Morton - Hopefully Improving

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After a tour of Britain due to a rather journeyman playing career I was given my first chance in management by Greenock Morton Football Club, better known as Morton or the Ton. Morton are a team that just got promoted back into the Scottish Championship.

They have the third largest trophy haul of professional Scottish clubs (guess the top two) however, unlike Rangers and Celtic, only one of the trophies, the 1922 Scottish Cup is a top level one, where they beat Rangers 1-0 with the rest being lower league trophies including ten second division/Championship titles. The 1920's were the best point of Morton's history as they won the cup and finished second in the league behind Celtic. The late forties and fifties were also decent and during the war Sir Stanley Matthews played for the club. A few years later they lost another Scottish Cup final to Rangers both the first match and replay had over 130,000 fans a record for midweek. They lost their third and final cup appearance 5-0 to Rangers in 1963.

Since then they have bounced around the league and due to financial troubles dropped down to the Third division, however a takeover by the owner of Millions helped them get back up to the Championship where recently they finished second, then got relegated, in a season that saw them beat Celtic 1-0 in the Scottish league cup, before last year winning the League One after beating the league leaders in the second last game to go top. Following that the manager left for a better paying job in Asia and I was hired to fill the void.

Only thirty minutes after the news had got out that I was the manager I had received my first death threat. A text that warned of the steep price of failure, however as it was from my cousin I felt it unlikely he would follow through. Yes, I took over a club that all of my family supports many religiously and I'm sure that I will receive instant feedback any time that something goes wrong. I had only been to a handful of games at Cappielow but, I was a fan and wanted to ensure that my time at Morton was a success.

A press conference was quickly arranged and done on the pitch it was pretty quick and contained standard questions before the traditional holding a scarf aloft photo was taken. The move hadn't generated a massive interest in the press so their was a small presence and it was quickly finished.

I was informed of my budgets I had 11,152 a week in wages which gave my £1,000 exactly free and £20,000 for transfers. I then headed to the small village of Quarriers to run the practice an look at the squad.

The press predicted that we would finish 8th out of ten in the table and the appointment of a brand new manager hadn't made them think that we would finish any higher. My hope is survival and that Rangers and Hibs get promoted to pave the way for a second season promotion run but, that may be a bit ambitious and my contract doesn't even run into the second year. A quick look at the financial statements didn't make for good reading debt twice as high as the value of the team but, before I could look to heavily into it I arrived at the training pitch.

Singular it was one pitch that had grass so high that if you threw a boot on the field you would struggle to find it. A herd of cows looked on as I put the players through some drills before a match between the first team and the under 21's to see who would be of use for the season ahead and who would be moving on before the season began.
 
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The formation that I decided to go with following a quick look at the assistant report was a good old fashioned 4-4-2 and to play on the counter as we aren't as good as some of the other teams. We have great wingers and strikers but, the left and right back position could do with some help along with central midfield due to Tidser's injury. As it stands this was my best team and would be what I would use against the U-20's
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We started well against the U-20's and after 26 minutes Sabajo beat his man and whipped in a cross that Tennent hit and turned into his own net for a 1-0 lead. We grabbed a second goal seven minutes later Russell found space on the other wing and Johnstone chested down his cross and half volleyed past the keeper for 2-0.

On 37 minutes Sabajo took a Johnstone knock down and hit a great cross into the back post that Russell poked in arriving just before the defender. At half time I told the team they had done well and made nine subs to ensure that everyone got some game time. A second poor slide tackle saw Mitchell get sent off for the U-20's. MacDonald played a great through ball to McCluskey and he brought it down with a great touch before firing past the keeper.
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It finished 4-0 and after the match I met with the coaching staff to talk. After learning that Sabajo had only a six month deal I made sure to talk to his agent to get him a new one for at least the rest of the season as he looked a cut above the rest in the game. I'd also wanted to have a scout recommended some free transfers and loans that could help fill out the squad but, was told we didn't have one. Hiring a scout promptly became job number two on my to-do list.

The next day I had achieved one goal agreeing a new deal on almost the same terms with Sabajo for and extra 18 months but, still lacked a scout.

