DreamOakTree1

3-1 County then extra time!

Because you picked the wrong bar?

But Robinson is more of a goal threat, no?

Jai Quitongo signs back on for The Ton!

Apparently he's training with them now. One of the reason's cited was that his passing/kick-outs have a 75% success rate which suits Brighton's style.

Looks like we’re in pretty good shape going into the close season, as Dougie has pretty much kept his trusted contracted players and offered the right four players new terms, whilst releasing the “maybe” players. He’s left the path open for signing new additions to hopefully make the difference between play-off hopefuls and genuine title challengers.

Mr Blue’s posted a better update anyway!

I cut and pasted it in on my laptop and the font was black on a black background so I changed it to white!

Almost entirely stolen from dunning1874, and slightly updated: Under contract: Baird, O'Connor, Gillespie, Blues, Robbie Crawford, King, McGrattan, Garrity, Muirhead, Oakley Out of contract: Green, Grimshaw, Ambrose, Quitongo, Miller Loans expired: Schwake, Waters, Ali Crawford, Roy Confirmed departures: Strapp, Lyon, Pignatiello Offered new contracts: Grimshaw, Miller, Quitongo and Waters

For some reason I just don't see Dougie Imrie and Gordon Strachan working togther, or Dougie and Nelms for that matter. It looks to me they want someone who'll toe the party line and won't rock the boat too much. In that regard I don't see Dougie being less prone to speaking his mind than Bowyer.

I hope you're correct as I found it unacceptable when I read the article. The only mitigating factor I could think of was that Darragh O'Connor may have been the nervous type who needed a different approach from Dougie. Then I read the subsequent posts saying all the players were told this. I only read Darragh's article and I'm hoping perhaps he was misquoted, as I didn't read the further article(s) extending it to the full squad. As I said it would seem out of character for Dougie.

Gordon's second choice to Callum was Gavin!

Have you only signed up one player from the 20 or so out of contract?

To be fair I walked past the upgraded Lesser Hampden the other day and the parts that are complete look as good as such a small stadium could. looked like a lot of work still to do though.

Make up your mind! You were unhappy with the "taxi driver" theories, and now it checks out they were unfounded, you're saying the board member, now you're saying he just fobbed me off by saying what I wanted to hear?

Darragh gave the impression in the article that Dougie just said that to him rather than the full squad, even so I was surprised as it doesn't seem like his style of management. On the subject of being ready for promotion, I contacted the board via MCT as I thought it was important to get clarification. I'm happy to say the reply was that, had we been promoted this season, the club would have been able to do any necessary work over summer to play in the top flight. In addition they said we would all love to see Morton in the Premiership and that is very much what the club are striving towards.

It was the same for me. I could sum it up as "The Brian Graham Love-in", produced and directed by Brian Graham.

Check the Morton Forum thread "Dundee vs Morton (15th April)" page 6, EanieMeanie's replies to SassenachTon and TRVMP. I read this from a Darragh O’Connor article, then the above posts confirm it was said to all the players, though you'll need to get off your arse and research a bit more to find the articles. As it happens I disagree with Dougie telling the players this, but still posted what I read in the article. As for the Club not being ready for promotion, I called a theory because, unlike the above, I saw no confirmation of this, I just heard it from a lot of sources, excluding taxi drivers. Again, although I've posted this, I disagree with it and don't understand it. I think if we find ourselves with a chance of promotion we should take it and get ready for the step up on and off the pitch, regardless of whether it's unexpected or not.

Great performance from Thistle. Brian Graham had a great match but I couldn't believe he avoided a red card for two blatant kicks in succession on the same player, with no attempt to go for the ball. With VAR either one of those challenges would've likely been a red card. There have been several recent red cards from similar challenges but with the player going for the ball. It was also quite mystifying what Graham could have whispered to the ref before he pulled out the yellow card, then he whispered something to a QP player who'd ran up to him in anger, the QP player then patted Graham on the back and gave him a smile. Big Brian must have some sort of hypnotic charm, as he then told James McFadden to give him the MOM award as he was subbed off. Faddy said in commentary thet he couldn't give him MOM as he wasn't on the field long enough and also as Graham had tried to coerce him. Faddy then changed his mind and duly awarded MOM to big Brian, who waltzed up to the BBC presenters to accept the award.

