clinched the league title for Rangers. A victory over Celtic in the 2003 Scottish League Cup Final, in March, provided the first piece of the club's seventh treble. A 1–0 victory over Dundee in the 2003 Scottish Cup Final, the following May, saw a triumphant finalé to the season. It was a near-flawless start to McLeish's reign, ruined only by a poor showing in Europe, which Rangers exited in the first round to minnows Viktoria Žižkov. The following season, McLeish's initial period as manager proved difficult to sustain. The club's perilous financial position in the wake of the profligacy of the Advocaat era, meant a period of relative austerity. The wage bill had to be slashed as the club embarked on an extensive cost-cutting programme in an attempt to stabilise a mushrooming and unsustainable level of debt. Confronted with a squad of well-paid but ageing players, McLeish was compelled to rebuild without the luxury of the generous transfer fund enjoyed by some of his predecessors. McLeish was to lose, from his treble-winning squad, defender Lorenzo Amoruso, Scottish international winger Neil McCann and club captain midfielder Barry Ferguson. In their place, McLeish was required to rebuild with only the use of Bosman free transfers and loan signings. After a good start to the 2003–04 season, which saw the side top of the league and qualify for UEFA Champions League (thanks to a dramatic late goal in Denmark against Copenhagen), a dramatic downturn in results ultimately resulted in a trophyless campaign. McLeish's signings of experienced players, such as the Brazilian midfielder Emerson, Norway forward Egil Østenstad and the £600,000 signing of Portuguese winger Nuno Capucho proved costly in more ways than one. The 2004–05 season started in the same vein, with McLeish making another questionable signing in Serbian midfielder Dragan Mladenovic for £1 million. The Serb played fewer than ten games for the club. On the pitch, the team again fell behind Celtic in the league and exited the Champions League at the qualifying stage. It was rumoured that failure to gain entry into the new UEFA Cup group stage would see McLeish lose his job, but another late goal and a penalty shootout win over Marítimo of Portugal provided him with a stay of execution. After this, his fortunes began to turn again. New arrivals included Nacho Novo, plus the Bosmans Dado Pršo, Jean-Alain Boumsong and midfielder Alex Rae. Once these