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The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours


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Just watching Livi having a chance to go top of the league last night is beyond frustrating. Our squad is not far away but to have a proper go at actually challenging for the league title we are at least 2 or 3 players short just now.

I said at the start of the season the league is wide open to anyone who would be willing to invest in their squad. Early season signings gave us optimism that we could possibly challenge - then the season started and nothing - no further signings of note. We then waited on the arrival of a couple of loan signings that could make all the difference - nothing again!

Then we had Duffy saying the squad would be assessed after the first quarter of the season - nothing again!

I still believe there is no clear favourite   to win the league, Dun Utd remain my favourite at the moment to win it but St Mirren cannot be ruled out either. Livi and the Pars will probably be in the playoff's - with Morton, Queens, ICT in with a shout of grabbing once of the places.

Morton have questions to answer - why no further additions to the squad?  Has the budget been used up or has Duffy failed to bring the required players to the club?  

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2 hours ago, Coventry Saint said:

We and Livingston are proving it's possible to make huge progress in this league in a fairly short space of time.

I'm honestly surprised Morton have never fancied giving progress a go. It's a good laugh; you should try it. 

We have progressed the last 3 years on the trot, please try again.

Regarding  Livvy,  doing a grand job on their budget and getting a lot of praise and rightly so. Interestingly we are only 5 points off them having a pretty average season to date.

As for you boys progressing, well it couldn't really get much worse could it, you have been rancid for a couple of years now and throwing a few bob at it to get it right meant you simply had to progress.  

 

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2 hours ago, Colkitto said:

 

Morton have questions to answer - why no further additions to the squad?  Has the budget been used up or has Duffy failed to bring the required players to the club?  

Because the club has zero ambition to go further on the pitch. Just have to look back at last season where we were told we weren't ready for promotion when the team was flying and then a few weeks later we all of a sudden are ready to go up and we shit ourselves. I don't think anyone at the club really knew what they wanted the outcome to be last season.

The lack of ambition runs from top to bottom at the club. Just look at the way Duffy sets his team up away from home at Dunfermline last week. They were there for the taking at half-time but we came out and were happy to sit on a 1-1 draw. I get that people will say that Dunfermline have a good home record, but looking at that game on its own it was really 2 points dropped.

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On ‎29‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 10:21, Colkitto said:
Just watching Livi having a chance to go top of the league last night is beyond frustrating. Our squad is not far away but to have a proper go at actually challenging for the league title we are at least 2 or 3 players short just now.
I said at the start of the season the league is wide open to anyone who would be willing to invest in their squad. Early season signings gave us optimism that we could possibly challenge - then the season started and nothing - no further signings of note. We then waited on the arrival of a couple of loan signings that could make all the difference - nothing again!
Then we had Duffy saying the squad would be assessed after the first quarter of the season - nothing again!
I still believe there is no clear favourite   to win the league, Dun Utd remain my favourite at the moment to win it but St Mirren cannot be ruled out either. Livi and the Pars will probably be in the playoff's - with Morton, Queens, ICT in with a shout of grabbing once of the places.
Morton have questions to answer - why no further additions to the squad?  Has the budget been used up or has Duffy failed to bring the required players to the club?  

 

 


I wonder if our project brave aspirations has something to do with our lack of additional signings?

The club seem really keen to point out how many youth academy graduates are in the matchday squad as one of their key arguments for a better project brave placing (even the official team sheets have (yd) next to applicable players' names to signify it.

A larger squad of first team players would limit the number of development players on the bench.

For want of finding any explanation for the unfathomable grinding to a halt of our transfer activity, am i being too cynical?

 

DQC-buRW0AAAML-.jpg

Edited by Jamie_M
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3 hours ago, Jamie_M said:

 

 


I wonder if our project brave aspirations has something to do with our lack of additional signings?

The club seem really keen to point out how many youth academy graduates are in the matchday squad as one of their key arguments for a better project brave placing (even the official team sheets have (yd) next to applicable players' names to signify it.

