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Any closer? Of course, it is none other than Alfredo Morelos the 22 year old Rangers striker who is the league’s top scorer and on course to become the first player in Scottish Premiership history to score in eight successive games. He is also on course to become the first Rangers player since Kris Boyd to score thirty top flight goals in a season, which in doing so would make him the youngest player to achieve this since Jim Forrest over fifty years ago. What is even more remarkable about the start Morelos has made to the season is that all 17 of his goals have come from open play and his total should be even higher given the terrible officiating errors which saw legitimate strikes disallowed against Kilmarnock, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow. He also currently leads the charts in top tier football anywhere in the World as the player who has contributed the most goals for his team, with 17 goals and 9 assists resulting in 26 top tier goals. We are only just out of November. You would be forgiven for not knowing any of this because the narrative around Morelos is strangely skewed. The story of a 19 year old who left his native country and flew over 6,000 miles from Medellin to Helsinki on his own in pursuit of a dream is replaced with misplaced South American stereotypes and clichés, as well as desperate attempts to balance out any positive with as many negatives as can be found, regardless of accuracy. One article in particular by Keith Jackson received condemnation from “Kick It Out” last year for references to cartels, drugs and people trafficking, all of which of course had absolutely no relevance to the young striker’s career in Scotland. It has led to a belief that there is something more deep rooted going on when approaching the discussion of Alfredo Morelos the footballer. An approach that has seen him labelled “a diddy” by one journalist who, after a man of the match performance against Rapid Vienna, strangely decided to dedicate an article to the striker the next day to explain why the two goals he scored and penalty won for his team actually masked an otherwise poor individual performance. An approach which also saw Hearts Manager Craig Levein strangely asked after the match if he felt the striker gets away with too much. In my many years of following Scottish football, I can’t remember this question being asked of an opposition Manager before. A Scottish football which has seen the likes of Mark Hateley, Duncan Ferguson, Chris Sutton, Michael Higdon, Kevin Kyle, John Hartson - to name but a few – battle with centre backs has suddenly taken exception to a 5 foot 9 inch 22 year old forward having the audacity mix it up with choir boys like Christophe Berra and Peter Hartley as he leads the line on his own in a football environment notorious for being physical. An approach which also saw the aforementioned Keith Jackson create similar confusion with his column last week, where he compared the “demons” and “issues” of 22 year old Alfredo Morelos to experienced Scotland striker Leigh Griffiths. Griffiths, who confirmed over the weekend that he has been too fat to play in recent weeks and recently decided not to attend national duty with Scotland, has been on the front pages several times over the course of his career. From separate incidents of racism to speeding, in amongst a complicated personal life and bans for provoking opposition supporters as well as increased reports of gambling issues it is safe to say Griffiths has demonstrated tendencies of being a flawed character. To compare those “demons” and “issues” to those of a 22 year old striker who picks up the occasional booking for waving his hands in the air in response to a foul is almost incomprehensible and actually fairly irresponsible. Amongst all the criticism of Morelos he has not once been on the front page of a newspaper for off field behaviour or been at the centre of any kind of controversy that would suggest he has any “demons” or “issues” that could be helped by a psychiatrist. It is curious that Jackson hasn’t felt the need to write similar about his comrade Kenny, who in contrast to Morelos has had his share of genuine controversies this season – from being suspended by Rangers, being suspected of being a mole within the dressing room (with some merit given the Daily Record exclusives have dried up since his exit), dismissed as Manager after a matter of weeks by Livingston and sent off for Dundee and causing anger amongst his new club’s supporters in the process by applauding the home fans as he trudged off with his team bottom of the league and 4-0 down. I mean in terms of controversy, demons and being a liability it isn’t quite waving your hands at a ref, but Miller has had a busy year and not one that appears to have warranted any criticism from those lining up to have a pop at Rangers current centre forward. Whilst there is an understanding that journalists have to create articles to stir controversy in order to generate engagement, even more baffling is the criticism Morelos receives from those who have played the game. As an example last week, for some unexplained reason, the Scotland Coach James McFadden – once booked 15 times in one season and who latterly in his career served a three game ban for gesturing to opposition supporters - offered his thoughts, where he criticised Morelos for letting his team mates down and stated “he is either suspended or not fit as much as he is available.” McFadden’s comments provide a further lazy and inaccurate insight in to a player who has shamefully been on the receiving end of this kind of slur all too often. Taking the suspension criticism first, Alfredo has missed four games through suspension in his Rangers career so far – a career which has seen him play 71 times for the club in just over a year. In relation to misgivings about his fitness, he has missed one solitary game through injury over the same period – a midweek fixture against Aberdeen last season. To play 71 times in a Rangers career not yet spanning one and a half years is an incredible feat for someone who is either suspended or not fit as often as he is available. Indeed McFadden’s comments are even more galling when you consider that the 43 games Morelos played last season for Rangers is more than he ever amassed in one season at any club over his entire 17 year career – remarkable considering the striker