Airdrie Game Off

Today's league match versus Airdrie United has been postponed after the pitch failed an inspection early this morning.

Groundsman Mark Farrell asked for help to remove the covers from the pitch at 10am, but it would appear that they proved ineffective against the freezing temperatures that Inverclyde has suffered from over the last couple of days.

"Although the covers had been on the park since yesterday, there were still areas that gave the referee concern following the overnight drop in temperature," the club said.

The match has not been rescheduled yet, however, as both teams have been knocked out of the Scottish Cup, they both have a free week next Saturday. Therefore, this match could be played as soon as next weekend.

gmfc.net - Game Off!

Wanted: Jim McAlister

Jim McAlister's contract expires this summer, and he looks set to leave Cappielow after he rejected a new deal that would see him extend his stay with Morton.

According to today's Scottish Sun the 24-year-old is wanted by Aberdeen and St. Johnstone.

Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee has been a long term admirer of Jim; he tried to sign him in his time at Motherwell and admitted he rated the wide midfielder in an interview with the BBC website.

There were also rumours that he was in talks with St. Mirren, but James Grady has refuted those suggestions in today's Greenock Telegraph.

One thing is clear: Jim McAlister will not be playing his football with Morton next season.



Greenock Telegraph -Search For New Striker Goes On (29.01.2010)

Wake Leaves Cappielow

Morton have today released striker Brian Wake.

The 27-year-old had four months of his current contract left to run, and it appears that a pretty poor performance against Celtic might have sealed his fate. Looking back, it explains why Wake went from a starting position against the Parkhead club to sitting in the stand at Starks Park on Saturday.

According to Gateshead's official website he has joined the English Blue Square Premier club until the end of the season. "Wake is a player with a proven pedigree who we enquired about in the summer before he signed a one year deal to stay at Morton," Gateshead manager Ian Bogie told gateshead-fc.com. "He has signed on a free transfer and is contracted for the rest of the season and we will then take it from there. He is a hard working target man who can hold the ball up and who will give us a physcial presence up front - and he has already proved that he can score important goals."

In three seasons with Morton Brian made 39 starts, 32 substitute appearances and scored 20 goals. 4 of those goals came in the last three games of 2007/08 to save Morton from a play-off place - a feat that earned Wakey cult status and even resulted in a fan producing a t-shirt with his face on it.

gmfc.net - Brian Wake (26.01.2010)

gateshead-fc.com - Gateshead In Double Transfer Swoop (26.01.2010)

Raith Rovers 1 - 2 Morton

Raith Rovers 1 - Smith (pen 79)
Morton 2 - Weatherson (35, 52)

Att: 1,702


raithroversfc.com - Highlights

At the double: Peter Weatherson signed a new two year deal at the beginning of the week and started to repay James Grady's faith with a match winning brace against Raith Rovers at Starks Park today.

Grady made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Celtic in the Scottish Cup. Michael Tidser, who was making his debut, replaced Neil MacFarlane in central midfield and Brian Graham took over from Brian Wake up front.

Tidser almost made an immediate impact, but Graham could only head his inswinging free-kick into the hands of Davie McGurn in the 2nd minute.

However, this was our only proper chance of the first half. Raith, on the other hand, missed a number of guilt edged chances.



In the 15th minute former St. Mirren defender, Laurie Ellis, headed wide from an Allan Walker corner from the right. The left-back was all alone in the six yard box and really should have scored.

You'd have thought Morton would've learned their lesson, but you'd have been wrong. Ten minutes later it was Johnny Russell's turn to pass up a glorious chance to put Rovers into the lead. The Scottish youth internationalist, who is currently on loan from Dundee United, headed an Ellis cross against the upright after some clumsy defending from Stewart Greacen had gifted Rovers possession . The ball rebounded to safety and Morton breathed another huge sigh of relief.

Two minutes later Grégory Tadé made a bit of space for himself on the edge of the box, but he leaned back as he struck the ball and his shot flew high into the stand behind the goal.

So, it was a bit of surprise when Morton took the lead against the run of play in the 35th minute. Jim McAlister received an Alan Reid throw in and played a little one-two with the left-back before whipping over a delightful inswinging cross that Peter Weatherson guided into McGurn's bottom left hand corner with an expertly placed header (pictured, below).



We looked as if we were denied a stonewall penatly in the 42nd minute when Grant Murray careered clumsily into Weatherson's back, but referee Crawfurd Allan was disinterested.

