Senna 735 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Craig Whyte has ended his self-imposed exile to give an interview to BBC Scotland's completely, utterly and not in any way biased Chris McLaughlin that has been published today.The most sensational claim that the disgraced former owner has come away with is that he introduced Charles Green to Rangers, while his chosen administrators Duff and Phelps, searched for a buyer for our 140 year old club."I was the one who found a buyer - it wasn't Duff and Phelps," he said."My colleagues in London - when no credible buyer was coming forward - went out and used our contacts in the city to find… to put a suitable deal together."When asked if he was the one who had brought Mr Green to the table, Whyte answered: "Absolutely. I introduced them to Duff and Phelps."McLaughlin then enquired if he had a good relationship with CEO Charles Green, he replied: "Yeah, sure."I think given the public perception of me, people are keen to distance themselves from me publicly."But I have no problem with the current management of Rangers."Concerning the doomed financial arrangement with Ticketus, Craig Whyte denied lying to Rangers fans over the deal which saw him borrow against future ticket revenue to pay off £18m of the club's bank debt to Lloyds."I wouldn't say that I lied but I maybe wasn't as open as I could have been. I certainly made mistakes," he said."I should've been more open about the funding arrangements and how dire things were and I deeply regret not being more open about that when I first came in."It was a huge mistake on my part. I certainly made mistakes and I take full responsibility for any of my actions during the time that I was there."Whyte added: "But for people to blame me for what's happened to Rangers, the tax liability of £100m or whatever it is, that would be some going, to build that up in nine months."Furthermore, Whyte claimed that Duff and Phelps knew of his deal with Ticketus before he had purchased the club. Quite how this works, I'm not sure. The fact that he has admitted that he was involved with administrators D&P before he even bought the club is a startling revelation if it is indeed true. Whyte said: "Everybody who was involved in the deal team at the time knew about it."They (Duff and Phelps) knew everything, they attended meetings, they were copied into all the emails, they were there on the day of completion. They knew from the start."In response to theses scurrilous claims, RFC2012 PLC joint administrator Paul Clark, of Duff and Phelps, said: "The allegations against the administrators, who are officers of the court, are false, malicious and without foundation."They should not be given any credibility given the source. It should be remembered that Mr Whyte's takeover of Rangers is now the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation and we have provided evidence to that inquiry."In addition, as administrators, we instigated legal proceedings against Mr Whyte's solicitors in the High Court in London and those proceedings are centred round the very serious allegation that Mr Whyte was involved in a conspiracy which deprived Rangers of many millions of pounds.A further damning revelation was that the Self-Preservation League knew as early as October 2011 that the club had no money. That they knew this and didn't act would be a further nail in their ever-closing coffin, or it's untrue. Either way, whichever is true, the statement is appalling."In October 2011, I met Neil Doncaster and Ralph Topping in London, told them administration was almost inevitable," he said."I told them that exit by a CVA is unlikely and that we would need a lot of support to get through a really tough situation."He added: "They obviously didn't want to lose Rangers from the SPL and they were supportive. It was a positive meeting."Asked how the SPL and SFA had handled the situation since then, Whyte replied: "It's been a disaster. They've made Scottish football the laughing stock of the world."He also stated that ,"I was driving the train when it crashed, but I didn't set it on its course.". It is clear from this quote that he blames David Murray and the previous regime, however as culpable as they might be, only Craig Whyte pushed us to the brink of extinction before Charles Green and his investors saved our 140 year old sporting institution.Whyte said: "You've got to look to where the problem started, what caused this chain of events."What caused it was the ruinous EBT scheme, which was in operation for 10 years."If it hadn't been for that, the club wouldn't have been sold for £1 and the club would've been able to get proper funding."Rangers CEO Charles Green was quick to reply today with a statement that was eminently succinct and laid the claim that Whyte introduced him to Rangers, to rest. He said, “The facts are that direct contact was made by our consortium with Craig Whyte in the first instance as it appeared at that time that his shares would have to be secured in order for any purchase of the Club to progress.“I was not present when contact was initially made but subsequently met Craig Whyte who introduced me to the administrator.“I had no previous association with Craig Whyte and it is misleading to suggest he ‘brought us in’.“I was brought to the transaction by Imran Ahmad following Duff and Phelps contacting Zeus Capital in February, due to their experience in the football sector.