Michael Stewart’s apology yesterday for his comments which effectively cost Jim Traynor his job fell on deaf ears and is a hollow piece of tokenism from a man who has made a punditry career of ignorant jabs at all things Rangers.

Realising quickly a way to succeed in the media was with controversy and attacks on Rangers, Stewart has taken shots at the club and its fans for the best part of half a decade.

We at Ibrox Noise have highlighted numerous occasions where he’s hurled various smears at the club, and there’s no question his retort aimed at Traynor was deeply damaging, embarrassing for Traynor, and caused him untold hurt and stress, not to mention family grief.

The apology?

Two years later?

We weren’t born yesterday.

Stewart was taken off-air over that smite, with the BBC considering it too far especially given Traynor still has many friends at the Beeb – true, if he wasn’t ex-BBC the corp might have let it all go, and probably would have, but Traynor has a lot of allies at Pacific Quay thanks to his time on Your Call and he’s a popular guy there.

So Stewart picked the wrong man to slur, and his apology two years on is a complete sham designed for little more than self-perseveration.

Ibrox Noise sources told us of Stewart’s political leanings and career aspirations, and let’s just say they explain a lot about his tone of punditry, but while you’re allowed to have your partialities and tastes, in his job, in his role, he has to be a lot more neutral.

He’s failed to do that, and it’s caused Traynor nothing but grief.

An apology really doesn’t cut it.