Rovers had the last chance of the half but Russell could only blast wide with the goal at his mercy.

Morton doubled their lead seven minutes after the restart. Jim McAlister dispossessed Russell and passed the ball to Graham. The striker gave him it back and Jim broke away down the left before cutting the ball inside for Allan Jenkins. Jenks hooked the ball into Weatherson's path and Morton's top goalscorer took a fresh air swipe before eventually getting a shot away with his toe to beat McGurn. It wasn't a great finish, but they all count - and the goal would prove to be crucial in the end.



The game was a battle from start to finish and the period from Weatherson's second goal to Rovers' penalty was devoid of goalmouth incidents. But it was full of grit and determination as both teams battled all over a quagmire of a pitch. The game style - and the state of the pitch - ensured that it almost impossible for Michael Tidser to use his passing to exert an influence on the game, and Grady decided to replace him with Erik Paartalu in the 55th minute because of this.

I thought Tidser's debut was quite promising without being spectacular. He is a midfield playmaker who looks to dictate the play by putting his foot on the ball and looking for a pass. He isn't an attacking midfielder who runs at people with the ball and gets lots of shots away. He was tidy in possession and looks to have a good range of passing, although he did look to play a couple of very ambitious balls over the top that no one read, and probably wouldn't have got on the end of anyway. I particularly liked the way he could take a pass into feet and accurately lay the ball back into his team mate's path - rather than put it right back to where the other player was standing when he gave him the ball - with one touch. Hopefully there's more to come as he gets to know his team mates and gets the chance to play on a half decent pitch.



The penalty was awarded in the 79th minute. From our position in the stand it was hard to ascertain just what had happened, but the highlights on the Raith Rovers website shows that Dominic Shimmin clearly barged Tadé to the ground. Annoyingly the replays also proved that the foul took place well outside the box. This was a truly awful decision. Kevin Smith wasn't bothered and stepped up to put his side back into the game. He stroked his penalty down the middle, and although Colin Stewart appeared to get a hand to it, the power was such that it still found its way into the net.

The goal inspired Rovers and Tadé had two excellent chances in the 83rd and 84th minutes. He curled the first over the bar and drilled the second straight at Stewart after being put through one-on-one by Smith.

The home side had one final chance to level the match deep into stoppage time but substitute Iain Williamson dragged his left shot wide after a corner from the right found him unmarked at the back post.



Raith certainly deserved something from this match, so it was great to see Morton actually fight and scrap for a result for a change. We should take real encouragement from the fact that we managed to hold on for the three points. As recently as a few weeks back I believe we would've capitulated under the pressure. We proved we are up for the battle and this bodes well for the future.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Colin Stewart - 6
2. Ryan McGuffie - 7
3. Alan Reid - 6
4. Dominic Shimmin - 7
5. Stewart Greacen - 7
6. Michael Tidser - 7 (14. Erik Paartalu - 55 mins)
7. Kevin Finlayson - 7
8. Allan Jenkins - 6
9. Peter Weatherson - 8
10. Brian Graham - 6 (15. Iain Russell - 79 mins)
11. Jim McAlister - 7

Unused Subs:

12. David MacGregor
16. Carlo Monti
20. Kevin Cuthbert

Booked: Tidser, McGuffie.

Stewart
McGuffie Greacen Shimmin Reid
Finlayson Jenkins Tidser McAlister
Graham Weatherson

Raith Rovers: McGurn, Wilson, Ellis, Campbell, Murray, Walker, Russell (Darren Smith, 68), Simmons, Kevin Smith, Tade (Weir, 85), Ferry (Williamson, 68)

Unused Subs: Sloan, O'Connor.

Booked: Williamson

My man of the match: Peter Weatherson

Sponsor's man of the match: Mark Campbell (Raith)


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Teamsheet













Match Ticket











Greenock Telegraph - Match Report

Scottish Sun - Match Report

bbc sport - Match Report

Raith Rovers - Match Report

Tontastic Pics

Regrets, I've Had A Few

It was almost three years ago that Morton midfielder Carlo Monti was charged with serious assault for attacking a man outside a gym in Glasgow. However, crown prosecutors decided to drop the charges after full and careful consideration of all the facts and circumstances in August last year. The experience is one that Carlo believes was the boot up the backside he needed to get his career back on track after being released by Celtic.

