Plenty of Nothing

Morocco's Land

This turbanned figure on the outside of 265-267 Canongate, Edinburgh, recalls the career of a 17th-century citizen who made his (or her) fortune in service to the Sultan of Morocco. Source.

Fukui Dinosaurs

Fukui Prefecture is Japan's main fossil-producing area. These are models of five species discovered in the Kitadani Formation since the year 2000: Fukuiraptor, Fukuisaurus, Fukuivenator, Fukuititan and Kochisaurus. Source.

2019-20 Scottish League Cup, Round Two

The Queen's Visit to the Clyde, 17 August 1847, by William Clark (1803-1883). Source.

Morton visit Hibs. The last time these two clubs met in the League Cup, August 26th 2008, it was also Round Two, and it was also at Easter Road, and Morton won.

In preseason friendlies Hibs lost at Arbroath, and won in Dunfermline, Carlisle, and Newcastle.

In the League Cup group stage Hibs beat Alloa, Arbroath and Elgin City, and won a shootout against Stirling Albion. Their eleven points put them in the pot of seeded clubs.

To date in Premiership play they have beaten St Mirren and been trounced by Rangers. Hibs colts were knocked out of the first round of the Challenge Cup by Elgin.

Those two years that Morton and Hibs were both in the Championship Hibs won 3 times, Morton once, with 4 draws.

The oldest player on the Hibernian roster is Steven Whittaker, 35. He started out with Hibs and had stints with Rangers and Norwich City.

This will be the fifteenth time Morton have played Hibs since the Ton last played Hearts.

Morton have released goalkeeper Brendan Pearson and signed goalkeeper Danny Rogers on loan from Aberdeen.

[Hibs 5 - 3 Morton after extra time. Morton goal by McHugh, plus two own goals. David Hopkin is awarded a red card.]

The other matches:

Motherwell 1 - 2 Hearts (yesterday)

Partick [3 - 2] Ross County

Dundee [1 - 2] Aberdeen (tomorrow)

Celtic [2 - 1] Dunfermline

Forfar [1 - 2] Livingston

Kilmarnock [1 - 0] Hamilton

East Fife [0 - 3] Rangers (tomorrow)

East Fife have not defeated Rangers since 1973.

This round includes ten Premiership, four Championship, and two League One clubs.

League One:

Airdrieonians [3 - 1] Clyde

Falkirk [2 - 1] Montrose

Forfar vs East Fife (postponed)

Peterhead [2 - 3] Dumbarton

It's McInally versus Duffy. (See below.)

Stranraer [3 - 2] Raith Rovers

Scottish Cup, Round One:

LTHV [5 - 0] Wigtown & Bladnoch

Colville Park [0 - 4] Whitehill Welfare (tomorrow)

Auchinleck Talbot [6 - 1] Dundonald Bluebell

1907-08: Morton began their 1907-08 Division One season with a Thursday August 15 visit to Ibrox, where they lost 0 - 3 to Rangers. Two days later Morton returned to Glasgow for a match against Partick Thistle. 2 - 2.

1963-64: On August 14, 1963, Morton handed Stranraer a 5 - 0 defeat at Cappielow in League Cup group stage action. On the 17th Clyde came to call and lost 3 - 1.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Motherwell. These two played thirty-two league matches from 1893 to 1910. Motherwell won eighteen of them, Port Glasgow eleven, and there were three draws.

Jim Duffy's managerial record against Jim McInally:

2011/11/5      Peterhead 0 - 0 Clyde        league

2012/1/21      Clyde 0 - 1 Peterhead        league

2012/4/21      Peterhead 1 - 1 Clyde        league

2012/8/18      Clyde 0 - 2 Peterhead        league

2012/11/17    Peterhead 1 - 0 Clyde        league

2013/3/2        Clyde 2 - 0 Peterhead        league

2013/4/27      Peterhead 3 - 0 Clyde        league

2013/10/12    Peterhead 1 - 1 Clyde        league

2013/12/7      Clyde 1 - 3 Peterhead        league

2014/2/15      Peterhead 2 - 0 Clyde        league

2014/4/12      Clyde 0 - 2 Peterhead        league

2018/11/24    Morton 1 - 1 Peterhead      Scottish Cup

2018/11/27    Peterhead 0 - 3 Morton      Scottish Cup

(Clyde and Morton = Duffy; Peterhead = McInally)

7 wins McInally, 2 wins Duffy, 4 draws.

