SpoonTon

Aye, must admit when I saw that I wondered where Imrie's trying to punt Hynes to.

I'm going to be nice to everyone involved and state this as clearly as possible: Bring correct change.

You were back in the Cowshed on the last visit, but were in the main stand on the visit before that (in December). You were in the WDE on the last pre-covid visit. Before that you were in the Cowshed, I think on your first couple of visits after promotion. Whatever the reasons, Falkirk and Dundee were given the WDE this season with supports which would've been placed in the end of the Cowshed in recent seasons (Cove and Bonyrigg were given the main stand). So it's not just you, it seems to be the decision this season. I'm guessing there's some sort of issue there - I can't actually remember if the club has commented on it. The club actually inconvenienced the home fans to give Ayr fans that end of the Cowshed last season, because we had to wait for the players to clear the field into the temporary away dressing room before we could leave at the end (otherwise we would've been able to leave by the WDE exit). So it's not as if the club hasn't been considerate of away fans in recent seasons. I guess they could explain the reasoning, but communication doesn't seem to be a strong point.

Yes, and I followed that up by writing: 'Obviously the club are aware of this, and have made a section for away fans in the Cowshed in recent years.' So while it has been a policy over the last 20 years or so, there have been times in recent years when an alternative has been tried. I thought I was being clear in what I was saying, but perhaps not clear enough. To try to be as clear as possible - about the time when the Rae's took over and the Cowshed was rebuilt (from around 2001), a policy began which meant that away fans are in the end of the main stand unless they are bringing big enough numbers to warrant opening the WDE. My point here was only to say that it's nothing new. The club know that away fans don't like this, so made a section at the end of the Cowshed for away fans. This had been used on numerous occasions for half decent away supports in recent years. For whatever reason, it hasn't been used much recently. I'm not sure if we actually still have the banner that used to separate fans, and it's difficult to steward otherwise. I'm not sure of the reasons (I assume it's cost related, i.e. stewarding) but Dundee fans would've been in there last week if were still using that area. So we seem to be back to the long held policy of main stand or WDE.

I'm not sure what you're saying isn't true. I think it was maybe the next visit when there was the trouble. That's why you were in the WDE for the first visit of the 19-20 season.

A couple of things to pick up on here. It's been the club's policy for about 20 years that away fans get the away end of the main stand - unless the club is informed to expect more than that area holds (which I think is almost 800 when the whole area is used). More than about 500 and the WDE is opened - which is an area which holds about 3000 and requires additional stewarding. I do sympathise with away fans who'd prefer to be in that end, but this isn't something new and is a cost-based decision. Obviously the club are aware of this, and have made a section for away fans in the Cowshed in recent years - but this has caused issues on occasion (including trouble between the sets of fans when Ayr fans were in there). I get that it's not great for away fans, but I suppose the bottom line is that if you bring enough you don't have to be in the main stand (which isn't particularly cramped unless it's pretty full). You might find out that you actually have the option of either on the day if you bring enough. The gmfc ticketing website is a disgrace, and it's horror isn't even mitigated very well by the club. I couldn't, like many others, even purchase my season ticket through it this year (never mind buy tickets for cup matches). But the print or mobile ticket should be there in your purchase history if you buy through the site. It's either that or get your ticket 'at the gate,' which I would take as pay at the gate (because it would say ticket office if it meant ticket office).

Can he be released and sign for another club outside of the window? Has the rule changed on that?

I didn't think there was any way for us to sign Low at the moment. Not until January at the earliest. I thought I read that loans can only go down to leagues below.

To be fair, have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday?

Usually when you buy a ticket it will only give the pick up at ticket office option, but after purchase the mobile and print PDFs appear in purchase history tab (under the transaction ID). I assume it might work the same for away tickets but, then again, the WDE doesn't have scanners - so who knows. But be warned, I haven't been able to complete a transaction on there for months, because it always fails on the card authentication page.

1. Dundee 2. Inverness CT 3. Patrick Thistle 4. Arbroath 5. Raith Rovers 6. Hamilton 7. Morton 8. Queen's Park 9. Cove Rangers 10. Ayr

Because, for Imrie, Blues' signing was the priority. Imrie clearly really rates Blues - he's the first pick in midfield. He played as captain a couple of weeks ago. He didn't choose Jacobs and clearly doesn't rate him. That's his call as manager, and he'll be judged on calls like that, but I think he didn't see Jacobs fitting into his vision for the team at all. That doesn't mean the goalposts haven't been shifted since back when McGrattan and Lyon were given deals, or that Imrie knew he'd get to add so little to the midfield, but the answer to the Blues question is obvious - he's Imrie's priority pick in midfield. Imrie was never going to go with first picks for midfield that weren't his choice, that's why Gillespie and Blues will start whenever available.