A larger squad of first team players would limit the number of development players on the bench.

For want of finding any explanation for the unfathomable grinding to a halt of our transfer activity, am i being too cynical?

 

DQC-buRW0AAAML-.jpg

We're not the only team to indicate development graduates...

DQDE4koWsAAlRc4.jpg

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4 minutes ago, AyrshireTon said:

Switching gears for a moment - the derby game on 2nd January is live on BBC Alba. The various websites are showing a 3pm kick off - same as the other Championship games.

Any reason why our KO time hasn't been moved?

It's not a Saturday so a 3pm kick-off can be televised.

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11 hours ago, Jamie_M said:

 

 


I wonder if our project brave aspirations has something to do with our lack of additional signings?

The club seem really keen to point out how many youth academy graduates are in the matchday squad as one of their key arguments for a better project brave placing (even the official team sheets have (yd) next to applicable players' names to signify it.

A larger squad of first team players would limit the number of development players on the bench.

For want of finding any explanation for the unfathomable grinding to a halt of our transfer activity, am i being too cynical?

 

DQC-buRW0AAAML-.jpg

And so if we do not bring young players through to the first team, what exactly, is the point of a youth academy?  The youth academy is not something nebulous, separate from the club as represented by the the first team, it’s an integral part of the club aimed at producing first team players and is starting to succeed in that role.

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It helps that they're decent players as well. Why buy in players when you've got good enough there? Of course we could do with strengthening, but I don't think the youth coming through has any impact on that.

Edited by Randy Giles
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17 hours ago, Tonsilitis said:

And so if we do not bring young players through to the first team, what exactly, is the point of a youth academy?  The youth academy is not something nebulous, separate from the club as represented by the the first team, it’s an integral part of the club aimed at producing first team players and is starting to succeed in that role.

Well quite, What is the point of a relying on a third rate youth academy -  as it is currently earmarked for support under Project Brave's proposals - for first team squad players  at this level when there are a lorryload of such players being made available on a free transfer in every summer anyway? In what way can Morton's first team possibly stand to profit from such a setup, when there already countless other clubs with better facilities, more funding (especially after PB kicks in) and a more established track record with which to pitch for youth prospects? 

Literally following the same mythical route to the Scottish La Masia as about twenty other clubs, only a decade behind the lot of them, will only lead to mediocrity, We've had plenty of that already. 

 

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17 hours ago, Randy Giles said:

It helps that they're decent players as well. Why buy in players when you've got good enough there? Of course we could do with strengthening, but I don't think the youth coming through has any impact on that.

Morton, like any other club of their size, rarely 'buy in' first team players. In fact, the vast majority are secured for nothing at the end of their contracts elsewhere.  I don't see the club having 'good enough there' in the youth ranks compared to say, Lee Kilday or Ricki Lamie - both of whom are young p[layers who were signed on a free contract from other clubs and developed at the club and while capable of playing first team football as well.  indeed the fact that the club has stooped to playing a completely finished Darren Barr instead of a development squad player in Kilday's absence underlines that conclusion. 

Some first team players in the free contract scenario are effectively 'bought' in the form of training compensation, but I'd much rather have the club pay a relative pittance to put Gary Oliver in the first team squad, rather than have the latest 30-goal a season hotshot for the reserves stink the place out on a Saturday. before heading off to his natural home in League Two or the non-leagues (see Orr, Thomas). Club directors can try and point to the 'success' of having lots of youth players on a teamsheet: I mark success by more relevant targets such as 'Morton winning for promotion to the top-flight for the first time in thirty years'. If any policy is not contributing towards that goal then it is not a 'success' at all for a professional football club. 

 

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4 minutes ago, virginton said:

Morton, like any other club of their size, rarely 'buy in' first team players. In fact, the vast majority are secured for nothing at the end of their contracts elsewhere. 

 

I'm glad you added the word rarely .  We did quite well out of it for a few years !  ;)

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