Ignore all you want mate, but that shows how sadly lacking in quality Morton must be.

i'll take james mcpake any day of the week over any defender in the league

If Morton had a team full of guys as good as Shimmin and a manager with common sense, we'd be up there with Livi.

As it were, we only have one.

I'd take bad AIDS over James McPake any day of the week.

Yes, I would like to have him back but we didn't offer him a contract.
Nothing to do with me.
We have Franco Miranda at left back




As would Gus, it says a lot we would bid 100k for McPake yet not take Shimmin for free.

Yes, because Gus McPherson is the best judge of footballing ability on the planet. Your current league position shows this to be the case.

And Left Centre Back?

The first time we have been bottom since our promotion two years ago



Will Haining
John Potter

Meh...

He was Mortons best player by a mile when they played us. The only other player that stood for me was the left-back but that was only because he looked albino.

I love it when people get riled and resort to this one, you're basically admitting to being wound up by a child, which inevitably leaves you looking the pathetic one. The picture made me laugh to be honest. If we're compiling lists of the best centre halves in the league, I think McPake is probably at the top, certainly in a defensive sense. Maxwell offers us a lot at the other end too, chipping in with a few goals and has a good throw on him, as well as decent distribution from the back, no matter what other Thistle fans try and tell you.

That's a weak argument to be fair. I remember watching the u20 world cup games, and all the Old Firm players were awful. Cuthbert, Lowing and Conroy in particular. Dorrans, who was at the diddy club known as Livi at that time, was the standout of the squad.

Lennon's a starter for the u21s but is out of his depth in the first division. On the other hand James McCarthur was brilliant at this level last season, but wasn't picked because he was at Hamilton. Now he's a regular in the team, as well as a standout in the SPL.

Being in an Old Firm's youth team isn't the be all and end all, and most of the Old Firm's best Scottish players, have came through the ranks of diddy clubs.

I'm not 18, but I bet on this occasion i'm considered an adult ?

McPake is better than any player at Morton. Fact.

Hmmm, and yet you're demeaning others because they are schoolchildren? Should have stuck in mate. No worries.

Well from what I've seen this season, Shimmin is the better if the two.

What have you seen this season?

You have to leave after 13 years.

Not sure what's the sketch with special schools though ? :

McPake and Shimmin.

Au contraire. Opinion.

Must be some player right enough then.

We rejected him because he wanted silly money. Look s like you've paid him it. Good luck to you. I thought he looked OK actually. But no way was he worth paying more than the likes of our captain considering he had only made a handful of first team appearances by the time he was 20.

Ha!


Sounds like the Morton way - I'd argue from performances so far we're getting value for our money though...
Hopefully an inury recurrence will not happen.

Do you need to be these days ?

Sounds like he is doing well. It's a gamble though and one we were not prepared to take. We couldn't possibly break the wage structure to accommodate a young untried centre half. There's no way he was going to be paid more than both our other main centre halfs. And that's what he was wanting and that's why he was told to sling his hook.

If I can add my tuppenceworth to the debate, I have to stick my neck out and say Shimmin looks potentially our best signing in many years.

I've followed the Ton since 1964 and Shimmin looks to me potentially our best centre back since we had Neil Orr, Joe McLaughlin, George Anderson and Jim Duffy at Cappielow. If I remember correctly all four were at Morton at the same time around 1978-80, and we haven't really had anyone to compare with them since, although some may disagree.

Shimmin stands out because of the classy way he plays the game, I'd say he strolls through a game as opposed to Ryan Harding who prances through a game pretending to be what he's not. Shimmin looks the real deal in comparison.

Normally players like Shimmin are picked up if they sustain that sort of performance for a season or so, and I think teams will be waiting to see if he can keep fit. The last two that come to mind are Cuellar and Boumsong of Rangers, who were snapped up by English teams, though I'm not saying Shimmin is that good, just of a similar type.

His reading of the game and organisation are immense for a 23 year old, which I thought he was, if he's only 20 as people are claiming then I'm amazed. His athletisism, tackling, anticipation and heading are all of a high standard.

To be honest I normally expect to be entertained by forward players, but I absolutely love watching Shimmin at work. The downside is I'm pretty sure he'll be leaving for better things in the near future.

The question then remains, how are Morton affording to pay him the value he wants? Surely their wage structure isn't larger than ours?

We likely have a smaller first team squad and I'd imagine there's significant wage money available. The club changed emphasis in the budget from transfer fees towards actual wages in January, and the process looks to have developed further under Irons. We supposedly outbid St Johnstone for Millar during the summer but were unsuccessful, showing at least in one aspect we are competitive. He might have reduced his demands too but I would still expect he's on a fair whack.

I wouldn't think so, but I think we'd all be surprised at how close it is. One things for sure, they don't have a small wage structure in comparison to a lot of other first division sides.

Its all very good having a big wage budget, but not when Douglas Rae is controlling it. No one at this level should get a three year contract nevermind players that missed out on the playoffs by one goal and where the main reason for us being so shit being rewarded with three year contracts with bumper pay rises.

The thought of three more years of Ryan Harding and Peter Weatherson scares the hell out of me.

