Walter Smith had to decide whether to increase the number of playing staff or improve the starting eleven, he opted for quality.

[2] This allowed Rangers to regain top spot, but 3–2 loss to Dundee United at Ibrox followed by a 0–0 draw in the final Old Firm fixture left the title in Celtic's hands, with just four matches remaining.

The match was marked by several incidents, three Rangers players were sent-off and Celtic manager Neil Lennon and McCoist were involved in a pitch side bust up.

[5] In Europe, Rangers automatically qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stages for the second season in a row.

A 3–0 defeat in Spain to Valencia followed by a 1–0 loss at home to Manchester United ended Rangers chances of qualifying for the last 16, but third place and a spot in the UEFA Europa League was already secured with Bursaspor having failed to pick up a point in five games.

However, Rangers did make it to the last 16 of the Europa League, beating Sporting Lisbon on away goals in the last 32 but lost to PSV Eindhoven on aggregate.

On 6 May 2011, it was confirmed that David Murray had sold his controlling interest in the club (85.3%) to Wavetower limited for £1, a company owned by businessman Craig Whyte.