Fresh Injury Problems

Just as Morton's injury problems appeared to be subsiding Chris Fitzgerald's article in today's Tele' throws up some fresh injuries - although the players always seem to be the same.

David MacGregor and Kieran McAnepie seem to be two very unlucky and injury prone footballers. MacGregor has a groin strain and McAnespie has broke his hand.

http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16517

Keith Jackson On Craig Thomson

On Monday night's Real Radio football phone-in Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson appeared as a guest alongside regulars Ewen and Roughie. The programme focused on Chris Templeman's disallowed goal at Hamilton. Both Jackson and Ewen were critical of referee Craig Thomson and sympathetic to Morton's anger.

Jackson has followed this up with an opinion piece in today's Record. In the article, titled - The Ref's A Homer .. Homer Simpson (pictured), Jackson gives his take on events.

In yesterday's Greenock Telegraph Roger Graham has written a similar piece and Morton chairman Douglas Rae has updated the official website with 'further comments'. You can read all of these at the links below.

The latest information according to Chris Fitzgerald in today's Greenock Telegraph comes from SFA's head of referee development Donald McVicar. He is quoted as saying: "We’ve seen the tape from Hamilton and agree the correct decision was reached. However, the way it was reached has raised some concern and we’ll be sitting down with the referee and linesman involved to discuss the situation.”

Keith Jackson: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/comment/columnists/sport-columnists/keith-jackson/2007/10/31/the-ref-s-a-homer-homer-simpson-86908-20037032/

Roger Graham: http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16499

Douglas Rae: http://www.gmfc.net/chairman/news-view.asp?id=31

Today's Tele' (Chris Fitzgerald): http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16518

Call That A Moustache Keenan?

In this month's FourFourTwo magazine (#159 - November) the regular feature 'More Than A Game' is all about Manchester City vs Manchester United. One of the boxes to the side of the article is called '10 REASONS WHY CITY ARE SO SAD'. At Number 10 it says: "Mick McCarthy, Jim Tolmie (pictured below right), Neil McNab (pictured left), Trevor Morley, Neil Pointon, Tommy Hutchinson, Paul Power, Tony Coton and Gerry Gow - what was it about City players and Moustaches?

Of the two ex-Morton players mentioned I remember Jim Tolmie's effort but I had to do a bit of searching on google images for Neil McNab. I have to agree with the United fan's sentiments - unacceptable.

Dean Keenan has attempted to carry on this tradition with this recent effort below.














http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/old/mcnab.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Tolmie

Gordon Ramsay Still Interested In Buying A Scottish Club

A Sunday Mail article has quoted celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as saying: "I want to invest in a team...to turn it around and take it into the Premier League." The article also goes on to say that Ramsay has indicated that he would like to return to Port Glasgow "sooner rather than later." fuelling rumours that he is still interested in buying Morton.

This story first appeared in a Sunday newspaper in September 2005. At that time a BBC Sport report quoted the foul mouthed ex-Rangers player as saying:

I have been keeping an eye out for the right kind of club to invest in and it will definitely be a side from north of the border, Morton would be my first choice because my dad, Gordon, was a supporter and we have strong family ties in the Greenock area. I have been speaking to David Murray about this over the last couple of years and, if anyone knows how to run a football club, it is him. I have had a look at several First, Second and Third Division clubs from Scotland and I think it would be a great idea. Morton are a team I was recommended to go to after I was released by Rangers as a youngster, so I have a soft spot for the club. Some people might think that buying into a football club is a sure-fire way to lose your money fast. But it needn't be that way at all.

At the time Douglas Rae was quick to state that the club was not for sale and in a post on http://www.gmfc.net/ he said: "In the past year, I have had two enquiries, both via solicitors.
"On both occasions, I rebutted their interest - even at the suggested price of something over £2m. I love Morton too much to think of selling."

An interesting footnote to this story is that in one of only two appearances as a Rangers player Ramsay came on as a substitute against Morton at Cappielow. He played 10 minutes of the match.

Sunday Mail (28/10/07): http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2007/10/28/gordon-ramsay-teams-up-with-old-firm-78057-20020930/

BBC Sport (6/9/05): http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/morton/4218680.stm

An Observer article on Ramsay's short football career: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,708139,00.html

*Updated* McInally On Real Radio

In tonight's Real Radio phone in the main point of discussion was Chris Templeman's goal-that-never-was. Ewen and Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson both appeared to have sympathy with Morton and concern over the referee changing his mind. Alan Rough was stubborn in his defense of the official, first trying to focus on Templeman and then claiming that the correct decision was reached and how they came to it didn't matter. Roughie was basically talking nonsense after backing himself into a corner.

