Johnston queries Whyte motives

Johnston was a director at the club until May 2011, but Whyte's takeover the same month signalled the end of his tenure on the board following a disagreement over his cash-flow plans.

Whyte took the club into administration on Tuesday, appointing specialists Duff and Phelps to ease the club's debts in compliance with a deadline set at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

An immediate 10-point deduction by the Scottish Premier League appears to be the least of Rangers' concerns, and Johnson insists Whyte "went into the whole acquisition with his eyes wide open".

He told Sky Sports News: "The question I ask is 'What do you know now, Mr Whyte, that you didn't know when you bought the club nine months ago?

"Other than what may or may not be a personal agenda here, it basically would suggest that he bought the club knowing everything that was to transpire"
Alastair Johnston on Craig Whyte Quotes of the week

"What did you not know in due diligence about the tax case? He spent a vast amount of time, money and effort in bringing in experts, but nothing has happened in the last nine months.

"Other than what may or may not be a personal agenda here, it basically would suggest that he bought the club knowing everything that was to transpire."

Johnston admitted his predecessor and former club owner Sir David Murray must take "some responsibility" for selling to Whyte.

Confrontations

He added of Whyte: "We've had some confrontations in the media and publicly over the last nine months. But that evolved out of the entire Rangers board recommending against the sale of the club to Craig Whyte for two reasons.

"One is that we had a difference of opinion with respect of the cash-flow of the club. We felt that he had underestimated or was unwilling or unable to finance the operations of the club.

"And, secondly, we were very suspect of the fact that the investigation and the time that he spent on the issues surrounding administration gave us caution and we made that point in our formal statement at the time.

"We were somewhat sceptical of how he would treat the impact of the tax case and whether or not administration was to his actual benefit.

"So, sadly, I suppose it has come as no surprise to us."

Whyte has admitted that the club's tax debts with HMRC may rise as high as £75million, and Johnston offered his sorrow for those still connected to the club.

"There are a lot of things that are going to come out from under the microscope in the next few weeks. Certainly, HMRC are not going away," he said.

"But in the meantime, people who have invested their passion in the club, employees of the club, and 26,000 minority shareholders of the club are left to suffer."