Dean Shiels Cup Final, which Kilmarnock won after beating Celtic 1–0. Shiels was shortlisted for the SPFA Players' Player of the Year award, along with Jon Daly, Steven Davis and Charlie Mulgrew. Shiels rejected the offer of a new contract with Kilmarnock and left the club at the end of the season. Shiels signed for Rangers on 31 July 2012. Kilmarnock's chairman Michael Johnson believes Rangers had underestimate Kilmarnock to get Shiels. Shiels vowed to make the club win a trophy this season and revealed he turned down clubs around Europe, which he could even play in the Champions League; instead, preferring
Kenny Shiels with the Ulster Cup and Coleraine underlined their credentials by winning this competition. They carried their form into the league, with Shiels' men sitting top of the league after eight matches. The club remained in the hunt for the league title until the end of the season when they were pipped for the honours by Crusaders. This was to be the high-water mark of Shiels' time at Coleraine as the club began to slip back into a more mid-table position, despite some comparatively heavy investment in playing staff. During the 1999–2000 season, things came to a head when the club