Rangers accused of ‘cheating’ by their former owner

Celtic fans will be delighted with some of the revelations regarding the Rangers from Craig Whyte’s book Into The Bear Pit: The Explosive Autobiography.

It is funny how often Rangers fans like to blame Celtic of cheating. Every time the Hoops get a penalty, no matter how blatant, there are obnoxious claims all over social media about how the referee is biased or in the most extreme cases: paid off. This time though, it is the Ibrox club who have been accused of cheating and by a very unlikely man in the form of former owner, Craig Whyte.

Now Whyte is not very popular among the Rangers fans anyway. Back in 2011, when he took ownership of the club, he was seen as their saviour. The Glasgow side were already in financial trouble and Sir David Murray was forced to sell his controlling interest in the club to Whyte for just £1.

A lifelong Rangers supporter, Whyte was seen as the guy who would help revive a club that seemed doomed because of their outstanding debts. And he even went as far as to claiming £25-million would be invested in transfers over a 5-year period and Rangers would be transformed into a worldwide brand.

Less than a year on and Whyte sold his controlling interest in the Rangers to a consortium lead by Charles Green for £2 – a 100% profit! A month later the club was liquidated.

As a result, he has been long been held responsible for the ‘death’ of the Rangers. But the businessman does not hold back in his book, Into The Bear Pit, regarding what really led to the club’s downfall and even blamed them of cheating during the reign of Sir David Murray.

As reported by Herald Scotland, Whyte writes:

"“Rangers cheated for years under David Murray. There should be a level playing field in sport and Rangers did not adhere to that by using the EBT scheme to sign players they otherwise would not have been able to bring to the club. That was unfair on the other teams.”"

The book comes out this Valentine’s Day and we have a sneaky suspicion that Celtic fans might enjoy it more than the Rangers fans will.