Club strip former £3m Rangers ace of captaincy as he’s in ‘a difficult period’

It’s safe to say that the former Rangers ace saw this coming.

A player who once cost the Scottish Premiership powerhouses a cool £3 million was forewarned in midweek that a string of subpar performances at his new club could have repercussions, nearly a year after his departure from Ibrox in the summer of 2023.
The primary concern is that he might no longer have his captain’s armband. But, Filip Helander will have been extremely disappointed to hear that Bashkim Kadrii will be leading the team out at the Odense Stadium on Friday night instead of him, if he wanted to demonstrate his worth as the skipper of Odense Boldklub against the Scandinavian near-namesakes of Rangers.

A former Rangers player does not keep his armband.

Helander won’t be walking onto the pitch with the armband around his bicep, the Danish team has now confirmed in a statement posted on their official website.

“We announced a new captain group in OB in February, allowing you to control who wears the captain’s armband from game to game,” the statement says, though it also states that the seasoned Helander is still a member of that leadership group.

Bashkim Kadrii assumes the captain’s armband for the game tonight as part of this.

There’s no rush, Bashkim. With OB only two points above Vejle in the relegation zone, Odense’s Super League future is all that is at risk. Earlier this month, Helander was substituted off against Velje in the first half because head coach Soren Krogh believed that after his early booking, a red card would be given.