The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[vikingTON]

If you're the sort of idiot who believes that 'Hoppy' would be doing any better with the absolutely dung squad that he assembled in the first place, sure.

Edited April 7, 2021 by vikingTON

[Rudolph Hucker]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

If you're the sort of idiot who believes that 'Hoppy' would be doing any better with the absolutely dung squad that he assembled in the first place, sure.

Nonsense. All it would take is for Hopkin to do better than the guy he replaced at Ayr and Gus not to do better than he is now. Straightforward stuff -  there’s another variable in the equation outside of Morton, Einstein; take off the blinkers.

[vikingTON]

You might want to check in with Ayr fans to see how highly they rate the job he's doing with a significantly better squad. In any case, unless Crawford Rae is also bestowed with a crystal ball, where our former manager found employment weeks after his own decision to depart the club is completely irrelevant and not even remotely 'ironic' either.

Thanks for playing anyway, chump.

Edited April 7, 2021 by vikingTON

[Rudolph Hucker]

15 minutes ago, virginton said:

You might want to check in with Ayr fans to see how highly they rate the job he's doing with a significantly better squad. In any case, unless Crawford Rae is also bestowed with a crystal ball, where our former manager found employment weeks after his own decision to depart the club is completely irrelevant and not even remotely 'ironic' either.

Thanks for playing anyway, chump.

Ahh, so all of a sudden you agree that there is not only the Morton dynamic at play here........    now that I’ve pointed it out to you.

And how well Hopkin is actually doing or NOT doing is irrelevant to the point that I made. Which letter of that little word “IF” are you not understanding? And when did you start to pay the slightest heed to anything that Ayr fans said anyway??
You’re  clutching at straws here, chump. You hate to see it.

Well, to be honest I don’t,  actually. 

 

 

[The Ghost of B A R P]

On 07/04/2021 at 07:14, Dunning1874 said:

You have to acknowledge that there's an unavoidable dilemma with the squad we've got and that's due to the terrible hand MacPherson has been dealt by Hopkin and McElhone, but he's still getting something less than the sum of its parts.

There's an argument for teams who are weak defensively to play a back three as it ostensibly makes you more adept at shitfesting with an extra body in defence. This has worked for us in the past, eg in 18/19 when having two of McAlister/Waddell/Kilday either side of Buchanan made us less susceptible to pumpings. It isn't working this season, because this back three has McGinty in it who is much, much worse than any of those four and no defence he's in is going to grind out regular clean sheets. We could be playing an 8-1-1 and McGinty would contrive to give his man 5 yards of space from crosses, costing us goal after goal.

The other issue is our weak as piss attacking options. None of them are good enough for this division regardless, but they're certainly not suited to playing as lone strikers. So as well as removing a midfielder to play the back three, MacPherson feels he needs to remove one to have two centre forwards as well, along with wanting Nesbitt playing just off the two strikers. It's been more of a 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1 than 3-5-2, but adding numbers to both the defence and attack to try to compensate for how weak we are in personnel only serves to weaken us in the one area where we actually have solid Championship players.

Jacobs, McGinn (although he was stinking last night), Lyon & Colville are all good central midfield options. You also had McGuffie's form being the sole positive of McElhone's tenure. With the way we're setting up there's no place for an out and out winger like McGuffie and he can only accommodate two of those four central midfielders.

When you don't even have 11 players good enough for the division you're in, you simply can't be dropping three who are up to it to accommodate the likes of Kalvin Orsi. I would abandon the back three entirely and launch McGinty into Beaufort's Dyke, then you could get four of them into a midfield five, but knowing that there's little chance of MacPherson deviating from it he needs to at least remove an attacker and get another player in the middle of the park.

One of Oliver or Nesbitt playing as a second striker off Muirhead rather than having both, then you have McGinn and Jacobs sitting and one of Lyon and Colville ahead of them. If you need to be more attacking you have both Lyon and Colville and drop McGinn. We're going to struggle for goals regardless, we can't surrender the midfield the way we did not just last night but against East Fife in an attempt to resolve that. That doesn't stop us losing bad goals, doesn't stop us being toothless in attack but does mean we end up overrun in the area of the park where we can actually compete.

