ALFREDO MORELOS looked to have turned a corner last week when he netted his first goal for Santos.
But just days later, the former Rangers striker is making headlines for a very different reason.
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Morelos left Ibrox at the end of last season and finally found a new club in the form of Brazilian giants Santos after three months as a free agent.
But it proved a nightmare move for the Colombian striker who appeared just three times as the historic club suffered relegation to the second tier for the first time in their history.
Morelos’ was once again up in the air but he agreed a pay cut to stick around and attempt to fire Pele’s old club back to the Brazilian Serie A.
Before the Serie A resumes in April, Santos are currently competing in the Campeonato Paulista, a league championship contested by clubs within Sao Paulo state.
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Morelos finally got his first Santos goal, scoring from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win at Sao Paulo last week, the club’s sixth win in eight matches.
But the team’s fortunes – and indeed those of Morelos – took a sharp turn downward last night as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Novorizontino.
Following his goal against Sao Paulo, Morelos was handed a starting spot for last night’s clash.
But it didn’t go well and he was subbed-off at half-time with fans blasting his performance on social media.
One fan raged: “How bad is the supposed player Alfredo Morelos?”
Another said: “Morelos doesn’t work.”
A third commented: “Furch has to be a starter. Morelos is completely out of shape.”
A fourth said: “Morelos is not in a position to be a starter!”
It seems like the frustrations got the better of Morelos, who it’s claimed reacted angrily to shouts coming from the stand.
According to various reports, including from Santistas, Morelos ‘became a target’ of fans who were unhappy with his performance.
Another report claims Morelos was “angry.”
And one prominent Santos fan, a businessman and influencer called Fabio Parra, has claimed that the 27-year old showed him the middle finger.
Parra says he told Morelos he was “out of shape,” which brought about the apparent angry gesture from the former Rangers man.
Another Santos fan said: “It’s regrettable that Morelos showed the finger to the fans, it’s not working, but it’s not a justification for not accepting criticism and destroying a relationship with the fans.”
But while plenty of fans were getting on Morelos’ back, several other Santos fans rushed to defend the striker.
One supporter wrote: “This profile supports and supports Alfredo Morelos at Santos FC!”
While a second said: “Before I was 100% Morelos, now I’m 200% Vamooosss Búfalo!”
Meanwhile, Rangers flop Sam Lammers has helped Utrecht to a staggering new record.
The forward, who spent just six months at Ibrox before being moved on in January, featured as the Eredivisie club made it 14 games unbeaten.
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It’s their best ever undefeated run in the competition.
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