Fatherly pride lies at heart of Johansson’s affinity with Morelos
FOR Jonatan Johansson, a paternal instinct has always kicked in whenever the adventures of Alfredo Morelos are headline news. The former Rangers firstteam coach helped smooth a passage for the Colombian to crack Scotland via Finland.
Johansson mined his Veikkausliiga local knowledge to scout the striker then, once in Glasgow, aided his adjustment to life in the hard school of Scottish football representing Rangers.
‘Being involved in the recommendation and the paperwork to get him over here, you always feel responsible for him,’ admits Johansson.
For many reasons over the past three years, that responsibility could have weighed heavily on Johansson.
Yet there has been considerably greater cause for him to beam with pride at the progress and performance of his then 20-year-old project from HJK Helsinki.
‘I’m so happy it’s worked out for him,’ said Johansson. ‘He went to Finland then Scotland as a kid with limited language skills. That’s a tough thing to do.
‘It comes down to the player’s attitude, willingness to learn and hunger to move forward.
‘The coaching staff have done a great job with him and he’s improved a lot since coming to Rangers. It’s been a good place for him at this time in his career, given him a lot of
spotlight. It’s been a great move and I’m happy to have played my part in it.’
So that protective streak within the former Finland forward would have been provoked repeatedly in the months leading up to football’s shutdown.
Morelos, for whom two games without a goal was a notable barren run, netted just once in 11 outings in 2020 after serving yet another three-game suspension.
His paucity of production in front of goal took down Rangers’ season, culminating in a week of shame that saw him dropped and disciplined as they exited the Scottish Cup to Hearts then lost at home to Hamilton.
So as the game entered lockdown, Morelos was as much of a problem case as he ever had been for Pedro Caixinha, Graeme Murty and Steven Gerrard. And if millions had began to drop off the asking price through bad behaviour and a rare run of poor form in the space of two months, then the coronavirus impact on the transfer market has likely scythed away more.
The job of nurturing the talent and containing the chaos of Morelos has, for the last two years, fallen to Gerrard and his coaching staff — a task the Rangers boss admits is an enormous test of his man-management skills.
Backed to the hilt when last season was ruinously littered with red cards and suspensions, Morelos repaying that faith by returning late from South America and skipping training proves the impossible nature of the balancing act with certain players.
However, as difficult as it may sound for all parties to regroup in total harmony, Johansson believes the fixes can be found by Morelos remaining with Rangers.
‘Disciplining players is always a balancing act for a coach,’ he stressed. ‘If a line has been crossed the player has to be disciplined, 100 per cent. If the manager felt that was the right time, he’s right to do it. But it’s also important that, after it happens, you draw a line under it and move forward. You learn from it and move on.
‘Looking from the outside, I think that’s what they did. I’m sure Alfredo will be able to do that and get his head right for Rangers again, absolutely.
‘He’s still a young player. That’s no excuse. But sometimes when you play in a physical way and there’s headlines around you, there’s focus on you. He’s been maturing in his game, in terms of his tactical understanding getting better. I’m sure he’ll come back.’
At his unplayable best, Morelos was the Europa League’s top scorer as his performances leading the line dragged Rangers into the last 32 of the tournament. Figures of £25million were mentioned as interest grew from Crystal Palace, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.
But with Rangers inching closer to Celtic, concluding 2019 with a Parkhead victory and the pressure to stop their bitter rivals winning a ninth title, there was no temptation to cash in during January.
After the championship race disintegrated, Rangers could re-emerge with a dilemma in the next window whether to sell at a potentially lower fee or figure that club and player could both benefit from a clean break.
Johansson said: ‘Almost every club in the world has to realise that, when your top players have a value, there can be a time to sell them.
‘There will be a price and a time for Alfredo that’s right but whether it’s now, who knows?
‘If they can get a good price for him and they can improve everything about the football club with that money, everyone will be a winner.
‘But Alfredo really enjoys playing for Rangers, that’s a major factor in this. He enjoys working with the manager and in front of the fans.
‘So he’s not in an unhappy place. But everyone wants to play at the top level and young players like him should be hungry.
‘You want them to move forward and play in the best leagues. I’m sure Rangers would give him their blessing to do that.’
Twenty years ago this summer, Johansson left Rangers for the English Premier League after three seasons at Ibrox. Charlton Athletic paid £3.5m for the Finn, who went on to score 14 goals in his first campaign in the top flight.
Johansson insists that, should Morelos make a similar break for the border, then the environment he encounters will be far tougher.
‘The football world was very different 20 years ago compared to today,’ Johansson acknowledged. ‘When I moved away from Rangers, they were in the Champions League, a massive club.
‘I moved to Charlton. The Premier League, for me, was always the best league and I wanted to play in it. But the size of Charlton compared to Rangers? The difference was huge.
‘Rangers were much bigger. So it was strange for me. Playing in the Premier League was a dream.
‘I’d always watched it so to start scoring goals there was a fantastic time for me.
‘Now the gap from most leagues to the Premier League is huge, especially in the forward areas. There are so many good strikers down there. It has to be the right fit with the right manager, with the right team around him.
‘There’s a lot of things that will determine how successful he’ll be. And the price will dictate which clubs are in the market for him.
’But the one thing I know is that, if you give him the chance, he’ll be able to put them away — even at that level.’
It has been a great move and I’m happy to have played a little part in it