We absolutely need to get three players in the middle of the park, but not at the expense of three at the back... for the simple reason that none of our central defenders are good enough to play in a two. As soon as McPherson 'went for it' the other night by removing the third defender, ICT just waltzed through us. The only way it might be done is to play Ledger at right-back under orders not to get forward; back four when we're defending, the three shuffling over when Strapp gets forward on the other side.

I've never been convinced by three at the back at this level, but I fully expect McPherson to stick with it, given the shit hand he has been dealt.

The other bit I'm not getting is Muirhead quoted again for a starting position? He has absolutely no idea how to play as a 'centre-forward' and we've all seen that many times. He's the kind of player I just don't want to see on the park at all in a relegation scrap.

3-5-1-1, perm any three from four at the back (although McLean central would be the one I'd always start... never thought I'd write that). Then Jacobs and McGinn + Lyon or Colville (Lyon for me), then Nesbitt off Oliver. Colville/Lyon, McGuffie, Orsi to come on. Those fourteen and the extra defender should effectively be our squad for these last few games; the rest can get to f**k.

Most important thing is that the mental sharpness and willingness to keep the ball we saw in McPherson's first couple of games hasn't disappeared forever. We need to play our way out of this, with one or two of our better players in those central areas really stepping up. We don't need to score a barrow-load to win games. If we can keep the ball, keep our shape, and compete, one might be enough in any given game.

Think we'll need to get something from either Dundee or Hearts, because I can't see us getting six from six in the last two games if we absolutely have to (we're far more likely to do it if we can get our noses in front and there's a point or two of breathing space).

Play-offs don't bear thinking about...

[vikingTON]

If one of the three at the back is Sean McGinty then teams will waltz through it regardless. It is absolutely pointless to play that formation while that donkey is always ready and waiting to ship a couple of goals to the opposition and shell the ball out of play under no pressure. 

[Dunning1874]

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

We absolutely need to get three players in the middle of the park, but not at the expense of three at the back... for the simple reason that none of our central defenders are good enough to play in a two. As soon as McPherson 'went for it' the other night by removing the third defender, ICT just waltzed through us. The only way it might be done is to play Ledger at right-back under orders not to get forward; back four when we're defending, the three shuffling over when Strapp gets forward on the other side.

I've never been convinced by three at the back at this level, but I fully expect McPherson to stick with it, given the shit hand he has been dealt.

ICT did waltz through us, but that was when we were playing a 4-3-3 that was more akin to a 4-1-5, having flung Orsi and Sterling on when it could have been an extra body in midfield. They could easily pick us off because the second they crossed the halfway line they met no opposition until they reached the box as we longer had a midfield, and even at that one of the goals was still sold by McGinty contriving to be eight million lightyears away from Todorov when he could easily have picked him up and prevented that goal - much like the second in the first half and both goals ICT scored in the previous game at Cappielow - by engaging his walnut brain and bothering his arse to get within a mile of the one player he was supposed to be marking.

Despite the complete absence of a midfield we still conceded the same number with a back four containing the worst centre back in the division while we were flinging everything at chasing the game as we did with a back three and a very defensive midfield set up to grind out a 0-0. That second half is not a valid reason to write off ditching the back three.

A back four with McLean & Ledger at centre back (Fjortoft as the cover if either of them are unavailable) and McGinn & Jacobs in front of them provides a far more solid defensive set up than a back three, or for that matter a back ten, with McGinty in it.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Dunning1874

[Arch Stanton]

The 22nd anniversary of your last competitive win in Paisley...enjoy.

[Dunning1874]

As for Muirhead, yes, I wanted him punted last summer, I wanted him punted in January. If you asked me to predict his career trajectory from here it would be six months at Clyde next season followed by a loan spell at East Kilbride, then Darvel and diminishing returns from then on.

