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The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours


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5 minutes ago, GiGi said:

Are domestic loans even allowed outside the transfer window?

The loan window for Championship clubs has been extended to the end of February in line with League One & Two, and is for domestic loans only. This would still be absolutely bizarre though.

Could easily see McInnes wanting to move McGinn on, but with the signing of Wilson and Jacobs already not getting a game I really don't think we need him. If we were adding another signing, then assuming Bysouth is going to be the second choice goalkeeper now he's signed a professional contract I'd want a centre back and attacking midfielder before adding a player like McGinn.

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I'd take him, no doubt. I don't think Morton supporters really got just how much of a contribution a half-fit McGinn made to keeping us up last year.

If we do sign him, it will confirm that Sir Doug wants to go to a three in the middle of the park; and I can see how plenty of energy and running power around McGinn picking passes might work.

Might also mean he just doesn't fancy Jacobs, right enough.

We could definitely do with a better option at left centre-back... but I'm pretty sure we won't be signing any more defenders unless he can ship out one of the eight currently on the books.

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

I'd take him, no doubt. I don't think Morton supporters really got just how much of a contribution a half-fit McGinn made to keeping us up last year.

If we do sign him, it will confirm that Sir Doug wants to go to a three in the middle of the park; and I can see how plenty of energy and running power around McGinn picking passes might work.

Might also mean he just doesn't fancy Jacobs, right enough.

We could definitely do with a better option at left centre-back... but I'm pretty sure we won't be signing any more defenders unless he can ship out one of the eight currently on the books.

McEntee for Mclean and you're sorted. Although I'm not sure if you need a left footed player as left CB.

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You don't need one but it's a benefit. Right-footed centre backs can be awkward defensively in that role and less effective playing the ball out. It's one of the reasons why I think McLean is in the side now - although the distribution benefit is obviously missing whenever he just shells the ball away aimlessly. 

After another penalty last week I'd expect Ledger to drop out instead. 

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3 hours ago, virginton said:

You don't need one but it's a benefit. Right-footed centre backs can be awkward defensively in that role and less effective playing the ball out. It's one of the reasons why I think McLean is in the side now - although the distribution benefit is obviously missing whenever he just shells the ball away aimlessly. 

After another penalty last week I'd expect Ledger to drop out instead

Quite likely, although it's probably not too difficult to impress on him not to give away penalties from now on, rather than have us put under pressure by not having anyone with pace on the left of the centrebacks. Ledger has been generally solid if unspectacular in his time with us.  I'd rather have him in the team than one or two of the alternatives.

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6 hours ago, Alibi said:

McEntee for Mclean and you're sorted. Although I'm not sure if you need a left footed player as left CB.

My guess is that McLean is the only one putting his hand up to play there; he isn't left-footed, either, btw, but the others (Lithgow in particular) seem to regard it as Kryptonite.

Think it would be less of an issue if we were playing two CBs, but in the three the wide CBs can get really exposed. McEntee might be up to it -- he's still developing -- but see below.

5 hours ago, virginton said:

You don't need one but it's a benefit. Right-footed centre backs can be awkward defensively in that role and less effective playing the ball out. It's one of the reasons why I think McLean is in the side now - although the distribution benefit is obviously missing whenever he just shells the ball away aimlessly. 

After another penalty last week I'd expect Ledger to drop out instead. 

Imrie has already shown he has a wee ruthless streak ('no nonsense', at the very least), so I wouldn't be surprised at all if McEntee replaces Ledger, not McLean. Two penalties in two tight games aren't just marginal errors and I don't think he'll let it go.

If we're going to get anything at all up there, it will have to based on giving absolutely nothing away.

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The turnaround clearly isn't down to some massive squad clearout: he's only added Brandon (and Wilson so far to the bench)... otherwise, it's the same players, including unrecognisable versions of Blues and Muirhead.

Beyond that, he appears to have the ability to make uncomplicated decisions about shape and personnel (e.g. Russell at Kilmarnock, Ledger today) and he's got them confident and running hard. The x factor here, though, is that Imrie clearly sees that this league is really not very good and there's no reason you can't compete. That's been transmitted to the players... and, suddenly, here we are.

11 points from 5 games. One more win and we'll surpass the points total for the first eighteen games. Can't remember when, if ever, I've seen such a sudden turnaround at Cappielow.

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

The turnaround clearly isn't down to some massive squad clearout: he's only added Brandon (and Wilson so far to the bench)... otherwise, it's the same players, including unrecognisable versions of Blues and Muirhead.

Beyond that, he appears to have the ability to make uncomplicated decisions about shape and personnel (e.g. Russell at Kilmarnock, Ledger today) and he's got them confident and running hard. The x factor here, though, is that Imrie clearly sees that this league is really not very good and there's no reason you can't compete. That's been transmitted to the players... and, suddenly, here we are.

11 points from 5 games. One more win and we'll surpass the points total for the first eighteen games. Can't remember when, if ever, I've seen such a sudden turnaround at Cappielow.

2003/04 just in the opposite direction.

Any season under Duffy when it reached the last 9 games. Also in the wrong direction.

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Wait and see the SFA putting some ridiculous sanction on Imrie to protect their pointless wagon-circling exercise around footballers sticking a coupon on. We never get nice things. 

Edited by vikingTON
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12 minutes ago, GiGi said:

2003/04 just in the opposite direction.

Any season under Duffy when it reached the last 9 games. Also in the wrong direction.

Aye, the ones that went in the other direction are burned into the memory... but sudden upward movement, not so much. Might have to back as far as Rooney for that...

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

Aye, the ones that went in the other direction are burned into the memory... but sudden upward movement, not so much. Might have to back as far as Rooney for that...

Sir David Irons 2008 to keep us up.

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

Fair... although I'm not sure it was quite as dramatic (from around 0.75 ppg to 2.2 ppg is extraordinary stuff without major player turnover).

I'm just offering up shit tbh. I agree this is pretty mental and I'm enjoying it. 

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Fully deserved.

As it stands he's on 11 points and 11 goals from 5 games; it took 13 games to hit those totals this season.

Even in such a short space of time, players who'd never looked good enough for the Championship before he showed up are transformed. Take Robbie Muirhead: his Morton league record before Imrie arrived, under three different managers plus caretakers, was 28 starts, 12 sub appearances and 1 goal. It's 5 sub appearances and 2 goals under Imrie. He looks a different player, so does Gavin Reilly, so does Cameron Blues. Strapp and Lyon are back to where they were two years ago after seasons of stagnating.

We'll see what happens when a defeat inevitably comes and how the squad respond to a setback, while sadly we're probably going to have a touchline ban for Imrie to contend with at some point, but this is going superbly so far.

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