2006–07 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers 2006–07 football season

Rangers

2006–07 season

Chairman

David Murray

Manager

Paul Le Guen
(until 4 January)
Ian Durrant
Walter Smith
(from 10 January)

Ground

Ibrox Stadium
Glasgow, Scotland
(Capacity: 51,082)

Scottish Premier League

2nd
P38 W21 D9 L8 F61 A32

Scottish Cup

Third round

League Cup

Quarter-finals

UEFA Cup

Round of 16

Top goalscorer

League:
Kris Boyd (20)
All:
Kris Boyd (26)

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

← 2005–06

2007–08 →

The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 51 competitive matches during the 2006–07 season. After signs that supporter unrest was turning on Murray, on 9 February 2006, two days before the crucial Old Firm match, it was announced that Alex McLeish would leave his position as manager at the end of the 2005–06 season, and on 11 March, it was confirmed that former Lyon manager Paul Le Guen would indeed succeed him at the end of the season. Murray predicted a fruitful reign under Le Guen, describing his capture as "a massive moonbeam of success" for the club and promising, "we’ve got big plans." He announced that the Frenchman would be given significant funds with which to strengthen the squad, with Rangers having announced an arrangement with sports retailer JJB Sports.

Known for unearthing and nurturing young talent, Le Guen made an immediate splash in the transfer market signing South African Under 19 player Dean Furman from Chelsea, and youngsters William Stanger and Antoine Ponroy from Rennes. While allowing Ibrox favourite Alex Rae to move to a new career as player-manager of Dundee, he has also signed Libor Sionko and Karl Svensson. Rangers had been strongly linked with a host of other players and signed midfielder Jeremy Clement from Lyon and goalkeeper Lionel Letizi from Paris St Germain as a replacement for the departing Ronald Waterreus. Senegal's World Cup 2002 midfield player Makhtar N'Diaye signed a one-year contract after a short trial period with the club. In all, he made eleven signings (of them only Saša Papac would be playing for the club the following season). Le Guen's signings including Filip Šebo, Karl Svensson, Libor Sionko and Lionel Letizi but they simply did not perform, while Jérémy Clément was to be in Glasgow for only six months.^[1]

Rangers' first match under Le Guen was a friendly against Irish Premier League champions Linfield on 6 July 2006 at Windsor Park, Belfast. Rangers won 2–0 with first half goals from Kris Boyd and Thomas Buffel. The squad flew out to South Africa on 9 July for a training camp where they played three matches, the first of which was a comfortable 4–0 win over local opposition with Charlie Adam netting a hat-trick. Rangers also defeated Jomo Cosmos 2–0 but, with a largely depleted starting line-up, they lost their final match 2–0 against Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns. Defender Fernando Ricksen did not take any part in the pre-season tour of South Africa due to what was described by the club as "unacceptable behaviour" on the flight to Johannesburg. Rangers returned to face English Premier League sides Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers where they won 1–0 and drew 1–1 respectively. The SPL opening day on 30 July proved fruitful for Paul Le Guen's Rangers as they defeated Motherwell 2–1 at Fir Park, thanks to an early strike from Libor Sionko and the winning header from Dado Pršo In Le Guen's first competitive game at Ibrox, Rangers were held to a 2–2 draw by Dundee United, having been forced to come back from two-goals down.

On 9 August, Fernando Ricksen went to Russian Premier League club Zenit St. Petersburg, the new club of ex-Rangers manager Dick Advocaat, on a season-long loan. In return, a friendly has been scheduled between the teams at Ibrox on 23 August. On 11 August Rangers signed Manchester United's 19-year-old winger Lee Martin on loan for a season. Rangers also recruited the services of Austrian Vienna defender Saša Papac while Marvin Andrews, Olivier Bernard, Robert Malcolm and Hamed Namouchi all departed.

By mid November, Rangers found themselves in third place, a full 15 points behind leaders Celtic. Sporadic wins were mixed with regular dropped points as the team struggled to find consistency in the early part of the season. Rangers did, however, start promisingly in the UEFA Cup, going on to become the first Scottish club to qualify from the UEFA Cup group stage in its three-year history. Domestic results and performances, however, continued to be inconsistent and in January 2007, Le Guen controversially stripped midfielder Barry Ferguson of the captaincy.

