retired_darom

Midfielders

Name: Jim McAllister (SCO)
Age: 20
Profile: Young winger who has shown promise when employed by MacGregor on the right flank. His pace is his biggest asset. Currently battling it out with Chris Miller for a spot in MacGregor’s midfield. Can also be slotted in at right-back in emergencies.

Name: Scott Bannerman (SCO)
Age: 27
Profile: Another of MacGregor’s mainstays and a key figure in the Morton first team. This tireless midfielder is regularly placed at the base of MacGregor’s midfield where he breaks up opposition attacks and allows Morton’s troika of attacking midfielders to support the strikers. Remarkably consistent.

Name: Chris Millar (SCO)
Age: 22
Profile: Young midfielder with strong passing and creative abilities. Often employed on the right-side of Morton’s midfield but can direct play from the centre. Injury hampered his progress in MacGregor’s first season but has made progress since his return.

Name: Marco Maisano (AUS)
Age: 25
Profile: Younger brother of Morton’s other Maisano (John), this defensive midfielder acts as backup for Scott Bannerman, but would start on a regular basis if it weren’t for Bannerman’s consistency.

Name: Andrew Driver (SCO)
Age: 19
Profile: Another Morton squad player restricted to cameos due to the remarkable form of one of their squad mates. Signed last summer after being released from Hearts, this young left-winger has shown glimpses of true potential when given the opportunity.

Name: Kristoffer Weckström (FIN)
Age: 22
Profile: MacGregor’s first signing as a manager is believed by some to be his most important. Signed from Derby’s reserve team, Weckström has proved to be invaluable to Morton’s progress. Runner up in the 2005 Scottish Second Division player of the year award, this young Finnish winger is one of Morton’s key players.

Name: John Maisano (AUS)
Age: 27
Profile: Before a long-term spinal injury robbed Morton of his services for the majority of the season, Maisano maintained his high level of form from the previous campaign, driving the attacking thrust of MacGregor’s team from the centre of the park. He has been missed since his injury last autumn but should be fully fit for the start of the 2006/2007 season. His form in Morton’s promotion year saw him edge out Kristoffer Weckström in the Second Division Player of the Year stakes.

Name: Kieran McGuire (SCO)
Age: 19
Profile: Young Scot; plucked from Dunfirmline Athletic after Morton gained promotion, who has been forced to take up John Maisano’s playmaker mantle in the absence of the latter. Has shown signs of having real potential but has a tendency to be inconsistent due to his age. Voted young player of the month twice this season.

Others:
John Adam (21), defensive midfielder currently on the transfer list.
Steven Masterson (21), right-winger on loan from Kilmarnock. Has not made much of an impact.

Forwards

Name: Tom Brighton (SCO)
Age: 21
Profile: Young forward on a season-long-loan from Rangers. Has a lot of pace and good finishing technique, but so far he failed to turn these assets into goals. Playing time has also been curtailed due to the form of Morton’s main strikers Peter Weatherson & Alex Williams. Previously on loan at Scunthorpe in the English League Two.

Name: Jason Walker (ENG)
Age: 22
Profile: Young striker who plays perennial backup to the main strikers at the club. Has looked good coming off the bench at times but when given a starting berth he has rarely impressed.

Name: Peter Weatherson (ENG)
Age: 25
Profile: One half of Morton’s prolific strike duo that has propelled them to promotion in 2004/2005 and second place in the Scottish First Division this year. Has scored 53 goals in just over 90 games for Morton in the last three years. This form prompted Motherwell to place a £250,000 bid during the winter transfer window, which MacGregor reluctantly accepted. However, they managed to ensure that Weatherson remained part of Morton’s unexpected promotion push until the end of the season. Named as 2004/2005 Supporters Player of the Year.

Name: Alex Williams (SCO)
Age: 23
Profile: Jokingly referred to as Weatherson’s other half such is their connection on the pitch. Like his defensive counterpart Stewart Greacen, Williams is touted as one of Scottish footballs best talents outside the SPL. Has also been subject to interest from bigger clubs, but MacGregor is not ready to let his star forward leave. As we went to press he had scored 83 goals in 134 games for Morton over four years and he is their current top scorer.

