The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours

[Mon eh Ton]

There was a comment at the MCT EGM that the budget was originally going to be lower than last season, although sponsorship helped improve that slightly. Given the number of players to have left and the middling quality of some of the signings, you'd surely hope there was still a bit of money left over and that the budget wasn't that bad.

Hopefully he was just being careful with his words and not wanting to promise too much. Maybe he was just playing fans to try encourage more season ticket purchases, or playing the board to try get a better budget, but it didn't seem like the right context for that.

Surprised the supposedly imminent arrival of Kabia hasn't materialised yet but hope it does, he seems like he'd be a decent shout for a starter.

[SpoonTon]

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.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

53 minutes ago, SpoonTon said:

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.

Agree. He might have been a bit too crude with the 'manage expectations' stuff, but I'm seeing a guy who's being very, very careful with his budget, knows what he can and can't afford, and is willing to hold his nerve in order to get the right players for the right money.

I think we'll sign four more (plus a young back-up GK) between now and the end of August; if three out of the four are clear first-picks, we'll be pretty competitive in what looks like being a brutally competitive league. Either a defender, a midfielder, and two up front; or a defender and three up front (adjust if there are any further outgoings). Would be good to see maybe two of them in place before the league cup kicks off, but better to hold off if waiting means better quality.

Anybody tempted to jump on Imrie before June is out should just repeat these words to themselves: Caolan McAleer; Jordan Allan; Kudus Oyenuga; Ryan Scully; Tom Allan [insert your own particular favourite]. We've been murder since the last season and a bit under Duffy (Nicky Cadden making Hopkin look better than he was for a bit or Grangemouth in the Sun notwithstanding) and sunk to miserable depths not much more than six months ago; the wee spell before Imrie got his touchline ban showed what he's capable of with a very limited squad and I'm confident he'll move us on even if the squad ends up being only a bit better than last season.

[TheGoon]

He isn’t really wrong on the “aim to stay in the division” chat, as depressing as it is to admit. 2nd snallest budget in the league - and our signings so far reflect that. Anything above 7th would be punching.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Looking at who we have at the club, the way he set us up previously, and his signings I'm guessing he's going with a 4-3-3 and the middle three will be two deep lying players and one pushing forward from an attacking position. We have players in now who can play those midfield roles, well, have played those midfield roles and gives us a few options on how to set it up which is pretty decent for a small squad but there's a frightening lack of quality in there. How old is Alan Jenkins now?

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, TheGoon said:

He isn’t really wrong on the “aim to stay in the division” chat, as depressing as it is to admit. 2nd snallest budget in the league - and our signings so far reflect that. Anything above 7th would be punching.

Our budget doesn't look smaller than Hamilton who have basically signed no c**t so far, and if it's lower in meaningful competitive terms than Arbroath then that's a failure of our full-time model that we should have addressed before chucking yet more two year deals around. 

I don't think it would take too much quality to turn our usual 7th placed plodders into a much more competitive team at the top end next season, as there isn't the clear gulf that was obvious last season between top and bottom half clubs. 

Edited June 23, 2022 by vikingTON

[Colkitto]

We are still only in June. We won't, like most teams,  complete our squad until near the end of the transfer window.

We need a good core of squad players but we also need to see who is available in the weeks ahead.

Also we are not going to have a big squad whilst we have no games for supporters to pay into for revenue for wages. 

[DreamOakTree1]

Don’t forget this is Dougie’s first experience of signing and releasing players, having previously only coached and inherited Gus’s squad at Cappielow. He’s doing okay so far and might be finding it a bit more difficult than he expected, so is trying to be pragmatic and patience till he sees what’s coming.

[vikingTON]

4 hours ago, Colkitto said:

Also we are not going to have a big squad whilst we have no games for supporters to pay into for revenue for wages. 

While I don't think we need bodies in the door for the sake of it (before the final week of July), that's the whole point of season ticket sales. 

[Colkitto]

10 minutes ago, virginton said:

While I don't think we need bodies in the door for the sake of it (before the final week of July), that's the whole point of season ticket sales. 

Exactly

[1320Lichtie]

5 hours ago, virginton said:

Our budget doesn't look smaller than Hamilton who have basically signed no c**t so far, and if it's lower in meaningful competitive terms than Arbroath then that's a failure of our full-time model that we should have addressed before chucking yet more two year deals around. 

I don't think it would take too much quality to turn our usual 7th placed plodders into a much more competitive team at the top end next season, as there isn't the clear gulf that was obvious last season between top and bottom half clubs. 

I think our budget will be similar to Morton, Ayr, Hamilton and Cove.

Not sure why they wouldn’t be? Would budgets just not be determined by the amount of people coming through the gates and prize money? We have been middle of the road in people coming through the gates and pretty bog standard for this league and had 2nd, 5th and 7th places finish last 3 seasons 

 

Maybe slightly lower than the FT clubs because we are part time and the players only have to do 3 days work but then they obviously can have another good wage on top of it 

Edited June 23, 2022 by 1320Lichtie

[The Ghost of B A R P]

1 hour ago, 1320Lichtie said:

I think our budget will be similar to Morton, Ayr, Hamilton and Cove.

