For good or bad, there was a spell when audiences in Aberdeen simply couldn’t take their eyes off Alfredo Morelos as the Colombian commanded centre stage in the north east.
Be it the Pittodrie pantomime villain or the blunt force battering ram Rangers relied on to smash through the Granite City defences, the Ibrox striker knew exactly how to attract the spotlight. Whether he was playing the role of the match-winning hero for the visitors or the baddie locals loved to boo on his way for an early bath, Morelos’ appearances in front of the Red Army were always box office affairs.
So how strange, sad even, it was to see Gers’ one-time leading man effectively reduced to a slot in the background supporting cast on Sunday as Aberdeen snatched their moment in the limelight. Once one of the Premiership’s biggest stars, no-one can now deny Morelos has been Rangers’ biggest let down during a deflating campaign. In years gone by, Morelos would never have been far from the action when these two clubs met. But one shot cleared from underneath Kelle Roos’ crossbar early doors and a couple of snarls at his opponents as the curtain came down on another underwhelming Gers performance, well that was about all the lines he head to read from the weekend’s shock script.
In his previous nine appearances treading the boards by the beach the 26-year-old managed four goals, three assists … and who could forget a couple of scene-stealing red cards with former sparring partner Scott McKenna? Love him or loathe him, Morelos was always the main man in these Dons melodramas.
But there was none of that on Sunday.
As a character, he’s nowhere near the imposing figure he used to be. Once a striker neither defenders nor referees could let out of their sights, you’d have struggled to notice him in the closing stages as Barry Robson’s side stormed to a deserved win.
Steven Gerrard used to lament that his side was too reliant upon the former HJK Helsinki ace to dig them out of trouble with his goals or to drag them up the pitch with his raw physicality. Unfortunately for Gerrard’s replacement, Gio van Bronckhorst couldn’t even rely on the frontman to get himself fit.
Beale must have hoped his connection with Morelos from his previous involvement in Gerrard’s backroom would encourage the South American to brush up his act. There was a brief upturn upon the Londoner’s appointment but with just three goals in his last 12 games, there’s little sign that Gers’ one-time talisman has any appetite to sniff out opportunities like he did while on the way to smashing Ally McCoist’s club European goals record.
Of course it won’t be long before he’s written out of proceedings at Ibrox, with boss Michael Beale admitting last week he and Allan McGregor will be departing when their contracts run out in the summer. The days on that dwindling deal aren’t the only thing on the decline, though.
You can’t help but come to the conclusion that the fire appears to have gone from the formerly combustable Colombian’s belly and that he’s already mentally checked out of Ibrox as his six-year stint draws to a close.
The trouble for Beale as he prepares for Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final shoot out with Celtic - a match that promises to well and truly end the manager’s Ibrox honeymoon if Ange Postecoglou’s relentless Treble-chasers are allowed a clear run at an record-break eighth domestic clean sweep against lower-league hopefuls Inverness or Falkirk - is that this season’s theatrics aren’t over yet and he has no suitable understudy for Morelos.
Take a look at the Premiership top gun chart and you have to scan down past Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi - who leads the golden boot hunt with 23 league strikes - Hearts ace Lawrence Shankland, Motherwell’s Kevin van Veen and then two Aberdeen players in Bojan Miovski and Duk before you come across Gers’ top league scorer James Tavernier.
The Light Blues’ spot-kick king has 13 goals this season - but only three have come from open play. Next on the list is Antonio Colak, who looked like he was set to duke it out with Kyogo in the goals race after a red-hot start but has since then looked incapable of staying fit or leading the line well enough to even dislodge a barely-bothered Buffalo.
Then, sitting 18th on the chart, there’s Fashion Sakala, who Beale must have had in mind as he blasted his side’s wastefulness in front of goal at Pittodrie. As erratic as he is explosive, the Zambian had a glorious opportunity to put Rangers ahead against Aberdeen but as is often his problem, with too much time to think he failed to beat Roos after being set clean through on the Reds stopper.
The 2-0 defeat Rangers went on to suffer now means Celtic can wrap up an 11th league title out of the last 12 in their first game after the split but Rangers still have a role to play in the Hoops’ Treble bid as they seek to salvage their own campaign. But for that they need a major plot twist at Hampden.
Morelos hasn’t exactly earned a blockbuster reputation when it comes to Old Firm clashes with just three goals in 22 derby outings - but there’s still time for him to prove himself a show-stopper. As he prepares to exit stage left, Rangers really could do with their man rolling back the years and putting on one last act of defiance.
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