Despite further heavy investment in the team, which included paying a £12 million fee for striker Tore Andre Flo in November, Rangers were unable to win the title and finished the season without winning any trophies.

The loss to Kilmarnock brought a conflict between club captain Lorenzo Amoruso and manager Dick Advocaat to a head, resulting in Amoruso being stripped of the captaincy and 22-year-old Barry Ferguson being given the arm band.

A 5–1 victory over Celtic in November gave hope for revival but Rangers were unable to put up any serious challenge and finished the season 15 points off top spot.

However, they only picked up two points from the remaining four games and failed to qualify for the next phase of the competition, finishing third and therefore dropping into the UEFA Cup.

In the UEFA Cup Rangers drew Kaiserslautern and despite winning the first leg 1–0 at home, they exited European competition before Christmas after a 3–0 loss in Germany.