And yet, our alternatives are Kalvin Orsi, who has given no indication of being good enough for League One in his career, Gary Oliver who isn't a centre forward, and Kazaiah Sterling who had one good performance and has looked utterly lost the rest of the time. Muirhead has been consistently shite in the various positions he's been launched into, but he played more games at left back than at centre forward under Hopkin despite that tit saying he signed him to be a centre forward. He's scored twice in two games playing there, bringing him one goal behind Orsi's total for the season and ahead of Oliver. It's a desperate move, but we're absolutely desperate; better to take a shot on someone who's likely not good enough but might be up to it than persist with someone who definitely isn't like Orsi.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

4 hours ago, virginton said:

If one of the three at the back is Sean McGinty then teams will waltz through it regardless. It is absolutely pointless to play that formation while that donkey is always ready and waiting to ship a couple of goals to the opposition and shell the ball out of play under no pressure. 

Let’s not get too far into this ‘we’re gonnae get relegated cos Sean McGinty’ line... he’s one of a number of sub-standard players in a sub-standard squad, but wouldn’t be my top choice for a scapegoat (nor would he be in my top half-dozen choices for captain, right enough).

We’ve looked at our most secure with a back three, McGinty included. Other duff and/or limited centre-backs are available.

And you know that the defence hasn’t been anywhere near being this team’s biggest problem.

22 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

ICT did waltz through us, but that was when we were playing a 4-3-3 that was more akin to a 4-1-5, having flung Orsi and Sterling on when it could have been an extra body in midfield. They could easily pick us off because the second they crossed the halfway line they met no opposition until they reached the box as we longer had a midfield, and even at that one of the goals was still sold by McGinty contriving to be eight million lightyears away from Todorov when he could easily have picked him up and prevented that goal - much like the second in the first half and both goals ICT scored in the previous game at Cappielow - by engaging his walnut brain and bothering his arse to get within a mile of the one player he was supposed to be marking.

Despite the complete absence of a midfield we still conceded the same number with a back four containing the worst centre back in the division while we were flinging everything at chasing the game as we did with a back three and a very defensive midfield set up to grind out a 0-0. That second half is not a valid reason to write off ditching the back three.

A back four with McLean & Ledger at centre back (Fjortoft as the cover if either of them are unavailable) and McGinn & Jacobs in front of them provides a far more solid defensive set up than a back three, or for that matter a back ten, with McGinty in it.

Again, I totally agree that protecting the back line and having players in midfield that will give us a chance of keeping the ball is the priority.

But I have no confidence whatsoever that McLean and Ledger playing as a two won’t get murdered, no matter how much protection there is in front of them.

The hybrid four with Ledger at right-back might work, but I’m expecting McPherson to stick to his guns, for better or worse.

3 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

As for Muirhead, yes, I wanted him punted last summer, I wanted him punted in January. If you asked me to predict his career trajectory from here it would be six months at Clyde next season followed by a loan spell at East Kilbride, then Darvel and diminishing returns from then on.

And yet, our alternatives are Kalvin Orsi, who has given no indication of being good enough for League One in his career, Gary Oliver who isn't a centre forward, and Kazaiah Sterling who had one good performance and has looked utterly lost the rest of the time. Muirhead has been consistently shite in the various positions he's been launched into, but he played more games at left back than at centre forward under Hopkin despite that tit saying he signed him to be a centre forward. He's scored twice in two games playing there, bringing him one goal behind Orsi's total for the season and ahead of Oliver. It's a desperate move, but we're absolutely desperate; better to take a shot on someone who's likely not good enough but might be up to it than persist with someone who definitely isn't like Orsi.

Problem is we’re taking a shot on a player who really looks as though he couldn’t give a f**k (on top of his all-round uselessness). Bizarre but possibly revealing that McPherson hooked him immediately after he scored on Tuesday.

He just looks as though he’s trying to remember what he should do for ten minutes, then loses interest.

I’m skeptical about Oliver, but I’d play him; and I think Orsi is nothing but a nuisance player... but I’d give him the nod off the bench before Muirhead in the Alloa and Arbroath games when it might just descend into a desperate scrap.

’Desperate’ is the word, I’m afraid.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

MCT update looks like the best outcome we could hope for.

Fair play to the guys who’ve negotiated it... and let’s hope it injects a bit of positivity over the coming week.

