The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[Jamie_M]

1 minute ago, Colkitto said:

Wonder where this leaves Lyon as I get the impression he's not part of Dougies plans either? 

He has a longer contract though which I think ends in 2024

He does.

Will be a harder one to agree the release off but I expect the conversation might have happened.

[Dunning1874]

Surprised to see McGregor go, thought he'd have been away on loan for the rest of the season to see how he does rather than being released but with someone that young you never know if it's entirely football reasons, if he just doesn't fancy full-time football or whatever. Good luck to him anyway.

[madton]

Difficult one for McGregor, with no dev/reserve team, he's getting next to no game time and he's not ready for Championship football so prob best he goes and tries to get more game time somewhere else. Could well turn into a player but i understand the decision.

Of the boys to come through, I've been more impressed by McGrattan, King and Garrity over McGregor but he is still young and hopefully he can still have a career elsewhere.

Like how Dougie is going about his business. Ruthless, moving on players who don't fit into his plans and hopefully we see some quality replacements in the coming weeks.

[Jamie_M]

10 minutes ago, madton said:

Like how Dougie is going about his business. Ruthless, moving on players who don't fit into his plans and hopefully we see some quality replacements in the coming weeks.

Absolutely.

100% trust in Dougie.

[Paisley Ton]

I think ruthless is not a fair description of how he has acted. I see it as more like being honest with guys that he does not see fit in with his plans and that's football, so best they look elsewhere and for other opportunities.

I am sure there will have been some sort of financial sweetener, but as annual income is surely based on basic plus appearance plus wins etc you would not stay where your not wanted.

All in all Dougie has shown he has got what it takes. 

Lyon is a different project, I think has has something to offer but really needs to take and understand what Dougie wants in a player.  So I feel he is on his last opportunity at Cappielow.

I am sure the rest of the squad know what he wants and likely outcome if they don't deliver.

[Colkitto]

Could still happen, but surprised Lithgow isn't moving on. A player of his age needs to be playing not sitting on the bench.

Unless he thinks he can still force his way into the team then having very few games over the season isn't what he needs right now

[Mr.Blue]

38 minutes ago, Paisley Ton said:

I think ruthless is not a fair description of how he has acted. I see it as more like being honest with guys that he does not see fit in with his plans and that's football, so best they look elsewhere and for other opportunities.

I am sure there will have been some sort of financial sweetener, but as annual income is surely based on basic plus appearance plus wins etc you would not stay where your not wanted.

All in all Dougie has shown he has got what it takes. 

Lyon is a different project, I think has has something to offer but really needs to take and understand what Dougie wants in a player.  So I feel he is on his last opportunity at Cappielow.

I am sure the rest of the squad know what he wants and likely outcome if they don't deliver.

I used the term 'ruthless' on the message board and it wasn't meant in a negative way. Ruthless could be used in the same way as straightforward, honest, efficient. At the end of the day the club/ manager are making tough decisions but the correct ones whereas in previous years this may not have been the case.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

Surprised to see McGregor out the door… definitely something to develop there.

But even more surprised that Lithgow is still with us: that’s got to be about money (i.e. he’s on more, so more expensive to settle).

As for Lyon, the contract was agreed before Imrie was appointed and there’s possibly a bit of resentment there… but Lyon might get one last chance to show he can get with the project (basically, run like f**k when we don’t have the ball).

Best thing is, this has all the hallmarks of clearing the decks before… ‘INCOMING!’ Definitely at least one to come, I’d say; let’s hope it’s a belter…

Edited to add: there’s no doubt at all that Imrie’s a ruthless wee fucker: but, as said above, there’s nothing wrong with that… in fact, it’s what we’ve been needing for years/decades.

Edited January 5, 2023 by The Ghost of B A R P

[Ludo*1]

Was it common knowledge that Niall McGinn turned down a loan deal to you guys earlier in the season? Just been dropped into a Courier article about his impending move to Glentoran.

I know he rejected Dunfermline on loan but didn't realise you also bid.

[madton]

33 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Was it common knowledge that Niall McGinn turned down a loan deal to you guys earlier in the season? Just been dropped into a Courier article about his impending move to Glentoran.

I know he rejected Dunfermline on loan but didn't realise you also bid.

Nah, not seen it mentioned at all.

Would have been a good signing on paper although the fact he's barely played for you lot is a blessing perhaps.

[Jamie_M]

1 hour ago, Ludo*1 said:

Was it common knowledge that Niall McGinn turned down a loan deal to you guys earlier in the season? Just been dropped into a Courier article about his impending move to Glentoran.

I know he rejected Dunfermline on loan but didn't realise you also bid.

Nope, never heard anything at the time.

There has been talk of interest now but whether that is just the papers rehashing the previous interest, who knows.

