How Morelos MATURED into main man
Gerrard reveals his pride after striker’s moment of charity against Royal Antwerp
AS a player, Alfredo Morelos is the man and the striker that opposition fans love to hate. As a person, he is the husband and father that Steven Gerrard has helped nurture at Ibrox.
At 24, Morelos cannot be considered a kid anymore and there are still flaws to his character that shouldn’t be dismissed because of his age or the fact that he is thousands of miles away from his family home in Colombia.
His fourth season in Scottish football will be his first successful one as Rangers close in on the Premiership title. It has also been his most complete one overall as he continues to progress tactically and improve mentally.
The wins over Royal
Antwerp summed up both factors as he inspired
Gerrard’s side to victory. Of the nine goals that Rangers scored, Morelos was involved in eight of them over two stunning performances on the Europa League stage.
An incident at Ibrox also caught the eye, though.
Morelos would stop playing when he saw defender Jeremy Gelin pull up with an injury and the act of kindness and sportsmanship rightly received acclaim across the game.
“I see real signs of maturity,” Gerrard said. “He’s a player who is trying extra hard to evolve as a person as well as becoming a better player by really working on his game.
“I have to give him credit for that because I’m someone who has been really strong with him, on the one-v-one.
“I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this kid and it made me proud seeing that [when he stopped the game].It’s a sign of maturity in there.
“I think his family life has really helped that. Being at home with his wife has helped that.
“So there are people around Alfredo who have played a major role in trying to help him grow and become a better person and player. And I think that was a big sign that that was the case.
“Look, the way he plays the game, he’s one who plays on the edge. He is going to make mistakes and I think we all have to appreciate that.
“But I’ve been around him an awful lot and I analyse him closer than most. There is definitely improvement in him, not just as a player but as a human being as well.
“And that’s great to see because myself and the staff, and also his team-mates, have put a lot of work into trying to help him and guide him in the right direction.”
The first leg win in Belgium a fortnight ago saw Morelos return to action after serving a three-game suspension following the retrospective punishment that was issued for his stamp on Hibernian defender Ryan Porteous.
Rangers have now scored 13 times in their last four outings against Antwerp and
I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this kid and it made me proud. It’s a sign of maturity
JON GUTHRIE admits Sunday’s Hampden heartbreak against St Johnstone was the most sickening afternoon of his career.
However, the Livingston defender is adamant ending Rangers’ undefeated streak in the Premiership would be the perfect medicine.
Guthrie, a mainstay for the Lions this term, was the man outmuscled by Shaun Rooney for the only goal of the Betfred Cup final — one of the very few times an opponent has got the better of him to register a clean header from a set-piece.
As the powerful stopper sat, dejected on the turf at the national stadium following the full-time whistle, he knew a golden opportunity to become a Livingston legend had come and gone.
However, he is adamant the understandable hangover was brief, with attention forced to immediately turn to an onerous clash against champions-elect Rangers at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
Guthrie said: “I’d be lying if I said everyone was bouncing around the place. Sunday was a tough day for us, the hardest I’ve had in my career.
“So, it’s probably a good thing that we have a game on Wednesday. That’s taken our focus away from Hampden and given us something to look forward to.
“We’ve just to forget about the final and put it to bed now and, to be fair, everyone was a bit livelier on Tuesday. We analysed the game on Monday, like we always do, and spoke about what we should have done better.”
Inflicting a first league defeat on Rangers this term would not only represent a feather in Livi’s cap, but it would mathematically assure them of a second successive top-six finish — a remarkable achievement, given the club’s modest resources.
Guthrie continued: “There’s still a lot to play for so we need to move on from it and get that top-six finish secured as soon as possible now.”
“Would being the first team to beat Rangers make up for {losing the final}? It definitely
would go some way towards it. They’re unbeaten in the league so if we could be the team to put a stop to that it would be amazing.”
If Livingston — who did hold the Glasgow outfit to a 0-0 draw last August — are to again halt the Rangers juggernaut, then they must find a way to shackle a resurgent Alfredo Morelos.
The Colombia internationalist boasts 13 goals this term, but six of those have come in the last nine games. He was described as ‘unplayable’ in the aftermath of a virtuous showing in last month’s 5-2 Europa League win over Royal Antwerp.
