Rangers' Champions League campaign lies in tatters following a humiliating 1-4 defeat at the hands of Rumanian Champions Unirea Urziceni at Ibrox.
The Light Blues were torn asunder in a second-half that must rank as amongst the worst in the club's European history against unknown opponents whom many regarded - foolishly as it transpired - to be a guaranteed three points for the Scottish Champions.
However the plain and unpalatable truth is that Rangers now appear destined to finish bottom of a group many believed offered a passport to the last sixteen.
Tonight cruelly exposed the lack of quality in the ibrox ranks with goalkeeper Allan McGregor and full-back Steven Whittaker found sadly lacking. Many will surely ponder the wisdom of recalling a 'keeper who appears more interested in featuring in lurid front-page stories than in actually achieving anything on the field of play.
However there can be little doubt that the ultimate responsibility lies with majority shareholder and former Chairman David Murray whose gross financial mismanagement has brought this once-proud club to its knees.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from Perth with Pedro Mendes, Steven Naismith and Kenny Miller replacing Steven Smith, Kris Boyd and Kyle Lafferty. There was still no sign of Madjid Bougherra, whose commitment to the club must now surely be called into question.
Rangers could not have got off to a better start - opening the scoring in the second minute when Mendes hooked the ball home from the edge of the box following a Jerome Rothen corner.
Nine minutes later Rothen's header from a Mendes free-kick skimmed the crossbar.
The Light Blues were on top at this early stage - Naismith was inches away from converting a Sasa Papac cross on the half-hour.
However it all started to go wrong for the home side two minutes later when Unirea cut through the Ibrox defence like a knife through butter - Pablo Brandan moving down the left past Whittaker as if he didn't exist to cut the ball back for Marius Bilasco who turned the ball home.
Rangers had a golden opportunity to retake the lead in 37 minutes when Bruno Fernandes handled David Weir's header from a Rothen free-kick. Alas Steve Davis' weak spot-kick was parried by visiting goalkeeper Daniel Tudor.
Mystery surrounded the identity of the penalty-taker, given that both Naismith and Miller had been regulars with other clubs. This was a miss that would come back to haunt the Light Blues.
Lafferty replaced Mendes at the interval - presumably the Portuguese midfielder was injured, for tactically this change would leave Rangers vulnerable.
Unirea Coach Dan Petrescu had clearly sussed out the weaknesses in the home defence, for virtually every attack from now on would go down the right flank, and had equally sussed out the lamentable standard of the opposition - and indeed took the lead three minutes after the restart when, from a Brandan free-kick, Bruno Fernandes' flick was deflected into the net by Lafferty via the inside of a post with McGregor floundering.
Things went from bad to worse when - from another free-kick for a foul committed by the hapless Whittaker - Tiberiu Balan's cross was headed into his own net by Lee McCulloch in 58 minutes.
A crescendo of booing poured down from the stands as the Light Blue legions witnessed an abomination of a performance from the home side - for which many had paid the inflated price of £40 for the privilege.
Misery was heaped upon misery six minutes later when Brandan's 25-yard free-kick went right through McGregor who was all at sea. Another free-kick - another goal...
Novo replaced Rothen midway through the second-half.
Lafferty twice came close to reducing the deficit in 69 and 77 minutes with headers from Thomson free-kicks - but the disillusionment of the fans grew with every passing minute as it was all too apparent that the game was won and lost with the home side at times not even pushing forward but content to retain possession.
In the final minute Naismith's header from a Miller cross slipped wide - but the final whistle finally ended a night of despair for all connected with the club.
Unsurprisingly the Stadium had reverberated to jeering at the close - but many 'Gers fans did stay behind to applaud the Rumanian Champions as they left the field.
Afterwards a crestfallen Walter Smith commented:
"We missed a penalty at a time when we were starting to play a bit better. We've lost three goals from set plays which at any level of football you can't do. That cost us dearly."
So having suffered three consecutive home Champions League group match defeats by three clear goals Rangers must now attempt to rescue a measure of pride from the remaining games. Hope springs eternal - but don't hold your breathe...
RANGERS McGregor; Whittaker, McCulloch, Weir, Papac; Rothen (Novo 65), Davis, Mendes (Lafferty 45), Thomson, Naismith; Miller
UNUSED SUBS Alexander, Boyd, Beasley, Smith, Fleck
UNIREA URZICENI Tudor; Maftei, Galamaz, Bruno Fernandes, Brandan; Varga (Paduretu 88), Nicu (Onofras 18), Ricardo Vilana, Apostol, Balan (Frunza 74); Bilasco
UNUSED SUBS Arlauskis, Mehmedovic, Semedo, Bordeanu
REFEREE Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)