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SCENE ONE. Enter stage right the Whyte knight of Rangers.

 

His takeover deal is sealed and he strides purposefully towards Ibrox alongside his father Tom as adoring fans holler their thanks and rush to hug him.

 

SCENE TWO: Far from the madding crowd in a quiet room in the bowels of Murray Park, Gers' �£14million training complex.

 

The new chairman plots the transfer swoops he prays will secure a fourth championship in a row with boss Ally McCoist - the striker he once hailed as a hero from the Copland Road.

 

FREEZE FRAME: We sit round a table in a Glasgow restaurant and Craig Whyte admits his Rangers story so far has felt like a script from a Hollywood movie.

 

In the weeks since he swept into power at Rangers, to end Sir David Murray's trophy-filled 23 years in charge of the SPL champs, Whyte has faced the fiercest of scrutiny.

 

The old regime went down kicking and screaming.

 

Former chairman Alastair Johnston told Gers fans to be vigilant, that the new owner was worth watching.

 

Whyte will have his say on those wounding words in SunSport on Monday, but yesterday he was relishing the challenge of being the new Mr Rangers too much for that.

 

A wry smile played on his lips as he admitted: "I knew there was a circus that exists around Rangers, but I thought it would die down after two days. I know better now.

 

"There are still times when I am sitting there planning our next move with Coisty at Murray Park where it feels like we are in a movie.

 

"It's not what I expected to be doing at this stage of my life, but I am relishing it.

 

"It is something to savour and enjoy for all the pressures it brings with it.

 

"I have had to sign the first autographs of my life - normally I just sign cheques - and I still find that a bit surreal.

 

"That walk down Edmiston Drive before the Hearts game will live with me forever.

 

"To get applauded that way was amazing and I have to admit it was like living outside yourself and looking at someone else starring in a movie.

 

"I think that is a very good way to describe it.

 

"Mind you, I know if things go wrong then I could be getting the opposite reaction one day!"

 

That is the nature of life in the Old Firm jungle.

 

Whyte knows he will be judged brutally should his regime falter even in its early days.

 

For now all the 40-year-old financial expert asks for is a chance to get his feet under the desk in a job he feels will challenge him to the limit.

 

He added: "There are times in life when you either grab opportunities like this or you don't have the balls to do it.

 

"Buying Rangers was like that for me.

 

"I think there is great potential and I can add value to this fantastic club. I feel we can develop the commercial side and enhance the brand of Rangers and keep achieving where it matters most - ON the pitch.

 

"It is is not the biggest business deal I will do in my career, but it is the most life-changing one.

 

"I could have gone on living my life under the radar, but this felt right."

 

This is Plan B. When Whyte first became involved in the bid to buy Rangers he planned to be the money man in the background.

 

Former Northampton chairman Andrew Ellis was at first poised to be the front man with Whyte the financial muscle.

 

But Ellis, the son of former QPR chairman Peter Ellis, carried too much baggage from the failed adventure into the Rangers quest though. He faded into the background and it was boyhood Gers fan Whyte, educated at Knowetop Primary School in Motherwell, who was thrust into centre stage.

 

From the hedge fund to the transfer kitty, London's Square Mile to Govan's square go.

 

Whyte has had to adjust to his new job rapidly in a climate of suspicion in some circles - and outright animosity from departing chairman Alastair Johnston.

 

Whyte said: "The fans have been supportive to me and I will be judged on how the team perform.

 

"Rangers fans know there have been issues with the previous board.

 

"There were those on that board who would have wished this deal didn't go through. That was obvious.

 

The negative stories came from those sources."

 

Whyte must now also wrestle with the spectre of sectarianism as Gers face up to a travelling ban of one away game in Europe after a UEFA crackdown.

 

It's clear that while he will fight to banish bigtory from Ibrox the new Gers supremo will stand behind his law-abiding supporters.

 

He added: "I will be 100 per cent behind our fans and I will defend them. We're going to make things happen and I feel we have done a lot regarding sectarianism already.

 

"I don't think changing the law will change the culture of the west of Scotland, but I have had talks with Alex Salmond.

 

"I just want even-handed treatment for Rangers fans and that's what we will be monitoring."

 

For now, though, Whyte will plot the way ahead with McCoist after the drama of a title finale he will always cherish.

 

He pointed out: "During the games in the run-in this time I was just a fan willing Rangers to win.

 

"At Kilmarnock I was sitting there desperate to see us lift that trophy.

 

"I woke up that morning certain we were going to go to the last ten minutes.

 

"Then six minutes in we were three up and we were champions, and those were six of the best minutes of my life.

 

"It was brilliant and it was something I will remember for the rest of my time on this earth.

 

"Then we had 35,000 people back at Ibrox for the party and that's when it comes home to you how important this club is in the lives of people. Once you've had memories like that you want more of them."

 

Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3645693/I-walked-down-Edmiston-Drive.html#ixzz1PbYGnxvp

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Interesting interview and exciting times, but after reading that I can't help picturing an image of our new owner slouching in his seat at one of the games in the run in to the title and looking completely uninterested. Maybe it can be excused because of the amount of travelling he was doing?

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Guest Dutchy

Craig Whyte is going about his business in his way, quietly, but effectvely(hopefully). There's one thing you can say about Whyte though, he's not as big a showman as SDM and I like his 'easy and steady' manner of going about things.

 

The things this man has had to do in re-organizing Rangers is huge, but he seems to be going about it a bit at a time. And I'm also encouraged that he won't let anyone make snide statements about Rangers business.

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