Craig whyte saviour

Menu Close. Log in Subscribe. Honeymoon period is well and truly over for Craig Whyte. Graham Spiers. Monday August 08 , 1. There has been some scepticism about just how much financial boldness Whyte is willing to show. The club was plunged into liquidation and the reformed club suffered the indignity of demotion to the third division, the lowest echelon of Scottish professional football.

In he was arrested and accused of fraud. He was put on trial where he faced the full might and resources of the government for his role in the downfall of the club. Although he was ultimately acquitted of all charges, he had to endure years of false accusations from some media outlets and multiple death threats from obsessed fans. Full of startling revelations, this is the previously untold story of greed, corruption and scandal at the heart of Rangers F.

With the support of his assistant Gary McAllister and coaches Michael Beale and Tom Culshaw, he has learned who to rotate and when, and now uses his substitutes far better than before.

His team plays a slick, finely-tuned passing game which has resulted in several beautiful goals over the last few months. Until their title win in March, Rangers arguably made more of a mark in Europe under the former Liverpool captain than at home. Gerrard has now been in charge 45 times in continental competition and has suffered just six defeats - the most recent one against Slavia Prague coming after a game unbeaten run.

Porto, Galatasaray, Braga, and Feyenoord are all among the teams beaten in the last couple of years, while Benfica relied on late fortune to claim two draws before Christmas. After making the round of 16 for the second year in succession, their aggregate defeat to Slavia - which was overshadowed by the racism incident involving Glen Kamara and Ondrej Kudela - even came as a surprise as they missed out on a quarter-final place many expected them to get.

Over time, the impressive European statistics have been repeated domestically - and this season's are among the best ever seen in the Scottish game. So far, Rangers have yet to lose after winning all bar six of their 36 Premiership fixtures. Going unbeaten through the whole campaign this weekend would see them do it for the first time since , when a schedule of just 18 games was needed to achieve the feat.

Rangers have also beaten their Old Firm rivals Celtic in four games out of five this season, drawing the other. Alfredo Morelos has even scored his first derby goals, the most recent one coming in a victory which showed a real gap between the sides. The result meant Rangers went unbeaten in a season against Celtic for the first time in 21 years, with their unbeaten run in the fixture now standing at six games.

They are a ruthless, relentless unit at both ends of the park and no longer have anything to fear in those fixtures. Indeed, in more than games since Gerrard's appointment, Rangers have lost by more than one goal just four times.

While they usually find a way to win, they're a hard team to beat if they can't. In turn, that and the connection between the players and supporters - even in these times of closed-doors football - has given the fanbase something it can finally relate to again. Most of all, Rangers followers identify with winning. They are fiercely proud of the club's world record for league title wins - and extending the figure to 55 in the way Gerrard's side have done has given them one of their sweetest victories.

The 'Banter Years' are over - and the next challenge for Gerrard and his squad is how they build on bringing major silverware back to Ibrox.

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