Craigy1881 79 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Andrew Ellis has been speaking out Rangers director Andrew Ellis says he was â??dupedâ? by owner Craig Whyte and his issued an apology to supporters for introducing the businessman to the club. Ellis failed in his own takeover bid for Murray International Holdingsâ?? 85% stake in the club in November 2010, before linking up with Whyte in his successful purchase. "I can only say I'm sorry to the Rangers fans," he told Press Association Sport. "Bringing Craig to the table was done in good faith and like a lot of other people I feel let down by him. "I took Craig to meet Sir David Murray in the south of France and that's when talks began and I'm distraught that it has ended up like this. "My interest in buying the club had ended due to the potential cost of the impending tax case but I had met Craig via the Cadbury family and was told by people that he was a very successful and wealthy businessman who was interested in buying Rangers. "He appeared to have the money, he showed me proof of funds and told me about the numerous companies he owned. "I was absolutely devastated last week to see the club go into administration with jobs at risk. "I am very disappointed that Gordon, a good Rangers man, with his experience, will no longer be working at Rangers and I wish Ali every success for the future. But it could have been avoided. "I believe that if a sensible deal could have been done with HMRC there was no need for the club to go into administration." Ellis also denied any knowledge of the Ticketus deal, which funded Whyte's takeover of the club. "I was totally unaware of the Ticketus situation and when I asked Craig about it he denied it," he said. "Like all the Rangers fans I feel duped but not only about that. "Craig and I shook hands on a deal that would see me getting 24.9% of the shares after his takeover. "I was to have a contract to come up to Scotland and run the club and my team were going to be Ali Russell and Gordon Smith. I knew Ali from his time at QPR and had met Gordon through Jim White of Sky Sports. "Both Ali and Gordon joined the club before me. After Craig took over he didn't want to honour our agreement and I had to chase him around for months. "He has been trying agree a new deal with my shareholding much less but that still has not been completed and I have now handed my files over to my solicitor. But it wasn't the shareholding that I was interested in, nor was it the property angle. "I joined the board because I was interested in the challenge and opportunity of getting such a huge club back on track. Rangers is one of the biggest clubs in the world but I think the marketing of the club over the last 10 years has been appalling. "I wanted to sort out the academy, but also try to break into the overseas market and take Rangers abroad. "I have read some negative things about my time at Northampton Town and QPR but the people I put in at Northampton are still there running the club and QPR are talking about moving to a new stadium - something I was talking about 10 years ago because 18,000 seats is not financially sustainable in the Premier League. "It was a massive opportunity to turn Rangers round and I still think that. I am not stepping down until I find out the full situation with the administrators. I am taking legal instruction as what to do next." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 That says a lot. CW baws must be aching like fuck 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanovitch 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 It seems everyone is turning on Whyte. Does he have any friends left within the club? How can he possibly return now in any capacity? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I thought you couldn't kid a kidder? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 It seems everyone is turning on Whyte. Does he have any friends left within the club? How can he possibly return now in any capacity? Naked, bouncing along Edminston drive on a spacehopper shouting ,"HAMSTERS!!"?? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Naked, bouncing along Edminston drive on a spacehopper shouting ,"HAMSTERS!!"?? Sick 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim1955 12 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have my doubts about this statement. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 This smacks of Rhats jumping ship when the truth is getting out. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebear54 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I'm in two minds how to take that statement. However, my list of people I trust as regards Rangers has - in the space of a couple of weeks - become a pretty small one. In that case, I tend to doubt the honesty here. Although the comment from Whyte on Ellis is telling. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggordy 0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I'm in two minds how to take that statement. However, my list of people I trust as regards Rangers has - in the space of a couple of weeks - become a pretty small one. In that case, I tend to doubt the honesty here. Although the comment from Whyte on Ellis is telling. Have we ever trusted Ellis. It's all too muddy now to even try to sort out fact from fiction, let alone speculate on any outcome. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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