On 4 January 2007 Paul Le Guen left Rangers by mutual consent.^[2] This made him the club's shortest-serving manager, and the only one to leave the club without completing a full season in charge.^[3]

At the start of the season it had appeared that Murray had brought one of Europe's most talented young coaches to Ibrox, but unfortunately the Frenchman could not repeat his previous successes. Inconsistent form from the start in the league saw Rangers fall behind Celtic in the title race as early as October and they suffered the disappointment of going out of the League Cup at home to First Division side St Johnstone, losing 2–0. Le Guen left the club by mutual consent on 4 January 2007 and was replaced by Walter Smith, who began his second spell as manager of the club.

Immediately Smith began an overhaul at the club. He deemed the defence to be the main reason for Rangers poor season. The signings of defenders David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu soon followed, along with young midfielder Kevin Thomson from Hibernian. The side's form picked up and they ended the season in second place in the Scottish Premier League and recorded a brace of Old Firm wins over Celtic.

In the Scottish Cup, Rangers were beaten 3–2 to Dunfermline Athletic, in caretaker manager Ian Durrant's first and only game in charge.^[4]

Players

Squad information

N	Pos.	Name	Age	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK	Stefan Klos	35	1998	298	0	2007	£0.7m
2	DF	Fernando Ricksen	30	2000	254	20	2009	£3.75m	left on 28 November
2	DF	Andy Webster	25	2008	0	0	2007	Loan
3	DF	Olivier Bernard	26	2005	15	0	2007	Free	left on 31 August
3	DF	David Weir	37	2007	18	1	2007	Free
4	MF	Thomas Buffel	26	2005	81	16	2009	£2.3m
5	DF	Marvin Andrews	30	2004	68	8	2007	Free	left on 31 August
5	DF	Saša Papac	27	2006	23	0	2009	£0.45m
6	MF	Barry Ferguson (captain)	29	2005	342	50	2010	£4.5m
7	MF	Brahim Hemdani	29	2005	73	2	2009	Free
8	MF	Jérémy Clément	22	2006	23	0	2009	£1.1m	left on 25 January
8	MF	Kevin Thomson	22	2007	12	0	2011	£2m
9	FW	Dado Pršo	32	2004	124	37	2007	Free
10	FW	Nacho Novo	28	2004	139	38	2008	£0.45m
11	MF	Gavin Rae	29	2004	39	3	2007	£0.25m
12	DF	Robert Malcolm	25	1997	115	3	2009	Youth system	left on 31 August
12	DF	Ugo Ehiogu	34	2007	11	1	2008	Free
14	MF	Libor Sionko	30	2006	24	3	2009	Free
15	FW	Kris Boyd	23	2005	65	46	2010	£0.4m
16	DF	Phil Bardsley	21	2006	7	1	2006	Loan	left on 29 December
17	MF	Chris Burke	23	2000	108	10	2009	Youth system
18	DF	Ian Murray	26	2005	60	0	2008	Free
19	DF	Karl Svensson	23	2006	28	0	2009	£0.6m
20	DF	Alan Hutton	22	2000	91	3	2007	Youth system
21	GK	Lionel Letizi	34	2006	8	0	2008	Free	left on 30 January
22	GK	Allan McGregor	25	1998	53	0	2009	Youth system
23	FW	Filip Šebo	23	2006	33	2	2010	£1.8m
24	DF	José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	31	2005	10	1	2008	Free	left on 31 August
25	MF	Charlie Adam	21	2003	46	14	2009	Youth system
26	DF	Steven Smith	21	2002	49	1	2010	Youth system
27	DF	Julien Rodriguez	28	2005	49	1	2009	£1m	left on 11 January
29	FW	William Stanger	21	2006	1	0	2008	Free	left on 8 February
30	MF	Makhtar N'Diaye	25	2006	3	0	2007	Free
31	MF	Hamed Namouchi	22	2003	51	6	2008	Free	left on 31 August
32	MF	Lee Martin	19	2006	10	0	2006	Loan	left on 29 December
41	DF	Alan Lowing	19	2005	5	0	2008	Youth system
42	FW	Steven Lennon	19	2005	3	0		Youth system
59	MF	Andrew Shinnie	17	2006	2	0		Youth system

Last updated: 20 May 2007
Source: Players transfer, Wikipedia players' articles,

Football Squads (for appearances, goals and player's number)

Ordered by position on pitch.

