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The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours


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1 minute ago, virginton said:

It's almost as if we can take 'Hoppy's justification for his latest panic signing and file it immediately in the bin where it belongs. 

Can I take you're not a fan of Hoppy in the same way you were not a fan of Duffy and JJ? 

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What with him being the sixteenth manger of the club since 2000, I think that the same degree of scepticism is required in judging Hopkin's current actions as any of his predecessors. And if Duffy or Johannsson had done the exact same business in the transfer window to date then this thread would be in a state of total meltdown right now. 

There's an alarming degree of blind faith and wishful thinking on display at the moment, which rarely works out well for us (see the last fifteen predecessors). 

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1 hour ago, virginton said:

What with him being the sixteenth manger of the club since 2000, I think that the same degree of scepticism is required in judging Hopkin's current actions as any of his predecessors. And if Duffy or Johannsson had done the exact same business in the transfer window to date then this thread would be in a state of total meltdown right now. 

There's an alarming degree of blind faith and wishful thinking on display at the moment, which rarely works out well for us (see the last fifteen predecessors). 

The difference with Hoppy with the others is he won back to back promotions on a shoestring budget.

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Hmm, some dilemma.......    whether to cut some slack before the season even starts for a manager who had a very good playing career, gained a few Scotland caps and most importantly has a proven record of success at this level, or pay some heed to the foam-speckled rankings of a boy who hates the manager for unknown reasons, has never had any connection with professional football apart from criticising it and spends what seems to be every moment spreading bile around every corner of the interweb instead of trying to finally get himself emptied when not on his jack jones......

 

It’s a toughie.

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7 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

Hmm, some dilemma.......    whether to cut some slack before the season even starts for a manager who had a very good playing career, gained a few Scotland caps and most importantly has a proven record of success at this level, or pay some heed to the foam-speckled rankings of a boy who hates the manager for unknown reasons, has never had any connection with professional football apart from criticising it and spends what seems to be every moment spreading bile around every corner of the interweb instead of trying to finally get himself emptied when not on his jack jones......

 

It’s a toughie.

It wasn't too long ago that sections of the Morton fanbase were treating Finnish international Jonatan Johannsson with similar hushed tones of respect (read: wishful thinking) and trying to dismiss all scrutiny of both his previous record and performance. And that worked out just terrifically for them and for the club. 

Anyone who still defers to the infallible judgment of The Manager after fifteen others have traipsed in and out of the dugout in less than two decades needs their head checked out. 

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8 hours ago, gmfc said:

The difference with Hoppy with the others is he won back to back promotions on a shoestring budget.

Which obviously buys him some faith and trust that he knows what he’s doing, but equally doesn’t mean we should blindly believe he’ll turn everyone he signs into an excellent Championship player and have us waltz effortlessly into the playoffs.

The back three he had to work with at Livingston was Declan Gallagher, Craig Halkett and Alan Lithgow. A back three of Peter Grant (injury-prone, only played 10 games last season), Brian McLean (34, been playing at a lower level for the last two years) and Ryan McGeever ( released by Brechin after two successive relegations, including being part of the worst team this division has ever seen) would be unlikely to be a similarly solid foundation to build on, if we do sign the latter two.

No one’s writing any signings off before seeing them in competitive action, but it’s perfectly sensible to look at players’ track records as a guide to how good they are and anyone who says they’re happy with the calibre of centre back we’re reportedly looking at is at it. No one’s writing anyone off, but being concerned is entirely reasonable.

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2 hours ago, virginton said:

It wasn't too long ago that sections of the Morton fanbase were treating Finnish international Jonatan Johannsson with similar hushed tones of respect (read: wishful thinking) and trying to dismiss all scrutiny of both his previous record and performance. And that worked out just terrifically for them and for the club. 

Anyone who still defers to the infallible judgment of The Manager after fifteen others have traipsed in and out of the dugout in less than two decades needs their head checked out. 

Christ, here we go - yet again vt tries to rewrite history just to suit his own argument. 

Absolutely nobody hailed the appointment of JJ with "similar hushed tones of respect".  Nobody. The reality was that the board was in the main given some credit for taking what was  agreed to be a bit of a gamble on an inexperienced and untried manager rather than one of the usual suspects such as "Yogi" Hughes. It was greeted with cautious optimism, nothing more  - as has been the case with Hopkin, where his proven track record at our level has been tempered by some misgivings about the perceived quality of some of his signings to date. 

You obviously don't like him on a personal basis, for reasons unknown (shagged yer maw? Cheque bounced?)  but the more rational ones amongst us are generally looking at his appointment as potentially a better one than either McKinnon or JJ. Time will tell. In the meantime, wind yer bloody neck in for once. 

2 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

Which obviously buys him some faith and trust that he knows what he’s doing, but equally doesn’t mean we should blindly believe he’ll turn everyone he signs into an excellent Championship player and have us waltz effortlessly into the playoffs.

