Barr took the time to get in touch, but was reluctant as he was worried that more “tit for tat stuff and sharing is just going to keep the mess going…” but was happy to speak to me on the phone. I replied that not sharing stuff seemed to have led us to this mess and speaking to me on the phone would only add to the “I’ve heard that…”etc etc on places like this forum. He said he was “keen to speak but cautious” adding “I’m certainly open to transparency ahead of the meeting and hope the FAQs will go along way to providing more depth to the situation” But in the end it looks like it isn’t happening and I thanked him for getting back to me. Graham McLennan on hearing that he was the only person so far willing to do an interview on camera decided that it might not be a great idea if it was just him, looking more like propaganda rather than just one point of view among others. I don’t really have a platform and I’m no investigative journalist, so I guess I’m not surprised that the idea of me and my camera didn’t appeal. But as many of us on here have scratched our heads wondering if we should do more as MCT members it was the only thing I could think of. Anyone who is at all bothered can look back at my posts on here to get my personal opinion on things as they currently stand, but I honestly offered this up with an open mind to try and give all involved a chance to clear the air and help inform our judgement. My real bias working in video production, is that watching videos makes things easier to digest rather than lengthy written statements (or bloody posts like this!) If I had an agenda it was simply to try and help with all this, and help ensure that after over 45 years of standing in the cowshed (with or without the sun-roof) that I could look forward to continuing to do so far in the future. The last time I tried to do anything vaguely similar is when MCT were struggling to get things going not long after they took over at the club, I just wanted to do something positive as the whole atmosphere was fairly toxic. It turned out to be the day Gus MacPherson was sacked when I grabbed a hold of Andy Ritchie who kindly gave me this piece to camera. It all still rings true to me which is no surprise as Andy always speaks so well…

“Since day one, Dalrada have never asked for anything in return for their contribution.” Aren’t they on our shirts the team wear at Cappielow supported by Dalrada? “The only condition Dalrada have placed on the deal is for the governance of the football club to improve.“ Aren't they now asking for members in the board and directors who have overseen the recent shambles to stay in the board alongside their chosen chairman? Big improvement? “In addition, it is stated representatives should carry out a project beneficial to the club before being appointed.” What did Graham Barr do? “The above would of course require a slight change to the GMFC Articles which state MCT reps should always be the majority on the Board. It is also worth adding that the interim MCT Board are happy to continue with Sam and Graham as MCT representatives.” Why are they happy for them to continue. Because of their communication skills? I must have missed their replies to Gordon Ritchie’s statement. The rest is just word salad about being pragmatic and best thing all round etc. It’s a big NO from me and I’d class myself usually as a bit of a fence sitter. To me it’s totally unacceptable and a slippery slope to being the next ICT or Hamilton I reckon. It feels like anyone who had the best intentions for MCT and Morton has left and those who have caused all this shite by their incompetence and self entitlement want to keep control.

I guess alongside all the other "What ifs" it's not too bad, but I'd rather we had MCT representatives we could all get behind...and lots of cash from a big sponsor. A bit unrealistic I suppose.

My latest guess is some Dalrada cash is coming with no real strings attached while the Chairman does everything he can to 1. Big up his role in securing it. 2, stay surrounded by people who’ll let him play at being in charge of a club, without having to do much hard work. 3 All this while also trying to avoid having to answer to pesky supporters who actually own Morton. Like I say though, just a guess. It’s all any of us can do for now.

WTF is this all about? This is how I remember it.. Did we not have Strapp at the club for the rest of that season while he was injured? Then his contract wasn’t renewed as Dougie didn’t want him, even though I believe he wanted to stay. Then when we needed a left back mid-season we re-signed him, where he was a big part of our big unbeaten run. He was brilliant in that run, but also without a club at the time of signing and happy to be back. I always liked him as a player and I believe he loved playing for Morton. Again though Dougie wanted someone else so off he popped to Finland before ending up at Airdrie. What’s the beef here?

I’m at the stage of where all I’m worried about is avoiding a Hamilton or ICT scenario. People might scream things about “lack of ambition” or “seaside leagues” on here or commenting on every post on socials the club will put out about family sections or season tickets (which the club should be doing imo). But if we have to go part time due to Dalrada pulling out then so be it. The crowds and budgets may be smaller but full time football for well over 20 years hasn’t seen us up in the top tier so not sure what status or success we’d be giving up? I’d take MCT being in control, and having to answer to 1000 or so contributors, over any other set up, even though there will always be difficulties with turnover of those willing to try and run things. As far as the last communication from Michael Harkins (who I though came across very capable and honest) regarding the clubs finances, there would seem to still be a small surplus in the bank to help cover costs during any adjustments and losses in the coming season. Also moving to spending less doesn’t guarantee a dire relegation season, whatever team assembled could do well as Arbroath managed a few years back (bit of a freak scenario I know). At the risk of misreading the room don’t most of us just want to know that we can go to Cappielow and enjoy following the team, no matter what level? So sick of all this shite.

