Tonight they take on Northwich Victoria in a friendly at the New Victoria ground as part of their mini-pre-season tour of England.
After the disappointment of missing out on promotion for the 2nd consecutive season Douglas Rae has made it clear to the management team that another failure would not be accepted.
Mcinally began the close-season by releasing a number of players from the squad.
Out the door went
Alan Mahood
John Maisano
Scott Bannerman
Paul Walker
Liam Mitchell
Stephen Hamilton
Graeme Ballantyne
Of those released only Maisano & Walker had played major roles in the 1st team last season with both possessing undoubted ability but failing to utilise it. Sorry to see both go as on the their day both players were a class above the 2nd Division.
Special mention must also go to Scott Bannerman who cemented his place in Morton history with 2 of the most important goals in our recent history. 1st goal v's Stenny and the 3rd Division winning strike against Peterhead. Scott's 1st team appearances were fairly limited last year and he suffered to an extent from being a very versatile player who never really staked a claim for a position.
Mcinally's Team
With the lose of these player the squad was looking a bit on the thin side but Jim then delved into the transfer market & made 5 good signings.
In came
Ryan Harding
Alex Walker
Andy Mclaren
Kevin Finlayson
Derek Lilley (not pictured)
Harding joined us on loan from Livingston in January and shored up the defence that had looked abit shaky with Greacen & McCluskey as the central pairing. Andy Mclaren was another January loan signing who impressed sufficiently to gain a permanent deal at Cappielow. His vision and skill helped him become a fans favourite in his 4 months at Cappielow and upon returning to Dundee Utd was able to negotiate the remaining year of his contract to allow his to join us.
Finlayson was one of the Stranraer side who pipped us to promotion this season but the lure of full-time football ensured he remained in 2nd Division - In my opinion a more industrious replacement for Paul Walker on the left wing. Alex Walker is a bit of an unknown quantity having arrived at Cappielow from Rangers after failing to make an impact in the 1st team at Ibrox. Mixed reports from a loan spell at Clyde don't help matters - however he will be seen as a replacement for Scott McLaughlin who was on loan at Cappielow for the 2nd half of last season but opted to stay at Almondvale under Paul Lambert.
By far the most popular signing of the summer was the return of Derek Lilley to Cappielow - Derek left for Leeds Utd for over £500,000 having spent 6 years & played over 150 games for Morton and firmly establishing himself as a provengoalscorerr and a fans favourite. After spells with Hearts, Bury, Oxford, Dundee Utd & Livingston Lilley opted to drop down from the SPL to help the Ton with their promotion push this year.
With these 5 additions that now gives us a decent sized squad of players
No comments:
Post a Comment