had already played half a season in Finland prior to arriving in Glasgow. Would James McFadden reflect on his own career the same way? His comments weren’t just ill-judged, they were completely made up and without any foundation or base of accuracy whatsoever. Sadly, McFadden is not the only ex pro who has offered criticisms based on a made up, rather than exaggerated, baseline. Earlier this season Kris Commons weighed in with his own views on Morelos and his “ill-discipline” where he used the example of a red card from the season before that didn’t exist, once again completely made up. Davie Provan is another former pro with a view, noting that Steven Gerrard can coach Morelos but “can’t give him brains” whilst Chris Sutton has had his say in labelling the player “a liability” after he was booked in an incident Sutton admitted he had not yet seen at the time of comment. Others such as Tam McManus and Michael Stewart have also offered opinions on the player, whilst after putting Levein on the spot BBC’s Sportscene dedicated a section of debate to the player within the highlights package in relation to Levein’s comments without then showing any clips to back up the Hearts Manager’s assessment that he should have been sent off. And yet despite the constant criticism and cheap headlines, you may be surprised to see how Morelos compares to his peers in terms of discipline. Last season for example, he received 6 yellow and 0 red cards. In comparison, John McGinn and Graeme Shinnie - 2 Scotland internationalists incidentally - received 15 yellow cards each. You would be hard pressed to find similar criticism of either player. Indeed when John McGinn was the subject of transfer interest from Celtic and Aston Villa through the summer, there was not a single mention of his ill-discipline or temper. Liability? Hot head? Nope. And yet we have a Colombian outsider who accumulated 9 bookings less yet has been subject to speculating articles on the state of his mental health, temper and discipline. Additionally, a South American stereotype wouldn’t be complete without a mention of diving and play acting. The Motherwell Manager, Steven Robinson, recently obliged when he came out after their recent hammering at Ibrox to comment that referees “are being conned by the same people” in relation to the foul on Morelos that led to poor Carl McHugh – 2 reds and 4 yellows this season in addition to 12 yellows last season – being sent off. This was another strange comment without substance, as in his year and a half at Rangers Morelos has only once been cautioned for diving or play acting – a decision which was rightly later reversed when evidence showed that the Dundee goalkeeper had to be taken off injured as a result of his contact with the player. There is a strange type of irony around the likes of Robinson and Levein complaining to referees about the antics of other players, particularly as Levein recently felt his own striker grabbing the private area of another player just a bit of fun. I don’t expect the narrative around Alfredo Morelos to change any time soon within the crazy World of Scottish football. There is however a disappointment that the story we tell is tainted with so many inaccuracies and stereotypes, as we are missing out on a really fascinating individual journey. At a time when so many voices within Scottish football were critical of the decision to snub BT over Sky in securing Scottish football coverage for the years ahead based on the difference in talking up our game, there is more than a touch of hypocrisy around this in how many of those same people speak about Morelos. This is a player who has scored 17 goals this season and at 22 has become a full Colombian international on our watch. A player who, at the age of 19, packed his bags and flew to the relative football backwater of Finland with a view to forging a career as a professional footballer which led to him becoming a full international through hard work, dedication and application. A player who should be an inspiration to young players all over Scotland, as they look to fulfil their own dreams of becoming a professional. After all, are there examples of many young Scottish players who would be willing to make the same sacrifice to forge a successful football career if they hadn’t quite made the grade here? His journey to where he is now, and where he is going if his rate of improvement continues, is a story worth telling yet no one appears to want to do so. Can anyone answer why that is? You wonder what it is that has put so many noses out of joint. Is it the reality of a foreign player leading the line for Rangers instead of someone “more local”? There are many who would think so. Or is it as simple as it being about the colour of his shirt than his skin? And yet, Morelos can’t be accused of being a lazy foreign mercenary who has come in to our game without embracing it in full. He doesn’t take to the media either here or in his homeland to complain when centre backs twice his size are kicking him up and down a park. He embraces it and gives as good as he gets. He doesn’t go in to hiding on the cold winter fixtures or the plastic parks appearing to long for a return to sunnier climates. He rolls the sleeves up and gets on with it. In interviews in his native Colombia Morelos has spoken respectfully of the Scottish game, and spoke in glowing terms about his fellow pros when nominated for the Young Player of the Year award last year. He deserves better than being singled out for public criticism by the likes of Berra, Levein and Robinson before we even start to discuss the lazy criticism from pundits and tabloid journalists. Maybe one day Alfredo Morelos will get the respect he deserves within our game for his ability, work ethic and achievements, but for now I will listen to Steven Gerrard who has advised we should enjoy him whilst we have him as he is going to be a top player. After all, Steven Gerrard knows a thing or two about top players. For now however I prefer to think of Alfredo Morelos as a 22 year old kid with bags of ability and potential who could break all sorts of records if he were to stay long enough and who has dragged us to the top of the league with his contribution in the final third. A player who typifies everything the Rangers supporters want in a centre forward – ability, character, maximum effort every week who does his talking on the pitch with no quarter given, no quarter asked.

