Swede was back in Scotland when Hearts defeated Omonoia.
The large television screen at the rear of the room caught Filip Helander’s attention as he passed through the mixed area of Tynecastle on Thursday night.
At Ibrox, his old team, Rangers, was defeating FCSB in the Europa League. Seeing pictures of Govan and being back in Scotland surely brought back memories of his four-year stint with the Gers. He is currently playing for Cypriot team Omonoia.
The 31-year-old Sweden international joined Rangers from Bologna in 2019, but injuries limited his time at Ibrox. His 2021 game-winning goal against Celtic was his best moment, but he also had setbacks. Shortly after, Helander needed knee surgery and battled to establish himself until departing two summers ago.
Helander is currently at Omonoia, one of the largest clubs in Cyprus, after playing for OB in Denmark. He and his colleagues struggled to defeat Hearts 2-0 in the Europa Conference League, making his return to Scotland anything but easy.
Despite a challenging evening at Tynecastle, Helander was kind enough to share some of his time and opinions on Rangers with Scottish journalists.
“I have occasionally observed them,” Helander remarked. It’s difficult to watch a lot because we also have a lot of games. However, it goes without saying that you should constantly monitor the scores and their progress. For them, this season has been really difficult thus far.
Helander was asked if he was shocked to see Rangers six points behind Celtic at the start of the Premiership season. “No,” he responded, “because in football, a lot can happen very quickly. I just hope they can, you know, get into a good rhythm of games and start winning.”
You are aware that pressure mounts and the manager is put under strain when the team loses games. Yes, large clubs are like that. Although you are aware that this is your reality, it is also a significant luxury when all goes according to plan.
Helander remembers his Rangers days with nostalgia. “Excellent,” he added. I relished every moment because, you know, when we returned here, it still seemed a little like home. Naturally, it was bad for me after that. In retrospect, I realise that there was nothing I could have done to stop the numerous injuries I had been suffering during the previous two years.
Even though it was really unfortunate and difficult to look back on, I always thought playing was amazing and adored it.
“It was unfortunate for me to sustain those injuries, but that’s just a part of the game.” I’m fortunate to have been able to keep playing. The key thing is that I feel wonderful and am pleased to be able to play again after an extremely difficult injury. However, I obviously enjoyed being in Glasgow and at Rangers.
Helander put his support behind current Rangers captain James Tavernier, who has faced criticism from certain Rangers fans this season. “Even though I haven’t watched many games this season,” Helander said, “there have been times when he received a lot of criticism during my tenure, and I felt that was unfair because he contributes so much offensively with all the goals and assists he does each season. In my opinion, it’s a little harsh to criticise him like that.”
He was an outstanding player and captain. Rangers is a large team, and many individuals have their thoughts, especially when the team is losing. He was an excellent leader in my opinion, and I felt that he demonstrated this even more on the pitch by scoring and creating a lot of significant goals.
Even if Connor Goldson and Aris are currently in Cyprus, Helander does not stay in touch with many of his former teammates. He continued, “We’ve spoken a little bit because I play against Goldson now.” First of all, since I was there, several players have been switched. I have some conversations with members of the group.