But if anyone thinks Guthrie is viewing the challenge ahead with trepidation, they have another thing coming.
He said: “I love it! These are the games you want to be involved in, testing yourself against the very best and that was something I didn’t really have the chance to do down in England. I didn’t get the chance to play against that calibre of player.
“It’s a big challenge against a top player [Morelos] but we have handled him quite well in the past.
“You know he’s always going to be a threat because he is very physical and awkward but we will be doing our best to stop him — not just as a back four but as a whole team.
“Everyone will need to be at the top of our game and, working hard, we can nullify him.”
From the moment it became apparent that Celtic would not be retaining their Premiership title this season, all the talk has been about a summer rebuild.
It was initially a ‘will he, won’t he’ back and forth on whether Neil Lennon would be the man to lead that new era. But when the Northern Irishman resigned last week, the Parkhead board were forced – by furious supporters at the end of their tether – to cast their net wide in a bid to land the manager they hope will be able to re-establish the club as Scotland’s top dogs.
One coach consistently linked with the vacant position is former Bournemouth and Burnley manager Eddie Howe. A vibrant, fresh boss who has been out of work since last season. He does have a relegation from the Premier League on his CV, but he also has promotion to the top tier and a proven track record of being able to successfully alter the fortunes of his clubs.
A man he has worked extremely closely with in recent years is another name being linked with a move to Celtic this summer. David Webb has his own history of achievements in the game, a lot of them alongside Howe.
He helped Bournemouth win Premier League promotion. He brought in Callum Wilson, who went on to earn them £20million in a transfer to Newcastle. As did Ryan Fraser, another of his signings.
And that was just at Bournemouth. He has also been credited with bringing Heung-Min Son to England and he spotted a young Wilfried Zaha coming through the ranks as a youngster at Whitehouse Wanderers.
But it was his time with Howe that he remembers most fondly. He describes the 43-year-old as a meticulous planner. A coach who pores over everything, from his own squad to the opposition, in great detail. He praises his loyalty as a manager who enjoys long-term strategies and what he calls ‘project clubs’.
Howe, Webb says, is more likely to take a new job based on the excitement he has when considering the ambition and the project at hand. The transition period Celtic are in right now being a potentially perfect match. “With Ed it’s always about the project and not necessarily the club or size of the club,” said Webb. “When he was at Bournemouth he was linked with loads of roles, clubs considered higher than Bournemouth, but he wasn’t quick to jump.
“He will take his time on the right project so if he feels Celtic are that club and can fit in the values that he has, potentially yes [he’d be interested]. I think Celtic are going to be a club that would be of interest to most managers. They want to win things and, historically, they’re very successful. They maintain European status every year so they’ll have a certain appeal.
“Then you would look at club ambition, manager suitability. Eddie is all about the project rather than a big-named club. He’s very loyal so if he’s committed to a project, he’s committed to a project. He won’t be looking for a quick-fix, it will be a long project where he can build longevity and success.”
Celtic, under Lennon this season, have been accused of losing their identity as a free-flowing, attack-minded side. Too often this term have the players on the pitch been patient to a fault. Sideways passes, failure of their fullbacks to race to the byline, passive play as opposed to expansive football.
Howe would address those concerns, Webb reckons. He also believes his old pal would create a family atmosphere at Lennoxtown once again, an aspect that has also been questioned at times this season. “Eddie has a very certain philosophy in the way he likes his teams to play, he’s got a certain way he likes his
players to integrate and work in that team,” he added. “But ultimately he likes to know the person, their character.
“He likes to know personal information about his players before he signs them. Like any manager, the dressing room is quite sacred so we had something at Bournemouth where we had certain character traits we tried to identify on and off the pitch for the best chance of succeeding.
“He didn’t have a particular type of player, but he had a certain philosophy and a certain playing style and way he liked to do things. He liked his players to complement and improve that. To fit in, the characteristics were the human side. They didn’t need to be a squeaky-clean choir boy but someone who can integrate with the current group. Part of that in recruitment was understanding who he was working with.”
The Celtic hierarchy, while looking for a new manager, are also hunting for a new sporting director and Webb looks like he would more than fit the bill. And, perhaps, the double act of himself and Howe running together once again would appeal to both men as well as the Glasgow giants.