It's a symbiotic thing. You must have seen that photograph? You know, the one where the Hippo stands there chewing the vegetation and perched on it's back is a bird the size of a song thrush. The free rider is an Oxpecker, it uses the Hippo for both protection from predators and as a source of food. As it traverses the Hippo's body, it sticks it's curved beak into skin crevices and eats the burrowing insects and grubs. The Hippo is most content to allow the Oxpecker free reign, it's a reciprocating beneficial relationship for both parties ie 'symbiotic'. I witnessed the above myself. My professional life saw me visit Kenya for eight weeks, and down time allowed for a few Safaris. Watching that Oxpecker's agility is quite something, hanging off the Hippo's tail, swinging that beak into the areas surrounding the butt-hole. It's an avaricious little bugger, getting stuck into the hardening shit for more and more worms and beetles. I wondered then, why does no one publish that photograph? We are capable of understanding the principle of symbiosis, but the visual reinforcement must remain within romantic parameters. PQ's A-Team pitched up at Hampden on Sunday afternoon for the main event, the Betfred cup final. There was collective dyspepsia from the starter course, the boys in maroon had been fcuked over by the perpetrators of hate crime, Rangers. The post match grievance so well articulated by Craig Levein, Allan Preston, Michael Stewart, et al(no sour grapes) had sweetened the after taste somewhat; however, "the H-u-ns and typical orange bastards" were top of the league. A serious digestive was required. A warm bonhomie was soon evident. The Dandies lined up with Big Dick, Liam McLeod, and Wullie Miller. Jim Leighton was recorded too, offering support to Aberdeen, warning of the mental fortitude needed to compete in Glasgow. Ra Sellik rawked up with Eire Force One and Two, Pat Bonner and Tom English charmed with mawkish patronisation and applicable condescension. The airwaves dripped with respect, this was another final meeting between Scotland's two most successful clubs these last five years. The culmination of the final had both halves of the PQ A-Team sharing the plaudits, wasn't match winner, Ryan Christie honed to green'n'grey perfection at Pittodrie? Jonny Hayes and Gary McKay-Steven's crossover was cause for celebration too. Packie lamented Adam Rooney's lack of pace, "another yard quicker and he would have been an Irish international regular". Big Dick proclaimed him as, "Salford's finest". Tom admired Aberdeen's organisation and commitment. Both managers were constantly referred to as Brendan and Derek. Mutual masturbation all round. Seriously, it was hard to differentiate between the sweating, defecating, farting Hippo and the shit chewing, weevil eating Oxpecker ?

