There was a considerable blip in the anti-Alfredo Morelos narrative currently being driven by sections of the media in Scotland. Sadly, the predictable one-way traffic was not brought to a sudden halt by an ex Rangers player speaking out, no, Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch were too busy acquiescing and adding to that negative narrative with criticism of their own.
In a week which showed Kirk Broadfoot raking his studs down Alfredo’s Achilles heel, you might have thought the onslaught would abate for a few days – but alas, this is Scotland we are talking about.
Instead it was left to Chris Jack of the Evening Times to write an article,
not only defending Alfredo, but in addition, humanising this young man so many have sought to dehumanise with comments such as “buffalo brains “and relating his upbringing to something from the Narcos Netflix series.
Jack highlights a young man brought up in extreme poverty, who has never forgotten his roots, who remains respectful to his parents and the country of his birth, and for whom the lessons learned from such a harsh upbringing remain a driver towards success. Perhaps in any other country such a young man would be seen as a positive role model rather than the devil incarnate.
But the comments of Ferguson and McCulloch really rankle – their adding to the anti-Morelos narrative serve to give it a sense of normality, when in fact it is anything but normal – it is in fact, abnormal. And no amount of ex Rangers players selling themselves to the highest bidder should allow us to lose sight of this fact. It has been a concerted campaign to demonise our prize asset and the likes of Ferguson and McCulloch, with their strong Rangers antecedents, adding their weight to the millstone being placed round Alfredo’s neck serve to give this concerted campaign a sense of credibility.
Ferguson and McCulloch are by no means the worst, Kris Boyd demonstrating his ability to adapt to the anti-Rangers agenda with considerable aplomb following a series of articles and comments criticising his former club. His lack of consistency in his arguments demonstrate Boyd realises which side of the bread requires to be buttered to ensure a favourable return.
You make your bed and you lie in it. I hope we as fans and in particular RSC’s will remember those who have served the dirty pieces of silver some sections of the media will pay in order to provide a sense of balance and credibility to that which is unbalanced and lacks credibility. Hopefully the club itself will add some solidarity when the same individuals go begging for tickets.
“To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him.