Reminding Kris Boyd of his goalscoring record against Celtic leads to the kind of grimace you’d get when you ask a Rangers fan about Craig Whyte.
During two successful stints with the Ibrox club, where he found the net here, there and everywhere, Boyd scored just once against their oldest foes. The fact Alfredo Morelos has yet to break his Celtic duck brings a wry smile from Boyd. “I know how he feels,” he said with a sympathetic sigh.
On the home front and in the European theatre, Morelos’ prolific poaching has just about led to opposition teams fielding an armed gamekeeper to combat the Colombian’s plunderings.
Next weekend’s Betfred Cup final between the two Glasgow rivals will give Morelos another chance to end his drought against Celtic. While that particular record will be under the microscope, Boyd prefers to look at the wider impact Morelos has as the 23-year-old continues to attract admiring glances from those keen to lure him away from Govan.
"He has scored league goals, he has scored European goals and he is now off the mark for Colombia,” said Boyd. “What Morelos is doing is generating money for Rangers and getting a healthier wage packet for himself.
"He's going to leave Rangers one day, we know that, and he's playing like a guy who wants to get as much money as he can for Rangers but also as much for himself as he can when the move comes.
"He wants to be able to justify (the money), he wants to be able to say I have done this, this, this. I have scored against all these teams. That is why he wants to score against Celtic, so he can add that to his CV.
"It's only a matter of time (until he scores). You see the improvement from the end of last season. It's night and day. He's a player on top of his game. He's something different, a throwback to the older generation's style of strikers. He's robust and doesn't really bother with anything else.
"With a lot of players now, it's the style, how they look when they play the game but Morelos doesn't care. He's still annoying people, he's in your face, he's angry, he plays aggressively and all of that controlled has turned him into a top-class striker right who looks as if he’s going to score a goal in every game he plays.”
Morelos remains Rangers’ principal striker but Boyd would like to see the artillery bolstered up front. "It's annoying me that we can't seem to play with two strikers now,” he added. “I don't see why you can't play Jermain Defoe and Alfredo Morelos together. People will say, 'they tried it at Kilmarnock that night and it didn't work'. That was a year ago now. Morelos is a totally different player. He understands the game a lot better.”
The Betfred Cup showdown gives Rangers the opportunity to end Celtic’s dominant run in the domestic scene. While the treble Treble winners have been racking up the prizes in triumphant abundance, the tin lid on the can of Silvo polish in the Ibrox trophy room is just about welded on due to the lack of use.
“If Rangers can somehow find a way to win, Celtic will be under massive pressure because it would be the first time they have lost a domestic trophy in three years,” said Boyd.
“The Celtic fans have been spoiled over the last few years, they expect to win. If Rangers find a way, Celtic will be under massive pressure in the league campaign and the start of the Scottish Cup. The fans will turn and the pressure will be on Celtic.”
Kris Boyd was speaking at a media day as Five Star Events and 1st Star Events donated £10,000 to Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity from funds raised at their respective 2019 sporting events.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel