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.