Transfers

In

No.	Pos.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
47	MF	Dean Furman	17	Chelsea	Transfer	Summer	2008	Free	^[5]
14	MF	Libor Sionko	29	Austria Wien	Transfer	Summer	2009	Free	^[6]
29	FW	William Stanger	20	Rennes	Transfer	Summer	2008	Free	^[7]
28	DF	Antoine Ponroy	20	Rennes	Transfer	Summer	2008	Free	^[7]
19	DF	Karl Svensson	22	IFK Göteborg	Transfer	Summer	2009	£0.6m	^[8]
21	GK	Lionel Letizi	33	Paris Saint-Germain	Transfer	Summer	2008	Free	^[9]
8	MF	Jérémy Clément	21	Lyon	Transfer	Summer	2009	£1.1m	^[10]
30	MF	Makhtar N'Diaye	24	Yverdon-Sport	Transfer	Summer	2008	Free	^[11]
45	FW	Rory Loy	18	Kilmarnock	Transfer	Summer	2008	£0.02m	^[12]
23	FW	Filip Šebo	22	Austria Wien	Transfer	Summer	2010	£1.85m	^[13]
32	MF	Lee Martin	19	Manchester United	Loan	Summer	2007	n/a	^[14]
16	DF	Phil Bardsley	21	Manchester United	Loan	Summer	2007	n/a	^[15]
5	DF	Saša Papac	22	Austria Wien	Transfer	Summer	2009	£0.45m	^[16]
2	DF	Andy Webster	24	Wigan Athletic	Loan	Winter	2007	n/a	^[17]
3	DF	David Weir	36	Everton	Transfer	Winter	2007	Free	^[18]
12	DF	Ugo Ehiogu	34	Middlesbrough	Transfer	Winter	2008	Free	^[19]
	FW	Adda Djeziri	18	Frem	Loan	Winter	2007	n/a	^[20]
8	MF	Kevin Thomson	22	Hibernian	Transfer	Winter	2011	£2m	^[21]

Last updated: 30 January 2007
Total spending: £6.025m

Out

N	Pos.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
14	DF	Sotirios Kyrgiakos	26	Eintracht Frankfurt	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[22]
26	MF	Peter Løvenkrands	26	Schalke 04	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[23]
8	MF	Alex Rae	36	Dundee	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[24]
37	DF	Gary MacKenzie	20	Dundee	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[25]
25	GK	Ronald Waterreus	35	AZ	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[26]
32	DF	Brian McLean	21	Motherwell	End of contract	Summer	n/a	^[27]
33	MF	Marc Kalenga	21	Free agent	End of contract	Summer	n/a	^[27]
40	MF	Graeme Watson	20	Airdrie United	End of contract	Summer	n/a	^[27]
46	FW	John Johnston	19	Free agent	End of contract	Summer	n/a	^[27]
53	FW	Jason Crooks	18	Ross County	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[27]
57	FW	Craig Frizzel	18	Ross County	End of contract	Summer	Free	^[27]
44	FW	Ross McCormack	19	Motherwell	Transfer	Summer	Free	^[28]
40	MF	Dany N'Guessan	18	Boston United	Loan	Summer	n/a	^[27]
2	DF	Fernando Ricksen	30	Zenit St. Petersburg	Loan	Summer	n/a	^[29]
33	FW	Bob Davidson	20	Boston United	Loan	Summer	n/a	^[27]
31	MF	Hamed Namouchi	22	Lorient	Transfer	Summer	£0.5m	^[30]
12	DF	Bob Malcolm	25	Derby County	Contract terminated	Summer	n/a	^[31]^[32]
3	DF	Olivier Bernard	26	Newcastle United	Contract terminated	Summer	n/a	^[31]^[33]
24	DF	José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan	31	Free agent	Contract terminated	Summer	n/a	^[31]
5	DF	Marvin Andrews	30	Free agent	Contract terminated	Summer	n/a	^[31]
2	DF	Fernando Ricksen	30	Zenit St. Petersburg	Transfer	n/a	£1m	^[34]
32	MF	Lee Martin	19	Manchester United	Loan return	n/a	n/a	^[35]
16	DF	Phil Bardsley	21	Manchester United	Loan return	n/a	n/a	^[35]
39	FW	Moses Ashikodi	20	Watford	Transfer	Winter	Nominal	^[36]
27	DF	Julien Rodriguez	28	Marseille	Transfer	Winter	Free	^[37]
33	FW	Bob Davidson	20	Dundee	Transfer	Winter	Free	^[38]
35	FW	Derek Carcary	20	Raith Rovers	Transfer	Winter	Free	^[39]
40	MF	Dany N'Guessan	19	Lincoln City	Transfer	Winter	Free	^[40]
8	MF	Jérémy Clément	22	Paris Saint-Germain	Transfer	Winter	£1.8m	^[41]
21	GK	Lionel Letizi	33	Free agent	Contract terminated	Winter	n/a	^[42]
29	FW	William Stanger	21	Free agent	Contract terminated	n/a	n/a	^[43]
37	MF	Brian Gilmour	19	Clyde	Loan	n/a	n/a	^[44]