“It is a massive pressure off my shoulders and I was always confident that would happen anyway,” Monti told the Sunday Herald's Stewart Fisher of the charges being dropped. “But it is not something that will ever go away from me. It has made me grow up and given me the reality check that I needed. When you go to any club it is a new start, you are meeting new people and you have got to make an impression on new people. I would like to think I have come here and worked hard and can prove people wrong who maybe tar me with that incident."

However, the Scotland youth internationalist doesn't believe that this was the reason he was released by the Parkhead club. “Leaving Celtic was my own downfall. That [the court case] was nothing to do with it, it was another incident within the club. I got released as a result of my own stupidity. Obviously if I look back on it now I would never have done it. But there is no point looking back on things."

Monti certainly has the technique and talent to become a regular first team player for Morton. Let's hope he can combine this ability with his new found focus and commitment to kick start his career at Cappielow.

Sunday Herald - Having fallen foul of a cull at Celtic, Morton’s Carlo Monti and Michael Tidser aren’t looking back in anger (17.01.2010)

greenockmortonfc.blogpsot.com - Monti Free To Concentrate On Football (24.08.2009)

Weatherson Signs New Deal

Morton striker Peter Weatherson has ended speculation linking him with a move to Partick Thistle by signing a new two year contract prior to Tuesday night's Scottish Cup tie versus Celtic.

Chairman Douglas Rae made a brief announcement prior to the match and also expressed his joy at Peter's decision to extend his stay at Cappielow until 2012 in his programme notes. "I am delighted to announce that Peter Weatherson has signed a 2 year contract extension. Peter was being chased by several clubs who tried to entice him to pastures new but, happily for our club, Peter has decided that 'east, west, hame's best'!"

Morton 0 - 1 Celtic

Morton 0 -
Celtic 1 - McGinn (35)

Att: 10,191



Nothing ventured, nothing gained: A solitary strike by Celtic's Northern Irish international, Niall McGinn, was enough to send Tony Mowbray's poor Celtic side through to the next round of the Scottish Cup at Morton's expense.

James Grady sprang a bit of suprise by continuing with two fowards - Brian Wake and Peter Weatherson - in a 4-4-2 formation. Elsewhere there was two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Partick Thistle on the 4th of January: Ryan McGuffie came in at right-back in place of David van Zanten, who had recently left the club to sign for Hamilton Accies, while Allan Jenkins replaced Erik Paartalu in the central midfield. Paartalu missed out through injury and new signing Michael Tidser was unavailable as he hadn't been registered in time to play. Apart from those two James Grady had a full squad to choose from.



Celtic, on the other hand, were missing a host of players: Barry Robson and Gary Caldwell had recently left to join Middlesbrough and Wigan respectively; Scott Brown, Shaun Maloney, Stephen McManus, Danny Fox, Scott McDonald, and Paul McGowan were all missing through inury or suspension; Landry N'Guemo is currently unavailable as he is at the African Cup of Nations with Cameroon; and new signings Ki Sung-Yeung and Jan Hooiveld were, like Tidser, ineligible.

Grady's decision to go with a 4-4-2 formation was an adventurous move by a manager who was determined to have a go at a weak Celtic side who are struggling in this season's SPL. However, apart from a rousing first 15 minutes in which Morton got right in the faces of their more illustrious opponents, we really failed to trouble a Celtic side who were always in control without actually impressing much themselves.



In the aforementioned rousing first 15 minutes Morton created two decent chances. In the 5th minute Allan Jenkins skited a left foot volley well wide after Brian Wake had flicked the ball into his path while lying on the ground. Then in the 18th minute Artur Boruc made his only real save of the night when he dived low to his left to block Peter Weatherson left footed shot. Peter's slaloming run past Glenn Loovens was reminiscent of the sort of charges forward that he used to make from right-back during the 2006/07 season. Unfortunately, this time he had to try and beat a Polish international goalkeeper rated to be worth about £8 million, rather than the likes of Alloa Athletic's Allan Creer.

Even though Morton were really getting in their opponents faces to stop them settling down or control the game Celtic still managed to create a couple of half chances. Colin Stewart held a Niall McGinn effort in the 15th minute. Eight minutes later Aiden McGeady fired wide after terrorising Kevin Finlayson and Ryan McGuffie.



Celtic opened the scoring in the 35th minute, and it was no surprise that it was there most impressive player on the night, Niall McGinn, who got it. Marc-Antoine Fortuné forced his way down the Morton right and skipped past Kevin Finlayson as if he wasn't there to get to the bye-line before cutting back to Georgios Samaras who failed to connect with the ball. Unfortunately, the ball ran on to the unmarked McGinn, who took a touch before smashing the ball past Stewart.