“Duff and Phelps did indeed contact Zeus Capital with a view to buying the club. Imran Ahmad then contacted Charles Green and brought the idea of turning around Rangers FC to his attention. If this is what Whyte is getting at - that his chosen administrator firm sought out the firm that brought in Charles Green - it is a bloody tenuous link at best.If there is one man at the club today that can say to have brought Charles Green to the club - it is Imran Ahmad. Previously a non-executive director at the club, he is now our Commercial Director and has left his position at Zeus Capital to work full time at Ibrox.Statements made by Charles Green in May of this year would back this up, with the May 13 edition of the Guardian printing, "Charles Green confirmed he had given Whyte £1 – the same value paid – for his 85% stake in Rangers, and said: "I gave him a pound out of my own pocket too, so he has made a 100% profit.""On any suggestion of a previous connection, Green said: "It was complete rubbish. I met Craig Whyte for the very first time a week last Tuesday in London.""That statement then from Charles Green was unequivocal in his denial of Craig Whyte's involvement in his approaching Rangers FC and that he had only spoken to Whyte when it became essential that he would have to acquire his shares to own our 140 year old club. It should be noted that within the five articles published today by BBC Scotland from this interview, all of them are interspersed with (deliberate or not - you decide) errors, referring to the club as 'a new club', saying that, 'The former Rangers Football Club is to be put into liquidation after creditors approved an end to the administration process which began on 14 February.' and 'the old club, which remained in administration, has since been known as RFC 2012.'The three articles mentioned are comprised of two pieces resulting from the Craig Whyte interview and one 'news' piece on the appointment of BDO as liquidators to the old company, RFC 2012 PLC. Whether Whyte approached the BBC (unlikely given his distaste for the spotlight) or that McLaughlin sought him out is up for debate.You are well advised to take these articles with a massive pinch of salt, as that's exactly the way they've been designed and written. Rangers have repeatedly told BBC Scotland of the differences between the oldco and the newco, with the club surviving as the same entity as it always was. They don't want to know and are either too stupid to understand or are deliberately spreading lies.Rangers' Andrew Dickson said on twitter of the articles that, "Just a brief return from my Twitter break to say the BBC are at it again with their 'Green formed a new club' tripe in their Whyte offering." Indeed.If you want an accurate and well-written look at the appointment of BDO as liquidators from STV, here. Almost all of the Rangers fanbase would now not believe anything Craig Whyte has to say, however that does not seem to have deterred BBC Scotland. They have gone from painting him as a fraudster and alleged criminal to a concrete source for Rangers copy. It's almost like we have a share issue imminent, isn't it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Could the fucker be going public with these interviews to try and fuck up the court case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbear 10,932 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 You would think the little slug would stay under his stone instead of thrusting his way back into the limelight, if that little cunt told me the sun was splitting the trees the first thing i would reach for would be an umbrella. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senna 735 Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Could the fucker be going public with these interviews to try and fuck up the court case.It's possible but it's not something we can necessarily print. Libel laws and all that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephants stoned 2,994 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Fuck knows why the rat has run from his hole to speak now but i can assure him that one day somewhere, somehow his actions will catch up with him and when it does no squrming interview or blame everybody else tactics will save him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 It's possible but it's not something we can necessarily print. Libel laws and all that. Could is the important word....................he is a calculating fucker, sails close to the wind knowing he will pick up something now and again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54andcounting 627 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 What did you do to that link??? We'll be right backWe are having a technical issue at the moment. Sorry we couldn't bring you the full stv.tv site. We're working hard to get normal service again and appreciate your patience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senna 735 Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 What did you do to that link??? We'll be right backWe are having a technical issue at the moment. Sorry we couldn't bring you the full stv.tv site. We're working hard to get normal service again and appreciate your patience. The STV one? Working here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Bear 285 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 If the BTC appeal is imminent and is positive for us he can wring his hands and say, if those nasty SPL/SFA bodies had supported us at the time I could have saved the club without all this mess, not my fault I'm a good guy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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