The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[ClydeTon]

40 minutes ago, MORleyTON said:

Agreed on this although last season we were on a shoestring budget, and looking to merely stay in the league.

This coming season we have more budget about us and, although not confirmed as yet, will be looking for playoffs minimum.

I would be expecting us to have a more experienced keeper, I'd hope so anyway.

I would hope so as well, Schwake was a bit of a bombscare at times, that in itself was usually a horrific combination of Inexperience and a lack of confidence. Hopefully Mullen - if he does come - won't fall victim to the same traits.

I think having an SPFL level GK in, regardless of whether he's a backup or starter, is a good move this early. Means we don't have to go into July panicking like we have in seasons gone by.

I heard we were linked with Accies' Fulton, who is a pretty solid keeper, but I think he'll be making his way to the Premiership if news stories are to be believed.

Either way, a GK in by mid-June is a good move.

[Vril]

37 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

Absolutely, in a much better place and a more settled squad.  Just don't think Mortons target will be minimum playoffs.  Does Imrie get sacked if you miss out again by a bawhair? 

I think that it is reasonable to set yourself a goal of improving your league place season on season (something Imrie has managed to do so far).  If we set that as a goal for next season, then by definition it would be to finish in at least 4th place.  Something that (given how relatively settled our squad is, and the increased budget from last year) I think is entirely reasonable.

This in no way means that we will be sacking the manager if we don't get into the playoffs.

[MORleyTON]

43 minutes ago, Vril said:

I think that it is reasonable to set yourself a goal of improving your league place season on season (something Imrie has managed to do so far).  If we set that as a goal for next season, then by definition it would be to finish in at least 4th place.  Something that (given how relatively settled our squad is, and the increased budget from last year) I think is entirely reasonable.

This in no way means that we will be sacking the manager if we don't get into the playoffs.

This pretty much

[Dunning1874]

2 hours ago, madton said:

I'm thinking the opposite,  he'll be our number 2 and we bring in someone more experienced as number 1.

Mullen has 14 career starts, would be a big gamble to bring him in as a number 1 to play week in week out in the Championship. 

I'd be amazed and disappointed if we don't bring someone more experienced,/ established in.

Even with the improved financial situation compared to last summer I'd be very surprised if we're signing a 22 year old who ended last season as a first choice in League One as a backup goalkeeper, that'll likely be another teenager with Mullen as first choice. We're surely not going to spend a wage on having two first team goalkeepers as long as we're a Championship club.

Grimshaw also confirmed as away. He was never realistically staying, he was both the best full back and best midfielder in the division and if he's in this division rather than the Premiership or England next season it'll be with a club paying Premiership wages.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

5 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

Ryan Mullen reportedly on the way, assume that will be as first choice goalkeeper with another teenager found to be cover. At Clyde last season and just turned 22, didn't get the sort of rave reviews Schwake did before joining us but still well thought of and one of the few players Clyde fans actually wanted to keep. I'm happier having someone with the potential to improve who might have a higher ceiling than a known bang average quantity like Sneddon.

 

2 hours ago, madton said:

I'm thinking the opposite,  he'll be our number 2 and we bring in someone more experienced as number 1.

Mullen has 14 career starts, would be a big gamble to bring him in as a number 1 to play week in week out in the Championship. 

I'd be amazed and disappointed if we don't bring someone more experienced,/ established in.

I’m in the middle here: happy to sign Mullen if it happens, but would like to see us sign another credible option in that position to give us both cover and competition. The days of having a boy on the bench ‘just in case’* (or worse, nothing at all) should be behind us.

[*Unless said boy is a genuinely talented prospect we can develop.]

[Jamie_M]

 

[madton]

1 hour ago, Dunning1874 said:

Even with the improved financial situation compared to last summer I'd be very surprised if we're signing a 22 year old who ended last season as a first choice in League One as a backup goalkeeper, that'll likely be another teenager with Mullen as first choice. We're surely not going to spend a wage on having two first team goalkeepers as long as we're a Championship club.

