Good idea at the time- 10 years on Craig Whyte looks back on his fateful poundshop purchase

Ten years on from tossing a pound coin across the table into the grateful hands of Dave Murray Craig Whyte has been speaking about the biggest regret of his life.

For six months the Scottish media described him as a billionaire but the cracks in that story had quickly been uncovered by Internet Bampots.

Sugar coated tales of the Motherwell boy made good through some shrewd investments that created Lanarkshire’s richest man were blown apart by a trail of dubious business practices of buying distressed companies, selling anything of value while condemning the remainder for the mortuary.

It was the perfect background to take charge at Ibrox with sensible investors steering well clear of Murray’s toxic mix which was waiting on the final bill from HMRC after a Police raid had uncovered more than a decade of tax scams and disguised remuneration schemes to compete with Celtic.

Within 10 months of paying his pound Whyte put the club into administration, with no wealthy bluenoses prepared to step up and pay a CVA was rejected in June 2012 with the liquidation process still on going.

Speaking to Chris McLaughlin who headed up the cheerleaders on Edmiston Drive, Whyte said:

I thought it was a good opportunity to make a profit. It’s hard to believe it is 10 years but I remember when I was first asked to have a look at it. It seemed like a good idea at the time but clearly it turned out not to be.

I don’t believe I did anything wrong. I was not responsible for the build-up of tax debt that caused HMRC to pursue Rangers. I was the guy who was there when it went wrong but I wasn’t the person who caused the problem.

Had Ally McCoist steered his stars past Malmo or Marbor Whyte might have been able to keep the club alive for a few more months. Whyte later admitted that being forced to honour a deal to make McCoist manager meant that the club had virtually no chance of survival.