Rangers’ disappointing Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts was full of narratives. Not only was Alfredo Morelos missing but the pressure mounted on Steven Gerrard who earned criticism from the supporters.
Some called for his sacking and resignation as the manager himself admitted that he had a lot of thinking to do.
“I need to think. The plan was to have a day off tomorrow [Sunday] but I need to think hard about where we are at as a group. I need to do some real serious thinking in the next 24-48 hours,” Gerrard said.
When questioned about his future, the boss added: “I just need to think, I am feeling pain right now because I want to win here. I am desperate to win here, but looking from the side today I didn’t get the impression that the feeling among my players was the same.”
It was a clear sign of frustration from the 39-year-old who looked like a beaten man.
Rangers’ form in recent weeks has been inconsistent. One minute the Glaswegian outfit are on the up, beating Braga over two legs and then the next moment they’re down, losing 1-0 to Hearts.
But there is a common theme emerging at Ibrox. Morelos missed both of those matches.
The Colombian sat out in Portugal last Wednesday because of suspension but he wasn’t included on Saturday because of disciplinary issues. When Gerrard needed his star man the most, he was anonymous and causing trouble.
It was typical of a player who has been sent off seven times in his Rangers career. This wasn’t the first time he’s let his manager down, but arguably, this was the most telling. Arriving back late from a trip to his homeland, the sanction and message was clear from Gerrard.
For the sake of his own job, he could have done with his 29-goal striker on Saturday. With Jermain Defoe only just back from injury and Florian Kamberi cup-tied, there was a lack of a central threat.
Gerrard needed Morelos but he was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, he’s been difficult to pick out at all in 2020.
Morelos is yet to score this calendar year and subsequently, the Gers have fallen 12 points behind Celtic in the race for the title – they’ve also failed to take a win from five of their domestic outings.
Had the £13.5m-rated forward been firing in the goals on a regular basis, Rangers might still be in with a chance of stopping their Old Firm rivals in the Scottish Premiership. Had he been available against Hearts, they might have also made it through to the next round of the Scottish Cup.
Those are big ‘what ifs’ but as it happens, Rangers’ chances of securing silverware now look extremely thin this season, primarily because of Morelos’ poor form in 2020.
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It’s clear Rangers have had an over-reliance on the 23-year-old and with fans now on Gerrard’s back and the manager himself mulling over his future, it’s his star man that’s beginning to cost the manager the most. The irony is notable.
If Morelos continues to misfire and cause trouble, it’s likely Rangers’ struggles will also continue.
Meanwhile, check out Chris Sutton’s EIGHT-WORD response to Rangers’ Scottish Cup defeat…