Exclusive: ex-Rangers star Tore Andre Flo on ‘that’ price tag | OneFootball

Former Rangers star Tore Andre Flo speaks to Ibrox Noise and Goldenpanda.com.

When you joined Rangers, it was for a considerable price tag at the time. How did you deal with having a price like that hanging over your head?

Flo: I have to admit that It surprised me how much attention that got in Scotland, because obviously in England there were a lot of transfers of that size, but it wasn’t like that in Scotland, so media was very hung up on the price tag, and that followed me around throughout my time at the club.

Every time when my name was mentioned, so was the transfer fee. It was a little bit of a burden, I have to admit that. And sometimes I wished I came to Rangers in the same way as I came to Chelsea (Flo joined Chelsea from Norwegian club team Brann for less than half a million pounds).

It would have made things a lot easier and there would have been a lot less pressure on me to succeed. Those kinds of fees command attention, and a certain level of expectation. Sometimes that can be a burden for a player.Aside from the price tag, how do you think the fans and media treated you at Rangers?

I felt I had great relationship with the fans. And to be honest, I did quite well. If I had that same price tag as I had Chelsea (Flo joined Chelsea from Norwegian club team Brann for less than half a million pounds), I would have been a great success up there.

So the price tag kind of held me back a little bit, definitely in the media, I think. But then again, I love the club, I love the people in Scotland, I love the culture, and yes, I would have liked to play football there without the media always talking about the price tag.And how do you think Celtic fans treated you, when you were out and about in Glasgow?

Flo: I think they treated me like a normal Rangers player. They could give me some shouts that weren’t very positive but I found that funny and that’s how it should be.

That’s what makes Scottish football exciting, I feel. That rivalry between Rangers and Celtic. And I think it was the same the other way for the Celtic players if they met any Rangers supporters. So, yeah, that rivalry is very intense, but it’s also very good for Scottish football.