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Arbroath v Morton - 18th December


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The reason our back line has been poor recently is that Lithgow is playing (I'll eschew the obvious joke), that McEntee is currently missing for some reason (minor injury I assume), that Strapp is being played at centre back despite being rather vertically challenged, and that Ledger seems to have been dropped to the bench in favour of Hynes, who is not good enough to perform that role regularly at this level.  If we had Ledger and McEntee at CB and Strapp at LB, that would be an improvement. Maybe Jacobs at RB although his true role is as a defensive midfielder tackling people and threading a pinpoint accurate pass through to - oh, hang on, that's Busquet I'm thinking of - anyway, Jacobs, passing the ball to the opposition or hoofing it aimlessly out the field of play.

A half decent manager could probably sort this team out just by picking the right players and putting them in the right formation.  We are currently less than the sum of our parts, and having the likes of Muirhead and Blues in there doesn't really help (much as they have both on rare occasions shown flashes of ability).

I'm guessing another draw, 0-0 or 1-1.

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4 minutes ago, Alibi said:

A half decent manager could probably sort this team out just by picking the right players and putting them in the right formation.  We are currently less than the sum of our parts, and having the likes of Muirhead and Blues in there doesn't really help (much as they have both on rare occasions shown flashes of ability).

I don't know if it's because my expectations were so low for him, or if because everyone around him has managed to be even worse, or he has genuinely improved but, aside from Partick away, Blues hasn't been (as) awful. Muirhead, Reilly, Allan and Lithgow have all been much worse

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3 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

I don't know if it's because my expectations were so low for him, or if because everyone around him has managed to be even worse, or he has genuinely improved but, aside from Partick away, Blues hasn't been (as) awful. Muirhead, Reilly, Allan and Lithgow have all been much worse

tumblr_nyggagk1kK1ujxxkjo1_500.gif.e78e4114e8d3c0cccbff287abf26593a.gif

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19 hours ago, virginton said:

McPherson probably handed out bonuses all round for being in the game and achieving f**k all, because he was that much of a fucking loser. It didn't change the fact that his results - in terms of actual league points - was abysmal. 

It also didn’t change the fact that, when he was sacked, we were well and truly in the pack of five teams in our own wee mini league. Yes, we were crap to watch, but we weren’t bottom and we were only a couple of points off sixth - in other words he was pretty much on target for fulfilling his remit of finishing in no lower than eighth place. Not like you to be very selective with the facts…….       😁

Personally I think he had to go on the evidence of that gutless, shambolic display against QoS in the Wee Diddy Teams Cup, but to sack him days later without having a potential replacement in mind was a mistake. I’m pretty sure we would’ve lost last Saturday with Gus in charge, but I very much doubt it would’ve been by such a margin.

2 hours ago, virginton said:

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Yes, indeed you are. Surprising to see you display a little bit of self-awareness…….    but I suppose it’ll be quite some time before we see a little humility from you.         😁

 

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'Our points total was just fine but he should have been sacked for losing a Challenge Cup game' is really not the clever argument that you think it is. Not least given that you and the vast majority of the Morton fanbase have been happy to write off the 'diddy cup' whenever it suited your happy-clapping mantra for any of our previous haddies. The now reified Jim Duffy would been sacked multiple times on that basis. 

The reality is that both league and cup performances and results were abysmal and whether we lost 1-2 or 1-6 to the league leaders on Saturday would have changed nothing of consequence. We would still be bottom now.

The decision should have been made weeks ago but instead we had to squander a series of winnable matches on a dud until the slow-learner brigade faced up to the inevitable. 

Edited by vikingTON
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4 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

Personally I think he had to go on the evidence of that gutless, shambolic display against QoS in the Wee Diddy Teams Cup, but to sack him days later without having a potential replacement in mind was a mistake.

 

Our Viking brother beat me to it, but that's an absolutely wild take... he should have been bagged because we were shite in a meaningless cup match on a shite pitch? But we should for some reason have held on after we failed to win a crucial league game that was there for the taking? Upside down.

MacPherson was sacked precisely when it was both reasonable and necessary to sack him (and that moment would have come earlier but for the 97th minute equaliser against Hamilton and the win at Dunfermline).

Anyway, MacPherson's gone (and Duffy's long gone).

Who's next? And are they going to be in place before QoS at home (and the January window to follow). That's all that matters at this stage.