[#Gary]

Yeah, without digging into any details, it looks on the face of it to be a job very well done by MCT. 

 

Can't wait til Crawford starts trying to charge a tenner a person for use of the car park though. The surrounding areas are hard enough to get parked in at the best of times

[#Gary]

Again, that comment is based on just glancing through the basics of the deal. With Morton having use of the car park, I'm not actually sure if that means Morton keep the income generated by the car park or if that's all going to chief c**t. I'd guess the latter but happy to be wrong on that.

Edited April 25, 2021 by #Gary

[Colkitto]

Aye, looks like a good bit of business by MCT

[Dunning1874]

Golden Casket leaving with anything after the decades of damage they've done rankles, but a debt free club with ownership of the stadium is considerably better than we had before.

I still think it might be too late to avert catastrophe and if we go down this season we won't be back at this level for years, if ever. Turning into Clyde is more likely than turning into Airdrie and it's easy to see turmoil on and off the park feeding off each other and sinking MCT's credibility before they properly get going.

If they're planning to overhaul every aspect of the club with the ultimate aim of purging the social club mentality and becoming a properly professional outfit then it's going to take years to achieve and longer to rehabilitate the club's reputation, which has been a laughing stock for the entirety of Golden Casket's reign and has plumbed new depths this season. We could do with five minutes of stability on the park to facilitate that - if they're trying to carry out a restructure of the club against drastically reduced income from being in League One while showing no sign of a promotion challenge and possibly going part-time, they're obviously more limited in what can be done. Relegation from the Championship is always going to be a risk for a club floating around the bottom end of full time budgets, but there's really no worse summer it could happen.

While we have more reasons to be pessimistic than optimistic about the future, the previous deal was nothing short of a death sentence regardless of what division we were in. There's at least a route to survival from here.

[Alibi]

We're not down yet.  Win on Friday and we definitely stay up.  Even a draw might mean we stay up.  Even if we end up in the play offs, we are capable of winning them.  The persistent problem with Morton this season has been team selection - we all pretty much know the best eleven players to make up our starting line-up, but the various managers we have had persist with leaving at least 2 of our best options on the bench or even out the squad.  Get Lyon and Colville on in midfield, Jacobs to be the ball winner and probably McGinn to make up the midfield 4, Nesbitt and Oliver up front. Ledger, Fjortoft , Mclean and Strapp as the back 4.  No McGinty.  Muirhead a desperation option if they want a bit more muscle up front.  The front 2 are not really that good, but probably the best we have, with an option of using McGuffie as a sub as at least he can shoot and get the ball on target.  Our squad is unbalanced but at least we can make the best of what we have.

[Tri-TON]

My worry is that Arbroath actually seem capable of scoring goals, whereas we don't.

[Dunning1874]

2 minutes ago, Tri-TON said:

My worry is that Arbroath actually seem capable of scoring goals, whereas we don't.

They've as many in their last 3 as we have in our last 11.

Still, the board did the right thing deciding not to sign anyone in January while Hamilton went to Arbroath and Cameron went to Alloa, then panicking right at the end of the month when all we could get was Sterling.

[Jamie_M]

7 minutes ago, Tri-TON said:

My worry is that Arbroath actually seem capable of scoring goals, whereas we don't.

Anyone with a fucking Omar avatar gets what they deserve to be honest.

[The Moonster]

On 28/04/2021 at 13:41, Jamie_M said:

Anyone with a fucking Omar avatar gets what they deserve to be honest.

He's been decent for us and probably should've played more. That said, I think it's clear League 1 is his level, he makes some truly mental decisions with the ball. James Wallace looks a player though and it's scandalous that Duffy has used him so sparingly since he came to us. His touch is excellent and he always looks to drive the team forward, can probably do a bit too much at times and lose the ball but I don't blame him in our squad of Lowland League jobbers. He's had two MOTM awards, one on Tuesday there which was fully deserved and the other he won after coming on in the 80th minute, which I suppose shows how poor our current squad is. Would love to see him come back to us and work under a gaffer that doesn't play a horrendous style of football.