Morton Supporter

Thank you!

Dumbarton supporters, With Morton playing on Friday night I was thinking of coming along to your game on Saturday as it’ll tick another ground off for the wean. I can’t seem to buy tickets on your website though - is it sold out? I hadn’t realised this was your anniversary (congratulations btw, is that the appropriate greeting?)

Thank you !

Is anyone aware of any buses running to Raith Rovers on Saturday? Thanks.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s sent back to Livi in a few weeks.

For our part, really enjoyable and unexpected. All credit to Imrie for rejuvenating the team this week, as he’s now down a few times in his time with us. Some very good performances throughout the team and, although I’m still not taken with Kabia, at least he’s now scoring goals while otherwise frustrating.

When I see a manager doing performative things like subbing guys after half an hour, or sending his team out early for the second half into the cold, it only comes across as someone without ideas or who wants to distance himself from any responsibility for the performance.

Am just hoping for a five-team group this time around. Ordinarily I like us in as large a group as possible to minimise friendlies, but with our pattern of underperforming in June, a five-team group might mean we avoid a game or two then that really matters.

The irony in this is that, IMO, we could be absolutely fine without Low. Imrie has been proven right on most things since he’s come in, so if he is interested in Low, then I trust that and will happily shut up. But I, and I think almost all other Morton fans, would say what we desperately need is at least one bonafide centre forward in that squad, if not another for good measure. That surely has to be the priority over adding to what is already a decent midfield with Gillespie and Crawford in particular. And especially if we have limited budget to take on new salaries.

I expect I’ll get some stick for this but I find the state of the squad at the minute very disappointing, and think that Imrie should take most of the criticism for that. I preface this by saying I’d have given him a new, four-year contract and that I recognise the rollercoaster he seemingly had to endure around his budget this summer. But I just don’t think it’s acceptable to have 15 outfield players in the squad. I agree we shouldn’t take on wages for the sake of it, but: - there are avenues to recruiting players beyond Livi outcasts and guys you used to play with/against (I.e. an area for development for Imrie is his networking); and - for all that Garrity needs playing time and that Lyon deserved to be dropped, they are surely better sitting on our bench up until such times as we have replacements. Otherwise you’re left to call on two defenders, McGrattan or McGregor (only) when you’re 0-2 down …

Thank you - the hole in my theory is certainly that I don’t know anything about his situation or Hearts plans this season.

My educated guess is that we’ll get Euan Henderson on loan from Hearts. Will leave others to comment on how educated that guess is, but it’s based on: us clearly needing a forward; that he scored goals at Alloa last year; that he was recalled by Hearts in January but didn’t feature much; that Hearts were one of two teams we’ve loaned players from since DI came in; and that Livi seemingly have no one left to offer us.

So are you saying that your, and many others’, support is contingent on the team being successful? Which implies that Morton have been in any way successful in the past 30 years, to have a support capable of dwindling noticably. Otherwise your final option, which you paint as bleak, is by far the most preferable. We live within our means, which was evident as anything when we agreed to transition from being underwritten to community ownership, was highly likely to result in a step back on the pitch. It’s childish not to have seen that coming or to complain if/when that becomes reality. One thing I would like to see Morton try to lead on is league reform. That’s ongoing and there’s a case to be made for the ‘professional’ part of the league to be reduced so as to preserve (and ideally, evenly redistribute) the league’s revenue amongst a smaller number of clubs. If that were, say, 24 teams over two divisions, we likely see an increase in prize money, TV coverage, more games against bigger clubs while still maintaining a small enough league for games that matter.

10/10, sir. There’s been quite a childish response from some folk to this statement - essentially wanting to mortgage the club so they can sign a ‘creative midfielder’ or so we don’t have to endure Easdale upfront (which won’t happen, btw, when Muirhead is fully fit). The childishness extends to questioning whether or not utility bills have, in fact, more than tripled. Or whether, when applying an arbitrary age or appearance limit, we do indeed have a 20-man squad (completely ignoring the fact that those 20 are all due, at least, minimum wage for 30+ hours a week). That response is completely blind to what community ownership has already given us - a continued club to support. Make no mistake, that would have been at risk both now and in the recent-past under a private owner. Clearly more revenue is needed to cover unforeseen costs, but there are a multitude of ways that can be gotten. Thereafter, what the current ownership gives us is the security to set our budgets, every year, directly in line with the revenue we expect to come in (notwithstanding the two-year deals we’ve given out to some players). What we shouldn’t do IMO, as floated in the Board’s statement, is take on debt, even when if it were interest-free. Otherwise I think the frankness of the Board’s statement is welcome. This is our reality now, and always was likely to be when MCT purchased the club. It’s imperfect but, IMO, far better than being at the mercy any private owner. If others value on-field success more than the security of having a club to support, you might fit in at Celtic Park or Ibrox. The one risk I would take, personally, is giving the manager a long-term contract as, while I agree the squad and some performances, I am optimistic his sheer presence will see us generally overperform.

