By Craig Rae
Michael Beale confirmed that Alfredo Morelos will leave Rangers this summer after today’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox.
The manager said he would be ‘moving on’ was very critical of the Colombian striker who was again nowhere near the levels required of a Rangers striker when he was subbed on and seemed to lack hunger and desire.
“You saw a difference when Alfredo came on in terms of energy, not a positive difference.”
I asked the manager to clarify his earlier comments about him ‘moving on’ and when asked directly if he would be moving on in the summer, Beale replied:
“Yeah, I thought I confirmed that a couple of days ago.”
Decent build up play and missed opportunities seems to describe this Rangers team in a microcosm, for the third game in a row Fashion Sakala has missed big chances to change the game and failed, Rabbi Matondo also had another decent opportunity.
“With the ball we had some good moments, I thought Fashion and Rabbi had two moments in the first half where they linked up well but sometimes, I think we’re the most wasteful team in the final third I’ve ever seen.”
Rangers need to be ruthless up front this season, with many of the current squad lacking the killer instinct to become a success, the manager was asked about how to make next season a successful one.
“That’s what we’re striving for every single day, most of our problems are not between the two boxes, they’re in the boxes, we’re making mistakes at both ends of the pitch and it’s clear that if you want to go and be a successful team you can’t make the amount of mistakes we’ve made previously. Let’s just move forward, we’ll have a nice summer and we’ll come back stronger for sure.”
Todd Cantwell was once again the standout performer at Ibrox as his excellent finish secured the three points.
The Englishman was the brightest spark in a dull first half, linking up play and having a couple of attempts himself.
His goal came from a perfect volley after a corner from James Tavernier and the midfielder said it was something that he just thought of in game.
“We had a corner just before and I said to Souttar, I’m here by myself, if it goes over your head this time just block him and it was almost like Tavernier heard me because he put it in the same place and the technique did the rest!”
Kieran Dowell is someone that Rangers have been linked with in recent weeks and whilst not giving away any hints to say that he would be coming to Ibrox, he had a lot of praise for his ex-Norwich teammate.
“He’s a good player, someone I enjoyed playing with at Norwich, we had good success and he’s a top lad. None of that’s really to do with me, it’s the manager, club and his choice I suppose but if that is something that happens, I’m sure that Rangers fans can be happy.”
Four more games are left of this abysmal season and the biggest of the lot comes next week at Ibrox against Celtic in the final Old Firm Derby in which pride is at stake.
Michael Beale will know that his Celtic hoodoo cannot continue for much longer if he wants to be a successful Rangers manager and a win against them next week will at least get a monkey off his back, if nothing else.
