ALFREDO Morelos has looked like the real deal in these early weeks of the season. Snubbed this week by Colombia, the striker might find that he still has a bit of work to do if he is to regain the affection of Carlos Queiroz, who left him out of this week’s squads for forthcoming friendlies against Brazil and Venezuela.
Adding to the three senior caps that he already has might need not just goals but a genuine suggestion that his new found maturity is here to stay. And the litmus test for that will come tomorrow afternoon at Ibrox. A Jekyll-and-Hyde player who can excite and frustrate in equal measure, Morelos still has the ability to polarise opinion.
This season he has very firmly toed the line on the way to conjuring up some impressive stats – he stands at 10 goals in 11 appearances – the most dramatic and recent of which sent his side into the group stages of the Europa League at the last moment.
READ MORE: The key battles that will decide the Old Firm
There has been no ambiguity this term about what he lends the Ibrox forward line. Indeed, there is an argument to suggest that if Steven Gerrard can tame the 22-year-old’s temperament this season it might be as impressive as any turnaround he engineers at Rangers.
There was a sense last season that the Ibrox manager was losing patience with the striker, most notably in the Celtic press room at the end of March as a silly red card for the player gave Rangers an uphill struggle against the Parkhead side. It was the fifth dismissal of the season at that stage for Morelos. But if the striker has quietened any dissent around him in recent months then the barometer of just how far he has come will be tested to the full tomorrow lunchtime in the frantic heat of the first Old Firm game of the season. You can guarantee it will not be quiet.
Celtic’s obsession this season is to land the ninth title, Rangers’ to stop them. Before a ball had been kicked this term the portents were neatly pointed to a febrile campaign given what lies at stake for both sides.
As a club Rangers have made their feelings clear in some fairly strong statements about the behaviour thathas landed them in the dock with UEFA. It did not all fall on deaf ears as Thursday night showed with a fairly biddable crowd adhering to the requests demanded of them.
It is too late to stop another penalty landing at the door of Rangers – the Ibrox side will have a section of the stadium closed for their Europa League opener against Feyenoord next month – and the threat of full closure hangs heavy in the air. It will be interesting to see then whether the eschewing of some ofthe more unpalatable songs continues amid the emotion of tomorrow’s game – and when the man they love to hate is in the opposition dugout.
READ MORE: Rangers vs Celtic: Herald and Times sports writers give predictions for Ibrox clash
If the Ibrox support can desist when there is the threat of genuine sanction hanging over them then it calls into question just why the governing authority in Scotland has sat on their hands for so long in the face of antisocial behaviour. There is a tendency at times to suggest Neil Lennon is something of a pantomime villain at Ibrox but some of the vulgarity and frothing at the mouth leaves too sour a taste to write it all off as just a bit of banter.
If Rangers can move themselves on and shed the skin that is dragging them back to the dark ages then tomorrow afternoon is the ideal time to showcase their own new-found maturity. Practising for good behaviour in Europe might as well start domestically.
The signs this term point to these games being definitive in terms of deciding just who will emerge on top in terms of the title. Rangers look a better side than last season, while Celtic, still nursing a hangover from their Champions League exit, carry particular menace going forward.
Both still look vulnerable at the other end. But the weight that has already attached itself to this game means that what is an intense atmosphere is heightened again.
No-one expects it to be all peace, love and understanding but if some of the more odious elements can be left at the door then so much the better for everyone.
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