The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[Jives Miguel]

Boring b*****d of a kit.

[Colkitto]

Reynolds looks like he has quite a bit of pace and skill. I like that Dougie has taken a bit of a gamble, I'd be disappointed if he doesn't take a gamble on a couple of players.

With Bearne, who surely must force his way into the team this season,  we will have two very pacey forwards. Think that was always Dougie's preferred choice, but with big Robbie and Blues he shoehorned them into the side and we lost that option of pace.

Remains to be seen how the lad adapts to the Scottish Championship. But lets face it we signed Boyd   with Championship experience and he was a complete failure. So lets see how we get on with Lamar.... 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

4 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

 

Baird was an Ayr reject. Gillespie and Quitongo were Queen's Park rejects with neither of them having played Championship football in years. Crawford was a Partick reject who had failed to win a contract on trial with other clubs and was still clubless in August. Ambrose and Wilson were Dunfermline rejects with Wilson then being allowed to go out on loan by League One Queen of the South. Oakley was an Inverness reject who was released in January.

None of those players were seen as sure things when we signed them, they all came as a risk and they all comfortably outperformed expectations.

I take the general point, but you're overdoing it by including Crawford in there. We had agreed to sign him long before it was announced and the club he was on trial with was Dundee, who went on to win the league.

He was stepping down a rung from a higher part of the market to sign for us and he was just about the nearest to a 'sure thing' we're ever going to see. As borne out by the fact he has now stepped back up a rung (financially, at least).

I think a lot of the nervousness is due to us not looking likely to make that kind of signing this year; we'll be comfortably beaten by rivals in that bracket. That doesn't mean to say that the alternatives won't work out, but there's a lot of unknown unknowns floating around our recruitment this year... bottom line is we're not going to know until we're underway, which is reasonable cause for concern (as opposed to knicker-wetting).

[Jamie_M]

18 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

I take the general point, but you're overdoing it by including Crawford in there. We had agreed to sign him long before it was announced and the club he was on trial with was Dundee, who went on to win the league.

He was stepping down a rung from a higher part of the market to sign for us and he was just about the nearest to a 'sure thing' we're ever going to see. As borne out by the fact he has now stepped back up a rung (financially, at least).

He spent a chunk of that summer training with Dunfermline who wanted to sign him but he was hoping for higher than League 1. He said he knocked back 5 or 6 deals that summer so yeah, the point about failing to win deals only really applies to Dundee.

Dundee only took him on trial the week before we signed him. We offered a deal and gave him a deadline, Dundee wanted him to extend his trial and play in a bounce game but he just said forget it I'm signing for Morton.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

51 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

He spent a chunk of that summer training with Dunfermline who wanted to sign him but he was hoping for higher than League 1. He said he knocked back 5 or 6 deals that summer so yeah, the point about failing to win deals only really applies to Dundee.

Dundee only took him on trial the week before we signed him. We offered a deal and gave him a deadline, Dundee wanted him to extend his trial and play in a bounce game but he just said forget it I'm signing for Morton.

Yes. He was only 'clubless' in August because he had options; thinking of him as a 'reject' is miles off.

I don't have any itk regarding his discussions with Morton, so I'm guessing he said 'yes, but subject to what happens with Dundee'... which is entirely reasonable. 

[Chicken Soup]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

I take the general point, but you're overdoing it by including Crawford in there. We had agreed to sign him long before it was announced and the club he was on trial with was Dundee, who went on to win the league.

He was stepping down a rung from a higher part of the market to sign for us and he was just about the nearest to a 'sure thing' we're ever going to see. As borne out by the fact he has now stepped back up a rung (financially, at least).

I think a lot of the nervousness is due to us not looking likely to make that kind of signing this year; we'll be comfortably beaten by rivals in that bracket. That doesn't mean to say that the alternatives won't work out, but there's a lot of unknown unknowns floating around our recruitment this year... bottom line is we're not going to know until we're underway, which is reasonable cause for concern (as opposed to knicker-wetting).