The roles were reversed shortly afterwards as Samaras released McGinn with a stunning through ball that disected the Morton back line. McGinn returned the favour to Fortuné by swinging a cross towards him at the back post, but the £3.8 million signing from French club Nancy failed to properly connect with his volley and fired into the Sinclair Street terracing.



Morton had battled hard and done well to contain the Parkhead side and go in one behind at half-time, but you could just sense that as the half wore on Celtic were beginning to get more comfortable as Zheng Zhi and Marc Crosas started to dictate the game. The goal was a big blow that the home side never really recovered from.

Celtic dominated the second period without really impressing. Colin Stewart did well to save from a stinging Samaras drive on the hour. In the 77th minute the big Greek bundled a Crosas corner into the net at the far post, but it was disallowed for handball. The replays on the Sportscene highlights proved inconclusive, as did my view in the Cowshed - so it is difficult to say whether this was the correct decision or not. However, I have my doubts. If you actually watch the goal again Ton goalkeeper Colin Stewart is looking right at Samaras as he pushes the ball into the net - but doesn't claim for handball, he actually accepts the goal and looks about to question the marking. It wouldn't be the first time Craig Thomson has used a phantom handball to disallow a goal as any Ton fan who was at New Douglas Park the day he cancelled out Chris Templeman's late equaliser will tell you.

Out-of-favour left-back Lee Naylor almost doubled Celtic's lead in the 86th minute, but his stunning right footed effort crashed back off the post and flew back out to safety.



Celtic had one more chance to score before the end but the woeful Fortuné demonstrated horrendous close control when the ball fell to him in the six yard box after Dom Shimmin inexplicably ducked under a cross from the right, and the ball rolled harmlessly into Stewart's arms. The French Guiana born player had a terrible night and remorseless Cowshed kicked him while he was down with a series of taunts including several references to Rangers' flop Filip Šebo: 'Are you Šebo in disguise', 'there's only two Filip Šebos' and 'Šebo, Šebo, Šebo'. There was also a rather loud chorus of 'What a waste of money' that can be distinctly heard on the BBC's match highlights.

In the end Celtic were pretty comfortable and deserved their win. Morton had battled well and managed to contain their opponents - but I can't help but feel that we didn't go for it as much as we should have. This Celtic team was as poor as I've seen in my lifetime, and if ever we had a chance to beat them this was it. At one down with ten minutes to go I'd love to have seen us go all out for a goal to earn a replay, but by then the players looked as if they'd given as much as they could. A 1-0 loss was nothing to be ashamed of and it felt great to see the stadium full again - I just hope that it won't be another ten years before we see another 10,000 plus crowd inside Cappielow.


Morton (4-4-2):

1. Colin Stewart - 7
2. Ryan McGuffie - 7
3. Alan Reid - 7
4. Dominic Shimmin - 8
5. Stewart Greacen - 8
6. Neil MacFarlane - 7 (15. Brian Graham - 88 mins)
7. Kevin Finlayson - 7
8. Allan Jenkins - 5
9. Peter Weatherson - 8
10. Brian Wake - 5 (14. Ryan Kane - 78 mins)
11. Jim McAlister - 6

Unused Subs:

12. Carlo Monti
16. David MacGregor
20. Kevin Cuthbert

Booked: Greacen, MacFarlane.

Stewart
McGuffie Greacen Shimmin Reid
Finlayson MacFarlane Jenkins McAlister
Weatherson Wake

Celtic:

1. Artur Boruc - 7
2. Andreas Hinkel - 7
3. Lee Naylor - 7
9. Georgios Samaras - 8
10. Marc-Antoine Fortuné - 5
14. Niall McGinn - 8
17. Marc Crosas - 7
22. Glenn Loovens - 7
27. Zheng Zhi - 7
46. Aiden McGeady - 7
48. Darren O'Dea - 7

Unused Subs: 20. Paddy McCourt, 29.Koki Mizuno, 38. Josh Thompson, 49. James Forrest, 24. Łukasz Załuska.

