Former Scotland striker and current Sky Sports pundit James McFadden has hammered the discipline of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos and insisted he needs to sort himself out after picking up another ban.
The Gers hitman was handed a one-game suspension after picking up another yellow card in Saturday’s win over Livingston, meaning he will miss the trip to Dundee and leave Kyle Lafferty or the out of favour Umar Sadiq as the sole striker choices to Steven Gerrard.
Speaking about the Colombian, McFadden insisted that he was a serious liability to his team as he continually misses games, and that Gerrard needs to hunt a new hitman in January.
He told Sky Sports: “At crucial points of the season he’s not available and he’ll need to sort that out.
“His discipline is poor and I don’t think there’s any need for it. Again at the weekend he comes off the bench and does what he does best in scoring goals but he continues to let himself and his team mates down.
“They need to find someone to help. I think Kyle Lafferty hasn’t been in the team as much and he’s a big player for them, but they need someone else.
“I feel they need to bring a striker in, just to help the two guys up front in case they’re not available. As we’ve seen with Morelos, he’s suspended or he’s not fit as much as he’s available at times.”
Opinion
Morelos is a firm favourite at Ibrox but his attitude, specifically his temper, means that he is always walking a tightrope when it comes to the officials. It appears as though he has got himself a reputation as a mouthy, hot headed striker and the referees have shown no problem in getting their cards out to book him when he does step over the line. He needs to realise that his approach is only hurting him and his teammates and while it is good to show that fire in his belly, he has to manage it properly or risk finding himself dropped out of the side as a liability. That passion is great to see when he is banging in the goals but not so great when he is picking up unnecessary bookings and you can be sure that Steven Gerrard will be trying his best to get the Colombian to calm down at times when he risks the wrath of the officials. How easy that is, only time will tell, but McFadden makes a good point about needing reinforcements if he continues to go missing through suspension.