Webb has a masters in sport psychology. He has worked in Sweden as Ostersunds’ technical director, as Tottenham Hotspurs’ head of elite recruitment with Mauricio Pochettino and as head of football operations at Huddersfield in the Premier League. His experience and knowledge of the game cannot be denied.
But whether it’s with Howe or Pochettino, now at PSG, Webb has always had the same philosophy. “You always have to adapt to certain managers and roles and the way they work,” he said. “That’s sensible. For me though I also want to keep who I am and hopefully that balances quite well.
“With Mauricio it differed
Eddie is all about the project rather than the big name. He won’t be looking for a quick-fix
in some ways in training intensity, his demand in work ethic in players. He was very personable. Ed was very meticulous and really good with players on a one-to-one basis. Poch liked to make it a family environment at the training ground.
“So for both, they are different in a lot of ways but in the way they’re both environment-orientated, they understand that for a club to be successful, the first part is the 11 on the pitch but also try and filter down the club and build a real positive environment. For my role it’s much more comfortable working like that with managers to build a club and also build further success.
“A sporting director’s job should be there to support the first-team in every aspect necessary. The manager or coach is there to win football matches and improve, develop the players. The sporting director is more of a structural role to support that and try to deliver a long-term strategy for the club.”
ASTATISTIC has been flying around social media since Sunday highlighting that St Johnstone are the second most successful team in Scotland over the past decade.
Some may have had to read it twice to take it in properly, but their two major trophies and countless top-half finishes over the past 10 years put them ahead of the chasing pack behind the dominant Celtic.
Club captain Jason Kerr says consistency has been key for the Perth outfit in recent years but even he admits the current success of the McDiarmid club has been beyond his wildest dreams.
“I kind of put it down to consistency. We are always consistently doing well in the league. And we give ourselves a chance to win cups,” he beamed on Monday morning. “It’s really good that those stats are there.
“To back it up with a trophy win is outstanding for the club. It just shows you how good St Johnstone are and how consistent they have been over the last 10 years. To be the second most successful club in Scotland over the last 10 years is magnificent.
“It’s a real honour for me to lift that trophy. It was weird at the time. A couple of seconds before I lifted it, I was thinking ‘wow, I’m actually lifting a cup for St Johnstone’. It’s a massive moment for me, and a massive moment for the club as well. I’m chuffed to bits.”
Kerr was delighted for his vice-captain Liam Craig on Sunday as he put his cup competition heartache of the past behind him. The former Hibernian midfielder was close to tears as the emotions got the better of him at the full-time whistle and it was a special moment for Kerr to witness.
He continued: “For
Liam Craig and the more experienced ones, it was a really special day for them. You could see how emotional they got at the end. I’m just really happy for him, I must say that.
“He’s the vice-captain but he acts like a captain around
the place. Not just on the pitch, but off it. He’s a real leader, a great guy to have around the changing room. I’m just so chuffed that we could go and win this trophy for him.”
Around the likes of Craig, David Wotherspoon and Stevie May are a band of youthful talents who are just in the early beginnings of their footballing careers. Kerr is one of those and he admits he and his team-mates have a bright future ahead.
He said: “There is a lot of youth in the squad, a lot of good talent. It’s just good that we could go and win a trophy. We’re still young in our careers but the boys were saying, you might not get a chance like this ever again.
“You just need to enjoy it. And I think all the boys did enjoy it. It’s just a good achievement. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it’s really good for us all.
“We want to push for the top six. We think we’ve got a good chance of doing it if we play well in these next three games, starting at Hamilton.
“It will be a tough game. It always is there. They’re scrapping to stay up and we certainly won’t be underestimating them. We have our own ambitions and we need to get three points.”
Kerr joins illustrious company in Dave Mackay as the only two players to lift a major trophy in St Johnstone’s history. Mackay was club captain when Kerr was coming through the youth ranks at Saints and he revealed that a text from the former skipper spurred him on to victory on Sunday.
“I think he had retired by the time I returned from
Queen of the South on loan. I never really played with Dave,” he explained. “But I joined the club when he was there and I trained with him a few times. I know him. He actually gave me a good luck message before the game and said ‘well done’ after the game as well. That was good from him.”
LIKE many of his young peers around the Motherwell area in the late Fifties and early Sixties, Willie Pettigrew has a lot to thank Ian St John for. In Pettigrew’s case though, his gratitude extends beyond the fond memories of witnessing his extraordinary goalscoring prowess from the Fir Park terraces.