Others:
Ashley Sestanovich (24), Grenadian international striker who has rarely featured since his free transfer signing last summer. Purely a backup player.

retired_darom

Thanks for the kind welcome gents.

retired_darom

The Manager’s Diary – April 2006 by James MacGregor

Every football fan knows how crucial the month of April is to their team. It’s the time when teams from across the spectrum make the final moves that define their season. That final push to survive the ignominy of relegation, the chance to grasp at a higher league position than would have been expected of them back in August, and of course for a select few there is the chance to secure a title. After being expected to fight against relegation at the beginning of the season, we found ourselves seven points behind the Scottish First Division leaders, and Scottish Second Division Champions of last season, Brechin City. If my Greenock Morton team was going to have any chance of overhauling them, this was the time to do it.

Friday 31st March, 2006
Arrived in the office this morning at about 8:30am, greeted as always by my secretary Mary McManus, some files and a hot cup of tea. Mary has been truly invaluable to me since my arrival at the club. She’s a stalwart Morton fan and always keeps me organised. Her little mantra is that “If its good for the manager, then its good for the club.” At times you need support like that.

The sheet on top of the files told me that they were contract related, and that the contents referred to two of my backroom staff members and three of the playing squad. The first staff file was about my assistant John Park and the second coach Andy Collett. Both have contracts that expire in three months. Since I’m more than happy with their work thus far; with John in particular proving to be good counsel for a younger manager, I asked Rita to get the chairman on the phone. Ten minutes and one quick chat later, Mr. Rae and I agree that a two-year extension is in order for both of them. I informed them about it at training and thankfully they were both willing to sign on at the same wages, which is particularly helpful given our current financial position. I let them know that I won’t forget it. Both will put pen to paper later this week.

The player related contractual issues are linked to veteran defender Derek Collins, Alexandre Jeannin and Jason Walker, so I ask all three to meet me at my office after training. Training is solid as usual, so I head back to the office content.

Last summer I agreed to keep Derek on for another season since I felt that his experience would be invaluable to the club after promotion, and despite the fact that he hasn’t featured this season, at 37 his influence over the younger members of the squad in training can definitely be seen. I think that Stuart Sangster has benefited the most though. Stuart has slotted right into the squad and the advice of Derek has helped. I think Derek recognised the fact that younger legs were needed and I also think he sees something of himself in Stuart, both have the determination of a lion when on they’re on the pitch. We talk for a while and agree that at the end of the season we’ll keep him on a rolling contract, but allow him to go for free if anything crops up. He could still benefit a lower league team immensely in my opinion.

I brought Jason and Alexandre in at the same time since my message to both of them was essentially the same. Neither had played very much and it was up to them to show me that they could make an impact and earn a contract. We agreed that their contracts would be assessed at the end of the season.

If I’m being honest, I think both Alexandre and I would admit that his signing was a mistake for him, and a sign of my inexperience in management. I saw a need to fill a gap in our squad and didn’t really heed the advice of our scout John Ross who saw him first hand. To be fair he hasn’t really had the chance to play given the form of Greacen, McCluskey and McQuilken – but on the other hand he’s not really shown that he deserves to be ahead of any of them when he has played. With regards to Jason, the boy definitely has some potential but he’s in the same situation as Jeannin – better players ahead of him. I do know that some scouts from the English Conference and League Two have been to see him play a couple of times, so maybe something will happen there. We’ll have to wait and see.

retired_darom

Saturday 1st April, 2006
Pre-Match
Its Ross County at home today, the final time we’ll play Alex Smith’s side this season. They’re currently sitting in 4th position, primarily thanks to the good form of left-winger Sean Kilgannon, so we’ll have to watch his runs on the flank. Luckily we’ve got a top notch left-winger of our own in Kristoffer Weckström, who just this morning was named as the First Division Player of the Month. Young Kieran McGuire was also named as Young Player of the Month and I made it a hat-trick for the club by pulling in Manager of the Month for three wins and one heck of an aberration in the 4-0 defeat away to Clyde two weeks ago. Last weeks 2-0 win against Falkirk saw us back on form though so I’m looking for the team to maintain what is our best form of the season.

Post Match – Ross County @ Home: Win 3-0
A comfortable victory today with Weckström earning another MOM award. We’re still placed in second but Brechin drew at Hamilton so the difference is now 5 points.

