Michael Beale critical of Alfredo Morelos despite Kilmarnock double as Rangers boss makes goalkeeper revelation

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos showcased a little more cutting edge against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night with a brace - his first double of the season - but Michael Beale has warned that the Colombian internationalist still has work to do.

Asked about Morelos’ display the Rangers manager was candid in his assessment as he resisted an urge to gush publicly about the goals and the striker’s role in an odd 3-2 victory that was started and ended with some concern. And Morelos can expect to feel the breath of his manager on his neck if he wishes to stay in the starting XI.

‘’He couldn’t have been any worse in the first-half before he scored, if I’m honest,” offered Beale. “Look, I’m tough on Alfredo. We’ve a really honest relationship and he was much better in the second half. He secured the ball a lot more. In the first half he was trying and he did some things that were spontaneous that came off. But sometimes they don’t and he can leave the team open.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He made a similar pass tonight to the one against Celtic which, in those moments, is not what I want and it’s not what the team wants. We want him up and around the centre halves, using his body and helping the team to come up the pitch. But I thought he took both of his goals really well.”

Alfredo Morelos cups his ears after scoring to make it 1-1 against Kilmarnock on Wednesday. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)Alfredo Morelos cups his ears after scoring to make it 1-1 against Kilmarnock on Wednesday. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
Alfredo Morelos cups his ears after scoring to make it 1-1 against Kilmarnock on Wednesday. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Allan McGregor looks set to be back in goal for the weekend Scottish Cup tie against St Johnstone in Perth as Beale continues to rotate the position. With McGregor set to celebrate his 41st birthday at the end of this month the impetus is on Beale to source his replacement ahead of next season. To that end there will be game time for both Jon McLaughlin and Robby McCrorie, when fit, although the likelihood is that there will be a net cast further afield.

“It’s clear that at the end of the season we need to either bring a goalie in or make sure we make a decision on either Jon or Robby to be number one,” said Beale. “I have to give all the players in house an opportunity as well. I am going to change players in this squad over time. I’m going to change the look of Rangers to move forward.

“We’ve not had that conversation but I’m sure Allan is of an age where he’s thinking about coming nearer to the end. He’s obviously out of contract as well [at the end of the season]. I think Allan played well at the weekend. I think there’s a noise around our goalkeeper situation but I wasn’t here in the first half of the season when those things happened. I think everyone should expect to see Allan against at the weekend and then after that we’ll assess from there.”

There is a rare free midweek following the weekend Scottish Cup tie with Beale intending to use the time to invite one or two players into his office.

“There’s a few conversations to be had and there’s a few things to highlight,” he said. “We are going to re-energise with young players coming in and we’ve got a lot of uncertainty surrounding some of our players. At the moment, everyone is pushing in the right direction.”

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.