When was the last time each 2019-20 Championship club hosted a Premiership side in a competitive match?

today             Partick Thistle vs Ross County    LC R2

today             Dundee vs Aberdeen                   LC R2

2019/7/13      QoS 0 - 3 Motherwell                   LC GS

2019/5/23      Dundee United 0 - 0 St Mirren     playoff

2018/8/18      Dunfermline 0 - 1 Hearts              LC R2

2018/2/11      Ayr United 1 - 6 Rangers              SC R5

2018/1/30      Inverness CT 0 - 1 Dundee          SC R4

2017/7/29      Arbroath 0 - 0 Ross County         LC GS

2017/7/19      Alloa 0 - 3 Hibs                            LC GS

2015/10/27    Morton 1 - 3 St Johnstone           LC QF

When was the last time each 2019-20 Championship club hosted a Premiership side in a competitive match, and won?

2018/12/5      Dundee 4 - 0 Hamilton                 Premiership

2018/4/21      Partick 2 - 1 Hamilton                   Premiership

2017/7/14      Ayr United 1 - 0 Kilmarnock          LC GS

2017/5/20      Inverness CT 3 - 2 Motherwell     Premiership

2016/8/9        Dundee United 3 - 1 Partick         LC R2

2016/7/26      Alloa 3 - 2 Ross County               LC GS

2015/9/22      Morton 3 - 2 Motherwell               LC R3

2015/8/25      Dunfermline 3 - 1 Dundee            LC R2

2015/2/7        QoS 2 - 0 St Johnstone                SC R5

1979/8/22      Arbroath 2 - 1 Aberdeen               LC R1

Canadian Premier League:

Cavalry [0 - 0] Edmonton (yesterday)

York9 [0 - 2] Pacific

Valour [1 - 3] Forge

The Winnipeg stadium grounds crew have had just two days to convert the field from CFL football to CPL soccer.

HFX Wanderers have signed centre back Duran Lee previously of Vaughan Azzurri.

SWFL2 W/SW: Stewarton United Ladies [0 - 8] Morton Women (tomorrow)

Tohoku Soccer League: Blancdieu Hirosaki [1 - 1] Iwaki FC (tomorrow)

Swiss Cup, Round One: SC YF Juventus [0 - 3] FC Winterthur

Years that Morton finished higher than Hibs:

1905-06    Morton (9th, Div 1), Hibs (11th, Div 1)

1911-12    Morton (6th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1913-14    Morton (4th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1914-15    Morton (4th, Div 1), Hibs (10th, Div 1)

1915-16    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (19th, Div 1)

1916-17    Morton (2nd, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1917-18    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1918-19    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (18th, Div 1)

1919-20    Morton (6th, Div 1), Hibs (18th, Div 1)

1920-21    Morton (9th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1925-26    Morton (15th, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1930-31    Morton (16th, Div 1), Hibs (19th, Div 1)

1931-32    Morton (15th, Div 1), Hibs (7th, Div 2)

1932-33    Morton (19th, Div 1), Hibs (1st, Div 2)

1942-43    Morton (2nd, Southern League), Hibs (3rd, Southern League)

1968-69    Morton (10th, Div 1), Hibs (12th, Div 1)

1970-71    Morton (8th, Div 1), Hibs (12th, Div 1)

1979-80    Morton (6th, Premier Div), Hibs (10th, Premier Div)

1980-81    Morton (8th, Premier Div), Hibs (1st, Div 1)

Medieval Ovid

Source.

Tiresias, 1804

Source.

99th Emperor's Cup, Round Three

Mito HollyHock and the Girls und Panzer anime did a cross-promotion in 2017. Source.

There are two university clubs, two JFL clubs, and two J3 clubs left in this round.

Match No. 57: Kawasaki Frontale (J1) [2 - 1] Fagiano Okayama (J2)

Match No. 58: Jubilo Iwata (J1) [6 - 0] Vanraure Hachinohe (J3)

Match No. 59: Shimizu S-Pulse (J1) [1 - 0] Avispa Fukuoka (J2)

Match No. 60: Gamba Osaka (J1) [0 - 2] Hosei University [Upset!]

Match No. 61: Honda FC (JFL) [2 - 0] Tokushima Vortis (J2) [Upset.]

Match No. 62: Veertien Mie (JFL) [2 - 2] V-Varen Nagasaki (J2) [V-Varen win on PK.]