Why are we less likely to make that type of signing this year than we were last year? 

 

[Dunning1874]

27 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Yes. He was only 'clubless' in August because he had options; thinking of him as a 'reject' is miles off.

I don't have any itk regarding his discussions with Morton, so I'm guessing he said 'yes, but subject to what happens with Dundee'... which is entirely reasonable. 

I was genuinely unaware of how his negotiations with other clubs had gone, purely that he'd been on trial at Dundee and ended up signing for us instead, but it's still the case that he was available in the first place because he was released by Partick.

Would agree that he was definitely the player we could have the most confidence in out of those signings I've listed, but he was still a player let go by the club who'd just finished 4th in this league.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

1 hour ago, Chicken Soup said:

Why are we less likely to make that type of signing this year than we were last year? 

 

Early evidence suggests we're not competitive on wages for the kind of 'sure thing' I'm suggesting Crawford was, meaning the others @Dunning1874 listed ('rejects' who Imrie might get a tune out of), plus the left-field signings like Davies and Reynolds (taking a punt on moving from part-time outside Scotland to full-time here), look to be where we're at.

Imrie might still surprise us with a Grimshaw-type 'cowp', of course, but I'm generally sceptical about our chances of getting players in the 'Crawford bracket'.

And that's not to say I think we're therefore doomed; just that we need to be realistic... and at the same time hope Imrie can pull it off. His job, difficult though it is, is to compete on football terms with clubs we can't compete with on financial terms (see below). He's done that two seasons on the bounce, but it doesn't get any easier.

55 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

I was genuinely unaware of how his negotiations with other clubs had gone, purely that he'd been on trial at Dundee and ended up signing for us instead, but it's still the case that he was available in the first place because he was released by Partick.

Would agree that he was definitely the player we could have the most confidence in out of those signings I've listed, but he was still a player let go by the club who'd just finished 4th in this league.

They may have only finished fourth, but they are, as we know, operating on a totally different basis from us in terms of wages: it's the financial levels that are really relevant here, rather than the purely 'football' levels. The fact that the cvnts want him now and took him just confirms that.

[Dunning1874]

Two year deal for Garrity, happy with that.

[Cowshed]

10 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Two year deal for Garrity, happy with that.

Yup no complaints from me good bit of business that

[baba douche]

5 hours ago, ClydeTon said:

Looks a bit worse than the original render IMO.

Not the worst kit ever, though.

 

That's a shame - I liked the look of this, but 'in the flesh' the material looks a bit shit. I think that's Joma for you.

Also don't hink the yellow shorts work well.

[Colkitto]

Garrity done enough to merit an extension. But he really needs to push on now. He's got the skills to do just that!

[cb_diamond]

5 hours ago, Jives Miguel said:

Boring b*****d of a kit.

Always nice to see an "in the field" expert on the judgement element of a sentence weighing in.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

I'll only be happy with that if there are another two more experienced players to come in forward/wide areas... Garrity and Bearne have got a wee bit of potential, but either -- or both -- starting most weeks in this league, at this stage in their development, would give me the fear.

[Chippyminton]

9 hours ago, Molotov said:

How wide is that gap now?

  Reveal hidden contents

  Reveal hidden contents

 

[Chippyminton]

5 hours ago, Jamie_M said:

but he just said forget it I'm signing for Morton.

Fair play to the man. What a shame Gutless George wasn't as enlightened. I look forward to him returning to his hopeless Inverness-level form before being plucked out of obscurity and having his career completely turned around by Dougie Imrie. Given the indisputable evidence of the last 4 years, I look forward to watching plucky wee Ayr get to grips with the fact that a stellar racehorse will rapidly become a donkey unless it has an outstanding trainer.

I'm really looking forward to that .............

................... but not as much as I'm looking forward to GG coming knocking on the Cappielow door this time next year, begging Dougie for his old job back.

