THE news this week that Alfredo Morelos allegedly had to confront someone who followed him home after catching him tampering with his car was hugely troubling.

The specifics of the incident are still unknown, with the ‘best-case’ scenario being that this assailant was perhaps trying to place a tracking device onto Morelos’s Lamborghini as part of a plan to steal it at a later date. The worst-case scenario doesn’t bear thinking about.

If indeed, as social media quickly concluded, this was an attempt to tamper with the vehicle’s brakes and put the lives of Morelos and his pregnant wife at risk, then it is a spine-chilling reminder that no matter who you are, there is very little that can be done to protect you if some lunatic gets it into their head that they want to do you harm.

Now, we don’t know as yet if that was the case. Nevertheless, that someone could get so close to Morelos and his partner with such ease at their home is unsettling to say the least.

If this was an individual who wished to do physical harm to Morelos, it begs the question of who would be to blame for the fostering of such a warped mindset that would lead to such despicable actions?

Most would probably say the blame lies with the individual. There are bampots in this part of the world, as in all others, after all. But there will be plenty of others who will point to the way Morelos has been portrayed in the media and view this incident as the end result of a perceived campaign against the striker.

In the eyes of those fans, Morelos’s only apparent ‘crimes’ are being Colombian and a Rangers player, and he has suffered from a biased and negative portrayal of his character – and been a victim of racism, even - in the Scottish media as a result.

That may not make those who have reported on the striker directly responsible if someone takes it upon themselves to do harm to Morelos. The contention would be though that the demonisation of the player has been a contributory factor in someone arriving at a view of Morelos so twisted, they are prepared to do unspeakable things to him.

In football, there is always a pantomime villain. The sort of guy you hate playing against you but would love to have in your team. I am of the steadfast belief that the majority of stick Morelos gets from the terraces falls into that category. It was ever thus, from Barry Ferguson through to Scott Brown and now Morelos just in recent times.

Morelos’s problems with ill-discipline attract such attention, as does the fact he is rather good at sticking the ball in the pokey. His manager has discussed trying to eradicate the petty flashpoints that all-too often put Morelos firmly in the spotlight, and more importantly, in the stand when his team need him.

This season, his on-field behaviour was improving somewhat until a couple of recent lapses, but the red cards at both Fir Park and Celtic Park fall into the ‘daft’ category, more than anything else. Like Leigh Griffiths tossing his tape at a Kilmarnock fan, it was all a bit stupid, but nothing more than that.

It is no way an excuse for supporters to racially abuse him, as is alleged to have happened recently. Some fans, as we know though, are great ones for dishing out abuse before suddenly coming over as little hot-house orchards when a player has a nibble back.

The issue many Rangers supporters have, is that while Griffiths for instance has elicited sympathy after his well-publicised mental health struggles, and has had a perceived ‘easy ride’ over his own indiscretions since within the media, Morelos is singled out and panned at every opportunity.

At least part of this suspicion comes from a section of the Rangers support who feel disenfranchised in present-day Scotland, believing the institutions that were once aligned to their own political beliefs and heritage – the press, the government – to not only now be opposed to their culture, but actively attacking it. That is a generalisation, with different political beliefs existing across the Rangers fanbase, but a glance at social media or message boards will tell you this isn’t a view held only by conspiracy theorists on the fringes.

I can’t speak for the SNP, but if there was a meeting within the Scottish media about how we can all hound this kid out of Scotland, I must have been left out.

There has undeniably been coverage of Morelos that has left a lot to be desired. Drug references simply because the player comes from Colombia perhaps, or attacks by pundits with affiliations to Celtic that have overstepped the mark and then some.

It all may seem harmless knockabout stuff, part of the Scottish football soap opera and the constant battle between Glasgow’s big two in particular. I have no doubt such examples were intended to feed into that, rather than victimise the player.

But as incidents such as the one that Morelos had to endure this week show, there is no harm in the media reflecting upon our own place in all of this, and indeed the harm that can be done as a result of such coverage. We too know, after all, that there are people out there who may take something they read in the papers or see in the news as justification for their own more sinister views, and altogether more serious intentions.

The responsibility on us all is to judge Morelos by what he does on the pitch. There has been plenty to praise, and a fair bit to criticise, by focusing simply on what has happened on the park. Like the Rangers fans, we’ll miss him when he’s gone.

Let’s just hope that when that time comes, it is because his talents have attracted suitors from elsewhere, rather than over fears for his family’s safety.