DreamOakTree1

I'll sing about a wee toon that stands upon the Clyde, It is the toon whaur I was born, it fills my heart with pride. My mither often telt me as she crooned me on her knee, That Greenock took its name frae the Green Oak Tree. Here's to the Green Oak that grew down at the square; Here's to its roots that are still slumbering there; Here's to my townsmen whaure're they may be; I'm proud that I'm a branch o' the Green Oak Tree. May Greenock like the Green Oak Tree still flourish 'neath the sun, Her trade and commerce still increase for a thousands years to come. And may each son o' Greenock as he battles thro' life's storm, Be honest, true, and ne'er disgrace the toon whaur he was born. Noo Greenock's no' a bonny toon I've heard some folk complain, And ithers say when they go there, they nothing see but rain! But let them say whate'er they may, wi' them I'll no agree, For aye the name o' Greenock toon shall still be dear to me.

Hamilton Accies invented time wasting and one up front in the sixties, before any of us had ever heard of either.

I think the time wasting was so blatant and obvious that it personally insulted the referee’s intelligence. They were rubbing it in the ref’s face rather than trying to be cute as normally happens. When the player was holding the ball in one hand for a throw-in near the end, tempting Gary Oliver to try and take the ball, only to throw it away as Gary approached, was pitiful to watch and the referee was absolutely fuming at such disregard for the spirit of the game, hence he added on even more time than was actually wasted to create some sense of justice.

When you take the horrendous conditions into account I thought that was a decent game of football.

I unfortunately haven’t witnessed the great performances from Lyon that others have alluded to. I have seen short glimpses of strong, driving play but only in fleeting moments, not sustained enough to effect the match. From what I can make out Blues is not as talented as Lyon, but seems to do what the Manager asks of him and is maybe more consistent and holds his position. I did think Lyon fitted in better in a three though, alongside Jacobs and McGinn, so perhaps there’s hope for him with the reinforcements brought in.

Wouldn’t have been an outstanding match report though with not enough time to proof read or edit?

Fair comment, though Gus is no mate of mine’s, though he might be an upgrade on our previous two managers. I suppose what you’re saying is the board have already endorsed the signing of another 3 or 4 players and therefore it’s only Gus who’s delaying the signings. Hynes certainly didn’t look up to it yesterday and our midfield looks well short of a creative edge, evidenced by the regular long diagonal ball bypassing midfield, a clear admission that our midfield aren’t cutting it.

I really enjoyed the match, first one I’ve attended since lockdown and so happy to be back at Cappielow I wasn’t too despondent about the result, but that will return pretty quickly when reality bites again. I thought Queens played the better football and Gibson was unplayable on the left wing. I thought we relied too much on the long diagonal to Ugwu, bypassing the midfield far too often for my liking. I was also surprised at how shambolic our defence was. In fact you just knew Queens were going to score when they were 3 on 1 several times. I don’t understand how you only leave 1 defender back when playing a long ball game. Perhaps the manager is culpable rather than the players. The positives for me were the performance of Jimmy Knowles in his 30 minute debut, and the fact Gus should be able to persuade the board he needs to strengthen based on the evidence of this match.

We’ve got 11 senior players in our squad!

I like that line-up, though Gus seems to prefer Blues to Lyon. The only reason I can think of is Blues does what Gus tells him, whereas Lyon appears to do his own thing much of the time.

The definition of a bogey team to me would refer to a team who regularly win league titles etc. but regularly get beaten by a “diddy” team that can’t beat anyone else, therefore this doesn’t apply in the case of Morton v Dunfermline, much as I’ve always admired The Pars and their history. It used to annoy me intensely though when Aberdeen called Morton their bogey team in the late 70’s. Morton had two incredible unbeaten runs in that period, one a year unbeaten at Cappielow and another 18 months unbeaten away from home. Despite the fact this included Celtic and Rangers who couldn’t beat us either, the Dons chose to call Us their bogey team. Gordon Strachan always said “I hate Cappielow, the ground just closes in on you”. Morton will beat The Pars on Saturday!