[Dunning1874]

McGinn would have made sense in September, I can believe we were interested then. We were still scrambling to add bodies, we hadn't found a front three that clicked, McGrattan hadn't established himself in the starting XI and we were realistically looking down rather than up.

Now that he's barely played all season, we've got a settled team seriously challenging for promotion and he's looking at a step down to a joke league, we can surely do better.

[Colkitto]

I notice Quitongo hasn't been mentioned with regards to contract extensions. 

He's been in tremendous form this season and well worth an extension. I can only imagine other clubs have noticed his form too.  

[Vril]

13 hours ago, Colkitto said:

Could still happen, but surprised Lithgow isn't moving on. A player of his age needs to be playing not sitting on the bench.

Unless he thinks he can still force his way into the team then having very few games over the season isn't what he needs right now

It’s probably a case of him not wanting to walk away from a decent wage unless there’s a similar deal on the table elsewhere or a decent pay off offering from us.  I expect he might be with us til the end of the season. 

11 hours ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

As for Lyon, the contract was agreed before Imrie was appointed and there’s possibly a bit of resentment there… but Lyon might get one last chance to show he can get with the project (basically, run like f**k when we don’t have the ball).

Best thing is, this has all the hallmarks of clearing the decks before… ‘INCOMING!’ Definitely at least one to come, I’d say; let’s hope it’s a belter…

I actually hope Lyon gets another chance - he clearly has the ability, and Dougie has shown that he can get the best out of previously under performing players (look at the transformation in Muirhead & Blues since he came in).

And yes - I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday regarding some incoming signings.  Would love to see someone announced today who can go into the squad for the partick game 

1 hour ago, Colkitto said:

I notice Quitongo hasn't been mentioned with regards to contract extensions. 

He's been in tremendous form this season and well worth an extension. I can only imagine other clubs have noticed his form too.  

I had my reservations when we signed him, but he has definitely proven his doubters wrong.  Despite sometimes lacking an end product, he has shown he can be a constant nuisance to defences, win corners & fouls, and create space for other players - as well as covering a lot of ground and doing some defensive work when we don’t have the ball (which is definitely something Imrie wants from our players).   I hope we get him signed for another season as he has definitely been worth it as long as his wage expectations are reasonable.

[Mr Toon]

32 minutes ago, Vril said:

It’s probably a case of him not wanting to walk away from a decent wage unless there’s a similar deal on the table elsewhere or a decent pay off offering from us.  I expect he might be with us til the end of the season. 

I actually hope Lyon gets another chance - he clearly has the ability, and Dougie has shown that he can get the best out of previously under performing players (look at the transformation in Muirhead & Blues since he came in).

And yes - I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday regarding some incoming signings.  Would love to see someone announced today who can go into the squad for the partick game 

I had my reservations when we signed him, but he has definitely proven his doubters wrong.  Despite sometimes lacking an end product, he has shown he can be a constant nuisance to defences, win corners & fouls, and create space for other players - as well as covering a lot of ground and doing some defensive work when we don’t have the ball (which is definitely something Imrie wants from our players).   I hope we get him signed for another season as he has definitely been worth it as long as his wage expectations are reasonable.

He is a much better player than he was when with us previously. His temperament has improved, he doesn't go down so easily and on the right side he is a constant threat. I would definitely keep him.

[madton]

2 hours ago, Colkitto said:

I notice Quitongo hasn't been mentioned with regards to contract extensions. 

He's been in tremendous form this season and well worth an extension. I can only imagine other clubs have noticed his form too.  

Yeah I'd be happy to see him sign on again.

I'm sure conversations will be ongoing.

With Blues, Muirhead, Crawford, Gillespie, Baird, Pignatiello, Lyon, McGrattan, King and Garrity already signed up, we will go into pre-season in much better shape than previous seasons.

Hopefully we can sign up Quitongo, Strapp, Ambrose and Grimshaw for next season too...

 

[Mr Toon]

Lyon loan extended so will stay at Annan for the rest of this season.

[Jamie_M]

Kabia sent back.

 

[Dunning1874]

A signing that made sense on paper and there were a couple of games where he played well, but ultimately he's not good enough for the Championship. I wouldn't be particularly surprised if he turns out to be a decent player at this level should he get another chance at it in a couple of seasons time, but he's definitely not ready for it just now and needs to drop back to League One to play more.

[callum-ayr]

9 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

A signing that made sense on paper and there were a couple of games where he played well, but ultimately he's not good enough for the Championship. I wouldn't be particularly surprised if he turns out to be a decent player at this level should he get another chance at it in a couple of seasons time, but he's definitely not ready for it just now and needs to drop back to League One to play more.

Has he played for Livi this season at all, guessing not? See him going to QOS with Bartley.