The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[Paisley Ton]

So we are all agreed  Jack to get a second start.

[callum-ayr]

Seen the furore on twitter regarding Morton fans being flung in the main stand on Tuesday. Seating area plus the standing section below is roughly about 400/500 capacity so would imagine that will accommodate the travelling support, with the game being a Tuesday. Would imagine once they sell the set number of seats they’ll say access will be available to the terracing below. 

Edited April 5 by callum-ayr

[Toby]

11 minutes ago, callum-ayr said:

Seen the furore on twitter regarding Morton fans being flung in the main stand on Tuesday. Seating area plus the standing section below is roughly about 400/500 capacity so would imagine that will accommodate the travelling support, with the game being a Tuesday. Would imagine once they sell the set number of seats they’ll say access will be available to the terracing below. 

 

It’s a bit of a shite prospect but we can’t exactly ask Morton to fight on our behalf to get us onto the terrace when Morton put Ayr fans in the corner of our stand.

Hopefully we sell enough to be out on the terrace, but announcing that we’ll likely be stuck in the stand with the prospect of getting behind the goal if enough of us go is hardly a great sales strategy for Ayr.

Similar to Arbroath telling us to sit in a tiny section of their stand or stand in the pissing rain at Christmas time, Scottish football clubs don’t really help themselves at times.

[callum-ayr]

2 minutes ago, Toby said:

It’s a bit of a shite prospect but we can’t exactly ask Morton to fight on our behalf to get us onto the terrace when Morton put Ayr fans in the corner of our stand.

Hopefully we sell enough to be out on the terrace, but announcing that we’ll likely be stuck in the stand with the prospect of getting behind the goal if enough of us go is hardly a great sales strategy for Ayr.

Similar to Arbroath telling us to sit in a tiny section of their stand or stand in the pissing rain at Christmas time, Scottish football clubs don’t really help themselves at times.

To be fair, it’s something I’ve always wanted from a purely selfish point of view as a home fan. If clubs aren’t going to bring more than what is in the stand and the below terracing then I’ve always advocated for them to be in there. Last few years we’ve been able to switch ends and be behind both goals etc and next season the access will be there with the new stand having a gate to allow the passage through. We had the issue with Arbroath as well being stuck at the side with a push view. Was at the last meeting where Mathie was going on about making Ayr the best away day in Scotland etc. Clubs shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpets for away fans, never understand it. Unless you’re Livi of course! 

[madton]

A lot of fans won't even have thought about buying tickets for the Ayr game yet, I've not even bought mine for tomorrow!

Once tomorrow is out the way, I'm sure we will shift a decent amount, especially if we get 3 points tomorrow.

[Chippyminton]

1 hour ago, callum-ayr said:

 Clubs shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpets for away fans

I agree that a club's priority should always be its core home support, but there's a difference between a club treating away supporters like kings & queens, or treating them like pigs in a pen. A considerable number of Ton fans (me included) would like to see our infrastructure improved to make games at Cappielow a more consistently comfortable prospect for away supporters - but these can be fairly big-ticket projects which obviously require the necessary funding. Away supporters are, after all, putting money in our bank account.   

[Shibuya]

There's actually a bit more of an atmosphere when there's a smaller away support packed into the one area rather than spread out over the Railway End. I think it was the Rovers fans who were saying they loved it when they beat us earlier in the season at Somerset. Not to be tit-for-tat but the away facilities at Cappielow must be one the worst in the division. 

[Toby]

2 hours ago, Shibuya said:

There's actually a bit more of an atmosphere when there's a smaller away support packed into the one area rather than spread out over the Railway End. I think it was the Rovers fans who were saying they loved it when they beat us earlier in the season at Somerset. Not to be tit-for-tat but the away facilities at Cappielow must be one the worst in the division. 

But it is tit-for-tat when you say that.

I agree Morton have probably (I’d argue undoubtedly) the worst facilities for away fans in this division, and started a thread on our forum looking at every club’s away experience in our division after our trip to Arbroath at Christmas time.

I didn’t go down the route of ranking every club, but going by my comments, Ayr were probably second behind Dunfermline, while I heavily criticised Morton.

I note that Ayr have said we’ll be in the seated area, rather than including the terraced enclosure at the front of that, which isn’t great either. Given that the stand cuts off around the 18 yard line, are we looking at a lot of restricted view seats?

