Morton: Imrie puts McCabe sympathies aside in hope of win

Ton host the Lanarkshire side at Cappielow today, with both managers are feeling the heat after stuttering starts to the Championship campaign.

Imrie feels for the man who'll stand opposite him in the dugout on Saturday, suggesting that the pair are falling victims to their own successes of recent seasons and the expectations that follow.

McCabe is starting to feel the pressure which Imrie disagrees with (Image: alex craig) It's been a turbulent week off the park for Morton, but Imrie, who spoke to the Tele before the shock of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas's arrest on Wednesday and his court appearance, detention and sacking the following day, says the tough times on the park are a truer sign of who you can trust in the trenches beside you.

He told the Tele: "You get all the plaudits for playing good football, but it means nothing if you're not picking up wins, and I'm sure Rhys will be in a similar train of thought.

"He was getting a lot plaudits from corners of the media and commentators, and now I'm hearing bits from him over the weekend where he's getting a bit of a tough time.

"He's right, though. Where was everyone last season where they went on a magnificent run to the play-off quarter-finals? Now he's only four or five games into the season and folk are calling for his head.

"It's the nature of the beast, but I do feel for him as a young manager. We've got to carry the can when things aren't going well.

"We're both probably victims of our own successes, because when they do come, people just keep on expecting it.

"We all want to do well, and when it does go well everyone wants a cuddle and to shake your hand.

"But you won't always have those times .

"When it does get tough, that's when your real supporters get you through the bad times.

We're not there yet, but a win could see us move right up the table."

Ton want to get firing this weekend after defeat last time out (Image: Gary Bradley) Looking back on last weekend's defeat to Queen's Park, Imrie remains adamant that decisive moments could've changed the outcome of the game, should Ton have taken the chances that presented themselves too them.

"If we get the goal, it could’ve looked so different for us," he said.

“I thought in the first half we were very good. We had a lot of the ball, contrary to the stats, and the team talk is really different at half time if they don’t score their deflected goal.

“We had three chances to stop that goal from happening, and then Dom’s shot takes a deflection and goes in the net.

“It’s three sucker punches in one."

Imrie has shared the same frustrations at not winning as fans this season (Image: alex craig)After sending a message to his side's boo boys last weekend Imrie urged the Cappielow faithful to unite as one and help their side get over the line against the Diamonds.

A football nut himself, Imrie admits he shares the same frustrations as the people paying in to support their side - but he wants them to come together to help them become a new-look force on Sinclair Street.

“The run last season was fantastic," He continued. "You could really see what happens when you’ve got everyone pulling in the one direction.

“The supporters are as important as anyone here. They’re the guys that come every week to get behind their team. But at the moment we need everybody, and once we get hopefully into the same vein as we were last season we’ll see it all take off again.

“The fans are massively important to the squad, turning up on a Saturday and really pushing them on.

“Listen, I’m a football fan myself, I understand the frustrations - they want their team to win. There’s nobody who wants to win more than myself.

"Those players give their all in training every day and on a matchday to get results for this football club but it's not happening at the moment."