Peter Weatherson sees Greenock as home

THE Geordie accent remains firmly in place but Peter Weatherson continues to regard Greenock as his football home.

Morton's chairman Douglas Rae is clearly delighted with his striker's decision to extend his contract at Cappielow, which was due to expire this summer, by a further two years. Weatherson is currently looking to move from Greenock; but that is only his house, rather than venue for employment.

Rae used his programme notes for Tuesday's Scottish Cup visit of Celtic to hail the decision of adopted "local lad" Weatherson to commit to the club, the chairman rather amusingly adding that the player is settled with his "attractive fiance, Lesley Anne" on the Clyde coast. Rae even made a tannoy announcement confirming this to supporters shortly before kick-off.

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The respect is mutual. Weatherson, who admits he had "other options", Partick Thistle thought to be among them, is content that Morton are in good hands. "I had to weigh things up," the forward said yesterday.

"For the last couple of contracts I have signed, I felt as if I jumped right in and just took them. I was anxious to make the right decision this time; the whole thing still only took a couple of weeks to sort out from start to finish, I didn't want it going on any longer than that.

"Mr Rae has ambitions for Morton which match my own, so that was a big part of it. It is a great club, a club at which I get on so well with the chairman and staff. I firmly believe in what the chairman is trying to do for the club and I believe he can do it."

Weatherson's goal record alone prompts bemusement in certain quarters that he has not yet been afforded a chance in Scotland's top flight. Others from the country's lower league with an inferior goal to game ratio, after all, have performed in the Premier League. He passed 100 Scottish football league goals in November 2008, 38 of them coming in less than 100 starts for Queen of the South between 2000 and 2003. In four of his first six seasons at Morton, he finished as the club's top scorer, one of which was served as a right-back. He has also operated as a midfielder for Morton but is adamant those positional changes are a thing of the past.

Some feel a lack of self-belief has been Weatherson's only drawback thus far in his career, a theory his own comments do little to dismiss.

"First and foremost, I have to keep scoring goals at this level," Weatherson said of any suggestion he is undervaluing himself by staying in Greenock.

"People in the past have said I should be playing here or should be playing there but in any walk of life, there is no point dealing in ifs and buts. All I am interested in is working as hard as I can at this level and my dream scenario then would be to get to the SPL with Morton, which all comes back to the ambition of the chairman and the club."

Another carrot in advance of Weatherson's new deal was something which is fast descending into a football rarity. "I am now in my seventh year here and the chairman has promised me a testimonial at the end of the contract," he explained. "That is a big thing for anyone.

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"The club and supporters have also stuck by me through a lot of bad times, a lot of barren spells. Things like that might be part and parcel of football but I want to thank the club for backing me, there is a lot of loyalty involved with me staying at Morton."

Working under James Grady, once a striker of some repute himself, also appeals. "We have a management team now who want to listen to the players' feedback, who always want new ideas. I actually haven't worked under that many managers but James knows what it takes as a striker; look at the clubs he has been at, the experience he has and the goals he has scored."

Today's meeting with Raith Rovers could fall into the pivotal category. A current 11-point gap between the teams seems definitive but if Morton can defeat a side who were among the First Division's early frontrunners, they could perhaps look to pull away from the relegation zone. As was the case last season, Weatherson and his team-mates are suffering on account of a woeful opening to the campaign.

"I am sure Ayr United and Airdrie are thinking exactly the same but we are looking up the league, not down it," Weatherson added. "We have a strong enough squad to be higher up the table and I think there will be a couple of additions before the transfer window closes. The league position doesn't lie but we have to be aiming higher."

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