RANGERS supporters last night expressed further doubts over the competence of those running the club after it emerged certificates bearing the signatures of Charles Green and Brian Stockbridge have been sent out to shareholders who took part in the recent open offer.
Their complaints came on the day that the club's nominated advisor, Daniel Stewart, had their shares suspended from trading on the Stock Exchange following their inability to publish annual accounts for the year ended March 31 within six months.
Green, who led a takeover of the club post-administration, stepped down from his position as chief executive in April 2013 over alleged links to disgraced former owner Craig Whyte, and was later forced into leaving a short-lived consultancy role after coming under fire from fans.
Meanwhile, Stockbridge, the former financial director, resigned at the start of this year following a controversial spell during which he handed back a £200,000 bonus he had initially taken for the club winning the old Third Division title.
Rangers last night put the inclusion of their signatures on new certificates relating to the recent share option, which raised a total of £3.13m, down to a "printing error".
However, supporters collective The Union Of Fans insisted that the club's failure to get even the most basic of things correct was indicative of a wider malaise behind the scenes.
"I don't think the names of Green and Stockbridge on that certificate is a conspiracy by any stretch of the imagination, but just more incompetence," said their spokesman, Chris Graham. "It seems the same template for the last lot of shares has been used.
"However, it does not come as a huge surprise that this has not been done properly along with pretty much every other piece of governance within the club.
"The board have a responsibility to get things right, of course, but there are concerns about what has happened with Daniel Stewart too.
"Cenkos were removed as the the NOMAD before changes in the boardroom, in which James Easdale moved on to the plc board, and there has always been a degree of concern about Daniel Stewart," said Graham. "I know that shareholders have been trying to get the shareholder register from them and not getting anything back and there has been a sense they are out of their depth.
Rangers clarified the confusion over the certificates. "Some shareholders have received incorrect certificates following a printing error by the external financial administration company, which manages this service for the club,"said a spokesman. New share certificates will be reissued as a priority and they have apologised for the error."
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