Again, while we all might enjoy a bit of light relief during the current shit show, a name from the past crops up here… https://x.com/forgettheball/status/1922642898677309664?s=46

Not sure how you go about this, but there's been so many backroom members of staff that have come and gone in the last few years that maybe whoever might be taking some sort of temporary overseeing of the club gets some honest feedback on why they left (not just petty gripes) and what they felt was wrong at the club. The same should be asked of the current staff still there, without any repercussions. Anyone on here who might know some on any level will surely be familiar when chatting to any of them about whatever is happening/not happening at the club of that defeated look you get while they bite their tongues.

Thought we all might need cheering up a little... BG Ha3.mp4

What might be helpful for most of us is perhaps hearing from all the people concerned at MCT and the club exactly why they stood down, or were told to stand down, or why they asked others to stand down. If those who were asked to leave didn't do what everyone now suspects they're guilty of then surely they'd want to come out and defend themselves publicly? Nothing has to be sensationalist or slander. Same goes for Dalrada on why they might think these possible changes might be unreasonable? As far as I can see Ross Gourdie who seems to be their official representative wasn't asked to step away? One last thought. Do the same people on the board who think a "short email" asking Barr and Robinson to step down wasn't good enough also think that how Millen was allegedly let go was also not good enough?

Sad to hear, well...all of this, but I always thought Graham McLennan seemed to be pretty capable of heading up things competently, and wasn't really driven by ego? Please don't have a go at me for taking sides, I'm not, I have no idea what's happening, but he's the only one I've ever really had any dealings with. Echoing a lot of other posts, this kind of uncertainty must be having a pretty bad effect on employees at the club whose jobs might be affected, new contracts for players, and any plans in place for anything to do with the running of the club. Fingers crossed we hear something clear cut soon, from anyone.

Yes to all of this. I think we all want fan ownership to succeed because if it doesn’t who knows what happens to us. And I don’t think public confrontations help anyone either, but things are out there now. I’m not saying we should hound Dalrada, but with everything that’s being put out just now it might be good to hear something from them? Surely there’s nothing wrong with asking? Maybe that Dalrada post about standing with the club was a confirmation that they’ll be backing us no matter how this plays out? Let’s hope so as the money they’ve contributed has been very welcome. And as someone else has said this should be a time for announcing contract extensions and early bird season ticket offers. For the first time in years our Player of the Year is signed up for another season, it would be great to just be looking forward to seeing a squad being assembled to try and get a fast start after the summer.

Just re-read that initial piece of propaganda that started this thread which I counted as containing 7 "allegedly"s - 2 of which referred to the MCT board members leaving (any statements yet?) 3 "reportedly"s and 1 "apparently" a "most likely" and a "by all accounts" Not sure what that says about the author and their source, but none of those words or phrases were in the MCT email so I know who I'm more likely to side with through a simple choice of language. You're anonymous on here, and it's not a court of law, so why all the suggestive prefixes? I didn't read anything in that post either about what the dismissed board members have brought to the club, other than Dalrada wanting Robinson, Gourdie and Laird to be there. If Dalrada truly mean their recent public statement about being "Proud to stand" with the club then they would have to be in favour of that club's owners holding people who were withholding information regarding things like FIFA embargoes to account? And I think maybe us as fans should be asking Dalrada their opinion on it all, also publicly? Surely trying to run things properly and transparently (eventually) is no reason to pull funding?

If the only thing we can take from today is making sure that Queens stay up, with their unravelling next season looking pretty likely, then that's a pretty good reason to celebrate 3 points!

Was it a different Hamilton that were in League One last season? As unlikely as it is to win our last 2 games while Raith lose to us and Queens and Partick losing to Falkirk and Livi, it's still a pretty good effort from our squad to still have a mathematical chance of promotion after 34 games I reckon.

I was close enough to the guy who was giving it to Adeloye. We can see he's not fully sharp yet and it's frustrating when we lose and are crying out for every player to run around with as much energy as Moffat has recently. I really don't want to sound like the content police for verbalising some discontent when things aren't going well, however, screaming at one of our own players " ADELOYE GET YOUR FINGER OOT...FUCKING LAZY BASTARD...RUN YA CUNT RUN...FUCKING DIDDY" in a quiet corner of the ground for him hear, did feel a bit out of order. Especially as the guy, who looked in his 50s or 60s had a young girl with him who looked no older than 10 years old. Adeloye pointed at him after the final whistle and walked over to him, neither really backed down (wasn't helped by Brian Graham being his usual classy self with a big celebratory scream towards the Morton fans there). Couldn't really hear what either of them were shouting at that point apart from the guy in the crowd's last words which were "F**K OFF" as he walked away, while Adeloye was pulled away by other players and a group of other fans tried to applaud him and the other Morton players who'd come over.

Keeping Bluesy fresh for Saturday? We all know he loves a goal against Partick.