Match No. 63: Urawa Reds (J1) [2 - 1] Mito HollyHock (J2)

Match No. 64: Yokohama F.Marinos (J1) [2 - 1] Yokohama FC (J2)

Match No. 65: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1) [2 - 1] Zweigen Kanazawa (J2)

Match No. 66: Kanoya Sports University [1 - 2] Oita Trinita (J1)

Match No. 67: Cerezo Osaka (J1) [3 - 0] Renofa Yamaguchi (J2)

Match No. 68: Vissel Kobe (J1) [4 - 0] Omiya Ardija (J2)

Match No. 69: Kashima Antlers (J1) [4 - 0] Tochigi SC (J2)

Match No. 70: Sagan Tosu (J1) [1 - 0] Kashiwa Reysol (J2)

Match No. 71: FC Toyko (J1) [0 - 1] Ventforet Kofu (J2) [Upset.]

Match No. 72: Vegalta Sendai (J1) [1 - 0] Kataller Toyama (J3)

Hosei University in the Emperor's Cup:

  7回    QF    Rijo Club 2 - 1 Hosei University

  9回    QF    Hosei University 3 - 3 Shizuoka High School (Hosei won lottery.)

            SF    Keio University 2 - 2 Hosei University (Hosei won lottery.)

              F    Kwangaku Club 3 - 0 Hosei University

49回    QF    Hosei University 1 - 6 Toyo Industries

50回    QF    Yanmar Diesel 4 - 2 Hosei University

53回    R2    Teihens FC 0 - 8 Hosei University

            R3    Mitsubishi Motors 1 - 1 Hosei University (Mitsubishi won on PK.)

54回    R2    Sapporo University 2 - 1 Hosei University

55回    R1    Yamaha Motors 2 - 0 Hosei University

58回    R1    Gohone Town Hall 1 - 5 Hosei University

            R2    Hitachi 2 - 1 Hosei University

60回    R1    Hosei University 2 - 1 Fujieda City Hall

            R2    Hosei University 0 - 3 Furukawa Electric

80回    R1    Shinozaki Astros 0 - 4 Hosei University

            R2    Hosei University 2 - 3 Fukuoka University

81回    R1    Hosei University 1 - 0 Honda Lock

            R2    Kawasaki Frontale 1 - 0 Hosei University

86回    R2    Hosei University 2 - 0 TDK SC

            R3    Kashiwa Reysol 3 - 0 Hosei University

99回    R1    Briobecca Urayasu 0 - 1 Hosei University

            R2    Tokyo Verdy 0 - 2 Hosei University

                   

2019-20 Scottish Challenge Cup, Round Two

Antigua GFC and Forge FC in the CONCACAF League earlier this month. Neither club is in the Scottish Challenge Cup ... yet. Source.

It's the Scottish Challenge Cup, Round Two. In this round the 12 winners from Round One mix it up with the top six clubs from League Two and the ten from League One. Again, it's divided into North and South sections. Seven of twelve colt teams are still in it.

Last year I pledged allegiance to Dumbarton after they knocked Morton out of the Challenge Cup. I'll follow them both, though Morton don't start till the next round.

The matches:

Hearts colts [3 - 1] Cowdenbeath

Ross County colts [2 - 3] Raith Rovers

Brora Rangers [1 - 2] Cove Rangers

Peterhead [0 - 0] Formartine [Formartine win on PK.]

East Fife [0 - 2] Stirling Albion

Brechin [4 - 5] Elgin

Montrose [2 - 1] Forfar

Forfar beat Montrose 4 - 1 in the League Cup group stage.

Clyde [4 - 0] Motherwell colts

Annan [1 - 1] Kelty Hearts [Guilty Hearts win on PK.]

Hamilton colts [0 - 1] Airdrieonians

Dumbarton [0 - 1] St Mirren colts

Stenhousemuir [2 - 1] Edinburgh City

Stenny have beaten Edinburgh City five times in five meetings.

Falkirk [1 - 1] Celtic colts [Falkirk win on PK.]

Stranraer [0 - 2] Rangers colts

Who are the most consistently successful Challenge Cup clubs?

Falkirk have won the cup the most times (four), but they tend to show poorly when not actually taking the cup. Which club is most consistently successful? Let's assign points for going deep into the tournament: 4 points for a cup win, 3 for runners-up, 2 for semi-final losers and 1 to quarter-final losers. This gives:

24    (12 + 6 + 2 + 4)    Ross County

24    (8 + 6 + 4 + 6)      Queen of the South

20    (16 + 0 + 0 + 4)    Falkirk

19    (4 + 3 + 8 + 4)      Livingston

19    (0 + 3 + 12 + 4)    Morton

16    (8 + 6 + 2 + 0)      Hamilton Academical

Which colt team has been most successful in the Challenge Cup?

