Manager of the month Dougie Imrie has praised his Morton stars and staff for turning a sorry six into a super seven.
The Cappielow boss picked up the top boss award in the Championship, after an impressive five game undefeated run. Imrie’s side were beaten 6-0 at Falkirk in November but since then they have regrouped and gone on a seven game unbeaten charge up the league.
Imrie insisted: “There won’t be many teams that will go six, seven, eight games without losing a game because it’s a very competitive league. We’ve had to play Livingston at the top end of the table. “We’ve had to play Ayr who are flying high, we’ve had to play Partick Thistle and we’ve come away with five points out of the three games. We had a tough game against Airdrie and we managed to beat them. It’s five difficult games but, like I say, every team is capable of beating anybody in this division.”
“This month and two-thirds of November, take out the Falkirk game, has brought a good return in terms of points for the club. We just want to try and continue the run for as long as we can.”
The Morton boss admitted that losing so heavily to the table-topping Bairns was a sore one but has watched his team react in exactly the right way. Imrie acknowledged: “We didn’t expect to go to Falkirk and lose as heavily as we did but you’ve got to give them credit, they’re a very good team.
“Nothing went right for us, any ball that we seemed to give them a box was in the back of the net. What happened that day has galvanised the players and staff. We had a chat the following Monday after the weekend and sat down and spoke about where we went wrong and where we need to be better. The players have taken that on board and the improvement is there for all to see.”
The recent resurgence has seen Morton climb up and within touching distance on the top half. It is even more remarkable as the Cappielow side has one of the lowest budgets in the league but Imrie continues to help them punch well above their weight.
The former Hamilton star explained: “There was a big turnaround in the summer, we had to bring in 15 new players, which isn’t easy and you’ve got to get the players to gel. We’ve got a lot of younger players this season. The average age of the squad has been brought down significantly from the last two seasons I’ve been at the club. I think we’re now seeing the fruits of the team gelling together.”
The 41-year-old has been at Cappielow helm for three years and this is the eighth manager of the month he has picked up in that time. He added: “I’m honoured and delighted to pick up another award. I’ve got my staff to thank and the players because without them you don’t win these awards and we win these awards together as a team.”