Booked: Samaras

Boruc
Hinkel Loovens O'Dea Naylor
Zhi Crosas McGeady
McGinn Fortuné Samaras

My man of the match: Dominic Shimmin

Sponsor's man of the match:


Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)

Match Ticket








Greenock Telegraph - Match Report

Greenock Telegraph - Match Reaction

Scottish Sun - Match Report

celticfc.net - Match Report

bbc sport - Match Report

Sky Sports - Match Report

Tontastic Pictures

Memory Match

Tennents Scottish Cup Quarter Final - 08.03.99

Morton 0 -
Celtic 3 - Viduka (9, 83), Larsson (58)

Att: 12,062

Ten years ago the Sky Sports cameras came to Cappielow for Morton versus Celtic in the quarter-final of the Tennents Scottish Cup. Dr. Jozef Venglos' Parkhead side included Henrik Larsson, Mark Viduka and Paul Lambert. In players like Paul Fenwick, John Anderson, Kevin Thomas, and Kevin Twaddle, Morton included some of the most talented professionals to have played at Cappielow in the last 20 years.

Morton made a great start and almost scored after just 30 seconds. John Anderson split the Celtic defence with an excellent through ball to Kevin Twaddle. The big wide man got to the by line but his cut back was inches ahead of Kevin Thomas.



Viduka was making his first start for the Parkhead club (he'd made a sub appearance against Dundee United the previous Saturday) after disappearing with stress shortly after signing from Croatia Zagreb. It took him nine minutes to open both his Celtic account and the scoring. The Australian internationalist picked up a weak header from Derek Anderson and pulled off a silky Cruyff turn that took him past Anderson and Harry Curran (pictured, top) before firing a stunning shot past Ally Maxwell with the outside of his right boot.

The home fans roared in approval when Kevin Twaddle humiliated former St. Mirren midfielder Paul Lambert right in front of the Cowshed. Twaddle was running along the touchline towards his own goal with Lambert in hot pursuit. Just as the European cup winner thought he had Twaddle right where he wanted him Twadds dragged the ball back and flicked it past him on the line before skipping past a couple of toilet rolls and playing the ball into Ross Matheson's feet.


Henrik Larsson showed his goalscoring instincts when he made it 2-0 in the 58th minute. Jonathan Gould's goal kick was knocked down on to Larsson by Viduka. The Swede attempted to flick the ball over Paul Fenwick's head, but the Candian internationalist read the move and attempted to head the ball back to Ally Maxwell. Unfortunately for him, the ball was short and Larsson nipped in ahead of the Ton keeper to flick the ball into the net for his 27th goal of season. Fenwick recovered from the mistake and went on to win Davie Provan's Sky Sports man of the match award (pictured, bottom). To be fair to Paul, Larsson was the top goalscorer in Europe at that point and with a goal ratio of more than a goal a game. A lot better defenders have been made a fool of by Henrik Larsson.



Derek Anderson had a goal ruled out for a debatable offside before Celtic wrapped up the tie in the 83rd minute. Regi Blinker cut the ball back for Larsson who beat Derek Anderson by letting the ball run across his body before drilling a low shot that deflected into the net via the heels of Viduka. This was a lucky deflection rather than an intentional back heel. In fact, Viduka looked as though he was trying to get out of the way of the shot.

In the end Celtic's quality was just too much for a spirited Morton side, but we did, at least, get the last laugh when Mjällby was sent-off for a second bookable offence in the 85th minute.



Morton:

1. Ally Maxwell
2. Stevie Aitken
3. Owen Archdeacon
4. Derek Anderson
5. John Anderson
6. Paul Fenwick
7. Kevin Twaddle (14. Keith Wright - 85 mins)
8. Harry Curran
9. Ross Matheson
10. Kevin Thomas
11. Craig McPherson

Unused Subs:

12. Bryan Slavin
16. Allan Blaikie

Maxwell
Aitken Fenwick D. Anderson Archdeacon
Twaddle J. Anderson Curran McPherson
Matheson
Thomas

Celtic:

1. Jonathan Gould
2. Tom Boyd
3. Stéphane Mahé (18. Tosh McKinlay)
6. Alan Stubbs
7. Henrik Larsson
8. Craig Burley
14. Paul Lambert
20. Regi Blinker
30. Vidar Riseth
35. Johann Mjällby
36. Mark Viduka (9. Harald Brattbakk)

Unused Sub:

21. Stewart Kerr

Sent Off: Mjällby (85)

Gould
Riseth Boyd Stubbs Mjällby Mahé
Burley Lambert Blinker
Larsson Viduka

Matchday Programme














Match Ticket