Morton started the season with a target of 40 points from the board to stay in the division. This looked a big ask after the first 8 games of the season but Dougie Imrie gradually upgraded the weaker positions with new signings, loan deals and by rejuvenating some current players who’d been unpopular with the fans. We also started in disarray off the pitch, both in leadership and financial issues. This was also transformed by the Dalrada sponsorship deal and a new progressive Board backed by Fan Group MCT. When we reached 40 points Dougie told the players they’d reached their target so they should just enjoy the rest of the season. We then found ourselves in the mix for the play-offs due the competitiveness of the league and the number of teams in contention. All the clubs around and above us clearly stated they were going for either the title or the play-offs. We never at any point stated we were going for the title and only latterly started talking about the play-offs. The fact we ended up disappointed to miss the play-offs on goal difference, shows something of a transformation from how we started the season to how we ended it. Dougie has now started the process of completing the squad to make us proper promotion challengers. He's released the under performers, extended the contracts of all the players that fit his plans, and offered the best out of contract players (and one loanee) new deals. That will still leave space for several new players, some of whom he'll no doubt already have in mind. Attendances are going up and there's a strong bond forming between players and fans, including those previously unpopular players. Planning permission is also in place for an area of the ground to be turned into a pre/post match Fans' area. There's a theory that Morton as a Club weren't ready for an unexpected promotion this season, but will put a plan in place for it next season, without a ceiling on our expectations. If that's the case it looks like we're headed in the right direction, and that's the reason we're happy with our progression on and off the pitch.

Going by the each way odds I got at the start of the season, we weren't rated that highly. I got 25-1 Morton, though I also got 40-1 for Queen's Park.

For all big George's physical presence, he comes across as a genuinely nice big guy and he'd love to score and beat Caley, which I think he will, but I don't think he'd be the type to rub their noses in it.

I suppose if we're looking for a club with a fresh approach to go up, it would be Queen's Park. I am not one who compares them to Gretna, who were someone's very false idea of a fairy story, Queen's have a history as a famous club so there's no comparison. I'd also like to see Morton go up of course, and I think we could also offer something a bit different with our old style terracing, if that's still allowed. My next choice would be Ayr, who have had a similar or even longer time away from the top division, and have a similar stadium and fan base to Morton.

We’ve had the likes of Hearts, Hibs and Dundee Utd regain their place in the Premiership in recent years, with decent returns where they’ve added something to the top division. Then we’ve had the likes of Dundee and Kilmarnock who didn’t seem to respond to the challenge properly and added nothing to the division. Who do you think would take promotion by the horns and make their presence felt in our top division, by their style of football, fans’ involvement, stadium, innovate ideas and commercial acumen? Basically which club would just grasp the opportunity and grow into it like the breath of fresh air our stagnate top division cries out for like a baby desperate for attention?

Dougie won’t let that happen! He’s been a breath of fresh air mostly but it looks to me like his inexperience has caused him to sign certain players (old pals) with a promise that they’ll have a guaranteed starting place, otherwise they might not have joined us. This has taken us from a place of quite low expectation with a limited squad, but with great team spirit, to a larger squad with some big egos (based on prior achievements) needing massaged. There will be ups and downs for all play-off challengers including Morton, but I think we’ll still be in with a shout as Dougie won’t let everything he’s done for us fly out the window because he’s made those mistakes. My main fear is that he’s struggling with that dilemma now, as he’s just told Darragh O’Connor to enjoy the rest of the season with no pressure, as our objective was just to stay in the division.