Morton are in no position to complain about this, but as paying customers, the fans should have every right to have a grumble.

This isn’t exclusive to Morton and Ayr- despite our limited facilities. In Arbroath we were told to sit in a small section of the  stand (which I assume would have had sight lines obscured) or stand in the pissing rain before they relented. At Tannadice, they cramp fans into as little space as possible and ban the young teams from having their drums etc while encouraging home fans to improve the atmosphere. At Firhill the bigger away supports are fired into a horrible old stand despite plenty alternatives elsewhere.

Mathie’s talk of trying to make Somerset the best awayday in the country is great, but he’s not practicing this. I don’t (and can’t as a Morton fan) expect every team in the division to provide equal facilities for visiting fans, but until such times as the clubs get round the table and agree on a strategy to make awaydays as enjoyable experience as possible, nothing will improve.

At the moment, away fans are being treated as an inconvenience or afterthought at best and trouble at worst. And the result is that we get a bit of “ah your lot are worse than ours” and the clubs going out their ways to out-shite each other. While we suffer at Somerset you’ll suffer at Cappielow. Is that the solution?

Edited April 7 by Toby

[Dunning1874]

Well, yesterday's result has probably ended any chance of us taking more than the capacity of the away section of the stand.

[Aufc]

This is where Scottish football doesn’t help itself. We need to make games as attractable as possible for all fans, home and away. Surely teams want as many away fans as possible to attend the games. Firstly for the commercial aspect but also for the atmosphere. 

[Ferguson]

Now that we're more or less consigned to a dull mid-table finish (assuming we don't somehow tumble into 9th, which we're getting uncomfortably close to) it's approaching the time to start thinking to next season. 

Already signed up

Mullen, Baird, Wilson, King, O'Boy, Bearne, Davies - No major gripes with any of these, decent spine to build from and some players with points to prove. Big year for King and Bearne.

Must keep

Strapp, Oakley, Crawford - All nearly impossible to replace in terms of quality in the player market we need to operate in. We'll do well to hold onto them.

Should keep

Muirhead, Garrity, Blues, O'Connor - All have played a big part at times this season, but have also shown they need quality around them before they can be effective. Probably harsh to not have Muirhead as a must keep as his goal return is very difficult to replace and we'd likely be down with Arbroath without him, but he has his obvious drawbacks and has had extended periods where he's offered very little. He should stay but we need better competition for his place next season when he's off the boil.

50/50

Waters, French, Power, McGrattan, Gillespie, Quitongo - Wouldn't have any big problems with any of these staying or leaving. Power a level above the rest, but I'm not sure he has another year in him. The rest have been OK, but they're not going to be starters in a team that fits this 3 year strategy to consolidate us as a top 16 team. If I had to pick one to get rid of it would be French, can do better.

Release

Broadfoot and McDonald - Goes without saying really. Both contributed at times this season but have also cost us a lot of points.

[Colkitto]

36 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

Now that we're more or less consigned to a dull mid-table finish (assuming we don't somehow tumble into 9th, which we're getting uncomfortably close to) it's approaching the time to start thinking to next season. 

Already signed up

Mullen, Baird, Wilson, King, O'Boy, Bearne, Davies - No major gripes with any of these, decent spine to build from and some players with points to prove. Big year for King and Bearne.

Must keep

Strapp, Oakley, Crawford - All nearly impossible to replace in terms of quality in the player market we need to operate in. We'll do well to hold onto them.

Should keep

Muirhead, Garrity, Blues, O'Connor - All have played a big part at times this season, but have also shown they need quality around them before they can be effective. Probably harsh to not have Muirhead as a must keep as his goal return is very difficult to replace and we'd likely be down with Arbroath without him, but he has his obvious drawbacks and has had extended periods where he's offered very little. He should stay but we need better competition for his place next season when he's off the boil.

50/50

Waters, French, Power, McGrattan, Gillespie, Quitongo - Wouldn't have any big problems with any of these staying or leaving. Power a level above the rest, but I'm not sure he has another year in him. The rest have been OK, but they're not going to be starters in a team that fits this 3 year strategy to consolidate us as a top 16 team. If I had to pick one to get rid of it would be French, can do better.

Release

Broadfoot and McDonald - Goes without saying really. Both contributed at times this season but have also cost us a lot of points.

McDonald when fit is one of the best keepers in this division. I'm not sure what his injury actually is but if he can get back to full fitness then I would keep. Mullen seems to have injury problems throughout his career so regardless we cannot go into next season with an inexperienced back up keeper.