So hang on.......... you’re powers of de-compartmentalising are so strong, you can mercilessly lambast the board, management and players on this and the Morton forum, whilst wishing the team to be relegated. But when you actually attend Cappielow you morph into someone who wholeheartedly gives your support to all the above. That takes some doing I must admit. I can just imagine you cheering the team on in a relegation play-off, then going back to your keyboard to verbally destroy all of your many “online only” targets, safe in the knowledge none of them will read these forums therefore no harm will come to their efforts to achieve some level of success.

Surely whoever wanted Morton to stay up or wanted us relegated now have to accept we’re playing in the Championship and get behind the team. Is there anything to be gained by fast forwarding to the end of the season when again we’ll either stay up or be relegated. The play-offs got us to where we are now and wherever we are at the end of the season will be the product of that. If we get behind our team in the traditional manner, wanting the most successful outcome possible, it may help them achieve that outcome.

You’ve answered your own question Gary. We’ve cut the new regime some slack for battling to get ready for the new season despite difficulties, including our new strips. It’s called humanity and hopefully being a Morton Supporter.

Regarding the stand-out signing, I wouldn’t claim to be an expert but I watch every Scottish Football match I can on TV as analytically as I can, usually twice, and Scott Robinson stands out for me as the outstanding signing for this level.

We’re all entitled to our opinions, hence the existence of forums. However I think it’s a bit harsh to write the player off before he’s played a game. I’ll stick my neck out and say he won’t be here as cover, he’ll be in the first eleven, either at LB, LWB or LM. If he’s competing with Blues for a place I know who my money’s on.

I get your point. I just hope there are at least a couple of guality signings to come.

Russell was a first pick in a far better Morton side than this one. If he can recreate the pace, strength and skill levels he had then, he’ll be a first pick again, and probably the best player in the squad.

I was reliably informed by a close friend of Mark Russell, that he was badly affected by his move to Hearts falling through. That coincided with his personal issues and dip in form. Good to see he’s not blaming Morton for that and is willing to give it another go.

Could be. Gus has already deployed Strapp forward of McGinty so Russell’s a big upgrade on that. Russell is definitely a good footballer so could fit into the “quality over quantity” philosophy.

Dunning and Ghost, I’ll be happy if MCT/Gus’s plans coincide with your interpretations/hopes. I was reading it that the smaller squad will mean everyone who’s signed or re-signed will be a part of the match day squad every game, therefore Gus (not me) thinks that keeping those players aligns with that plan. It sounds from MCT yesterday that the squad building process is ongoing with the budget in place, so both you’re interpretations could be more promising than mine, I certainly hope so.

I’ll need to bow to your superior knowledge of Muirhead. It was Gus’s referring to him as “excellent” in the striking role after the first game against Airdrie that made me think that after the second game that Gus re-signed him with that role in mind. He also scored 5 in his last 8 games, which were spread out over this year, as he hardly started a game. My reference to a solid foundation is that’s it’s a good way to start building a squad. I realise we need to add to the creative side, although I’m unsure why Gus re-signed Oliver if he’s planning to replace him before our first game.

Ross Millen looked okay to me in the live tv matches I saw him in, not as good as Ledger though. I’ve got a feeling Gus could be looking at playing 3 at the back with Hynes and Strapp as wing backs, or at least having it as an option. I’m not sure he’s looking for two better strikers than Muirhead and Oliver, as he’s just signed them both up. If he’s going for “quality over quantity” then he couldn’t afford to waste two of his limited number of signing options to then replace them. We appear to have quite a solid defensive foundation in place for this level, albeit with a decent goalkeeper needed to complete it.

Is it possible to view these players on Catch-up TV of the play-offs? If so you could view the likes of McGuffie, Nisbet and McGinn playing under pressure.

Quality in small doses! He’s scored goals of outrageous quality but only seems to be in the game for fleeting moments. He’s one of those frustrating players whose inconsistency is not only game to game but also during each game. If your manager can somehow get him to perform consistently then you’ll have a talent on your hands.