Last updated: 9 February 2007
Total spending: £3.3m

Squad statistics

				Total			Scottish Premier League		UEFA Cup		Scottish Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Sts	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls
1	GK		Stefan Klos	1	2				2
2	DF		Andy Webster
3	DF		David Weir	18	18		14		4
4	MF		Thomas Buffel	14	25	4	17	3	5	1	1		2
5	DF		Saša Papac	21	23		21						2
6	MF		Barry Ferguson	41	41	7	32	4	8	3	1
7	MF		Brahim Hemdani	49	49	2	36	1	10	1	1		2
8	MF		Jérémy Clément	22	23		19		3				1
8	MF		Kevin Thomson	11	11		8		3
9	FW		Dado Pršo	27	37	4	28	4	8				1
10	FW		Nacho Novo	32	39	9	28	5	8	4	1		2
11	MF		Gavin Rae	10	20	1	10	1	7		1		2
12	DF		Ugo Ehiogu	11	11	1	9	1	2
14	MF		Libor Sionko	17	24	3	18	3	5				1
15	FW		Kris Boyd	36	44	26	32	20	9	3	1	2	2	1
16	DF		Phil Bardsley	7	7	1	5	1	2
17	MF		Chris Burke	14	29	2	22	2	5		1		1
18	DF		Ian Murray	18	18		13		4		1
19	DF		Karl Svensson	27	28		21		6		1
20	DF		Alan Hutton	43	44	2	33	1	8	1	1		2
21	GK		Lionel Letizi	8	8		7		1
22	GK		Allan McGregor	42	42		31		8		1		2
23	FW		Filip Šebo	7	33	2	24	2	7				2
25	MF		Charlie Adam	40	43	14	32	11	8	3	1		2
26	DF		Steven Smith	25	25	1	17	1	6				2
27	DF		Julien Rodriguez	17	19		13		5		1
29	FW		William Stanger		1				1
30	MF		Makhtar N'Diaye	1	3		1		2
32	MF		Lee Martin	5	10		7		1				2
41	DF		Alan Lowing		1				1
42	FW		Steven Lennon		3		3
59	MF		Andrew Shinnie		2		2

Last updated: 20 May 2007
Source: Soccerbase - Rangers 2006/2007 player appearances
Ordered by squad numbers
0 shown as blank

Goal scorers

N	P	Name	League	Scottish Cup	League Cup	UEFA Cup	Total
15	FW	Kris Boyd	20	2	1	3	26
11	MF	Charlie Adam	11			3	14
10	FW	Nacho Novo	5			4	9
4	MF	Thomas Buffel	3			1	4
9	FW	Dado Pršo	4				4
14	MF	Libor Sionko	3				3
7	MF	Brahim Hemdani	1			1	2
17	MF	Chris Burke	2				2
20	DF	Alan Hutton	1			1	2
23	FW	Filip Šebo	2				2
12	DF	Ugo Ehiogu	1				1
11	MF	Gavin Rae	1				1
16	DF	Phil Bardsley	1				1
26	DF	Steven Smith	1				1

Last updated: 20 May 2007
Source: Match reports
Only competitive matches

Disciplinary record

N	P	Name	YC		RC
3	DF	David Weir	2
4	MF	Thomas Buffel	1
5	DF	Saša Papac	2
6	MF	Barry Ferguson	8
7	MF	Brahim Hemdani	1
8	MF	Jérémy Clément	5
8	MF	Kevin Thomson	1
9	FW	Dado Pršo	6		1
10	FW	Nacho Novo	11
11	MF	Gavin Rae	1
12	DF	Ugo Ehiogu	1
15	FW	Kris Boyd	6
16	DF	Phil Bardsley	2	1
17	MF	Chris Burke	3
18	DF	Ian Murray	3
19	DF	Karl Svensson	1
20	DF	Alan Hutton	11
22	GK	Allan McGregor	1		1
23	FW	Filip Šebo	2
25	MF	Charlie Adam	7
26	DF	Steven Smith	6
27	DF	Julien Rodriguez	2
32	MF	Lee Martin	1

