Kenny Dalglish has described Alfredo Morelos’ late return from Colombia as scandalous.
Last month the Ibrox striker was booked against Braga which meant that he was suspended for the return leg in Portugal six days later.
Morelos asked Steven Gerrard if he could use the suspension to visit his mother who is reported to be ill in Colombia.
Gerrard agreed to that request telling his star striker to be back in Glasgow on the Wednesday after flying out following the 2-2 draw with St Johnstone on the Sunday.
Morelos was disciplined for his late return with his manager deciding to drop him for the Scottish Cup tie against Hearts at Tynecastle.
In the Sunday Post Dalglish explains:
Morelos was suspended for a few games, and didn’t find the same rhythm during January and February that he had in October and November.
The Colombian striker asked his manager for a few days off on compassionate leave, and that was granted to allow him to go back home to visit his mother.
Every manager has been there with that kind of request. Steven had to allow the player to return home. If he hadn’t, who knows what kind of reaction there would been. But for the player to have then returned late back to Glasgow was very poor.
In fact, it was scandalous. It’s not the first time this has happened to a manager, and it won’t be the last, either. It’s part of the job and it happens at all levels. Players will let you down, unfortunately.
For Morelos to do that to Steven and the club was out of order. As has been the case from day one, Steven tried his best for the player and protected him many, many times.
He put his trust in the player and the player let him down. It left Steven with a decision to make in terms of whether or not to play him against Hearts in the Cup.
One thing Steven doesn’t lack is the bottle to make big decisions. And he made the right call by leaving Morelos out. Rangers should still have had enough to win the game, and the same applied to the clash against Hamilton.
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Morelos returned to the side for the 1-0 defeat from Hamilton and failed to score in today’s 1-0 win away to Ross County.