Toby

Found another couple of quid down the back of the sofa, I see. Found another couple of quid down the back of the sofa, I see.

In other, more encouraging news, David Munro, who officiated our 3-2 defeat at Stark’s Park, awarding big-spending Raith Rovers that ludicrous penalty when Lewis Vaughan appeared to drop dead within four yards of Darragh O’Connor and booked eight Morton players but failed to send off Jack Hamilton for a second booking and Ross Millen for a flying elbow, has resigned from his position as an SFA referee. This is absolutely fantastic news for Scottish football as a whole. Genuinely the single worst referee ai’ve ever seen in all my time watching football, and I remember Brian Cassidy and Colin Hardie. Good riddance.

Todorov signing for Hamilton. https://x.com/theacciesfc/status/1814293884081463695?s=46&t=mPi-CBP2m1lKxRNMQCkJuA

To be fair, the Grimshaw rumour’s been doing the rounds for a while now- has he had any real game time in pre-season for them at all? And as I suggested the other week, his pay off at Tannadice should help bridge the gap in what Morton are capable of paying. Should also be noted that while Grimshaw sat on the bench on Tuesday night, it was young Miller Thomson who came off the bench to replace Strain when he picked up his injury. I can’t see any future for him there, regardless of Strain’s injury.

Very lucky not to have been sent off the other night. That’s been pretty serious flashpoints against Airdrie, Ayr and Dundee United towards the end of last season, and Brechin at the start of this. Given our disciplinary record last season, I’d like to think it’s something we’re working on improving, but Baird seems to have gone off the rails a bit in recent times. This was never something I previously saw in his character.

I think the point about filming it and putting it on social media is a very good one. Who gained from that? The steward? The alleged perpetrator? Morton? The viewer? Or was the beneficiary of it the boy who produced the vlog and got loads of interactions for his shitey YouTube channel, incidentally a Rangers fan from Greenock who also tags onto Morton from time to time? A vlogger with less clout than fucking Blair McNally ffs. But that’s not the main point of the issue with the kids of course. Behaviour like that can’t be condoned. It was dreadful and the boy(s) have to take responsibility for their actions. But let’s not kid ourselves- what happened last night was a culmination of a number of issues that have never been properly addressed. We’ve complained for years about under 16s not being allowed in without an adult, and that’s something the club have never properly addressed. They know adults will let them come in with them and haven’t acted to find a solution that suits everyone. We’ve complained about the spitting and throwing of food in the Cowshed- it was never properly dealt with, resulting in adults losing their temper and risking arrest themselves before being separated by other fans. We’ve complained about the stewarding policy, and particularly the behaviour of the head steward ad nauseam for years now. Nothing’s been done about her, and as the leader of her team, their behaviours will naturally mirror hers. That’s not to say the poor lad that suffered last night was out of order, but he was the one in the firing line as a long period of tension between the two parties came to a head. If you treat kids like brats, that’s exactly how they’ll behave. We’ve heard examples of easier targets being picked on for minor indiscretions- such as Ronnie for allowing his grandson to sit on a crush barrier, or my Dundee United supporting pal turning up late due to a family emergency and getting knocked back, while pyro and carry outs (neither of which I object to, though I don’t indulge inside the ground) are prevalent in the Cowshed. A steward walked into the shed last night at half time, picked up an empty half bottle, looked at the small group in the area and walked away, never to return. Why not confront adults when they do wrong? None of this excuses the behaviour seen in that video, but it’s merely the tip of the iceberg with Morton and their young support. I note Edinburgh City had to take pretty drastic action with their kids after their friendly with Broxburn was abandoned due to their behaviour- we may be at the stage that Morton have to make Team Ton compulsory to gain entry into the games, but with the incentive of the membership paying for itself in entry, in order that the club have all their personal details and those of their parents. But let’s not kid ourselves- Morton and their security partners also need to look in the mirror here. While the matter has to be dealt with, one thing I do expect is that appropriate sanctions will be enforced, rather than reacting to a baying mob demanding a child is banned for life, having experienced their reaction to similar incidents as a witness a couple of years ago. And I hope a thorough investigation is going into the allegations made by a Brechin fan last night that a steward suggested Lemar Reynolds be paid “in fruit” for his efforts.

Awfully convenient that the fixture list only gives Queen’s Park one home fixture out of the first four before their scheduled return to Greater Hampden- a scenario not replicated for any other club in the division, and conveniently enough against Livingston, the club least likely to bring a large travelling support to their wee tissue box. This of course after last year having been scheduled to play three of their first four away from home (and actually playing four of their first five away as they shoehorned their midweek October fixture into the free Saturday that we played Rangers). Of course, their sole home fixture was against Arbroath, one of the two clubs (along with Inverness) least likely to bring a travelling support in last year’s division. While we were getting sent up to the back of beyond on the final day of the season year on year, there definitely seems to be a pattern emerging to benefit some clubs with the fixture list. “Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others”.

To be honest, I think we can forget about progress already. If you’re going to progress as one of the best second placed teams (especially given there’s only three, and no four going through now, you can just about afford a defeat against the top seeds and that’s your lot. Yesterday’s result, and the implications it could have given that last season’s trip to Ibrox boosted the coffers so much, was extremely damaging. We’ll have to pick up nine points from the other three games imho, and even still we’re really pushing it. We could even find ourselves finishing third on nine points.

Agree with everything, but ultimately Haughey owns half of Hampden, and if he wants to let his little play thing stink the place out that’s entirely up to him, and with the power he has over the SFA, there’s very little they can do about it. The SFA should have told Queen’s Park to take or leave an offer that allowed them exclusive ownership of the ground. Had they walked away from the purchase and chosen to play Scotland games and big cup ties elsewhere they’d have killed off Queen’s Park, or driven the price down to the extent that Queen’s Park had no option.

Quite possibly the single most beige post in the history of the internet.

Since when did we have have to apply logic, consideration for a player acting in the best interests of himself and his family, how he was treated by Morton and the probability that he was offered better terms than another club when deciding whether a player is a rat or not? He signed for them. Guilty.

The £200k was based on a projected 8th placed finish, so I’d hope we do.

Aye, lifted from SPFL Mediawatch on Twitter, who’s generally quite good with facts and figures but is insufferable as soon as he gives his opinion on anything.

You’d think that fitting midweek fixtures in at times the weather is a bit more accommodating would be sensible- I suppose the main reasons not to have a midweek round in say, August would be some clubs still being involved in the League Cup so de-cluttering the fixture list early on, while arranging a midweek round later than February could see a backlog with if we have a bad winter and every midweek is needed, though that hasn’t really been the case in recent years. September and October are months that national associations are generally at the whim of UEFA because of the international calendar, but we do look to have suffered more than others this time around with one of the three available Saturdays at home in September and then one of the October home games being the midweek slot. They couldn’t give us Arbroath, Cove or Inverness away on the final Friday though, so they’ve go to do something to fuck us off.

I’d say so, yes. There’s nothing to really stop them. The Fridge Mhagnate paid for half of Hampden when the SFA bought it from Queen’s Park so has the governing body over a barrel, and the SPFL aren’t going to rock the boat with the SFA. The game changer might come when he eventually gets bored, as he has done in the past with clubs he’s been involved in, and that may be accelerated by relegation, but for the time being, we’re stuck with this.