The billionaire businessmen who, by virtue of their great generosity, sponsor us to the tune of 0.0007% of their total worth, give us things like bus seats for the dug out, and even give us a star Easdale striker for on the pitch. They have their interests all over the club, but not enough interest (or whatever else) to actually just invest in the club. Who's actually saying 'no' in this situation?

Yes.

We might be going through a tricky period, particularly with other clubs on the up because of outside investment. We might be heading for relegation at some point, but we're still in a far better position to succeed as a club than most of the clubs in League One and Two. But surely you can see the myriad of troubling questions surrounding the Easdales and Morton?

Surely I'm not the only one that sees several alarm bells ringing there? There are a whole load of things that don't add up with the Easdales.

You can ignore the pick up at ticket office bit. If you buy the game there's a PDF in your order history with a QR code which you use for entry to the game (with both phone and print off options). I can't actually do it cause I get an error with the card authentication page every time, but I showed my dad how to do it yesterday.

We beat Forfar 9-1 in the 06/07 season. I don't remember anyone accusing Forfar players of trying to fix anything - just downing tools against a team happy to score a few.

The thing that actually particularly struck me in Imrie's interview last week was the bit about the club's choice in adopting an approach of bringing through their own players into the first team (referring here to Hynes, Strapp, King, McGrattan, Lyon, Easdale McGregor, and Garrity). Most of these players received new, in some cases multi-year, contracts during the season in a manner which no other player is offered a new deal. It didn't feel like these were Imrie's decisions (not directly, at least), and while most of these players won't be high earners I don't really buy the idea that's they're merely squad-fillers on next to nothing (they still require a full-time salary of some description). For whatever reason, this is the club's approach and these players look like they will have to be active squad members this season. I'm still hopeful that we'll bring in 3 or 4 others, we certainly need that, but if we don't then we've got no business remaining full-time. Bulking up a squad with local younger players just to remain full-time is a failed model - you can only do that in addition to the first team squad, not as an integral part of it. It keeps costs down in some respects, but it doesn't mean that we will have a squad which is good enough.

That all depends. Should he have signed a number of players he doesn't really believe in just so we have additional players for the League Cup? If he believes that there will be better additions to be made later in the window, then that's something which isn't really in his control. Having six players out is a higher number than you'd normally expect for any match.

No centre backs, one sub... glad I decided to stay home and watch the stream. As it is, I might not bother buying the stream. I'll hazard a guess at the general shape of the team: Schwake Pignatiello_Hynes_Strapp_King McGrattan_Blues_Lyon Garrity_Quitongo_Kabia

I don't know the ins and outs of this, but there is no reserve or develop league at the moment. I don't know the practicalities of this but how possible is it for a club like Morton to support a development or reserve team without the funding or encouragement of a development or reserve league? As it stands, the pathway is there into the first team (narrow as that might be). I'm not sure there is actually a wealth of evidence that a development squad at Morton was an effective pathway to first team football. Retaining young talent, letting them train with the first team, and sending them out on loan isn't a bad way to go.

I think what Imrie is saying is that there are players he would like to bring in, but financially they are out of reach at the moment. Perhaps we'll need to wait and see if such players aren't picked up elsewhere or if anything else comes up further into the window. I think that's the "waiting game" that he's referring to. At the moment the deals aren't there, he's happy that we're starting to build something, and we'll need to wait and see what the position looks like later. I don't think it's a case of not being able to bring anyone else in, but that he can't get the deals done to improve the squad right now.

We couldn't have complained if we were 3 or 4-1 down when they went down to 10 men. The way we defended was woeful. Simple balls over the defence were killing us, just like they did against Ukraine and Ireland. There was some awful individual defending as well as lacking defensive cohesion as a unit. There were aspects of our defending even in the second half that were nowhere near good enough. It's worrying and exactly the type of thing that decent teams like Ireland and Ukraine (and others before that) have been taking advantage of and punishing us. There's a fundamental problem in that we cannot find the balance between being solid at the back and decent going forward. Armenia going down to 10 men sort of handed us that balance last night, and you can see that we do have players who can play effective football going forward when we do that. There are positives, but there are also big improvements that need to be made. There are plenty of potential second seeds for that would give us at least as many issues as Ukraine and Ireland, never mind the likes of France and England (who look likely to be seeded there). There aren't many of the current top two seeding teams that I would feel confident going up against. The bottom line is that we need to find a way to improve.

Armstrong was the one player that I really wanted to come in for the have tonight, but I didn't quite expect this impact. I've always been a fan of his - underused under Clarke.