MORELOS HAS TO WIN MORE PRIZES TO BE TRUE LEGEND
IKNOW Alfredo Morelos may not be that comfortable with his English, but it would have been great if he had come out and spoken on Sunday afternoon.
I’d have liked to hear him say that reaching 100 goals for Rangers was an excellent feat, but that he wanted to win more trophies with the club. Because that’s what it is now about for Morelos. Make no mistake.
To be clear, I send my absolute congratulations to him for reaching the century mark. To score 100 times for any club in the world is a magnificent achievement. It takes real reserves of commitment and skill.
By now, all of Morelos’ opponents know what kind of player he is. They have studied his movements. That makes it more difficult for any forward. Yet Morelos has kept going through fluctuating periods of form with a determination to get the better of defences. His scoring record is admirable.
I’ve made reference before to what I think his legacy at Rangers might be, but a landmark like 100 goals brings it back into even sharper focus.
There is no doubt now that people will look back and remember him as a very prolific goalscorer, often in what were difficult times for my old club. He delivered when it mattered. He was very good in both Scotland and Europe. He played an important part in winning that long-awaited 55th title last season.
The ‘but’, right now, relates to the fact that it is his only trophy. If
Alfredo can be so important to how this campaign ends up looking
he wants to elevate himself into another category of Rangers player then he needs to do what he can to get more prizes beside his name over the next season or two, that’s for sure.
Look at some of the players who are beside him in the 100-goal club at Ibrox. Ally McCoist’s list of honours was just incredible and it’s perhaps unfair to compare him to anyone. But there are also players from the more modern era such as Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd, who had multiple trophies on their CVs by the time they left Rangers.
At the end of the day, fair or unfair, you are judged by the titles you win when you play for one of the very top teams in a league.
For Morelos, one trophy in four years isn’t yet good enough to put him alongside those players I just mentioned.
That’s the big challenge ahead for the 25-year-old and it’s one I hope he really wants to take on to help Rangers as a team. Because there is no doubting what he can produce at his best. He can be talismanic.
Rangers will have their eyes firmly fixed on more silverware this season, but nothing is going to come easy when you look at how competitive the Premiership has been.
Steven Gerrard’s side have often played in fits and starts, not yet quite hitting the kind of relentless form witnessed last term.
Morelos can be so important to how this campaign ends up looking. If he could get back to his real peak form — that we perhaps saw in the Europa League the season before last — then Rangers would be extremely difficult to stop.
Gerrard has been quite critical of Morelos recently and clear that he wants each of his front men to really stick their heads forward and say they are going to get on the scoresheet. By finally getting his 100 up, hopefully Morelos will have another surge of belief to go again because the goal against St Mirren was just his sixth of this season.
I’ve said before that his body language is not always the most positive. He can get very upset when he’s not getting the service.
At those points, he looks like someone you could take off immediately.
But what I like about him is that he always tends to come back for more. He wears his heart on his sleeve and I think that’s part of why the Rangers fans love him. You see every emotion he’s going through, good and bad.
To his credit, he seems to have cut out the daft red cards. You have to go back to December 2019 to find his last dismissal. Tomorrow night will, however, bring Morelos back into conflict with a figure who has often raised his temperature.
There have been a few clashes with Scott Brown over the years. Okay, it’s different now that Brown is with Aberdeen but, trust me, the two players will remember what they have been through in past Old Firm games. Going head-to-head again will be a match within the match, if you know what I mean.
The exact circumstances will depend on whether Brown is in midfield or whether he might be part of a back three — as he was for a while on Saturday — due to Aberdeen’s injury problems.
But I’m sure they will lock horns quite a few times at Ibrox. Their rivalry will be intact despite its new framing. And it will be hugely interesting to see how it goes.
Like most people, I was quite surprised to see Brown leave Celtic during the summer. At 36, I think many players might have stuck around — even if they were just playing one in six games — to see out their career and perhaps get a job at the club when they retired. That would have been the easier option.
But I take my hat off to the bravery he showed in going to Aberdeen. Assuming a playercoach role is one of the most difficult things to do. It must create a very demanding set of responsibilities when you really have to help those around you. I can only applaud him for it.
Brown was hugely important to Aberdeen’s much-needed victory over Hibernian at the weekend and he will again require all of his leadership and combative qualities to get them out of Ibrox without defeat tomorrow evening.
He’ll be guaranteed a hot reception from the crowd but that won’t faze him. What would bother Brown much more is Morelos getting his 101st Rangers goal to help Gerrard’s side to another important victory.
It’s over to the Colombian to see if he can deliver.