Sir Kenny Dalglish: Rangers star Alfredo Morelos could do worse than learn lessons from Scott Brown… maybe then the penny will finally drop?

Intimidation and wind-ups have always been part of football.

They are not exclusive to Old Firm games.

The secret is to keep your cool, stay focused and not take the bait from your opponent.

As Alfredo Morelos sits out yet another game this afternoon through suspension when Rangers travel to Motherwell, he will be regretting his latest act of stupidity on the field.

It’s fair to say that Scott Brown knew exactly what he was doing when he clipped the heels of the Ibrox striker during the first half of last Sunday’s Premiership clash.

Brown was cute and calculated as he tested the temperament of his opponent.

The Colombian reacted, lashing out at the Celtic skipper with his elbow and earning himself a red card.

As far as Brown was concerned, it was job done, carried out to perfection.

That’s not a criticism, it’s a judgment.

In the build-up to games, it is the job of the manager, coaches and the players to identify weaknesses in their opponents.

Some might struggle in the air, so you test them with a few high balls.

Some defenders might not have decent pace, so you will try to get balls in behind them to get them on the turn.

Some might have a short fuse and be easily wound up. So you will quite naturally wind them up with verbals, or one or two wee naughty things off the ball.

That was clearly Celtic’s tactic in how they dealt with Morelos.

He was a potential matchwinner for the opposition, and they wanted to eliminate that threat.

Back in my day playing in Old Firm games, I’m fairly sure the Rangers players would have tried that kind of thing with wee Jinky Johnstone to get a negative reaction.

Likewise, my Celtic team-mates would try it on someone such as Willie Henderson.

In the case of Morelos, he let himself, his manager, his team-mates and the club’s supporters down. Big time.

I’ve spoken many times about the guy. I admire him as a striker and think he has great potential. There is no doubting his talent.

But, quite clearly, he has behavioural problems on the field of play. His disciplinary record this season proves that.

Steven Gerrard has defended his player time after time. But his patience snapped on Sunday, and rightly so.

Steven will have accepted that Morelos plays his game on a knife-edge, and loves to be aggressive.

All the manager will want is for his player not to succumb to any intimidation.

Plenty of times Steven will have stood on the sidelines wondering if Morelos will survive the 90 minutes without getting involved in a fracas, leading to a red card.

The Colombian’s latest misdemeanour on Sunday was the final straw.

When you think back to Scott Brown’s career at Hibs, and his first four or five years at Celtic, he could be wound-up and opponents tried to lure him in, and make him lose focus.

They knew he was a player capable of causing them problems with his ability, and they wanted him out of the way.

Brown learned to adapt, to shrug off the wind-ups, to channel his energy in the right manner and focus on being a positive influence for his team.

Morelos should learn from that. He should look at the way Brown turned things around for himself.

I hope that while the Rangers striker is serving this latest suspension, the penny will finally drop.

When you do something wrong, you should than look at yourself and see what you could have done differently to have prevented a negative situation.

Of course, there is also the chance that there might be things going on off the park that have left Morelos frustrated and infuriated, and then that quickly leads to a knock-on effect when you pull your football boots on.

That, of course, is speculation on my part.

I’m just trying to offer up an alternative to the usual narrative we’ve heard all season.

Overall, what I’m disappointed in is that we are still talking about the negatives from the Old Firm match, seven days on.

From the red cards on the day for Morelos and Andy Halliday, to the retrospective red card for Ryan Kent.

Steven Gerrard has also been given a one-game touchline ban for something he said to referee, Bobby Madden.

Brown will face the SFA hierarchy on Wednesday to explain his role in the controversies at various times on Sunday. And both clubs have been cited for failing to control their players.

I know the people in charge of the game need to react and respond to some of this stuff. But it once again puts Scottish football under the spotlight for negative reasons.

It’s far from ideal.

The players will need to show greater restraint in the next Old Firm game.

I’m all for them being committed and competitive, but they need to do it within acceptable boundaries.

Nobody is asking the players to be angels.

They weren’t back in my day when I played in Old Firm games and they won’t be in the current era.

Indeed, I remember my first game for Celtic against Rangers was a reserve match at Ibrox back in the 1960s.

I received the ball early in the game and a certain Rangers player – whose identity will remain private – went over the ball and right through me, catching me right on the shin.

Thankfully, there was no damage. But that’s what happens in football games.

We will wait and see if it all spills over again in the next fixture. For many different reasons, let’s hope not.

I don’t have a magic wand or any mind-blowing suggestions to bring calm and order.

But a good starting point is for the players and supporters to be on their best behaviour.