We all know what Chris Sutton’s opinion on Alfredo Morelos is, it’s almost like the boy in the playground who pulls the girls pigtails because he fancies her, any opportunity to put the boot in and he’s there.
Now, Morelos was lucky to escape a red card, plenty of referees would have given it and Kevin Clancy is certainly no fan of the Colombian international having sent him off before and booked him for very little, but the fall out from the incident between the Rangers striker and Ryan Porteous has been ridiculous.
Speaking on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra, as reported by The Daily Record, Sutton, as usual, went way over the top in his assessment of the clash:
“In Scotland the standard of refereeing has been appalling. They’re possibly the worst group of referees in the world – I’ve seen other decisions this week like the penalty decisions at Dundee United, absolutely shocking.
“But how long is Morelos going to get away with this? I think, quite frankly, Morelos and Rangers intimidate referees.
“Referees are scared to make a decision, pull out the red card. I think there have been four occasions this season when Morelos could have and should have been sent off, and we saw last season on numerous occasions, he’s an accident waiting to happen.
“They’re scared! Referees are scared of the Morelos situation and Steven Gerrard’s influence and power. That’s the way it is.
“How many honest mistakes have their been over the last couple of seasons over Morelos? He basically does what he wants.
“He should have been sent off. Up to double figures now. I could produce 10 pieces of evidence, in fact I’m going to make it my mission for the next week.”
Before I go any further, read what Sutton said again, but replace “Morelos” with “Brown”, “Rangers” with “Celtic” and “Steven Gerrard” with “Neil Lennon”.
Do you get my point? We’ve never heard the former Celtic striker making the same points about Scott Brown despite – on an almost weekly basis – him going in dangerously on opponents or throwing elbows off the ball.
Nobody has been booked or sent off more times than Alfredo Morelos since he arrived in Scottish football, this season alone the SFA’s “fast track” disciplinary process has seen him targeted two out of the three times it has been applied.
If Sutton can produce “10 pieces of evidence” for Morelos, I could produce 10 more for Brown over the same period, remember, Celtic have only ever had one player cited by the compliance officer, Ryan Christie, and he was already out injured having had surgery.
As with Michael Stewart, why let a lie or law of the game get in the way of your opinion, Sutton is basically implying that the referees are corrupt, peddling the “honest mistake” narrative that for so long has been the mantra of the east end bloggers.
Sutton, your team is garbage and your mate has blown it and, regardless of what you say, Morelos is going to be holding the Scottish Premiership title above his head come May – don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.