 

No one’s writing any signings off before seeing them in competitive action, but it’s perfectly sensible to look at players’ track records as a guide to how good they are and anyone who says they’re happy with the calibre of centre back we’re reportedly looking at is at it. No one’s writing anyone off, but being concerned is entirely reasonable.

That's a much more accurate assessment of the current position.  We have a proven manager but he is working with a lower budget than his predecessors.

Objective, not subjective. 

Fact--based analysis, actually. 

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8 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

Christ, here we go - yet again vt tries to rewrite history just to suit his own argument. 

Absolutely nobody hailed the appointment of JJ with "similar hushed tones of respect".  Nobody. The reality was that the board was in the main given some credit for taking what was  agreed to be a bit of a gamble on an inexperienced and untried manager rather than one of the usual suspects such as "Yogi" Hughes. It was greeted with cautious optimism, nothing more  - as has been the case with Hopkin, where his proven track record at our level has been tempered by some misgivings about the perceived quality of some of his signings to date. 

You obviously don't like him on a personal basis, for reasons unknown (shagged yer maw? Cheque bounced?)  but the more rational ones amongst us are generally looking at his appointment as potentially a better one than either McKinnon or JJ. Time will tell. In the meantime, wind yer bloody neck in for once. 

That's a much more accurate assessment of the current position.  We have a proven manager but he is working with a lower budget than his predecessors.

Objective, not subjective. 

Fact--based analysis, actually. 

Manager getting criticised after only our 2nd pre-season friendly would seem like some sort of record, but I'm not so sure - quite incredible!

It's just too early to judge the squad whilst they are gelling and getting to know each other.  Promising signs though on Tuesday, especially in the 2nd half.

I have no idea how the season will pan out with this squad. I can only go with what I saw on Tuesday and all 3 CB's had a good game. I'm baffled at those who saw it differently.

We were playing an established team from the league above us. It took us a wee bit to settle down, but once we did we looked alright - not the finished article by any means but I felt slightly optimistic leaving the game.

We are still in the unknown quantity part of the season. We lack a bit of creativity in midfield, and lack something up front, albeit Sutton made his presence felt.

More additions to come for the squad. Some decent loans now and I'm sure we will have a decent season... 

 

 

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12 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

Christ, here we go - yet again vt tries to rewrite history just to suit his own argument. 

Absolutely nobody hailed the appointment of JJ with "similar hushed tones of respect".  Nobody. The reality was that the board was in the main given some credit for taking what was  agreed to be a bit of a gamble on an inexperienced and untried manager rather than one of the usual suspects such as "Yogi" Hughes. It was greeted with cautious optimism, nothing more  - as has been the case with Hopkin, where his proven track record at our level has been tempered by some misgivings about the perceived quality of some of his signings to date. 

You obviously don't like him on a personal basis, for reasons unknown (shagged yer maw? Cheque bounced?)  but the more rational ones amongst us are generally looking at his appointment as potentially a better one than either McKinnon or JJ. Time will tell. In the meantime, wind yer bloody neck in for once. 

Hopkin being a better manager than Johannsson is not exactly an impressive feat. What we can tell right now - despite your shrieks of disapproval - is that Hopkin and/or the club has made a complete arse of the task of putting a central defence together. We let everyone go including KIlday, who has easily found another team at this level; we were then clearly chasing Tom Lang who went to Dunfermline instead. That was unfortunate, but then we did nothing for a whole month until someone finally checked the calendar, saw that the first compeittive game was in ten days' time and so here we are, rummaging in the clearance bin for jobbers. 

I'm absolutely fine with fans either believing or just hoping that Hopkin will prove to be a good manager for the club. But to suspend all scrutiny of the current transfer window - or to suspend rational thought by thinking relegated, seaside league dung like McGeever would turn into the next Franco Baresi under his guidance - is laughable, wishful thinking nonsense.  And if you believe that the manager's judgment cannot be questioned right now then it's time that you wound your neck in, realised that the concept of a football forum isn't for you and logged off for good.

Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. 

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Have to agree with our Viking brother on this... It doesn't matter how good a manager you think Hopkin is (I think he's about as good as we could have hoped for), but it's fair to point out that approaching the first competitive game with one fit goalkeeper who's a complete unknown quantity and one signed centre-half with a question mark over his fitness is worrying... Doesn't matter how well the rest of the team fits together if we're weak at GK and CB; that's a recipe for inconsistency and being too close to the relegation places.

I can see us signing McLean as a squad option if he proves his fitness (i.e. that he can train full-on and consistently) and would probably be OK with that; but somebody will need to explain to me how McGeever's quality has been lurking unnoticed at the heart of Brechin's defence for the last couple of seasons. If and when that happens, you'd have to conclude that we're desperate...

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

Have to agree with our Viking brother on this... It doesn't matter how good a manager you think Hopkin is (I think he's about as good as we could have hoped for), but it's fair to point out that approaching the first competitive game with one fit goalkeeper who's a complete unknown quantity and one signed centre-half with a question mark over his fitness is worrying... Doesn't matter how well the rest of the team fits together if we're weak at GK and CB; that's a recipe for inconsistency and being too close to the relegation places.