We had a nervy start as our opponents made a couple of half chances. The game changed on the 19th minute though as Weckström slid a though ball in from the left for Weatherson to move in on goal before he was impeded by Leigh Bronby, for which the referee stopped the game, giving us a freekick on the edge of the Ross County area. Up until this point nothing innocuous had even looked like happening – and then for some reason Steven Mackay just lost his head and introduced Peter Weatherson’s face to his fist as he was getting up from what can only be described as a clumsy challenge. Needless to say it was a crazy move and it earned him a red card.

After that the game turned into a stroll as Alex Williams scored the first with a cool finish, Scotty Bannerman lashed in a rare goal with great strike from the left hand side (its almost certainly going to be our goal of the season), and Williams completed the scoring with his second of the match. I was surprised that they didn’t use their top scorer Gary McSwegan earlier than the 71st minute, or more to the point start him, but after the sending off I suppose they just wanted to contain us.

After that hit in the first half, Pete’s going to have one heck of a shiner. Officially I’m outraged with Mackay’s conduct, but the way it transpired is really pretty comical given the innocuous nature of the incident. Apparently Mackay was berating him for “simulation” when it was nothing of the sort. Obviously a word for word account cannot be printed here. Alex’s two goals put him on 22 for the season in the league and our reliance on Pete and Alex for goals is starting to concern me slightly. They’ve scored 36 of our 48 goals in the league this season and we can’t afford for either of them to be injured in the run in. The midfield needs to take more responsibility in the final third and I’ll tell them that on Monday. This is where we miss John Maisano the most, he hit 10 from centre midfield last season and made about 10 more. McGuire has shown potential, and these things will come from him but he needs time. I just hope we’ve got it. One slight concern arising from the match is a slight knock to Scotty Bannerman, but he should be okay for next week. We’ll take it easy on him Monday and Tuesday, and put him back in the thick of things during training on Wednesday.

retired_tonytranbg79

Good stuff, keep it up I'll be following this one

retired_darom

Wednesday 5th April, 2006
The Daily Record is running a story today that Walter Smith could be on borrowed time at Rangers. They are currently third in the SPL directly behind last years champions Hearts, and current frontrunners David Hay’s Celtic. The Bhoys are four points clear of Craig Levein’s men and seven clear of their Glasgow rivals. The emergence of the Jambos in the last two seasons has certainly made things interesting.

I still can’t believe however that both Alex McLeish and Martin O’Neill are out of work since their respective dismissals. Given their pedigree I can only assume that both men are waiting for jobs of suitable standing to crop up. One manager that is doing quite well at the minute is Paul Merson at Ayr United. After they got relegated last season there was a danger of them going into free fall, but Paul has stabilised them nicely and they are currently 3rd in the league. I only mention this because when he moved up to take the Ayr job I asked him to come down and speak to my younger charges about, well what not to do with any money they get in the game, and how to deal with pressure inside and outside of the game. Anyway, he promised to come down and speak to the boys when he had a chance and he was true to his word, so I thought I’d give him a mention.

Actually sat had the chance to sit down and watch some football this evening. The Champions League quarter-final between Manchester United vs Leverkusen was on, and given my affection for my university city I was hoping for a good performance from the current Premiership leaders. Michael Owen opened the scoring early on and looks like he’s settled in well at Old Trafford after his year in Madrid, but United were on the back foot for the remainder of the half. Leverkusen managed to pull level early in the second half, but Roy Keane scored a nice goal to give United the lead with about 10 minutes left. Unfortunately for Sir Alex’s side a defensive mix-up between Silvestre and Howard allowed Berbatov to net at the end as it finished 2-2. They’re still in with a shout going into the next leg though.

retired_darom

Saturday 8th April, 2006
Pre-Match
We face Dick Campbell’s men today away from home today in what is the key match in our run-in. If we don’t beat Brechin this afternoon our chance of promotion is gone. I’ve been drumming this into the players in training all week, and given our recent form (five wins in six) the morale in the squad is good, and the players seem confident that they can break the hoodoo that Brechin have had over us in the past two seasons – in 9 games they’ve won six, drawn two and lost one.

Post Match – Away @ Brechin City: Win 3-1

We started the game on fire as Alex Williams hit his 100th career goal after three minutes, but failed to make out dominance count, going into half-time 1-0 up. Weckström came in with a knock on his thigh, so rather than risk him I put Andrew Driver on in his place.

