BlueMeanie
Well-Known Member
ALFREDO MORELOS posted a cryptic message on social media.
But he’s got to realise that now’s the time for action.
Not mysterious words.
“A warrior is not the one who always wins. He’s the one who always fights.”
That’s a rough translation of what the Rangers striker posted on Instagram the other night after he was an unused sub against PSV Eindhoven.
It’s obviously open to interpretation.
But saying it is one thing. Actually doing it is another.
And it’s high time he proved he’s ready, willing and able to battle his way back into the Rangers line-up.
Listen, no one is a bigger fan of the striker than me — it was only a few weeks ago I stuck my neck out and spoke highly of him in the Jota “best-player-in-the-country” debate.
But let’s get it right — Morelos is now faced with his biggest challenge as a Rangers player.
Antonio Colak is the main man at the club right now and the first name on the teamsheet, having scored four goals in his last four games.
Morelos may be the club’s record goalscorer in European competition. But that counts for absolutely nothing right now.
Not when he’s nowhere near fit enough for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s liking.
The fact Morelos didn’t get on the pitch against PSV spoke volumes for me.
At 2-2 on Tuesday night, Rangers could have been doing with a lift in the closing minutes.
Whether it was anxiety or not, the crowd had fallen flat after the Dutch side’s late equaliser and Morelos could have given everyone a boost.
But Van Bronckhorst didn’t turn to him and, for me, that was him sending the Colombian a message. Everyone can see he’s a few pounds overweight.
OK, he’s been out injured for a while but he’s been back training for weeks now.
It’s as clear as day and Morelos has to do something about it — and quickly.
I’ve been there. My weight and size was something I was constantly criticised for throughout my career.
But ask any manager I worked under and they’ll all tell you I trained hard every single day.
Morelos is very similar but until now he’s always relied on game time to trim down.
But he can’t use that if he’s not getting back in the team.
He has to get his head down in training — and away from the club — and work like never before to get back to the level he was at when Gio first arrived.
His match sharpness will only come from games.
But he can definitely get himself into better shape by grafting behind the scenes. There are no excuses otherwise.
It’s time he showed what he’s made of and accepted the challenge Colak has thrown down to him.
Otherwise he could find himself on the bench for a long, long time.
I know Colak has faced some criticism himself since joining the club, but not from me.
I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from him and it’s come as no surprise to me that he’s hit the net once the chances have started to come.
Mark Hateley was extremely harsh on him after his first European game and branded his performance a waste of time.
His assessment reminded me of how he used to slate me when I played for Rangers too.
My answer was always to invite him to come into the training ground and show me where I was going wrong.
But I never heard a thing back. And I’m still waiting.
Colak CAN can improve his game — he’s far from the finished article — but he brings plenty to this Rangers team and he’s not going to just step aside for Morelos.
Van Bronckhorst isn’t likely to be in any hurry to change things either, given he signed the Croatian.
But what he needs is a striker he can trust to be fully fit and ready to go when required, and then it’s down to Morelos to grab his opportunity.
But the key is showing determination to fight for his position. If he can get fit then he’ll back himself to out-score Colak because that’s how good strikers always feel.
That was my way of thinking during my spells at Ibrox.
It didn’t matter which other frontmen were at the club, in my head I was the best.
I always felt I just needed to get into the team to score goals.
There were games when the gaffer would leave me on the bench and I had to suck it up, which was hard.
I was a substitute for a lot of Old Firm derbies and it was the same situation in Europe.
But I knew most weekends in the league I’d still be one of the first names on the teamsheet — and I had to be ready.
Morelos has to do the same. Trust me, sulking about constantly being a sub won’t get him anywhere.
I was never the best at dealing with it and had plenty of fall-outs.
But no matter how frustrated I got, I’d never allow it to affect my preparation for the weekend.
Posting messages on Twitter or his Insta account is great for the galleries to see but eventually those followers will see through it.
Because right now Van Bronckhorst will be asking himself if Morelos actually deserves a new deal like the one James Tavernier signed last week.
But he’s got to realise that now’s the time for action.
Not mysterious words.