Add Raith and you’ve got the basic shape of the league.

Dundee, ICT, Partick, and QP will be various degrees of clear blue water above.

Of the six others, my guess is that Hamilton (paying the price for a too high budget and failure last year) and Raith (spunking large sums on a player who’ll never play for them) are the two who might be feeling the pinch this season.

[madton]

31 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Add Raith and you’ve got the basic shape of the league.

Dundee, ICT, Partick, and QP will be various degrees of clear blue water above.

Of the six others, my guess is that Hamilton (paying the price for a too high budget and failure last year) and Raith (spunking large sums on a player who’ll never play for them) are the two who might be feeling the pinch this season.

Not convinced ICT will be in with those 3 when it comes to budget.

I'd say they are closer to the other larger pack to be honest. 5th season at this level, shite crowds like the rest of us, I'd be surprised if they are offering significantly better wages than us, Ayr, Raith etc.

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by madton

[The Ghost of B A R P]

11 hours ago, madton said:

Not convinced ICT will be in with those 3 when it comes to budget.

I'd say they are closer to the other larger pack to be honest. 5th season at this level, shite crowds like the rest of us, I'd be surprised if they are offering significantly better wages than us, Ayr, Raith etc.

 

They quite clearly are: do you think all those players Morton or Ayr couldn't afford are relocating to the Highlands from the central belt or England because they like the scenery (or to work with Billy 'The Scrote' Dodds)?

[stepek 4 tellys]

Apparently Imrie was extremely disappointed with his budget for this season given the relative success he had when given the manager’s job. I wouldn’t rule out him returning to Accies given he was in twice for talks with McGowan(who by the way he is as thick as thieves with) but things cooled owing to Taylor digging his heels in over a settlement.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

9 minutes ago, stepek 4 tellys said:

Apparently Imrie was extremely disappointed with his budget for this season given the relative success he had when given the manager’s job. I wouldn’t rule out him returning to Accies given he was in twice for talks with McGowan(who by the way he is as thick as thieves with) but things cooled owing to Taylor digging his heels in over a settlement.

tl;dr version: McGowan thought he could bump the current manager for nothing and get Imrie in, then realised he couldn't.

More or less like Imrie thinking 'I'll sign Ross Stewart', then realising he couldn't.

[Jamie_M]

57 minutes ago, stepek 4 tellys said:

Taylor digging his heels in over a settlement.

Strange way to spell 'demanded what he was due for getting punted from his contract'.

[madton]

46 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

They quite clearly are: do you think all those players Morton or Ayr couldn't afford are relocating to the Highlands from the central belt or England because they like the scenery (or to work with Billy 'The Scrote' Dodds)?

Could it not be no one else wanted them apart from Inverness at the time and that's why they moved up there? 

Who are all these amazing players they are attracting on great wages that we can't afford? Are Robbie Deas,  Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh and Danny Devine on huge wages compared to Morton and Ayr players? David Carson came from the 7th tier of English football so prob was a step up for him but is he on crazy money compared to Morton players?

Championship players on decent but not amazing Championship wages for me.

Not saying they might pay a bit more than us for certain players, but will be closer to our level of budget than Dundee or Thistle IMO.

Be interested to hear an Inverness fans opinion on their budget. Happy to be corrected.

A lot of fans guesstimate budgets at this time of year, would love to see a league table of playing budgets.

 

 

[madton]

1 hour ago, stepek 4 tellys said:

Apparently Imrie was extremely disappointed with his budget for this season given the relative success he had when given the manager’s job. I wouldn’t rule out him returning to Accies given he was in twice for talks with McGowan(who by the way he is as thick as thieves with) but things cooled owing to Taylor digging his heels in over a settlement.

Budget number 1 aye but he was happy with budget number 2.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

1 hour ago, madton said:

Could it not be no one else wanted them apart from Inverness at the time and that's why they moved up there? 

Who are all these amazing players they are attracting on great wages that we can't afford? Are Robbie Deas,  Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh and Danny Devine on huge wages compared to Morton and Ayr players? David Carson came from the 7th tier of English football so prob was a step up for him but is he on crazy money compared to Morton players?

Championship players on decent but not amazing Championship wages for me.

Not saying they might pay a bit more than us for certain players, but will be closer to our level of budget than Dundee or Thistle IMO.

Be interested to hear an Inverness fans opinion on their budget. Happy to be corrected.

A lot of fans guesstimate budgets at this time of year, would love to see a league table of playing budgets.

 

 

I think they might have as many as ten players on more than the highest earner at Cappielow; like Ross County (but on a smaller scale) they need to pay more to get players up there.

Never said any of them were ‘amazing players’, btw, just that the likes of Deas, Welsh, Doran, McKay, or Samuel won’t be cheap (and that’s not to mention what Dodds himself is on, which will be 1.5 - 2x more than Imrie).

As you say, would be interesting to hear what ICT fans have to say, but I’d expect that to confirm that they’re (comfortably) in the top four… while we’re just as (un)comfortably in the bottom six…