Second half began as the first ended with us besting the league leaders all over the park and finally grabbing the second on 56 minutes with Weatherson slotting home. The next 25 minutes or so were tense though as Brechin sparked into life and we allowed the prolific Chris Templeman to score with a header from a corner. For a time it seemed like Dick Campbell’s energy on the touchline was propelling his team forward, but with 10 minutes to go, Weatherson popped up with his sixteenth of the season to seal what are a vital three points.

I’m very proud of their performance and I told them so in the dressing room afterwards. They’d worked their socks off and really earned the victory for the club. Kieran McGuire walked away with the Man of the Match award after providing one assist and constantly probing from the middle of the park, he’s really starting to grow into the playmaker role. I was also pleased with Andy Driver’s contribution in the second half. On the whole we were on song from back to front today and we’re really into our stride going into the last leg of the season. This win means that we’re only two points behind Brechin, and all we can do now is keep winning and hope they slip up.

In a post match interview I made a point of highlighting the contribution of William Bald to the press. With Williams and Weatherson picking up most of the plaudits I thought Baldy should get a nod since his saves are one of the primary reasons we’ve barely conceded in the past seven games. I also made the point that the team as a whole was in a confident mood and that after this victory there is no reason for us to fear anyone as we head towards the finishing line. When I got home, Donata told me that the chairman had rang while we were travelling back – she said that she couldn’t make out many of the words, but she was pretty sure he was happy. From what she told me it sounds like ol’Dougie Rae celebrating our victory in a bar – but that’s purely speculation. Glasses chinking and cheers of camaraderie could mean he’s anywhere…

Elsewhere in the league, Claude Anelka’s St. Mirren were relegated today. They’ve been bottom for a while now and are 14 points adrift of Dunfirmline & Hamilton, and 15 from managerless Falkirk. St. Johnstone drew at Falkirk today so our win means that we’re seven clear of them now and we can really focus on the top spot, even though we have to play them in a couple of weeks.

Tuesday 11th April, 2006
Rangers sacked Walter Smith today after defeat at the weekend to Kilmarnock followed a defeat against Hearts, a draw at Dundee and a loss against Celtic in the League Cup Final. Sky Sports News are touting Newcastle boss Graeme Souness as the favourite for the job, but there are also rumours that Joe Kinnear of Nottingham Forest, Peter Taylor of Charlton and Ian McCall, who was sacked by Dundee United in February, are in the running. Whoever gets it is going to have a tough job doing anything remarkable in the remainder of this season though.

retired_amyslack

A fine start Jimlad and I'll be loking forward to reading along with you. :thup:

retired_bbcarr

just read through this as i was editing it, and must say i'm impressed good start and all that, Jim. hope it continues

retired_darom

Wednesday 12th April, 2006
Went to dinner with Donata, John Park and his wife Sue at La Parmigiana, which is a nice little Italian restaurant in Glasgow’s west end that I can heartily recommend, but as a result I didn’t get to see the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Thanks to Sky+ though I skipped through to the goals when we got home. Both Liverpool and Man Utd went through to the semis as they beat Juve 2-0 at the Delle Alpi and Leverkusen 2-1 in Germany respectively, with van Nistelrooy and Rooney grabbing the goals for the Red Devils. Rafa Benitez won’t be happy that Chris Kirkland looks to have picked up another injury, which is a pity since he’s managed over 30 games this season and has been in good form. We’ll see on Friday if these two great rivals manage to avoid each other in the draw and pick up the other two teams vying for the biggest trophy in European club football, Bayern Munich and PSG.

Thursday 13th April, 2006
For the first time in a long time we were glad to welcome John Maisano back to training after extensive physiotherapy on what was a serious spinal injury suffered back in the autumn. He’s been taking some time off back home in Australia to aid his recuperation and looks fresh as a daisy, but I suspect that would be the case if anyone got to spend time resting up in Melbourne during the Australian summer, and got to miss what was by far one of the worst British winters I’ve seen in a long time. I’m starting to think that global warming is a myth...

Parky and I agree that we can’t rush him back given the nature of his injury, and decide to focus on getting him at least near match fit before even thinking of including him in any of the squads between now and the end of the season.