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2 hours ago, virginton said:

'Our points total was just fine but he should have been sacked for losing a Challenge Cup game' is really not the clever argument that you think it is. Not least given that you and the vast majority of the Morton fanbase have been happy to write off the 'diddy cup' whenever it suited your happy-clapping mantra for any of our previous haddies. The now reified Jim Duffy would been sacked multiple times on that basis. 

The reality is that both league and cup performances and results were abysmal and whether we lost 1-2 or 1-6 to the league leaders on Saturday would have changed nothing of consequence. We would still be bottom now.

The decision should have been made weeks ago but instead we had to squander a series of winnable matches on a dud until the slow-learner brigade faced up to the inevitable. 

Not only is it not a clever argument, it isn’t what I said. To borrow from “The Virginton Anthology of Hackneyed Phrases & Keyboard Warrior Insults”, try reading for comprehension next time. 
 

I want Morton to win every game they play, regardless of the competition, though like all of us (well, all of us who are realists at least) if I had to choose a fixture to lose it would (out with the semi and the final) be in the Challenge Cup. Nor am I in any way, shape or form what you refer to as a “happy clapper” - another bland phrase trotted out from the anthology. 😜 In the very post that you were commenting on I referred to the “gutless, shambolic display” the midweek before he was bagged. I’ve said often enough recently that were painful to watch and that the long punt upfield only to see it come straight back at us wasn’t working and had to change.

To explain my original point one more time since you’re obviously either hard of thinking or, more likely, deliberately ignoring it  - we all want the team to be at least 5th, 6th or 7th if not higher.  8th is too fine a margin - squeaky-bum time.  Like it or not, when he was sacked MacPherson  had us within 2 points of that (relative) comfort zone. Had results not improved by the end of December, or had we found ourselves adrift at the bottom  by 3 or 4 points before that, I’d have expected him to be .gone  - I’ve said so before on the Morton thread. However, to bin him when we did, obviously with absolutely no idea of who would replace him and when that would be, smacks of disorganised panic.

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

Our Viking brother beat me to it, but that's an absolutely wild take... he should have been bagged because we were shite in a meaningless cup match on a shite pitch? But we should for some reason have held on after we failed to win a crucial league game that was there for the taking? Upside down.

MacPherson was sacked precisely when it was both reasonable and necessary to sack him (and that moment would have come earlier but for the 97th minute equaliser against Hamilton and the win at Dunfermline).

Anyway, MacPherson's gone (and Duffy's long gone).

Who's next? And are they going to be in place before QoS at home (and the January window to follow). That's all that matters at this stage.

😳 Christ, BARP, don’t  YOU start using vt’s tactic of twisting things to suit yourself…….

As far as I was concerned Gus’s long term future was “anywhere but Cappielow” after that game against Queens. Queens were the only team below us in the league at the time, yet they outplayed us. Better individual technique, better organised and they just wanted the result so much more than our bunch of, with very few exceptions, wimps. Doesn’t matter about the pitch or the tournament, we were absolutely dire. Even after the Ayr game, though, we were still within touching distance of what would have been a safe position had we maintained it,  that’s a straightforward fact - but I wouldn’t have been concerned had they bumped Gus after either of those games, so long as we already had a replacement in mind.  But we didn’t.

Edited by Rudolph Hucker
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9 minutes ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

To explain my original point one more time since you’re obviously either hard of thinking or, more likely, deliberately ignoring it  - we all want the team to be at least 5th, 6th or 7th if not higher.  8th is too fine a margin - squeaky-bum time.  Like it or not, when he was sacked MacPherson  had us within 2 points of that (relative) comfort zone. Had results not improved by the end of December, or had we found ourselves adrift at the bottom  by 3 or 4 points before that, I’d have expected him to be .gone

This is illogical. This was the league table when MacPherson was sacked:

274664960_SmartSelect_20211216-180631_SamsungInternet.thumb.jpg.70691036b5ee303f8e773958645a43ea.jpg

Sixth placed Hamilton were clearly not in a relatively comfortable place to be when MacPherson was sacked, as they were a grand total of 3 points from 10th. If you're only three points off the bottom with more than half the season to go, you are clearly not in any kind of comfortable position regardless of how many teams are below you.

We also didn't have those hypothetical extra three points and were level on points with the bottom two sides, so this 'we were close to the safety of mid-table' argument seems to be a complete non-sequitur.

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Whilst not wishing to intrude on your own personal grief....on to the match.

I hope a few Ton fans make the trip. Not long ago there would be 4-500 vociferous fans, 6 buses following you everywhere.