@GSmiddy has brilliantly articulated the deliberate distortion of facts and fiction around Morelos. This is a superb piece of writing. It just further reinforces the FACT that Gersnet (and other forums) provide much better insight, and quality of analysis, including writing style, than you ever get from so-called professional football writes/presenters/pundits. ??

Great to see such a positive reaction to this superb analysis online this morning. Well over 5000 hits on the main site and a huge response on social media too. Not bad for Smiddy's debut. ?

It’s nights like this you realise we are still a long way from the final article.

No better feeling than putting an article together and your fellow fans agree/appreciate it. I used to do articles for another forum years ago and was always humbled by the hits. Welldone to Smiddy. As for the " hothead" " temperament" etc, it's the kind of thing I'd expect to read on the comments section on YouTube and not from a journalist. I honestly don't ever recall Sutton and Harston being brought into question when they were kicking the shit out of the league. It was " passion" " grit" " Steel" and dare I say " a man's game"

Excellent article. First class analysis of the blinkered nature of what passes for Scottish football journalism and punditry. Morelos understands why Rangers fans love him and why we cheer the efforts that he puts in for the team. That is what matters to him. Not blind referees or lazy incompetent hacks. Keep on doing what you are doing Alfredo. Then we'll see who's laughing at the end of the season.

I've been tweeting the Scottish gutter press with it, not that they will read it! but it has to be spread as far as possible

The Cry was No Defenders. The nameless, faceless PQ Producers have a responsibility. Of course, they have responsibilities, each show has both presentation and content. Thus, Presenters, contributors, social media platforms, .... etc on one side; and technical staff, IT staff, engineers, business and commercial management too. The real responsibility is, 'Balance'. Ensure both sides of a discussion are aired and allow the listener to make up their own minds. The aforementioned phrase, 'on one side' is important because as license fee paying Rangers supporters, we know with PQ Producers, we are very much, 'the other side'. The Presenters and contributors are on message and are allowed free reign to get as comfortable as can be with their preferred prejudice. There is an ongoing process of cleansing, it is reckoned Kenny McIntyre is the last remaining football relating staffer? There are some like DrStu'(resident Witch Finder General) who find that position too galling, he has spent five weeks painting a target on the poor guy's back. I saw a list of three dozen names, all regular Presenters and contributors and other than McIntyre, two names are up for contention for Rangers leanings. Billy Dodds has enough trouble towing his EBT, but he went public a decade past in a Sunday broadsheet, he no longer considers himself to be a Rangers supporter. In fact, most Bears would argue that Billy is a mainstay of BBC Scotland's football output because of that published statement? Chic Young, despite his long and weary protestations of St Boo allegiances; is such a necessary prop of thirty satirical piss-taking years, no one takes him seriously. No, balance left PQ at the same time as satire. What would all those satirical shows make of Chris McLaughlin? What would be their take on a series of Justice Ministers sitting in the North Stand at Sellik Park? Anyone for 'Four Men in a Boat' on the Panama Canal, they could manufacture a sail from Dermot's papers. The PQ Producers must be seen/heard to be going through the motions; thus, we want to hear from Rangers supporters, the odd, very odd VoxPop with Bears passing PQ on their way to Ibrox, and a few occasional(Producer written) e-mails/texts read out on air, is more than enough to satisfy demands of balance. The reality for license fee paying Rangers supporters was Sunday's noon kick-off at Tynecastle. Big Dick(Dandy) introduces from Hampden, asks questions of commentator at Tynie of Paul Mitchell(Jambo), interacts with co-commentators, Allan Preston(Jambo) and Billy(I no longer consider myself to be a Rangers supporter)Dodds, then goes pitch side to Brian McLaughlin(Hibby). It's predictable, Hearts start well, score first, and everybody connected to PQ, is happy. Rangers equalise, then go ahead before half-time, and the air waves darken. Allan Preston is critical of the Ref', the Linesman, and Morelos. Big Dick reinforces those thoughts, and Billy Dodds contributes, "it's a cracking game". At this point, let's congratulate Allan Preston for his monthly standing order to the Foundation of Hearts. Allan is also a licensed football Agent. I am positive he would never publicly talk down a player not on his books to favour one on his books, and vice-versa. We call that a balanced approach, and I am sure the PQ Producer has a wee reminding word in his ear every now and again? It's important to retain balance. The second half sees a red card challenge from Arfield on the Hearts Keeper, Rangers not taking numerous opportunities to notch a third, and a ten man Rangers comfortably hold off Hearts for twenty-five minutes. Preston's frustrations boil over, he loses balance and obviously reminded of the danger, offers, "this is not sour grapes". Encouraged, Billy goes further, "none of this detracts away from Rangers performance". Big Dick, remember he is at Hampden; wades in, calls Arfield's challenge, 'shocking, disgraceful, and outrageous' in turn. Reminds the audience of Rangers seven red cards this season, "obviously, there's problem". Both the Ref' and Linesman get it in the neck again. Now, a Rangers supporter might mention that the Ref' and his officials are the same for both sides, why no yellow cards shown to Hearts players? Further, why was Clare's shocking, disgraceful, and outrageous flat booted, studs showing, assault on Coulibaly's upper thigh not a red card? Even further again, why did Paul Mitchell, Allan Preston, Billy Dodds, Brian McLaughlin, and Big Dick deliberately NOT MENTION this challenge at any point during the broadcast? See how balance can be awkward and inconvenient! Finally, Craig Levein's post match outburst to Brian McLaughlin was well received at PQ, they would have called it, 'balanced'. He knew what he was doing, he did the very same as Dundee United manager, at Ibrox ten years past. He was flanked by his then club Chairman, Eddie Thompson. After a 3-1 defeat, he proclaimed, "we were never going to be allowed to win that game". Craig always sounds balanced when he is pushing at an open door. More PQ balance to ensue, when the Dandies visit Ibrox tomorrow evening.