Well said. It’s very possible (likely?) that the previous ownership would have wound the club up in the face of the spiralling costs faced over the past six months. And from a certain POV, that would have been understandable. The great virtue of our current ownership model is that we can be confident such a decision won’t be taken. And I would ask those who would rather see a messiah walk through the door for the sake of having a new centre forward, to remember that. Clearly we need to raise more revenue though, but loans (interest free or not) can’t be the answer here. The most obvious route would be to sell of the c.39% equity that MCT owns - and personally, I’d be willing to accept investors being anonymous but I appreciate that I could be in the minority on that. And any investment can’t simply be spunked on player contracts.

Thank you

Apologies if already asked, but with tickets for Hibs - Morton now on sale and without any info on where away fans will be placed, can anyone confirm where in the ground we should be buying tickets for? Thanks.

A better season from Muirhead last year but I still think he’s a bit of a luxury - has the talent to get you a goal when it otherwise seems unlikely, but is best-suited to coming off the bench as your third- or fourth-choice striker. So not unhappy he remains part of the squad but depends on the other options we bring in upfront.

Very pleased with that. Easily our best midfielder last year.

I hadn’t seen that said, pleased if true. Strapp - Defender Brandon - Defender Lithgow - Defender McLean - Defender McEntee - Defender

Aye I would be surprised if we don’t continue with a back 5 next year, as Imrie only seemed to end games with 4 at the back when a defender had to be sacrificed for a more attacking player by substitution when we were after a goal. Saying that, I would like to see us revert to a back 4, with that extra player going into midfield - I felt our three defeats to end the season were directly caused by that (too few men to pick up loose balls and build play from there, particularly when apparently had to be Ian Wilson who has all the dynamism of a corpse). I like to think Strapp might want to give it one more season at Morton, to see if we can make a promotion bid for the first time in his time with us given a full year under Imrie. But I’m sure he’ll be away sadly. Not fussed about overly fussed about anyone else leaving, apart from Jack Hamilton.

Does anyone know if we’ll get the specific fixtures tomorrow too? Or is it a case of - right you five in a group and we’ll tell you who’s going where and when in due course?

Yes, despite the fact it would be good to know specifically why agreement is being sought now, Im inclined to vote in favour because: - I don’t see the value in a fans group owning >90% of stock. There may be company law provisions that provide benefits to having such a high stake (be good if MCT can make that clear) but otherwise if part of the shares can be sold for the benefit of the club while still retaining a controlling interest then that seems sensible to me; and - it’s likely (particularly in light of the individuals you can imagine are waiting on this vote being approved) that investors will want significant representation on the Board but will bring equally significant commercial expertise which is very lacking at Cappielow (as recognised themselves by MCT and compounded by the fact the CEO has just left - I think it’s no coincidence that that post was not re-advertised and that this vote comes in it’s wake, clearly there are plans in the work if this vote goes through). Saying that, what exactly will the ensuing investment be giving us here? Again MCT should be much clearer on this (the example in the email was both unclear and speculative). If it’s upfront capital for a project(s) that can help us in the long-term (redevelopment anyone?) then, IMO, that’s preferable to ongoing revenue coming into the club that’s largely going into the playing budget.

Fellow Morton supporters, Triggered by watching some travel to southern Spain this week - do you think we will ever see the club play a game outwith Scotland again? What are our routes to doing this? a. Finishing sufficiently high in the league (generally 4th - 5th) to qualify for Europe. Not a prospect at all at present, but when the likes of Kilmarnock, Motherwell and even Rose County have achieved this or threatened to, then this shouldn’t be such a remote possibility. b. Scottish Cup - winners qualify for Europe of course, but I’m not if sure runners-up still take the place of the winner should the winner have qualified by virtue of their league position. If so, chances obviously increase (see Ayr United, QotS & Falkirk as examples of runners-up this millennium l) but in any event, such a run would likely be a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us, and then would be dependent on your opponent in the final. c. Challenge Cup - Welsh, Irish & English sides not present this past season and unclear if we now return to an all-Scottish tournament permanently. While the number of non-Scottish teams were limited and we never drew one to date, over time the chances are we would have and this would represent our best hope of a competitive game “overseas” at present. d. Friendly - Long-gone are the days of Morton going abroad for pre-season. Given this, a very tight budget and a general decrease in pre-season friendlies (in any setting) since the reform of the League Cup, this route is also unlikely though not impossible. So are we destined to see only matches played within Scotland’s borders, or are you more optimistic that we too will get to experience following our club abroad - even if only at a modest scale?

Thanks folks