James Traynor has broken his silence to claim that Craig Whyte was a pawn in his Daily Record strategy.
In November 2011 Traynor was among a small number of reports that broke the story of the billionaire from Motherwell about to take control at Ibrox.
For over a year Whyte was given glowing praise by the Glasgow based publisher even though the internet quickly explained that the businessman’s wealth was very much on the radar.
The asking price for the Ibrox club dropped from £30m down to the token pound coin that was exchanged in May 2011 but there was barely a word of criticism of Whyte with readers regularly reminded that he owned a castle although it was later repossessed.
At one stage in the summer of 2011 the Record informed it’s army of readers that Whyte had taken out a mortgage on future season ticket money but that story was deleted after less than 48 hours online.
In his book to be published on Friday Whyte claims that he used to edit Traynor articles prior to publication but the veteran reporter turned PR guru has fired back at the man from Motherwell.
The National reports:
Traynor hit back last night at Whyte’s claims, telling the Glasgow Times: “The truth about him is well-known. He was merely a pawn in a strategy – played perfectly by the Record team at the time. So I can understand that he was ultimately and rightly exposed. You’d have thought the pound would have dropped by now.”
After losing out to Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers the Ibrox club stopped paying Income Tax and National Insurance to HMRC.
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In February 2012 the club went into administration, four months later Her Majesty rejected a CVA with BDO put in charge of the liquidation.
CLICK HERE for Whyte reveals he edited Traynor’s articles before publication in Daily Record.