Derek Johnstone: Alfredo Morelos is targeted but he won't be forced out of Rangers

There are lines that cannot be crossed when it comes to abuse or intimidation, though, and Alfredo Morelos has found out to his cost how difficult it can be to be a Rangers player at times in recent months.

Back in my day, Old Firm players could go out with their families or go for a meal and a drink and rarely get bothered by people. They would socialise with team-mates and players from the other clubs and you would enjoy their company.

These days it is different. You have anonymous users making threats on social media, you have people filming you or taking pictures on their phones and it is definitely more difficult to be a Rangers or Celtic player in the city.

You don't mind stopping to sign an autograph or getting a picture taken with a fan.

But those positive experiences can be overshadowed when people step out of line and you find yourself as a target.

We can’t go into too much detail about the incident involving Alfredo’s car on Tuesday night as the police continue their investigations.

A man was allegedly ‘tampering’ with his Lamborghini outside his home and Alfredo and his partner, Yesenia, would have got a real fright. It is a horrible incident.

Alfredo is a quiet and unassuming man. He is a family man that is expecting his first child and that has made Glasgow his home over the last couple of years.

But he has had to put up with far too much during his time here and the incident this week is just the latest test of his strength and his character.

He has suffered racist abuse on the park, he has had missiles thrown at him, he was called an ‘orange b******’ in the street and the Aberdeen fans unfurled a disgusting banner about his mother.

Each incident in itself is completely unacceptable but to have all of that happen to you in the space of a few months is disgraceful. What does it say about Scotland and about Scottish football?

That kind of behaviour could easily put people off coming here if they fear they are going to be targeted when they step on the park, when they walk down the street or when they are out with their families.

Players are quite right to go out and enjoy themselves but you have to be careful where you go and who you are out with. Glasgow has that reputation and hopefully this isn’t the start of an escalation in incidents involving players.

Alfredo was able to put the situation with his car behind him as he returned to action against Ross County on Wednesday night and it was great to see him back on the park. He will focus on his football and let the police deal with this matter.

Alfredo has his profile in the game here because of how good a player he is and I have said before that opposition fans only target him because they are scared of him. They know he could score the goals that help Rangers win the league and be successful so they try and get at him, just like defenders do when they come up against him.

The examples we have spoken about go beyond football, though. And it says so much about his mentality that he is able to rise above it all and just get on with it.

It takes a strong character not to react when you are abused in the street or when you have coins and lighters and drinks thrown at you whilst doing your job.

He is probably abused more than any other Rangers player, more than any player in Scottish football, but he keeps coming back because he wants to be successful at Ibrox.

It doesn’t matter what you do to him, this man will come up and perform and he will have the backing of Steven Gerrard, his team-mates and the Rangers support through it all.

If the people that are abusing him or trying to intimidate him think it will force Alfredo out of Rangers, they are wrong. He will leave the club, we know that, but it will be on his terms.

He is a strong man, a resilient character, and he won’t be forced out of Glasgow because of what he has gone through in recent times.

Come the end of the season, with the amount of goals he has scored once again, there will be clubs that will come in for him and if Alfredo thinks it is best for his career then he may well look to move on.

He does, of course, have a family to think about now though. Alfredo is frightened of nothing, but that might not be the case for his family and together they might think that Glasgow isn’t the place for them to bring up their child.

If these incidents do have an influence and that does prove to be the case, that would be really sad and the Rangers supporters will be gutted to see Alfredo move on.

Alfredo has to think of his whole family now and not just himself. If it was down to him, he won’t be put off by anyone and he won’t be forced out of Rangers before he wants to move on and test himself at a higher level in the game.

The manager praised Alfredo for the way he handled this latest situation after the game on Wednesday night and I am sure he would have appreciated the cheer he got from the fans when he came on in the second half.

That support he gets home and away from the Rangers fans will never diminish and they will continue to back him no matter what is said or written about Alfredo.

Come Saturday, hopefully he is back doing what he does best and in the headlines for all the right reasons once again.