Please tell me that you write this with the aid of google translate ...

What fecking does my tits in is our inability to get to the by line or behind opposition defences. Considering we play wide men and have overlapping full backs, we never see them hitting the by line and getting balls across the goal area. It's the hardest ball to defend and it's no great surprise that about 90% of Man City's goals come from these situations. They rarely shoot or play low percentage passes. They engineer a way for a player to hit the line and play a pass back/across for someone to tap in.

Every player was very poor tonight, ref was shocking again, wish I had stayed at home tonight

What rotten a team McInnes has bred. That was anti-football at its Scotish best and the mhedia will hail it as magnificent. Shocking enough that we lost that one, but the Scum drew at Motherwell too and Kilmarnock lead the table IF there was anything positive to find tonight it was the fact that 4-3-3 is not a do-for-all system. Coulibaly and Ejaria doesn't work in games like these ... and Ejaria needs to learn that we don't play EPL u23 stuff, but need pace and precision for 90 mins. Strolling about and playing neat little passes get us nowhere in such games. We desperately need a creative midfielder who dictates the pace ... January can't come quickly enough. EDIT: Morelos was bang on for a red after the first yellow ... it should have been spotted by the coaches. Now we will miss him for longer and that is partly due to not removing him long before he got his swing at Shinnie.

Lethargic, insipid performance from the lads tonight. They showed no urgency to shift the ball beyond a tightly packed Aberdeen midfield and defence. Rangers passed the ball to death tonight mostly in the 30-60 yard area and looked toothless for the whole game. I thought that the days Warburton plan A had been removed from our play but on that display it hasn't. No one showed any courage or invention tonight electing instead to play the safe percentage pass and more than once they even managed to fluff that up. We haven't won a game in three against them this season and quite frankly that's not good enough.

An excellent article, well written and balanced - sadly something professional hacks appear not to be able to emulate.

"Eire Force One"! Brilliant.

I’m still at the stage where I look at these interviews and find myself smiling and thinking “That’s Steven Gerrard. Steven Gerrard really is the Rangers manager.”

It wasn't really left back. He was hoping to give him more room to take on the sheep player and push further up the pitch He wasn't expecting Middleton to do much defending.

Buy a creative midfielder and another striker. Send either Ejaria or Coulibaly back to their parent club.

