Steven Gerrard was today asked a very interesting question by those who have done nothing the past two and a half years but encourage clubs to bid on Alfredo Morelos.
Discussing the racism question, which we’ll go into in more detail later, the journo asked Gerrard if he thinks the abuse Morelos receives could encourage him to want to leave, to get away from the bigotry.
We have to admit the notion makes us raise an eyebrow to say the least.
The only reason that Alfredo Morelos receives the level of abuse he does is because he’s so good, and because he plays for Rangers.
The abuse the man receives is mainly from Celtic fans, and some generic SPL fans – Morelos, as a whole, gets nothing but support from his own fans, and the only reason rivals smite him is down to his ability.
His skin colour is just convenient.
Look at Dembele, and Edouard.
We never ONCE heard of either of these outstanding black players receiving the social abuse and racism Morelos gets.
Yes, we admit the boy’s disciplinary record isn’t the best, but it’s not an excuse. The simple reality is these two Celtic players get and got absolutely no racial abuse at the hands of Rangers fans, nor indeed any of the media garbage the Colombian gets.
True, the only reason this story has been notably highlighted is Morelos confirmed it was a problem in a very rare interview, and perhaps it might not have got the airtime otherwise.
But there’s no denying we’ve seen the videos and heard the attacks the lad gets, bigoted and racist, and just because the Scottish press pretends there’s not a problem, doesn’t mean there isn’t.
There is, and it’s because he’s a brilliant and black footballer who plays at Ibrox.
Scotland does have endemic social issues, we don’t deny that. Nor do we deny that at times Dembele and Edouard must have suffered some nonsense at the hands of yobs.
But the Morelos trash takes it to a different level, and the 23-year old does this country’s reputation an amazing service (or disservice) by making less of a deal of it than he has by just revealing such a huge problem now, after two and a half years.
Will this help?
Probably not. Scotland is the kind of country who sticks its fingers in its ears pretending everything’s fine.
But it never is. And well done Alfie for revealing this in such a dignified manner.