A: Motherwell's:

2016-17    R1    Motherwell colts 2 - 1 Edinburgh City

                 R2    Motherwell colts 1 - 2 Airdrieonians

2017-18    R1    Motherwell colts 2 - 1 Queen's Park

                 R2    Crusaders 3 - 2 Motherwell colts

2018-19    R1    East Stirlingshire 0 - 3 Motherwell colts

                 R2    Dundee colts 1 - 2 Motherwell colts

                 R3    Motherwell colts 2 - 0 Sligo Rovers

                 QF    Motherwell colts 1 - 2 Ross County

2019-20    R1    Motherwell colts 1 - 0 Spartans

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Falkirk. They played ten games in Division One, Falkirk taking six wins, Port Glasgow two, with two draws. In the Scottish Cup each eliminated the other once.

UEFA Champions League 3QR, second leg:

Celtic [3 - 4] Cluj

Rosenborg [3 - 1] Maribor

[Celtic and Maribor drop into the Europa League.]

UEFA Europa League 3QR, second leg:

Rangers [3 - 1] Midtjylland

Aberdeen [0 - 2] Rijeka (Croatia)

Linfield [3 - 2] Sutjeska (Montenegro)

The New Saints [0 - 4] Ludogorets Razgrad

Dundalk [1 - 3] Slovan Bratislava

Eintracht Frankfurt [1 - 0] Vaduz

Zrinjski Mostar [1 - 0] Malmö

2019 Canadian Championship, semi-finals, second leg:

Toronto FC [3 - 0] Ottawa Fury

Cavalry FC [0 - 1] Montreal Impact

Peter Schaale has quit HFX Wanderers to return to Cape Breton University and finish his degree.

Dinosaurs by Zdeněk Burian

Illustrator Zdeněk Burian (1905-81) had such an impact on the popular idea of what dinosaurs looked like that they named the first Czech dinosaur Burianosaurus. Source. He's still an influencer:

Source.

Sumo Wrestlers and Sunflowers

Source.

Greenock Central Station (1841)

So clean and new! Painting by Thomas Carsell (1810-1860). Source.

Alloa Athletic visit Cappielow.

This is Alloa's fifth Championship campaign this decade, which puts them one ahead of Ayr United.

Morton's record against Alloa this decade has been 5 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses.

Morton's first game against Alloa was a 1 - 0 victory at Cappielow on December 30th, 1922, in Division One. Morton were Scottish Cup holders at the time.

The Wasps did all right against lower division clubs in the preseason, beating Albion Rovers 2 - 1 and Clyde 3 - 2. In the League Cup group stage they played Elgin City to a 3 - 3 draw but then lost the shootout, lost to Hibs, and then beat Stirling Albion and Arbroath. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two. Last weekend they played to a 1 - 1 draw against Partick Thistle.

Alloa midfielder Alan Trouten played for Morton in 2003-04.

The oldest player on the Alloa roster is captain Andy Graham, age 35. The oldest member of the Morton squad is Chris Millar, 36.

The situation: It's the snakes and ladders part of the season when a single result can transport a team to the top or bottom of the standings. Morton enter today's game in ninth place, which would put them in the relegation playoffs if they are still there in May 2020. If Morton lose today and ICT win or draw, it's the odium of tenth for the Ton.

When else have Morton played their league home opener against Alloa, and how did it go?

1977/8/20      Morton 4 - 2 Alloa

1958/9/3        Morton 4 - 1 Alloa

When was the last time Morton started the league season with a 4 - 2 loss?

A: It never happened before last weekend.

How many times last season did Morton score twice and still lose the game?

A: Zero.

Is scoring up?

Scoring is way up. In the eighteen games Morton played from January to May 2019, there were 34 goals scored for an average of 1.88 per game (counting both teams' goals). In Morton's first five games of 2019-20 there have been 28 goals scored, or 5.6 per game.

Morton are feuding with the Greenock Telegraph, which is too bad for both as they are basically in a symbiotic relationship.

Meanwhile, Buchanan's Toffees are big in Iraq.

Sort the Championship teams by points earned in the League Cup group stage:

10    Dundee

10    Partick

  9    Dunfermline

  8    Morton

  7    Ayr United

  7    Inverness CT

  7    Dundee United

  7    Alloa

  6    Arbroath

  6    Queen of the South

(Teams in bold progressed to Round Two.)

If group stage points counted in the league standings, would they have made any difference to the 2018-19 Championship table?