The phone-in became more interesting when Morton manager Jim McInally phoned in - primarily to defend Chris Templeman as Rough seemed to be casting aspersions on his character based on the point of view that the big striker had intentionally handled the ball.

McInallys conversation with Ewen went along the following lines:

McInally: Calls because he has an issue with Roughie's comments about Chris Templeman. Says Templeman told him the ball came off his shoulder, not his arm or hand and that even if he did it was undeliberate and should still have stood. He added that this would open a whole other can of worms and was largely irrelevant.

Jim went on to give Ewen his version of events. He claims both officials had admitted to him that they both gave the goal. He also said that Thomson's explanation on the Whistleblower section of the SFA website was "unacceptable to us as a club."

McInally explained further. He said that he is now in the habit of checking whether or not both the Referee and Linesman have given the goal before celebrating so as to not make a fool of himself. He said both gave the goal. Then 3 Accies players badgered the linesman. When the Ref went over Jim initially thought he was going over to book the Accies players. He was amazed when the Referee then disallowed the goal.

Ewan: Why did the referee change his mind?

McInally: The Linesman looked reasonably young. He looked to be intimidated and overwhelmed by what was going on.

Ewen: - Did you believe it was because of Accies players / management influence that the decision was changed ?

McInally: - Yes 100%. If I could go back I think should've took my players off the park.

Ewan: - Where do you go from here?

McInally: - I hope Gordon Smith will take an interest in it. (Adding he was delighted to see a football man like Gordon get into power at the SFA).

I'll be banned for two games, Martin Clark will be banned for two games. The referee should carry the can. I would like clarification [that Refs can't change their mind after making a decision presumably] so that this can't happen again because How can I tell my players not to badger the linesman / referee if they know it can work in their favour?

Also, what if it was Celtic v Rangers?

I would like to see them punished the same way I'll be punished.

This shouldn't be swept under the carpet but I'll accept my punishment without appeal as I was probably still in the wrong.

* This isn't Jim McInally's or Ewen's exact words. It's a rough description from notes taken at the time.

The BBC Sport website has a story on Morton's protest, including an interview with Jim McInally: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/7068152.stm

Buckie Thistle At Home

Today Morton were drawn to play Buckie Thistle at Cappielow in the 3rd round of the revamped Scottish Cup. The tie will be played on Saturday the 24th of November.

Highland League side Buckie are familiar opponents. In our relatively recent Highland tours we have played them twice at their Victoria Park ground. I was at both matches and in each game the the Celtic look-a-likes in green and white hoops were decent opposition. They were strong, competitive and determined to show their senior opponents they were no mugs.

On each occasion the final score was a 1-1 draw. The first match was played on the 21/07/03 with Mel Bottiglieri scoring (pictured playing in that game) and the second match was played the following season on 19/7/04, Jason Walker netting our goal.

Buckie are a much improved side since we last played them. They are now managed by former Aberdeen and Scotland striker Duncan Shearer and have invested in some decent players. Their star man is Craig McMillan, who incidentally is from Inverness and one of my wee brothers pals. McMillan is a striker who is widely thought to be the Highland League's best player and a Scotland International at semi-professional level (Pictured below: scoring against Ireland). He scored something like 30 goals for Cove Rangers a couple of seasons back and this lead to rumours of Peterhead's Steve Paterson making an attempt to sign him, Elgin were also interested but Cove wanted £12,000. Peterhead's loss was Buckie Thistle's gain as they swooped to snap up the hitman paying an undisclosed fee.

Ex-Caley Thistle and Peterhead winger Tony Low is also on Buckie's books. My brother also knows Low who, like McMillan, is from Inverness. You might remember a stunning goal he scored for Peterhead against us at Cappielow in March last season.

Jim McInally told the BBC sport website: "It is a real bonus to be at home, but we will be respectful of Buckie Thistle. They are top of their league, have Duncan Shearer as their manager, we know some of their players and we'll have them watched."

Despite all of the praise I've given them I still expect us to smoothly progress to the next round but we could have had a much easier tie.

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/

Listen to Jim McInally talk about the Buckie match (but mostly about the Hamilton match) in the interview on this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/7068152.stm

1-1 draw match report: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.scott2/columnists/jonaton/210703highlandadventure.html

http://www.buckiethistle.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/7067901.stm

Hamilton Academical 1 - 0 Morton

Hamilton Academical 1 - McCarthy (5)
Morton 0

Att - 2,562

Morton scored a late, late equaliser to gain a creditable 1-1 draw away at New Douglas Park. Wait, it's now 2.56 am on Sunday morning and the linesman appears to be consulting with the referee over Chris Templeman's equalising goal...