Grimshaw also confirmed as away. He was never realistically staying, he was both the best full back and best midfielder in the division and if he's in this division rather than the Premiership or England next season it'll be with a club paying Premiership wages.

I think it's fair to say most full time clubs have 2 decent keepers on their books, even if one is considered stronger than the other. We've obviously been the exception to the rule in recent years probably due to budget, but now we are in an apparent decent place financially, I'm hoping we bring in a Jack Hamilton type alongside him.

If we intend to have a young boy on the bench, surely we'd have just kept Green and paid him peanuts?

Time will tell I guess.

Slightly disappointing start to our pre-season activity, hope Dougie had some more exciting options lined up.

At least we have a starting 11 who can face Alloa.

[David W]

Mullen was decent for us. He will come for nearly every cross; he needs to learn when not to. 

He is decent with the ball at his feet, but sometimes over confident.

A good shot stopper (when are they not?), possibly a bit to work on at one on ones.

In other words, decent potential but not there yet.

[vikingTON]

3 hours ago, MORleyTON said:

This pretty much

So that's not 'playoffs minimum' at all then.

[MORleyTON]

5 minutes ago, virginton said:

So that's not 'playoffs minimum' at all then.

Last time I checked 4th was in the playoffs.

Edit: Although I should have gone on to say that a cup run would be expected too.

Do I mean win the league, no. But fair play I should have been clearer.

Edited June 20, 2023 by MORleyTON
Clarity

[ATLIS]

What's Grimshaw like? We're in the market for a RB so would make sense for us to be linked

[vikingTON]

12 hours ago, MORleyTON said:

Last time I checked 4th was in the playoffs.

Edit: Although I should have gone on to say that a cup run would be expected too.

Do I mean win the league, no. But fair play I should have been clearer.

Setting yourself a goal to improve is not the same as setting the play-offs as a minimum that would be acceptable. Unless you have evidence that we are running with a top 4 budget, that is a ridiculous idea. As is expecting a cup run when we can quite easily draw Celtic in rounds 2 and 4 of the cup competitions. 

What you are stating are aspirations for building on last season. They are not measurable targets that Imrie or any other manager can be held to. The inflation of expectations 'because Dalrada' was already at play in January but it does not actually make us one of the strongest teams in the division in financial terms. Dalrada's investment allows Dougie to meaningfully punch above our weight but that trick is not always going to work quite as effectively as most of last season.

[vikingTON]

8 hours ago, ATLIS said:

What's Grimshaw like? We're in the market for a RB so would make sense for us to be linked

We'll tell you once you release Jamie Brandon back to us first. 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

OK... 14 signed (including the two younger players); 5 to come? 6 if Garrity is loaned out?

Another GK (whether it's 1st choice or back-up, or a bit of both, remains to be seen).

Two defenders: a right-back (priority) and someone who can play at left-back and left centre-back.

Another wide player (left-sided would be nice); [and another, if Garrity is loaned out]

Another forward option (ideally someone quicker than Muirhead and Oakley; also able to play both off the striker and right up top).

Have a feeling we'll be 4-2-3-1 more often than 4-3-3 this year, in which case the above would just about do it. Imrie was very keen to get both Muirhead and Oakley on the pitch at the same time towards the end of last season, so Oakley right up top with Muirhead as an unorthodox 10/off the striker looks the best way to do that... meaning we definitely need another option who is a bit different from either of them.

Plenty of activity elsewhere in the league (and some of it pretty impressive): 2/3 of the 5/6 above will need to be obvious upgrades if we're realistically going to kick on again.

 

[ClydeTon]

The 4-2-3-1 with R. Muirhead in that No. 10 role behind Oakley worked exceptionally well, particularly at (if memory serves) Queens Park away and the home games. It also led, fairly frequently, to Robbie drifting out wide on an over/underlapping motion, like he also did at QP Away.

