Saturday became another disappointing and frustrating day for Rangers fans as we saw Heart of Midlothian again cause an upset this year, but this time in the Scottish Cup quarter finals to knock us out of the competition at Tynecastle.
It was a poor performance from the referee and it was also a poor performance from manager Steven Gerrard’s side as we fell to a 1-0 defeat, but the more philosophical amongst us would have to admit they deserved the win given their chances and with only one effort on target from us, we didn’t deserve anything.
Was Gerrard Right To Drop Morelos?
Yes, Regardless Of The Outcome
No, We Paid The Price
Should've Been On The Bench - Best Of Both Worlds
The one thing to come out of the game though was the omission of Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos and with plenty of ‘temperament’ questions about the 23-year-old, his questioned professionalism will take plenty of headlines as Gerrard revealed to Sky Sports that he missed the tie after failing to return in a timely manner from a trip to Colombia, and as a consequence of that, he had then missed training as well.
“Alfredo’s not with us because of a disciplinary issue. He was given permission last week to go to Colombia on Sunday until Wednesday to deal with a family matter, which we supported and agreed to. He’s reported back 24 hours late from that. Due to that, he’s failed to report to training on Thursday, which means he’s missed a lot of preparation going into this game. So I’ve decided to pick players who have done the full preparation and who are desperate to be here and help us get through to the next round.”
As a point of principle, many will agree with Gerrard’s decision to omit the 29 goal striker from the lineup but you probably won’t have to look far on social media to find those who feel the former England international effectively stabbed himself in the back by not even having the lad on the bench for this tie.
There will certainly be those who feel his lack of involvement has resulted in the final score and the lack of our own proper opportunities.
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