The Millwall striker has proved in the FA Cup that he can still cut it at the top – and QPR boss Ian Holloway knows him well.
Steve Morison scored as many goals in Millwall’s remarkable run to the FA Cup quarter-finals as he managed in the entirety of his second season at Leeds United. The strapping, all-action targetman’s superb performances as not one, not two but three Premier League clubs were mauled in The Lions’ Den have suddenly returned him to the national consciousness.
His stay at the top of the English game may have been fleeting but the 33-year-old remains another fine example of how a hard work ethic and playing to your strengths can enable even the most unassuming footballer to rise through the divisions.
That terrific 2011/12 Premier League campaign with Norwich City, comprising of nine goals in 34 appearances, remains a career highlight. However, it’s fair to say the two seasons at Leeds United that followed didn’t quite hit the same heights.
While Neil Warnock didn’t exactly play to his strengths at Elland Road, that does not excuse a disappointing tally of three goals in 15 appearances in his first season. And, despite being given a lifeline in 2014/15 after a season on loan at Millwall, Morison somehow managed to contribute one goal fewer and nine more games – and that was his last spell in the second tier.
However, with his contract expiring in the summer, you wonder whether a club may take a punt on the veteran hitman. QPR were linked with Morison as far back as 2011, as reported by the Daily Mail, but they could be an ideal destination six years on.
Ian Holloway’s side are in desperate need of a goalscorer and Morison, as reflected by two prolific seasons across the city with Millwall, can still produce.
His 34 goals in Millwall colours may have occurred in the humble surrounds of League One but, as Morison emphatically demonstrated in classic cupsets against Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester, his frightening aerial prowess and excellent hold-up play means he can still be a scourge of supposedly better defences not used to dealing with a player of his old-school, lower-league physicality.
Holloway also knows Morison well from his spell at Loftus Road and with QPR’s top scorer stuck on eight, could he hand one of his former players the chance to prove he can still cut it at Championship level?
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