No obvious candidate - yet - for RB or a LCB. Broadfoot will be a decent cover option but we really can't afford to rely on him should DOC or JB get injured.

But at the end of the day, 14 signed, including a GK, by June 21st is a decent start to the window. Means we won't go into August panicing due to a lack of a goalie.

One would suspect that St. Mirren (sidenote - what the f**k is the 'Communities Cup'?) will bring a little bit of cash through as well, although they'll probably want their cut of gate receipts. Typical Paisley - take but never give...

About (perhaps more than) 1,000 season tickets gone already, and the fanbase side of things seems to be working fairly well. Still a bit of a buzz around the club from last season as well.

All in all, we're in a fairly strong position going into pre-season, and i would imagine that Dalrada, the Club and Dougie have set aside about enough to build a properly decent squad. Has to improve on what we already have, anyway.

[Dunning1874]

After the first choice right back signs, we really need the other defender we add to be able to cover both right back and left back more than centre back: Broadfoot is simply not an option at full back at this point in his career.

I'm not sure we'll add both a wide option and a third choice centre forward at this point either. Maybe we could get someone who can effectively do both like a Connor Shields without falling too far into the trap of 'can play anywhere across the front three, can do none of them well' Gary Oliver types.

Iff the plan is to use Muirhead as a number 10 and Crawford deeper we're set for central midfielders with Crawford, Gillespie, Blues and King, but if Crawford's still going to be the most advanced of a midfield three with Muirhead either out wide or at centre forward ahead of Oakley, then to avoid dropping Crawford deeper regularly I think a central midfielder has to come in along with one attacking player, rather than both a winger and centre forward being added while leaving the midfield as is. Obviously Muirhead and Quitongo can't play in two positions at once but their versatility gives us options in attack that we don't really have in central midfield, although there's always the possibility the defensive signings could be capable of stepping into midfield when needed as Grimshaw did as well.

Pre-season training starts today so hopefully we're now hitting the daft rumours stemming from grainy photos of trialists stage and start to see more movement.

[Mr.Blue]

On 20/06/2023 at 15:10, ClydeTon said:

I would hope so as well, Schwake was a bit of a bombscare at times, that in itself was usually a horrific combination of Inexperience and a lack of confidence. Hopefully Mullen - if he does come - won't fall victim to the same traits.

I think having an SPFL level GK in, regardless of whether he's a backup or starter, is a good move this early. Means we don't have to go into July panicking like we have in seasons gone by.

I heard we were linked with Accies' Fulton, who is a pretty solid keeper, but I think he'll be making his way to the Premiership if news stories are to be believed.

Either way, a GK in by mid-June is a good move.

Schwake was not a bombscare. He was young and made mistakes. 

[Colkitto]

I wouldn't be surprised if another goalkeeper was incoming. I remember last season after the Arbroath game and Imrie was really angry at Schwake's blunder and had a public go at him.  

I'm sure Imrie would have dropped him if we had a realistic back up. In the end up Schwake responded positively to the criticism and played well for the remainder of the season.

Goalkeepers like outfield players won't play well in every game, especially young players. Maybe Imrie just wants the choice of changing it if any player goes off form no matter their position

[ClydeTon]

18 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

Schwake was not a bombscare. He was young and made mistakes. 

Yes, I get that.

But some of the 'near miss' mistakes were total bombscares.

It's not entirely his fault but he was one at times.

[Jamie_M]

2 hours ago, Colkitto said:

I wouldn't be surprised if another goalkeeper was incoming. I remember last season after the Arbroath game and Imrie was really angry at Schwake's blunder and had a public go at him.  

This is where my thinking sits right now.

Dougie has not been shy at dropping players for mistakes, especially if repeated. You could sense his frustration after those mistakes but there was no way the ringer was going to be given any game time.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him opt for having actual competition in the goalkeeping department next season.

Time will tell.