BABYSITTING THE BUFFALO
Candeias is happy giving a helping hand to fiery pal Morelos
WITH son Alfonso at a mischievous two-anda-half years old, Daniel Candeias has his hands full at home. With Alfredo Morelos his closest pal at work, the Portuguese winger concedes there is an open goal for the childminding jokes.
‘It’s like I have another baby,’ laughed Candeias when quizzed on his role as confidant to the irascible Colombian, known affectionately as The Buffalo among the Rangers supporters.
Candeias added: ‘Seriously, it’s not too much because Alfredo is a clever guy. It’s just good to be there to help when I need to.’
The tantrums of 22-year-old Morelos, one of the most fascinating characters in the Scottish game, have been a dominant story of Rangers’ season and an increasing source of concern to manager Steven Gerrard.
The fiery striker has been shown 12 yellow cards and three red this term — although one of those was downgraded to yellow on appeal — indiscipline which cost Rangers his services as they dropped points at struggling Dundee last Sunday.
His most recent dismissal, against Aberdeen at Ibrox, contributed to a home defeat and results in the club’s top scorer missing out again when Hamilton Accies visit today.
It means changes to the line-up that Gerrard doesn’t need. Not when missing Ryan Kent through injury and Kyle Lafferty looking for his first goal since September 23.
Morelos has never uttered a word of explanation publicly for his actions or, indeed, about anything else throughout his wild 18-month Rangers career. Can Candeias shed any light on these issues?
The Portuguese is rarely far from the striker’s side. Yet he can’t claim to have unlocked secrets capable of clarifying if there is any prospect of Morelos ditching the combustible capers and concentrating solely on goals. He can only hope, like the Ibrox coaching staff and team-mates, that this popular young man’s Rangers career is not defined by the strops and the suspensions.
What he can stress is that Morelos retains the support of all of his colleagues in attempting to channel his aggression better.
‘In football, sometimes you are out on the pitch and you don’t think with the head,’ added Candeias. ‘I believe Alfredo has now been thinking about the red cards.
‘And the team has been helping him with this because he is so important for us. So (he should) now forget the red cards and score more goals — that’s what is important.
‘I have talked with him a lot about not to confront other players. But that is part of Alfredo’s game. It’s like Diego Costa.
‘If you don’t go in with that fight, you are not the same. It’s important for him. He is still very young. Sometimes that is forgotten.
‘He is 22 and there is so much more time for him to improve things. There is time to concentrate on making himself better at football.
‘It’s normal you make mistakes as a young player. You need more experience. Through that, you improve your game.’
It was the turn of Candeias to be banned from helping Rangers in midweek.
Suspended from Thursday’s Europa League defeat to Rapid Vienna, he was intent on making the trip to support his team-mates and to chaperone Morelos.
‘He’s a quiet guy off the pitch,’ said Candeias. ‘On the pitch, some players can transform. He’s a different person from on the pitch to outside. When he plays, he is different.
‘Yes, I help him a lot off the pitch. When he needs, I help. Because I am his friend and I will do what I can for him. ‘Alfredo doesn’t understand English but, in the dressing room, all the team like him because he’s a funny guy.’ With 17 goals this season, Morelos is already only one shy of his campaign total when he arrived at Rangers fresh from a summer season in Finnish football. The toll of playing from April 2017 through to May 2018 without much of a break may have been responsible for his form dipping in the spring. Rangers will have played 38 games in 2018-19 alone before the winter break. Morelos might get his breathers during bans but Gerrard is conscious of the need to give his top scorer some help. Northern Irish striker Lafferty is a dozen games without a goal for club and country, and the Umar Sadiq experiment was a bad loan pick. Let Morelos burn or brawl himself out and opponents know they stand a fair chance of stopping Rangers scoring
It’s like I have another baby. Seriously, though, Alfredo is a clever guy
these days. Since hitting the top of the table with victory at Tynecastle, Gerrard’s side have lost to Aberdeen, drawn at Dundee then exited the Europa League with a defeat in Vienna.
Candeias said: ‘Our last two performances in the league have not been good and now we need to put in a great performance.
‘I know the team can do a lot more and that’s frustrating but sometimes your performance level as a team can drop a bit during a season. That is normal.
‘In Austria, I felt the team put in a good performance. We really wanted to stay in the Europa League competition.
‘But now we’re out and the focus must be on the Premiership and getting as many points as possible. ‘That’s the most important thing for the club. The concentration levels can be all about the league. The team is ready to go and win this game against Hamilton. ‘All the time, this team stays together. I went to Austria because it was an important game for the players, for the club and I wanted to stay with my team-mates. ‘It was a moment for us all to stick together and be one big family. I didn’t feel good about not playing but I’m proud of my team-mates because we did well to get this far in Europe.’
He should now forget the red cards and keep scoring goals