71    +    9    =    80    Ross County

65    +    5    =    70    Dundee United

56    +    9    =    65    Inverness CT

54    +   12   =    66    Ayr United

46    +    6    =    52    Morton

43    +    9    =    52    Partick

41    +   12   =    53    Dunfermline

39    +    8    =    47    Alloa

38    +    9    =    47    QoS

38    +    6    =    44    Falkirk

Yes they would. Ayr would have finished 3rd instead of 4th, Dunfermline 5th instead of 7th, and QoS would have finished 8th instead of 9th and avoided the playoffs, as they had a better GD than Alloa.

The other Championship matches:

Partick 1 - 2 Dundee United (last night)

With this win DUFC surpass Brechin's record low finish in '17-18.

Dundee [1 - 0] Ayr United

Inverness CT [2 - 1] Arbroath

Queen of the South [1 - 1] Dunfermline

[Morton win 4 - 1. Goals by McHugh (3) and Lyon. Morton jump from 9th place to 3rd.]

League One:

East Fife [1 - 1] Peterhead

Falkirk [6 - 0] Dumbarton

Former Morton managers McKinnon and Duffy go head to head.

Forfar [1 - 0] Stranraer

Montrose [0 - 1] Airdrieonians

Raith Rovers [5 - 2] Clyde

How have Morton fared in Match No. 2 this decade?

2018/8/11      Alloa 0 - 2 Morton

2017/8/12      Morton 4 - 1 St Mirren

2016/8/13      Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk

2015/8/15      Hibs 1 - 0 Morton

2014/8/16      Morton 4 - 0 Stranraer

2013/8/17      Falkirk 3 - 1 Morton

2012/8/18      Hamilton 1 - 1 Morton

2011/8/13      Morton 2 - 1 Livingston

2010/8/14      Dunfermline 2 - 0 Morton

4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.

1963-64: Morton began their season with a League Cup group stage match against Ayr United, winning 0 - 1 at Somerset Park.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Hibs. Twenty league matches: Hibs won twelve, Port one, with seven draws. Hibs knocked Port Glasgoq out of the 1901-02 Scottish Cup.

A few months ago there was talk of expanding the Championship to 12 clubs with a 44-game schedule. Morton have only ever played five 44-game seasons. They were:

                  G     W     D     L      GD    Pts    Pos             Z

1986-87    44    24      9    11    +32    57    1st Div 1      47

1987-88    44      3    10    31    -73    16    12th Prem    47

1991-92    44    17    12    15     +7    46    7th Div1        51

1992-93    44    19    10    15     +9    48    6th Div 1       50

1993-94    44      6    17    21    -31    29    11th Div 1     50

Z = total games, league + cup

The League Cup group stage was not played during any of these years, but the Challenge Cup was introduced in 1990-91, which accounts for the uptick in Z.

How have East Stirlingshire fared since relegation?

                  G     W    D    L     F       A     GD     P     Pos

2016-17    30    21    5    4    107    43    +64    68    2nd

                    (SC: R2    LC: GS    ChC: R1    LLC: QF    SChC: SF)

2017-18    30    19    7    4      67    31    +36    64    4th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: R1    SChC: R3)

2018-19    28    11    6    11    57    47    +10    39    6th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: F      SChC: QF)

(SC = Scottish Cup, LC = League Cup, ChC = Challenge Cup, LLC = Lowland League Cup, SChC = South Challenge Cup.)

East Stirlingshire look very good this year, due in large part to the former Morton players on their roster: Bobby Barr, Willie Dyer and Peter MacDonald. Will they yoyo back into League Two? Today they play wunderkinds Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic. [Bonnyrigg Rose 3 - 1 East Stirlingshire.]

It's the Scottish Cup, first preliminary round. A bunch of East of Scotland League sides were granted SFA licenses this summer, bumping the size of this round up to thirteen matches. Let's follow the clubs (in italics) that are in the cup for the first time:

Hill of Beath Hawthorn [2 - 0] Blackburn United

Broxburn Athletic [2 - 0] Tynecastle

Dundonald Bluebell [2 - 2] Auchinleck Talbot

Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare [1 - 6] Penicuik Athletic

Coldstream [1 - 9] Jeanfield Swifts

Camelon Juniors [4 - 0] Newton Stewart

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers [0 - 0] Cavalry

York 9 [0 - 2] Valour

Edmonton [3 - 1] Pacific

Swiss Challenge League: Vaduz [0 - 1] Winterthur (tomorrow)