Too slow and it started at the back particularly with the centre halves. . No cutting edge on the flanks or in the centre. Morelos was guaranteed a red as his attitude was back to the bad old days. Grezda and Candeias were tripping over each other, flanno adds nothing and coulibally looks as if his game has gone. Ejaria not attacking enough, stupid goal to concede with hint of Fir Park about it, Tav going round in circles, Middleton not brave enough. No pass marks for any of them. Mugged again by a pysh team. Manager is also rotating too much. On the positives we are relatively unscathed in the league table and this must be a wake up call. Every player in that team tonight has to take the blame personally and do something about it. Those not selected must push these harder.

I wondered if we would be better with Rossiter than Ejaria tonight. As @pete points out Ejaria does little other than slow the game down. It's great that the ball sticks to his feet but it's not proving to be much use to us. Coulibaly continued to look terrible. The ball is just bouncing off of him. Good luck to Angers if they want £3 million for him.

https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/nikica-jelavic-exclusive/

Fucking biased bastard. Worst refereeing performance in a long time. Waddellesque. ??

Lets keep believing and don't go too hard on Buffalo, enough biased journalist will do that, I can see the headlines tomorrow. Yes he is young, yes he is petulant but who else do we have that can put the ball in the net like him.? If Motherwell can take two points off Celtic we can beat them. Keep believing, the alternative is not worth thinking about. In Stevie G I trust. WATP,

The style tonight was nothing like that used against Hearts. At Hearts we didn’t pass the ball at all, tonight if anything we weren’t direct enough and wasted too much time passing the ball at a slow pace. I think playing on the deck more at home is good but the concern is that the players seemed to be improvising rather than than looking well drilled in methods of breaking through defences.

We should be used to this. If anything good happens, we find a way to ruin it within a few days. Murder.

Tbh we showed very little real quality against Hearts as well. We showed great fighting spirit but I'm still struggling to see what we actually do as a team that is creative or part of a plan

Can’t do worse than that except one of the central defenders has to give way to John Valentine.

King found guilty I just thought of one of those dreadful American detective shows when the young cop says there's a common denominator here but we cant see it .

Yes 4 I think from Scotland, unlimited elsewhere I think

Superb article, the like of which Jackson et al could only dream of writing, yet they continue to steal a wage from a soon-to-be-bust-hopefully gutter tabloid. Make no mistake, this is absolutely 100% to do with keeping Morelos transfer value down as low as possible to prevent us from competing with the bheasts. While the Rhebel and others praise the likes of wee fat Forrest, new superstar Christie (2/3 good games in 5 years), and super-duper-star Tierney (while ignoring he cant defend) etc to try to ensure that the bheasts get top dollar (Dembele dollars?) from their player sales, they narrative always has to be to ensure we cannot get a good price for any of our players. Agents, other clubs, etc all read the local papers for insight into players that come on their radar, and all they ever read is that tim players are all worth fortunes and Rangers players are worth nothing. Until this is resolved, parity remains a long way away.

Only if they come from Scotland I believe

Ffs Compo did your hear Galloway on his show and white wiping the sweat from his arse with his tongue! Truely stomach churning! Galloway is a bitter catholic republican who only remembers what he want to. I find him nauseous at best.

Excellent article, this needs to be spread far & wide.

Probably the best Rangers team in my lifetime.

I wonder how an approach for Josh Windass would be received? ? I miss him so much ??

Lifted from FF As Rangers sit in the unprecedented position whereby we sit top of the SPFL yet bottom of the fairplay table it is truely astounding that there are still crackpots out there genuinely of the belief there is a refereeing agenda working against celtic to the benefit of Rangers.One man in the firing line re these wild allegations is Bobby Madden. Unfounded online rumours suggesting madden once held a season ticket at Ibrox seems to have led to a campaign against him yet a quick look at his stats since our return to the premiership tell an entirely different storyGames involving Rangers 8Games involving celtic 9Rangers players sent off 2Celtic players sent off 1Opposition sent off v Rangers 1Opposition sent off v celtic 2Pens awarded to Rangers 2Pens awarded to celtic 4Pens given against Rangers 3Pens given against Celtic 0Break it down even more and youve got the needless yellow that he gave morelos that put him out the semi final and the leg breaking clare tackle on Sunday, i just hope this online onslaught against Madden isnt influencing his decision making against us