“A warrior is not the one who always wins. He’s the one who always fights.”
That’s a rough translation of what the Rangers striker posted on Instagram the other night after he was an unused sub against PSV Eindhoven.
It’s obviously open to interpretation.
If Morelos was telling everyone he’s ready to fight for his place at Rangers, then that’s precisely the attitude he should have.But saying it is one thing. Actually doing it is another.
And it’s high time he proved he’s ready, willing and able to battle his way back into the Rangers line-up.
Listen, no one is a bigger fan of the striker than me — it was only a few weeks ago I stuck my neck out and spoke highly of him in the Jota “best-player-in-the-country” debate.
I’ll revisit that one in the coming weeks.But let’s get it right — Morelos is now faced with his biggest challenge as a Rangers player.
Antonio Colak is the main man at the club right now and the first name on the teamsheet, having scored four goals in his last four games.
Morelos may be the club’s record goalscorer in European competition. But that counts for absolutely nothing right now.
Not when he’s nowhere near fit enough for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s liking.
The fact Morelos didn’t get on the pitch against PSV spoke volumes for me.
At 2-2 on Tuesday night, Rangers could have been doing with a lift in the closing minutes.
Whether it was anxiety or not, the crowd had fallen flat after the Dutch side’s late equaliser and Morelos could have given everyone a boost.
But Van Bronckhorst didn’t turn to him and, for me, that was him sending the Colombian a message. Everyone can see he’s a few pounds overweight.
OK, he’s been out injured for a while but he’s been back training for weeks now.
It’s as clear as day and Morelos has to do something about it — and quickly.
I’ve been there. My weight and size was something I was constantly criticised for throughout my career.
But ask any manager I worked under and they’ll all tell you I trained hard every single day.
Morelos is very similar but until now he’s always relied on game time to trim down.
But he can’t use that if he’s not getting back in the team.
He has to get his head down in training — and away from the club — and work like never before to get back to the level he was at when Gio first arrived.
His match sharpness will only come from games.
But he can definitely get himself into better shape by grafting behind the scenes. There are no excuses otherwise.
It’s time he showed what he’s made of and accepted the challenge Colak has thrown down to him.
Otherwise he could find himself on the bench for a long, long time.
I know Colak has faced some criticism himself since joining the club, but not from me.
I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from him and it’s come as no surprise to me that he’s hit the net once the chances have started to come.
Mark Hateley was extremely harsh on him after his first European game and branded his performance a waste of time.
His assessment reminded me of how he used to slate me when I played for Rangers too.
My answer was always to invite him to come into the training ground and show me where I was going wrong.
But I never heard a thing back. And I’m still waiting.
Colak CAN can improve his game — he’s far from the finished article — but he brings plenty to this Rangers team and he’s not going to just step aside for Morelos.
Van Bronckhorst isn’t likely to be in any hurry to change things either, given he signed the Croatian.
But what he needs is a striker he can trust to be fully fit and ready to go when required, and then it’s down to Morelos to grab his opportunity.
But the key is showing determination to fight for his position. If he can get fit then he’ll back himself to out-score Colak because that’s how good strikers always feel.
That was my way of thinking during my spells at Ibrox.
It didn’t matter which other frontmen were at the club, in my head I was the best.
I always felt I just needed to get into the team to score goals.
There were games when the gaffer would leave me on the bench and I had to suck it up, which was hard.
I was a substitute for a lot of Old Firm derbies and it was the same situation in Europe.
But I knew most weekends in the league I’d still be one of the first names on the teamsheet — and I had to be ready.
Morelos has to do the same. Trust me, sulking about constantly being a sub won’t get him anywhere.
I was never the best at dealing with it and had plenty of fall-outs.
But no matter how frustrated I got, I’d never allow it to affect my preparation for the weekend.
Posting messages on Twitter or his Insta account is great for the galleries to see but eventually those followers will see through it.
It certainly won’t get him the new contract everyone keeps going on about.Because right now Van Bronckhorst will be asking himself if Morelos actually deserves a new deal like the one James Tavernier signed last week.
:shh: :shh: :shh:
