Winning start will have fans flooding back

Andrew Forrester • Published 2 Jul 2009 14:00

MORTON chairman Douglas Rae hopes a winning start to the season will have fans flocking back to Cappielow this season.

The Ton supremo spoke to the Tele about his expectations for the coming season and is confident that a successful early points haul will have punters packed into the stadium every week.

He said: 'I think we will do well this season, going from what I"ve heard from our manager Davie Irons and seeing how much work the players have put into training.

'They were doing double sessions before flying out to Austria last week and I know the trip will do them good.

'Davie had them out at 8am the other morning to get them in top shape for their match with Slovan Bratislava, who were in the Champions League last year.

'I think playing teams of this quality in preseason will be a fantastic test and can only do us good.

'I would have loved to be out there with them but unfortunately I couldn"t make it, but I"m on the phone getting regular updates - and they are doing very well.

'Last season we started poorly and took only four points out of a possible 27 in the first nine games.

'However, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we get off to a flyer.

'If we can give the fans something to shout about early on, they will keep coming back to support us and it"s essential to have their backing.'

Despite Rae"s confidence in his side for the next campaign, he is urging caution as he doesn"t expect them to run away with the league.

First up for Ton is a tough away trip to much-fancied Dundee and the chairman agrees The Dee will be favourites for the title.

He said: 'Dundee have spent a lot of money in their quest to get back to the Scottish Premier League and I would be surprised if they didn"t win the league.

'We will be pushing them hard and I think we could get something off them in the opening fixture as their new players may not be used to their teammates yet.

'I know from experience that"s what happened to us last year and when we brought the two boys in from Gretna it took them a while to settle.

'Who knows what will happen but this is a game we are really looking forward to.'

Three men who didn"t make it to Austria are defenders David MacGregor, Dominic Shimmin and Ryan Harding.

The trio were left behind from the trip to Obertraun but Rae revealed there is light at the end of the tunnel for the crocked Ton stars.

He said: 'It"s a shame that David, Dominic and Ryan couldn"t travel with the team through injury.

'However, a big plus for us is that David looks in good form and has started training with the ball again.

'He has been with us for 10 years now and is the club"s longest-serving player at the moment.

'David was unlucky last year with injury but we managed to go on our best run of form of the season when he was back in the team.

'That shows how important he is to us and I can"t wait for him to return.

'As for Dominic, I think it will be a while before he is back to full fitness as he has had a couple of injuries.

'Ryan is doing well and we"re looking forward to having him back too.'

One match which has had everybody talking is the annual Renfrewshire Cup Final later this month.

Rae can"t wait for the visit to St Mirren"s new stadium and is hopeful Morton can bring the cup home.

He said: 'These games are always special.

'I spoke to Gus MacPherson [the Saints manager] about it recently and he says his players love the fixture because it"s such a tough match.

'It really gets both teams in the right frame of mind and the fans don"t let any players ease off because they are so passionate.

'They have been out in Italy this summer which has resulted in the change of date to 28 July.

'We play Dumbarton in the cup just three days before so we"ll need to re-group quickly.

'Morton haven"t won the trophy in the last couple of years but I"m sure we can change that and set up a great season for our fans.'

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 02 Jul 09

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