Rangers didn't manage a shot on target all afternoon as Celtic eased to victory. In January McDowall tendered his resignation and left the club, with Stuart McCall coming in to take charge until the end of the season. Hearts won the league at a canter, securing the title in late March. Rangers finished the season in a disappointing third behind both Edinburgh clubs, 24 points off champions Hearts. His former team Motherwell awaited in the final for a place in the Scottish Premiership.
In a game that was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested, Rangers were down at home after 47 minutes. Darren McGregor netted late on to give McCall hope going in to the second leg five days later but a far more comfortable Motherwell win confined Rangers to at least one more season in the Championship. The ignominy of this defeat was compounded by the ugly post-match scenes in which defender Bilel Mohsni ended up with a seven-match ban for an altercation with Motherwell's Lee Erwin.
In March former director Dave King and his allies had won control of the club at an Emergency General Meeting, removing the previous board from power. Although he appointed Stuart McCall to his post until the end of the season it wasn't until the summer that King made any real changes.
The club released 11 of the first team players that had failed to win promotion the year before, with King openly criticising their performances and professionalism. Former Brentford manager Mark Warburton and Rangers hero David Weir were appointed as the new managerial team at Ibrox, and they brought in a host of names many fans initially struggled to recognise.
Warburton's signings were to prove themselves at Championship level, showing consistency in both results and performance. Such was the impact of Warburton's arrival that a song quickly emerged about the new manager being in the possession magic hat.
He won his first 11 matches in charge, scoring 40 goals with an attractive brand of football that has been delighting the Rangers supporters all season.
A resounding defeat to St Johnstone in the League Cup back in September gave Warburton's side a dose of reality and showed how far they still have to go. Even though Rangers were in imperious form in the league Hibs and Falkirk managed to keep tabs with the Ibrox club for a time.
Hibs even drew level with Rangers in December but soon after the lead was stretched to insurmountable proportions.
A late equaliser for Raith Rovers may have delayed Rangers title party for a couple of days but Mark Warburton and his squad completed the club's journey to the top with a win against Dumbarton. In the meantime, Rangers demolition of Dundee in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals set up a mouth-watering match against Celtic. This fixture promises to be more competitive than last year's League Cup equivalent. The victory over Premiership side Dundee in the fifth round just days after Paul Hartley's side held Celtic to a stalemate at Celtic Park is an indication of how much closer the sides will be matched.
European football awaits the winners of the Scottish Cup, and the most optimistic of Rangers fans will already be looking out their passports at least a year earlier than they expected.
One of their biggest fears is the ability of Dave King to hold on to Mark Warburton and David Weir as their managerial set-up. Warburton attracted many suitors even before his arrival at Rangers given the job he did at Brentford. No matter how consistent his rhetoric that he will be at Ibrox for at least the length of his contract, his name continues to be linked with vacancies in England. The other subject that is high on supporter's minds is whether chairman King delivers on his promises of investing significant cash in the playing squad.
While Rangers have strolled to the league title, the amount of money spent of players since King's arrival in March has been minimal by traditional Rangers standards. Green's Sevco consortium had been forced to apply for entry to the SFL after Scottish Premier League clubs voted against the new Rangers being admitted to the top flight with the old company destined for liquidation.
And Rangers' website had immediately responded to the vote at Hampden by suggesting that the club had assurances from both men that an SPL2 would be launched to include Rangers and other invited clubs to safeguard sponsorship and television contracts.
Both Clyde and Dunfermline Athletic had expressed those fears immediately prior to the meeting at Hampden, where 29 clubs had initially voted in favour of admitting Rangers to the SFL before taking a second vote on the division in which they should play.
But Rangers quickly toned the statement down to say: "It was mooted last week that plans for an SPL2 would swing into action, but it is not known if this will be the case. Rangers are still under a transfer embargo, so the club cannot add any players until the embargo is lifted. The current Rangers squad would be a mix of holdovers and youth players.
If the Scottish football pyramid further deteriorates, the long-standing rumor that Celtic and Rangers would abandon Scottish football and join the English Football Association may gain weight. The Sun reported in June that Rangers were looking into buying Bury FC, who currently play in the npower League One, the third tier of English football, and take their spot. Without Celtic and Rangers, the Scottish football league structure would surely crumble. While that plan looks very unlikely at the moment, it shows how close to the brink Scottish football is because of a few bad decisions.
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