As you can see from my drunken introduction posted on Saturday night Morton fans are in uproar at what is probably the strangest refereeing decision any Morton fan has witnessed at a game. The run of events as they actually happened are that Chris Templeman bundled the ball into the back of the net after a Michael Gardyne cross. The Morton support were seated in the stand behind the opposite goal so no one in our end could honestly say whether or not Templeman handled the ball. However, the referee gave the goal as did the stand side linesman. He did not as some suggest raise his flag and put it down again. Evidence of this can be seen in James McFadden's picture below:









In our stand we celebrated the goal in full, the ball was respotted and the Morton team had returned to their half to restart the match. However by that time a few Accies players surrounded the Linesman and as a result the Craig Thomson went down to the linesman to sort it out. The result? Referee and linesman conferring and then deciding to un-award a goal they had already both awarded - something they have both admitted in Sunday's and today's press - as a result of Hamilton players going nuts. In the ensuing melee Morton's management team of Jim McInally and Martin Clark and Accies' Player / Assistant Manager were sent to the stand.

Thomson has attempted to explain the situation on the whistleblower section of the SFA's website but anyone who isn't a complete moron knows he is trying to talk himself out of the situation but talking absolute rubbish in the process.

You may not believe it but there was a full 90 minutes played in this match and for me Morton were very poor and didn't deserve a draw from the game. The form from the last two matches wasn't carried over. Peter Weatherson and Iain Russell were well off the pace up front and our midfield were dominated by Alex Neil, James McArthur and James McCarthy. But I would argue that the synthetic pitch is a big advantage for the home team as the ball appeared to bounce differently and run much faster - leading to lots of misjudged Morton passes.

The only real positive for me was Chris Millar's impact after coming off the bench at the start of the second half.

The winning goal was scored in the fifth minute when Hamilton's highly rated young midfielder James McCarthy lobbed David McGurn in the Morton goal. I didn't see the whole move leading up to the goal but the consensus around me was that David McGurn was badly at fault. He appeared to race from his goal only to find himself stranded as the young 'Irishman' easily lifted the ball over him.

All in all a very controversial day that will live long in the memory but looking at the match as a whole I thought that we got what we deserved based on the 90 minutes - nothing.

Below - Champions League, you're having a laugh! Incompetent ref Craig Thomson











Morton (4-4-2):

1. McGurn - 5
2. Weatherson - 5
3. McAnespie - 6
4. Harding - 6
5. Greacen - 6
6. Shields - 6
7. Finlayson - 5(14. Gardyne - 69 mins)
8. Stevenson - 4 (12. Millar - 46 mins - 8)
9. Russell - 5 (16. Templeman - 69 mins)
10. McLaughlin - 6
11. McAlister - 6

Subs Not Used:

15. Walker
17. Graham

Booked: McLaughlin,Weatherson

Hamilton: Halliwell, Evans, Easton, Swailes, McLaughlin, McCarthy, Winters, McArthur, Offiong (Wake 71), Neil, Gilhaney.
Subs Not Used: Stevenson, Gibson, Taylor, Cerny

My man of the match: Chris Millar

Sponsors man of the match: James McCarthy

Matchday Programme (Click to enlarge)















Craig Thomson's excuse: http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/whistleblower.cfm?newsid=3324

Douglas Rae's comments: http://www.gmfc.net/chairman/news-view.asp?id=30

Tontastic / James McFadden's pictures: http://www.tontastic.com/index.cgi?dir=2007-10-27-League-A-Hamilton-JMCF

Sunday Mail match report: http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-news/scottish-football/2007/10/28/mcinally-we-were-robbed-of-point-78057-20021652/

Tele' match report and comment by Roger Graham: http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16487

http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16489

http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/article.php?sec=2&id=16495

Morton Sign 9 Youngsters From First Touch

According to an article (no byline) in the news section of today's Greenock Telegraph, Morton have signed nine players from the First Touch initiative.

The players are pictured and are listed as: Jack McArthur, Keir Abercrombie, Darren Gallacher, Alan Frizzell, Sam Ball, Craig Ellis, Iain Beattie, Brady Grierson, and Matthew McLelland.

Let's hope some of these boys go on to be the next big thing at Cappielow.

First Touch will be holding their football festival at Cappielow this Sunday.

Click on the image to read the article (you might need your glasses).