Where did it all go wrong  - no hang on !! 😊

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1 hour ago, Dunning1874 said:

This is illogical. This was the league table when MacPherson was sacked:

274664960_SmartSelect_20211216-180631_SamsungInternet.thumb.jpg.70691036b5ee303f8e773958645a43ea.jpg

Sixth placed Hamilton were clearly not in a relatively comfortable place to be when MacPherson was sacked, as they were a grand total of 3 points from 10th. If you're only three points off the bottom with more than half the season to go, you are clearly not in any kind of comfortable position regardless of how many teams are below you.

We also didn't have those hypothetical extra three points and were level on points with the bottom two sides, so this 'we were close to the safety of mid-table' argument seems to be a complete non-sequitur.

Are you guys being deliberately obtuse here?  Hamilton were “relatively” comfortable at that point. I would rather have been in their position after sixteen games than in ours - who wouldn’t? - but they would’ve been looking at us just as we were looking at them and we were all thinking “a couple of results and that could be us…….”. As were Ayr, Dunfermline and Queens.  Question:  after 17 games, Hamilton remain sixth on 17 points; Morton are bottom on 13 - whose staff and fans will be feeling SLIGHTLY more secure at the moment? None of the teams or supports involved are anything close to putting their feet up and getting the cigars out - that’s not what I was saying at all and I’m sure you know that. There is absolutely nothing illogical in what I said.

For the third  and final time - Gus had to go. It was just a question of when. But he had kept us within touching distance of safety, and we still are - we’re four points away from sixth, with  57 points still to play for.  My feeling is that we should have kept him in post until we had one or more realistic replacements in mind, not sacked him and then invited applications for the post. It’s hardly rocket science. You don’t have to agree with my opinion, but don’t  twist it to suit your own.

 

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3 hours ago, Tattie36 said:

This is a match threat, stop stinking it up with club infighting crap, take that to your own forum.

A match threat, eh? 😁 The only threat to us is that the match might take place…….

It’s an open forum, mate. Scroll on by if you’re not interested.

But if it makes feel better - your club are having a great season. You’re third in the league and are currently 14 points ahead of Hamilton in sixth. For a part-time team in this league that’s phenomenal, but without the slightest disrespect intended the five teams from Hamilton down to Morton should be thoroughly ashamed.

 

PS - anyway, there’s no room for this on the Morton  thread right now. They’re all busy on there discussing the Ayr United manager…………..          go figure…………..        🙄

 

 

 

Edited by Rudolph Hucker
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Just now, Rudolph Hucker said:

A match threat, eh? 😁 The only threat to us is that the match might take place…….

It’s an open forum, mate. Scroll on by if you’re not interested.

 

 

Quite an apt typo 😆 you’ve been here long enough to know that match threaDs are to discuss the game in question not to talk about the current off/on field clusterfeck that is Greenock Morton.

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3 minutes ago, Tattie36 said:

Quite an apt typo 😆 you’ve been here long enough to know that match threaDs are to discuss the game in question not to talk about the current off/on field clusterfeck that is Greenock Morton.

So scroll on by…….……

……but read the edit to my post first, maybe you’ll feel better. I don’t.

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10 minutes ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

So scroll on by…….……

……but read the edit to my post first, maybe you’ll feel better. I don’t.

Yeah, we’re having an amazing season thanks. I’m going to be fucking furious when I wake up and find that this was all a dream.

It’s not a case of just “scrolling by” though is it? The entire point of club specific threads is so fans of a particular team can “talk shop”, air their grievances/moan/celebrate etc without fans of other teams having to read it, unless they want to.

Edited by Tattie36
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2 hours ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

😳 Christ, BARP, don’t  YOU start using vt’s tactic of twisting things to suit yourself…….

As far as I was concerned Gus’s long term future was “anywhere but Cappielow” after that game against Queens. Queens were the only team below us in the league at the time, yet they outplayed us. Better individual technique, better organised and they just wanted the result so much more than our bunch of, with very few exceptions, wimps. Doesn’t matter about the pitch or the tournament, we were absolutely dire. Even after the Ayr game, though, we were still within touching distance of safety, that’s a straightforward fact - but I wouldn’t have been concerned had they bumped Gus after either of those games, so long as we already had a replacement in mind.  But we didn’t.

Not twisting anything. The doing at Palmerston meant precisely nothing; three points against Ayr was crucial.

Managers stand or fall on their records; MacPherson fell, rightly so and at the right time.

And let’s see what the recruitment process brings before jumping to conclusions about what we did or didn’t have in mind…

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