The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[vikingTON]

Duffy had to go. He did what was asked of him at the beginning - sort out the aftermath of the shambolic 13/14 camapaign and establish the club in the second tier again. For that and the League Cup semi final he deserves credit; a black mark for that Spartans game though, which was a textbook display of the flaws that would see him being emptied. 

Morton aren't alone at this level in having ambitions of reaching the play-offs, credibly competing in them and eventually playing in the top flight - that was the next challenge that Duffy had to face. And over two seasons, he showed little to prove that he was up to that task. We flopped into the play-offs last season after winning one of our last ten games or something and were easily beaten in the first round; a similar and largely self-inflicted slump due to piss-poor management saw us drop from 3rd to 7th in the final two months of the campaign.  Billy Dodds and the rest of the Scottish media can whine all they want - they weren't watching a fairly capable side underachieving this season nor the turgid football that Duffy offered throughout. 

Both the departure of Rae and Duffy leave the club at a major crossroads and I don't think anyone is foolish enough to think that the only way is up from here. The club can quite easily make a cock-up of this opportunity for progress yet again.  But after probably the best part of a wasted decade spent waiting on when and how Douglas Rae would hand over control to a new boardroom structure, it's a relief to see change and a sense of renewed purpose taking hold at the club right now.  

[H Wragg]

Scenes if ‘the gardener’ gets the job!

[Coventry Saint]

13 minutes ago, virginton said:

I don't think anyone is foolish enough to think that the only way is up from here.   

I was once told your trajectory was very clearly both discernible and upward.

 

[Sittìng on the fence]

I think Aitken will get the nod.

[Alan Stubbs]

Read the last few pages of this. A hard-looking but actually quite dignified guy starting with a resigned monologue, the reluctant heir to the empire vying for control with local gangsters, minor characters with surprise financial ties to the regime, a riviera. This sounds like the prompt I need to get that screenplay off the ground. Morton sound sexy as hell.

Edited April 29, 2018 by Alan Stubbs

[DumbartonBud]

18 minutes ago, Sittìng on the fence said:

I think Aitken will get the nod.

Only if you are going part time. 

#trajectory

[Dunning1874]

4 minutes ago, Alan Stubbs said:

Read the last few pages of this. A hard-looking but actually quite dignified guy starting with a resigned monologue, the reluctant heir to the empire vying for control with local gangsters, minor characters with surprise financial ties to the regime, a riviera. This sounds like the prompt I need to get that screenplay off the ground. Morton sound sexy as hell.

People can say what they like about our failures and comic value, but no one can deny that we're Box Office.

[soccerates]

3 hours ago, FifeArab said:

for a wee club like Morton, Duffy kept them In this league, got them the playoffs and to a semi final of the league cup.

Harsh on him.

So we have just lost our chairman who saved the club and has spent a fortune to keep them going.  Now our manager is gone. A man who was a Morton legend as a player and was well respected by players and pundits. Who dragged us out of league 2 at the first attempt and has kept us in the Championship.  Tam O'Ware our goalscoring defender is off too. I expect that all the players (except the 3 who are signed for another year} will leave in protest. I do not understand those so called fans who are rejoicing.  This club is heading for the seaside leagues.

[MonEhTon]

So we have just lost our chairman who saved the club and has spent a fortune to keep them going.  Now our manager is gone. A man who was a Morton legend as a player and was well respected by players and pundits. Who dragged us out of league 2 at the first attempt and has kept us in the Championship.  Tam O'Ware our goalscoring defender is off too. I expect that all the players (except the 3 who are signed for another year} will leave in protest. I do not understand those so called fans who are rejoicing.  This club is heading for the seaside leagues.

The chairman has handed control to his son.

Our manager had taken us as far as he could. “Keeping ya in the championship” isn’t the endgame for even the less optimistic amongst the support. We can have aspirations above merely surviving and, as a full time team, should.