Broadfoot is a fitness fanatic, but even so, I'm not sure if he has another season in him at this level. At the start of this season I thought he would have been used sparingly but has played in most games over the season. He's also contributed with goals too.

Muirhead has 15 or 16 goals this season, that will be hard to replace if Robbie moves on. He's also played in most of our games this season which is also a great return. In fact so have Blues and Crawford and all of them look a bit fatigued now.

If Strapp goes then Waters is a very decent player at this level. French will probably move on, but would keep as I think with a good pre-season he could be a very good player for us.

Power has played some great games for us and perhaps not being rested recently has resulted in a drop in form. I like him and hope he has another season with us. 

Blues progression as a player seems to have come to a halt. Imrie seems to like him but he is one frustrating player. 

Gillespie has had a poor season compared to last season. He's a 50/50 for me as is Jai. We know when on form and fit there's not many defences that can handle him. Depending on his fitness 50/50. 

McGrattan hasn't taken his chances when given a start in the team. How long do you give him? 

I don't think the squad needs a massive  cull. Some will move on to other clubs, some will be let go. It's getting the right replacements and having a bigger squad of players for next season

[Passionate]

On 05/04/2024 at 18:35, Chippyminton said:

I agree that a club's priority should always be its core home support, but there's a difference between a club treating away supporters like kings & queens, or treating them like pigs in a pen. A considerable number of Ton fans (me included) would like to see our infrastructure improved to make games at Cappielow a more consistently comfortable prospect for away supporters - but these can be fairly big-ticket projects which obviously require the necessary funding. Away supporters are, after all, putting money in our bank account.   

As an away supporter at Cappielow this season and enjoyed it mostly,   First game we were in the wee Dublin end in the possing rain,   The Trust Trophy game we were in corner of main stand (not great) although I went behind enemy lines that day and was in the shed and had a great time, I digress...   Last time a few weeks back we were jammed in the corner of the main stand again,  biggest issue was Morton were selling tickets for  WDE as well but on arrival section was closed for some reason and we were all diverted into the stand,  not great.....surely you cannot sell tickets for WDE and then shut the sectionnl off.....    

[Arch Stanton]

They'll be dancing in the streets of Morten today on the TWENTY-FIFTH anniversary of their last win in a competitive match in Paisley.

Here's the highlights, don't say I'm not good to you. 

 

 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

If we're spending wages on MacDonald, French, and Broadfoot next season, we are undoubtedly doing it wrong.

Arguments can be made for and against many of the others, but those three, for different reasons, should be immediately 'surplus to requirements'.

[Mr.Blue]

2 hours ago, Ferguson said:

Now that we're more or less consigned to a dull mid-table finish (assuming we don't somehow tumble into 9th, which we're getting uncomfortably close to) it's approaching the time to start thinking to next season. 

Already signed up

Mullen, Baird, Wilson, King, O'Boy, Bearne, Davies - No major gripes with any of these, decent spine to build from and some players with points to prove. Big year for King and Bearne.

Must keep

Strapp, Oakley, Crawford - All nearly impossible to replace in terms of quality in the player market we need to operate in. We'll do well to hold onto them.

Should keep

Muirhead, Garrity, Blues, O'Connor - All have played a big part at times this season, but have also shown they need quality around them before they can be effective. Probably harsh to not have Muirhead as a must keep as his goal return is very difficult to replace and we'd likely be down with Arbroath without him, but he has his obvious drawbacks and has had extended periods where he's offered very little. He should stay but we need better competition for his place next season when he's off the boil.

50/50

Waters, French, Power, McGrattan, Gillespie, Quitongo - Wouldn't have any big problems with any of these staying or leaving. Power a level above the rest, but I'm not sure he has another year in him. The rest have been OK, but they're not going to be starters in a team that fits this 3 year strategy to consolidate us as a top 16 team. If I had to pick one to get rid of it would be French, can do better.

Release

Broadfoot and McDonald - Goes without saying really. Both contributed at times this season but have also cost us a lot of points.

I'd keep Mullen, baird, O'connor, strapp, Wilson, Crawford, Oakley, muirhead. IF Jai is kept fit I'd keep him and we have the new boy Davies coming in as well. O'Boy would be a decent squad option. Obviously Bearne is here for another year. He'll really need to kick on.