Edited May 28 by Chippyminton

[Chicken Soup]

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

Early evidence suggests we're not competitive on wages for the kind of 'sure thing' I'm suggesting Crawford was, meaning the others @Dunning1874 listed ('rejects' who Imrie might get a tune out of), plus the left-field signings like Davies and Reynolds (taking a punt on moving from part-time outside Scotland to full-time here), look to be where we're at.

Imrie might still surprise us with a Grimshaw-type 'cowp', of course, but I'm generally sceptical about our chances of getting players in the 'Crawford bracket'.

And that's not to say I think we're therefore doomed; just that we need to be realistic... and at the same time hope Imrie can pull it off. His job, difficult though it is, is to compete on football terms with clubs we can't compete with on financial terms (see below). He's done that two seasons on the bounce, but it doesn't get any easier.

They may have only finished fourth, but they are, as we know, operating on a totally different basis from us in terms of wages: it's the financial levels that are really relevant here, rather than the purely 'football' levels. The fact that the cvnts want him now and took him just confirms that.

Fair enough, I just don’t share your pessimism. From what I can see, we’re in a very similar position, in relation to our divisional rivals, as we were when we picked up people like Crawford, Grimshaw and Brandon (albeit on loan) for example.
 

We’re always going to be up against it in the market but, given we offered increased terms to Oakley and Crawford, I would argue we’re now in a slightly better position to be able find that type of player. I don’t see why those wages rejected by Oakley and Crawford (and Muirhead) can’t now secure us some proven quantities for the season ahead.
 

Would love to see Imrie pull off another cowp, time will tell. 

[D'Jaffo]

2 hours ago, Chippyminton said:

Fair play to the man. What a shame Gutless George wasn't as enlightened. I look forward to him returning to his hopeless Inverness-level form before being plucked out of obscurity and having his career completely turned around by Dougie Imrie. Given the indisputable evidence of the last 4 years, I look forward to watching plucky wee Ayr get to grips with the fact that a stellar racehorse will rapidly become a donkey unless it has an outstanding trainer.

I'm really looking forward to that .............

................... but not as much as I'm looking forward to GG coming knocking on the Cappielow door this time next year, begging Dougie for his old job back.

At least you’ve gotten over it though. 
 

That’s the main thing. 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

26 minutes ago, Chicken Soup said:

Fair enough, I just don’t share your pessimism. From what I can see, we’re in a very similar position, in relation to our divisional rivals, as we were when we picked up people like Crawford, Grimshaw and Brandon (albeit on loan) for example.
 

We’re always going to be up against it in the market but, given we offered increased terms to Oakley and Crawford, I would argue we’re now in a slightly better position to be able find that type of player. I don’t see why those wages rejected by Oakley and Crawford (and Muirhead) can’t now secure us some proven quantities for the season ahead.
 

Would love to see Imrie pull off another cowp, time will tell. 

I hope you're right.. and therefore that I'm utterly wrong.

I suppose I'm just a bit spooked by the fact that Ayr could (and chose to) blast us out of the water for Oakley. When their supporters were going on about possibly signing Strapp last season, I thought they were deranged. But here we are.

With them spending more, Falkirk replacing Arbroath, and possibly six of the remaining teams already ahead of us on wages, it does look harder this time around.

[Dunning1874]

2 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

I hope you're right.. and therefore that I'm utterly wrong.

I suppose I'm just a bit spooked by the fact that Ayr could (and chose to) blast us out of the water for Oakley. When their supporters were going on about possibly signing Strapp last season, I thought they were deranged. But here we are.

With them spending more, Falkirk replacing Arbroath, and possibly six of the remaining teams already ahead of us on wages, it does look harder this time around.

Ayr had already been comfortably outspending us and taking players off our hands for years though, it's just that thanks to good recruitment on our part in one case (we've done well with goalkeepers so not missed McAdams) and David Hopkin wanting to sign absolute shite like McGinty, Fjortoft and Salkeld in the others it hasn't had any negative impact on us. This isn't anything new financially, just another club becoming more competent with their recruitment.