Hostile Celtic Park ‘welcome’ expected for former cult hero who admits he 'loves Rangers'

Slovakian international Vladimir Weiss may have spent just a year in Rangers colours, but should there ever be a book written on how to became an instant terrace hero at Ibrox, the winger would be worthy of his own chapter.

The ex-Ibrox loanee can expect a hostile reception should he be in the Slovan Bratislava starting XI aiming to shock Celtic in this Wednesday’s Champions League opener. Almost 13 years since his departure from Rangers, they’ll be no-one more motivated to put an end to the Hoops 100 per cent start to the campaign this season than him.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to Glasgow,” admitted Weiss last week in an interview with the Daily Record. “In the past I’ve had a little bit of stick from Celtic fans but that’s just my character. Listen, I love Rangers. I have nothing against Celtic or their supporters. It was just a moment in my career that I enjoyed and I can’t wait to go back there. Maybe in other cities fans wouldn’t remember players who played for their rivals. But in Glasgow it’s different.”

Chased by both Old Firm clubs in the summer of 2010 while on the books of Manchester City, the highly-rated winger won favour with Gers fans almost instantly when he claimed “Celtic came in for me first but then Rangers came in and when I looked through all of the offers that I had, I picked Rangers. To play for a big team like this will be a pleasure for me.”

When he stepped off the bench to set up Kenny Miller’s second goal in a 3-1 win over Hibs just days later, the happy marriage between Weiss and the Ibrox faithful only blossomed further. When an injured Weiss wore a club scarf and stood amongst the Rangers fans for the final Old Firm clash of the season, his cult hero status was cemented.

“It was a great year for me,” he admitted in a 2022 interview. “Rangers are still one of my favourite clubs and I follow them even now. I didn’t realise the effect Rangers would have on me. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with the club and the fans. When I wanted to leave one of my previous clubs in Qatar a few years back, I spoke to Rangers and was close to signing. I tweeted that I might be coming back and it was a big hit with the fans. But in the end it didn’t happen.”

With the 34-year-old is aiming to scalp the Glasgow giants on Wednesday, he can take confidence from the fact his father - and current Slovan Bratislava manager - Vladimír Weiss senior has already defeated Celtic in Europe. The ex-Artmedia boss masterminded a 5-4 aggregate win over the Hoops in the 2005 Champions League qualifiers and Weiss junior believes there’s no reason they can’t repeat the feat together.

“If Slovan was playing any of the 36 teams in this big Champions League, they would be favourites against us,” Weiss added. “We have some great talent in the team and some good experience and we have my crazy dad as coach, who always pushes his teams to the limit. Celtic fans will remember him from when he knocked them out of the Champions League with Artmedia almost 20 years ago.”