Jesus is that when Orr and McLaughlin were with you? Orr was with us in the early 1990s and was pish and McLaughlin was with us in 2000

In fairness I guess we win some and lose some. IIRC Shimmin's on a good contract and McAllister is signed until at least 2010.
Greacen/Harding should never have been given those contracts though - at least one should have been punted too...

I don't think it would be that much of a surprise to know that Morton's and St.Mirren's wage structure is similar. Everyone knows Gus has built our team on a shoestring budget. Thankfully that will hopefully change over the next couple of years.

It just shows how poor Morton FC are run as a football club then.

Or in reverse, how well St.Mirren are run.. ;)

The former - Muggy's pushing a open door on this issue.

Yes, that is equally true, but being bottom of the the first division with a wage structure that is not to dissimilar to that of an SPL club, doesn't speak volumes about the way the club is run, especially when you consider they have a bigger wage packet than most other first division sides.

Regardless of what other supporters think, Morton have so much potential. If they are run by people who at least have a clue about how to run a football club, then nothing would stop them from challenging for promotion to the SPL each season.

As above...

The chairman gains power by pointing to Morton's annual loss and spreading the fear of God among the support. IMO he's a tyrant. I have a lot of time for Rae due to the clear progress made but I'd like a change if change was a viable option.

I think a change of management would do the job. Someone who the players would look upto more, and who knows this division. Irons is a terrible manager, IMO. There are better junior managers than him, but we'll not go there.

What about John Robertson? I think someone else could do so much more for Morton than Irons is and can.

We've been through enough (inept) managers without much progress. The root of Morton's problems are in the boardroom and spread down the chain of command IMO. Changing manager would be like putting a plaster on a ruptured spleen. Maybe that's all we need, but even with basic medical knowldge I doubt it will work...

That makes a lot of sense.

Get Rae out, get Rae out...

We've got a much smaller squad, but I guess that our highest paid players get more than yours. Then again, I doubt our win bonuses are as high as yours, not that either of us ever have to pay them.

And Muggy, IMO a change of manager would do no good. We're on our 5th manager in 7 years since he took over, and the same problems remain; hardly a youth system to speak of, poor commericial activity costing us money, and interference from the boardroom in the transfer market and on matchday.

The much talked of Chris Templeman transfer - £80,000 for a good 2nd Division player, was a Dougie Rae signing, not a Jim McInally signing. When we were trying to sign Psul McGowan and Celtic were asking for £150,000, we made an offer of £80K which was rejected, and McInally said that was it done, and we weren't willing to pay anymore money, but Rae went over his head and made an offer of £100K anyway. He was known to turn up at the dressing room before and after games to give his own team talks. He once went into the dressing room after a draw to announce he was giving the team their win bonus anyway, and once doubled it after a win, which appeared to harm the players' motivation both times. The man just can't leave a manager to it, he's got poor business sense, and has created something of a 'them and us' mentality between the club and the fans.

There has been progress made of course - we're a division higher than we were when he took over, and we have an excellent training complex which is probably the best outside the SPL, but he's doing more harm than good. He's an arrogant man who'd like to be remembered as a hero, but with every Saturday his hero status is diminshed more and more, and he's not thought of by so many as the man who saved the club anymore, he's the man who's causing it to stagnate, and has taken us as far as he can.

There are some who still think of him as a hero, but it's a vicious circle really - his failings in the commercial area and overspending on transfer fees and wages mean we make a loss, so he bails us out each year through his money from sweeties, and some fans'll say 'Oh but it's his money that's stopping us being in debt' when he's actually responsible for us making a loss in the first place. We don't have to be running at a loss each year, but we are due to mismanagement.

Wow, that was a rant and a half.

Wow!!!!! Steady on, DOT. It's still very early days and although Shimmin looks the business so far it's far too early to make those kind of statements. Paul Fenwick and Brian Reid (pre-Rangers) were both better for starters. Let's not talk him up like Jim McAlister's been, the most over-rated player to grace Cappielow that I can remember in two decades. It won't do him any favours.



Tell us something we don't know. All Morton fans want is for our club to punch their weight.

Saw Shimmin in the Alaba cup game at Palmerston and thought he was outstanding that day, wasn't at the league game so can't comment on his performance that day but it was another clean sheet for you. If his performance at Palmerston was his usual standard then he is certainly one of the best in this division. From this thread looks like he is going to be your player of the season (if he stays that long and is consistent) by a mile.

Another string of superb performances from Dom. With him and Greacen at the back, I'm confident in our defence for the first time, well, ever. Fantastic find for the club.

Man of the match, another strikeforce that can't trouble him. Dom is immense.

He looked dodgy at times today. Jumped for the ball on a few occasions today and totally missed it. Other times he was unbeatable, very composed on the ball and dealt with everything properly. Him and Grecean have been great together.

We can't afford to lose him and if we are to, we'll get plenty for him.

A fantastic player - the best youngster at Cappielow since Paul McGowan.

Just like St. Mirren to miss out on a great talent

Says the guy who called Jamie Stevenson our most talented attacking midfield player since Lindberg

Shimmin was today.

GIRFUY

That will be all.