However, more on my mind were the cup draws that would determine who we would be playing in my first and second games in charge. In the league cup we got a good draw with Stirling Albion would have preferred to be at home but, oh well.
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The Challenge cup draw was worse as we got Livingston the holder and probably the fourth worst team to get and was also away. Knowing the first opponent made it real and that I had less than 4 weeks to get the squad ready for the challenge.View attachment 218589
 
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I was full of nerves before my first game. We were underdogs and I had only added one player to the squad as we still lacked a scout as no one had responded to my advert so far. Matthew Fotheringham had joined yesterday after an impressive trial. He had experience in the SPL, English Lower Leagues, Germany and Cyprus. He was quality and should be playing at a higher level than us. His £550 a week wages made him our most expensive permanent player but, he could be worth it. View attachment 218459
The team was the same as against the U-20's except Fotheringham had replaced Pepper in central midfield.

First match and all the pressure was on as we got the game underway and promptly lost the ball hoofing it forwards to Johnstone. After 12 minutes Russell had the ball in a good position out wide but, gave the ball away and it was whacked clear to Gasparrato he launched the ball forward to Johnstone who had space just outside the box but, he took to long to shoot and his effort was blocked. I yelled he had to get his shots off next time. You never get a lot of time on the ball in this league. Gasparrato gave away a poor free kick after ages spent considering it the effort was great and It bought it was in. Fortunately the ball cannoned off the brand the clearance hit the corner flag and went out for the corner.

The game was end to end but, there was a clear lack of quality as teams hit the ball long and it was hit clear every time with the keepers only having to watch shots fly past and catch a few that were right at them. At half time I told them to keep it up as we were defending well and replaced Fotheringham with Pepper to try and create something for us going forward. The second half was just a massive game of kickball as each side whacked it long and never got near the box with the ball at their feet. Gaston grabbed a cross or two and held onto a long range shot but, didn't see his goal threatened neither did the Livingston keeper.

The 90 minutes ended 0-0 and I told the players to push on and grab a the goal that could get us through. In the 95th minute O'ware got a tongue lashing as he blocked a cross then cleared the ball up the middle, a cardinal sin to me. Livingston won the ball 25 yards out and passed it around before Gibbons played in White, Gaston made himself big but, White slot past him for 1-0. I looked in hope at the linesman but, he kept his flag down correctly.

Pittman put a poor tackle in on Forbes to get himself booked. Forbes then passed the free kick straight to a Livingston player who made a 3 v 2 with one pass. It was only going to end one way and it did Gaston was beaten by a possibly offside Faria. I told the players to go all out attack to rescue the tie. A Livingston defender cleared a ball from wide to Pepper 30 yards out in front of goal. We passed the ball around well and it reached Gasparro he launched it forwards. Samuel took it down beautifully and was in on goal, he had to score and he did firing the ball in low off the post, maybe I wouldn't lose my first game in charge. We had 20 minutes to find an equaliser.

We started getting nervy with ten left and conceded a needless foul 40 yards out the ball was hit into the box and looked deep. Just before it crossed the line for a goal kick a Livingston player got an outstretched toe on the ball to redirect it to Gaston. It was slowly bouncing to him and while I turned to look upfield to see if we could counter I heard a massive roar the ball had somehow gone in. I couldn't believe it the ball was bouncing an inch high and going slower than walking pace to Gaston when I saw it and no one was anywhere near it to beat him to it. I asked the assistant what happened and he said Gaston slipped and fell the ball then hit him and went in. I practically slapped myself in the face.

Unsurprisingly that deflated the team and we created nothing. One game and one loss. We played well and drew after 90 with a team that is predicted to finish higher than us so it isn't awful but, I feel we could have done better. We will have to make up for it next week against Stirling. At least we got an entire £400 as a consolation, the riches of Scottish football.

I told the players not to worry we played well and would win soon. I also told Gaston it was one and I didn't blame him for the goal he wasn't the only player to slip that game and he would save us points over the season.

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Annoyingly the game crashed and it was just before the first auto save point and it has gone right back to the beginning not sure if I can be bothered to redo it all. I may continue this or try something different soon
 
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