Last updated: 20 May 2007
Source: Match reports
Only competitive matches

Club

Board of directors

Position	Staff
Chairman	David Murray
Chief executive	Martin Bain
Finance director	David Jolliffe (until 23 May)^[45] Donald McIntyre (from 12 June)^[45]
Non-executive director	John Greig
Non-executive director	Alastair Johnston
Non-executive director	John McClelland
Non-executive director	Dave King
Non-executive director	Donald Wilson

Source: Wikipedia article^{[circular reference]}

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Paul Le Guen (until 4 January)^[2] Ian Durrant (from 4 January)^[4] (until 10 January) Walter Smith (from 10 January)^[46]
Assistant manager	Yves Colleu (until 4 January)^[2] Ally McCoist (from 10 January)
First-team coach	Kenny McDowall (from 10 January)
Fitness coach	Stephane Wiertelak (until 4 January)^[2] Adam Owen (from March)
Goalkeepers coach	Billy Thomson

Source: Wikipedia article^{[circular reference]}

Other staff

Position	Staff
Head of Football Administration	Andrew Dickson
Head of Youth Development	Craig Mulholland
Physiotherapist	Joel Le Hir (until 4 January) Davie Henderson
Doctor	Dr Ian McGuiness (until 9 January) Dr Paul Jackson
Chief scout	Ewan Chester (from 4 May)
Massuer	David Lavery
Kit controller	Jimmy Bell
Video analyst	Steve Harvey

Source: Wikipedia article^{[circular reference]}

Matches

Scottish Premier League

Game

Date

Tournament

Round

Ground

Opponent

Score¹

Report

30 July 2006

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Scottish Premier League	—	2nd	30 July	20 May
UEFA Cup	1st round	Round of 16	14 September	14 March
League Cup	3rd round	Quarter-finals	20 September	8 November
Scottish Cup	3rd round	3rd round	7 January

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^[a]
1	Celtic (C)	38	26	6	6	65	34	+31	84	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
2	Rangers	38	21	9	8	61	32	+29	72	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Aberdeen	38	19	8	11	55	38	+17	65	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Heart of Midlothian	38	17	10	11	47	35	+12	61
5	Kilmarnock	38	16	7	15	47	54	−7	55

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	21	9	8	61	32	+29	72	11	6	2	35	10	+25	10	3	6	26	22	+4

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	W	D	D	W	D	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	L

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	RAN	MHA	LIV	AUX	PTZ
1	Rangers	4	3	1	0	8	4	+4	10	Advance to knockout stage	—	2–0	—	—	1–0
2	Maccabi Haifa	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7		—	—	—	3–1	1–0
3	Livorno	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	5		2–3	1–1	—	—	—
4	Auxerre	4	1	1	2	7	7	0	4		2–2	—	0–1	—	—
5	Partizan	4	0	1	3	2	7	−5	1		—	—	1–1	1–4	—

v t e 2006–07 in Scottish football
« 2005–06 2007–08 »
Domestic leagues	Premier League Football League First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Challenge Cup Final Junior Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Final Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	Results Euro 2008 qualifying
Club seasons
Premier League	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St Mirren
First Division	Airdrie United Clyde Dundee Gretna Hamilton Academical Livingston Queen of the South Partick Thistle Ross County St. Johnstone
Second Division	Alloa Athletic Ayr United Brechin City Cowdenbeath Forfar Athletic Greenock Morton Peterhead Raith Rovers Stirling Albion Stranraer
Third Division	Albion Rovers Arbroath Berwick Rangers Dumbarton East Fife East Stirlingshire Elgin City Montrose Queen's Park Stenhousemuir
Major transfer deals 2006–07

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	21	9	8	61	32	+29	72	11	6	2	35	10	+25	10	3	6	26	22	+4

2006–07 Rangers F.C. season

Overview

Players

Squad information

Transfers

In

Out

Squad statistics

Goal scorers

Disciplinary record

Club

Board of directors

Coaching staff

Other staff

Matches

Scottish Premier League

UEFA Cup

Scottish Cup

League Cup

Friendlies

Competitions

Overall

Scottish Premier League

Standings

Results summary

Results by round

UEFA Cup

References

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	21	9	8	61	32	+29	72	11	6	2	35	10	+25	10	3	6	26	22	+4