[LargsTON]

9 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

I don't have any ill will towards O'Ware and he's a solid Championship player, but the Hearts rumour seems to have some substance and it would be hilarious. If he doesn't considerably improve his positional awareness and concentration he will look absolutely fucking ridiculous to the point of embarrassment beside Christophe Berra and John Souttar.

That's just nonsense, Dunnimg

 

8 hours ago, aimlesswanderer said:

I’m very uneasy about the prospect of the Easdales taking over. I fear another Hugh Scott scenario.

Considering their background itd be naive to think otherwise but they're local businessmen who rely on the inverclyde community to make money.  Screwing Morton over isn't in their interests.

[roman_bairn]

People can say what they like about our failures and comic value, but no one can deny that we're Box Office.

Aye, especially if you like tragicomedies....

[D'Jaffo]

Is Ricki Lamie leaving you lot?

If so any idea where he’s going.

[TonMan]

40 minutes ago, soccerates said:

So we have just lost our chairman who saved the club and has spent a fortune to keep them going.  Now our manager is gone. A man who was a Morton legend as a player and was well respected by players and pundits. Who dragged us out of league 2 at the first attempt and has kept us in the Championship.  Tam O'Ware our goalscoring defender is off too. I expect that all the players (except the 3 who are signed for another year} will leave in protest. I do not understand those so called fans who are rejoicing.  This club is heading for the seaside leagues.

Duffy got us out of League One but despite our calamitous 13-14 season that was essentially the basic expectation for him when he came in. Our only real challengers financially/stature wise in that league were Dunfermline, and they had an absolute nightmare of a season. While we did show plenty of resilience in eventually getting promoted we shouldn't have been relying on the last day to go up ahead of Forfar and Stranraer.

There's really no reason we shouldn't be at a mid-table level in the Championship - that's Duffy again just about hitting expectations, not punching above his weight. Until we collapsed our 16-17 season was genuinely excellent and there should be a lot of goodwill towards the guy for that, but ultimately goodwill can only go so far and it gets to a point where changes need to be made.

[Scosha]

9 minutes ago, somerset_lad said:

Is Ricki Lamie leaving you lot?

If so any idea where he’s going.

Appears to be. Expect him to maybe get a Premiership club or a Championship club going for the title next season. Very good defender at this level.

[TonMan]

1 minute ago, Scosha said:

Appears to be. Expect him to maybe get a Premiership club or a Championship club going for the title next season. Very good defender at this level.

Shown a lot of improvement from when he first signed as well. Still only 24 too and seems to be maturing into a very good player.

[soccerates]

1 minute ago, Scosha said:

Appears to be. Expect him to maybe get a Premiership club or a Championship club going for the title next season. Very good defender at this level.

Expect all of the players (except the 3 on longer contracts} to leave now that the manager they respected has gone.

[Dunning1874]

49 minutes ago, LargsTON said:

That's just nonsense, Dunnimg

You reckon he's good enough for Hearts? I could see him making it with a bottom six side - he's better than some of the centre backs at Partick or Hamilton for example - but he's miles away from players the calibre of Berra and Souttar.

[tonnitus]

40 minutes ago, soccerates said:

Expect all of the players (except the 3 on longer contracts} to leave now that the manager they respected has gone.

Are you blaming Duffy's departure for players leaving at the end of their contract?

[Tri-TON]

You reckon he's good enough for Hearts? I could see him making it with a bottom six side - he's better than some of the centre backs at Partick or Hamilton for example - but he's miles away from players the calibre of Berra and Souttar.

Have to agree. Watched them play Sevco the other week and even though they were defeated I just couldn't picture him playing ahead or with the likes of Berra and Souttar. Unless of course he's quite happy to sit on the bench.

[IainMorton]

1 hour ago, Scosha said:

Appears to be. Expect him to maybe get a Premiership club or a Championship club going for the title next season. Very good defender at this level.

Losing both O’Ware and Lamie could be a disaster for us. I know we have Kilday to come back but I’d rather that Lamie stayed for at least another season. I hope whoever the new manager is they can convince him to sign a new deal.

Edited April 29, 2018 by IainMorton