Unsure- Blues

Let go - McDonald, broadfoot, French, power, Gillespie, King.

If we are going to kick on we need upgrades on French, broadfoot,  waters, power, gillespie, blues and mcgrattan at the very least.

Starting 11 could be-

                 Mullen

New  Baird O'connor Strapp

         Wilson    New

Davies   Crawford  Muirhead 

                Oakley

Subs - New/ Murdoch, New Cb, new lb/rb, new cm, oboy, Jai, new winger, bearne, new st.

 

I know this is highly optimistic but I think where we have been let down this season is the lack of quality and depth in the final 3rd. That has to be addressed.

[Ferguson]

2 hours ago, Passionate said:

As an away supporter at Cappielow this season and enjoyed it mostly,   First game we were in the wee Dublin end in the possing rain,   The Trust Trophy game we were in corner of main stand (not great) although I went behind enemy lines that day and was in the shed and had a great time, I digress...   Last time a few weeks back we were jammed in the corner of the main stand again,  biggest issue was Morton were selling tickets for  WDE as well but on arrival section was closed for some reason and we were all diverted into the stand,  not great.....surely you cannot sell tickets for WDE and then shut the sectionnl off.....    

It's a shame the club aren't keen on giving away fans the far end of the Cowshed anymore. I'm led to believe it's for security reasons as well as the financial impact that has, but you're just never going to get the same atmosphere without it. For the visit of clubs with smaller away supports such as Airdrie, Dunfermline etc. where it's always a quiet, dull affair it adds a bit of bite. Bring it back.

[Paisley Ton]

Well the last two games have help focused my opinion that we need to refresh and add to our player pool next season.

Must go -  McDonald, Broadfoot, French, and Gillespie. Plus Quitongo who's main quality it seems is disrupting defenses but with little or no positive outcome. Remember when he used to contribute a wonder goal or two.

Bearne has delivered more in his short cameo appearances and should be giving more playing time.  

Strapp is injured yet again hope this is down to his full on playing style so will leave that one with Dougie.

McGrattan is a funny one for me. I like the boy's qualities and have pitched for him getting more game time before and he has had now clocked up 101 appearances for the Ton. Lately I don't think he is interested and giving it his full commitment on the park. It looks like he doesn't fit in with Dougie's player requirements, doesn't feel wanted or thinks his opportunity to be a regular starter and professional player at Morton is dying.

Blues and Power would keep both but we need an additional mid field warrior. 

King is contracted for next year. So it's now or never for him next year. Becoming a successful full time professional footballer needs dedication and 120% application. So it's in his hands to demonstrate that he can convert his potential and realize his ambitions playing for the Ton. 

Crawford and Muirhead, the choice is theirs. Both have contributed for a number of seasons and will have to decide if Morton is where they want to be next year.

Edited April 10 by Paisley Ton
dah

[Mr.Blue]

On 07/04/2024 at 10:07, Aufc said:

This is where Scottish football doesn’t help itself. We need to make games as attractable as possible for all fans, home and away. Surely teams want as many away fans as possible to attend the games. Firstly for the commercial aspect but also for the atmosphere. 

Couldn't agree more. First and foremost the home fans should be a priority but clubs should work hard to make away fans want to come to games and watch their team.  Making games as accessible as possible. 

[SpoonTon]

2 hours ago, Ferguson said:

It's a shame the club aren't keen on giving away fans the far end of the Cowshed anymore. I'm led to believe it's for security reasons as well as the financial impact that has, but you're just never going to get the same atmosphere without it. For the visit of clubs with smaller away supports such as Airdrie, Dunfermline etc. where it's always a quiet, dull affair it adds a bit of bite. Bring it back.

I actually think it's not very good for the atmosphere as a whole. You mostly just end up with a small sections of fans shouting at each other with the rest of the shed not particularly aware of anything. 

I think the last time we had fans in there was against Ayr, and there were fans trying to clamber over the banners and stuff like that. It's obviously a better place for away fans to be than the Main Stand but it's not a properly segregated area and has been more trouble than it's worth for us. 

The away end of the Main Stand holds 6-800 (depending on how much of the area is used, it seems to have been reduced from he full 800 to 600 recently). It's not the best place in the ground, but it makes sense for us to put fans in there. I think dialogue between clubs is important here. It's possible to encourage enough away fans from most teams in the league to open the WDE - clubs should be working together to make things like that happen.