I can see us signing McLean as a squad option if he proves his fitness (i.e. that he can train full-on and consistently) and would probably be OK with that; but somebody will need to explain to me how McGeever's quality has been lurking unnoticed at the heart of Brechin's defence for the last couple of seasons. If and when that happens, you'd have to conclude that we're desperate...

I don't know what people expect from Hopkin the budget has been slashed you can only sign players with the cash on offer. If you offer peanuts you get dross.

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1 hour ago, gmfc said:

I don't know what people expect from Hopkin the budget has been slashed you can only sign players with the cash on offer. If you offer peanuts you get dross.

I don’t think anyone is having a go at Hopkin for it, just calling the calibre of player as they see it.

Anyway, Ryan McGeever has signed for Dumbarton so we’ll be looking elsewhere. Unless we’ve got someone else lined up quickly we’re looking at McAlister or Strapp as the third centre back on Tuesday, that’s assuming McLean signs as well.

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10 hours ago, TheGoon said:

Hopkin choosing to pass up on McGeever after his career-defining performance on Tuesday. Odd eh? 

Is that what happened? Or did we not offer enough money to make him go full-time ?

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19 hours ago, virginton said:

Hopkin being a better manager than Johannsson is not exactly an impressive feat. What we can tell right now - despite your shrieks of disapproval - is that Hopkin and/or the club has made a complete arse of the task of putting a central defence together. We let everyone go including KIlday, who has easily found another team at this level; we were then clearly chasing Tom Lang who went to Dunfermline instead. That was unfortunate, but then we did nothing for a whole month until someone finally checked the calendar, saw that the first compeittive game was in ten days' time and so here we are, rummaging in the clearance bin for jobbers. 

I'm absolutely fine with fans either believing or just hoping that Hopkin will prove to be a good manager for the club. But to suspend all scrutiny of the current transfer window - or to suspend rational thought by thinking relegated, seaside league dung like McGeever would turn into the next Franco Baresi under his guidance - is laughable, wishful thinking nonsense.  And if you believe that the manager's judgment cannot be questioned right now then it's time that you wound your neck in, realised that the concept of a football forum isn't for you and logged off for good.

Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. 

Spectacular telt.

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20 hours ago, virginton said:

Hopkin being a better manager than Johannsson is not exactly an impressive feat. What we can tell right now - despite your shrieks of disapproval - is that Hopkin and/or the club has made a complete arse of the task of putting a central defence together. We let everyone go including KIlday, who has easily found another team at this level; we were then clearly chasing Tom Lang who went to Dunfermline instead. That was unfortunate, but then we did nothing for a whole month until someone finally checked the calendar, saw that the first compeittive game was in ten days' time and so here we are, rummaging in the clearance bin for jobbers. 

I'm absolutely fine with fans either believing or just hoping that Hopkin will prove to be a good manager for the club. But to suspend all scrutiny of the current transfer window - or to suspend rational thought by thinking relegated, seaside league dung like McGeever would turn into the next Franco Baresi under his guidance - is laughable, wishful thinking nonsense.  And if you believe that the manager's judgment cannot be questioned right now then it's time that you wound your neck in, realised that the concept of a football forum isn't for you and logged off for good.

Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. 

Y’know,  you’d (probably) be a better poster if you dumped the exaggeration and hyperbole hyperbollocks and did what you trumpet about doing but often don’t, ie stick to the facts. For example:

despite your shrieks of disapproval” -  Really?? Last time I shrieked was in Florida in 2001, when the Summit Plummet waterslide at Blizzard Beach gave me the mother of all wedgies that felt like my arse was balancing on the business end of a meat cleaver. Nothing, but nothing, on these threads, or about fitba’ in general, is important enough to have me shrieking. What you’re referring to is me putting forward my opinions in a level-headed and balanced way; stop trying to deflect from that with your usual nonsense.

”Hopkin and/or the club has made a complete arse of the task of putting a central defence together.”    It’s true that we could, should, be in a better state defensively by now. What are the reasons though? We’re obviously offering less money than before, can’t blame anyone for going elsewhere to make a better living (see Tidser, Michael). We’ve had players on trial, some I think still are, some have been discounted, some have accepted offers elsewhere. We’re reaching the stage where the loan market is about to come into play. Fact is, we don’t know how much activity is going on behind the scenes. To definitively state that “they’ve made an arse of it” is just bollocks because you do not know any more than the rest of us.

“we did nothing for a whole month until someone finally checked the calendar, saw that the first compeittive game was in ten days' time and so here we are, rummaging in the clearance bin for jobbers.”  Surely you don’t believe they did nothing for a month??  You’ve no idea what they were doing and who may, or may not, be likely to come here. More biased bollocks.

”And if you believe that the manager's judgment cannot be questioned right now”    -   Of course it can, and I have never believed or stated otherwise. What I DO do is look calmly at the bigger picture. I’m not defending the management in this post, I’m countering the bollocks and over-reaction in your  post because it’s way over the top. In my opinion. Tone it down and your stuff might be worth reading. Maybe.

 

 

 

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