St John, who has died at the age of 82, had a talent too prodigious for Motherwell to contain. In 1961, after 105 goals in just 144 appearances in claret and amber, Liverpool paid a then record fee of £37,500 to lure him to Anfield, financing the construction of the Main Stand at Fir Park in the process, which still stands to this day.
The rest, is history. St John, alongside Ron Yeats who had been brought to Merseyside from Dundee United, sparked a revival in Liverpool’s fortunes that Bill Shankly credited as the ‘turning point’ in the club’s history.
St John’s status as a Liverpool great was exemplified by the outpouring of grief that greeted news of his death yesterday, and the fulsome tributes paid to him on Merseyside and all over the football world a testament to both his abilities as a player, and his character as a man.
His passing was just as keenly felt back where it all began for him in Lanarkshire, where he is revered for his impact on the Steelmen of his hometown as both a player and a manager.
It was during his short spell in charge of Motherwell in the early Seventies that a once wide-eyed youngster would get a chance to work under his idol, and Pettigrew spoke fondly of St John as he recalled those early days of his career, when one legend of the club set another on his way to the Fir Park Hall of Fame.
“I was a kid of seven or eight when I watched him before he went to Liverpool, along with a few others who have now sadly passed away like Willie Hunter, Pat Quinn, Andy Weir, people like that,” Pettigrew said.
“I always remember when he was manager of Motherwell, you knew when he was in the room. He had that presence, that aura about him. You knew he was there.
“He had a belief in what I could do and gave me my debut. He had given me games in the League Cup against Celtic and I scored a couple of goals.
“He deserves all the plaudits he gets. He was a good manager, a good coach. He tried to transform Motherwell, get us playing the ball on the deck.
“He was one of the first people to ever give me any individual coaching. He’d take you aside and work on finishing, heading, and all the rest of it. It was an unusual thing at the time.
“I actually worked with him for three or four years later on as well, because he used to run soccer schools up here too.
“He was the one who signed Bobby Graham from Coventry, and we had a great partnership, so I’ve got to thank him for that too.
“Motherwell were fortunate to have had him as a player, and they were fortunate to have him as a manager.
“It might have been a short period of time, but he definitely raised their expectations that they could do better.”
For all the belief that St John gave Pettigrew as a young forward though, there was one occasion where he gave him an almighty fright too.
“A friend of mine, Willie Leishman, who stayed two doors up from me, we were both part-time at the club,” he said. “One day, Ian St John offered him full-time terms, and Willie came back down the road and told me.
“I went back up the next day and chapped Ian’s door. I said ‘You’ve given Willie Leishman a full-time contract, why no me?’ He said ‘Are you wanting a full-time contract?’ I said ‘Aye, course I do.’
“He told me to come back in the morning and we would sort it out. I went back down the road, turned on the telly, and the newsflash was that Ian St John had been appointed manager of Portsmouth.
“I went back up the next day and he was there, and he pulled my contract out the drawer. Thank god. I signed it and the next day he was off.”
That day back in 1974 may have marked the end of St John’s official involvement with his hometown team, but no matter the glittering success he went on to enjoy with Liverpool – twice winning the old First Division and lifting the FA Cup – he never forgot where he came from.
“He’s a legend at Liverpool,” said Pettigrew. “I went down in 2015, myself, my wife, a guy called Jimmy McCluskey and his wife.
“I went down to see his son, who was getting us tickets for the Liverpool game, and Ian phoned up and invited us to come up to the radio station where he was broadcasting.
“He took us up to the studios and we had a good chat. I wouldn’t call him a friend, I would call him what he was; a great player who had a lot of time for people. He wouldn’t walk past anybody.
“He was a Motherwell lad and he worked in the Bridgeworks. He was 82 and left Motherwell in 1961, but a lot of people still remember him for his leaping abilities and the amount of goals he scored with his head.
“The number of caps he got with Scotland was impressive too. It was only 21, but 21 in that time was really good.
“Nowadays there are internationals every couple of months, but 21 when Ian played is more like a hundred.
“You look at the Saint and Greavsie Show later on in his life as well, it was the mustwatch programme.
“He was a great player, a really good manager, and just a good person.
“He was one of my heroes.”