The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football by Rangers.
Overview
Rangers played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 2005–06 season. Their start to the season was poor, winning only six league games out of the first 17. The period from October through to early December saw the team embark on one of the worst runs in their history, going ten games without a win. The league form scarcely improved as they failed to catch Hearts and so finished third in the league.
The domestic cup competitions were not productive as the club went out of the League Cup at the quarter final stage to Celtic, losing 2–0 at Celtic Park. They lost 3–0 also at Ibrox to Hibernian on 4 February 2006 to go out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round and end their last hope of silverware for the season.
Rangers did however qualify for the Champions League group stages, and a 1–1 draw with Internazionale saw Rangers progress to the last 16 for the first time in the club's history, and the first Scottish team to do so. They were then eliminated by Spanish side Villarreal on the away goals rule.
This season turned out to be the last for manager Alex McLeish, with his imminent departure at the end of the season being announced in February following the Scottish Cup exit and a 2–0 defeat away to Aberdeen in the league.
Players
Squad information
Transfers
In
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Date
!Player
!From
!Fee
|-
|9 June 2005
| Ian Murray || Hibernian || Bosman
|-
|14 June 2005
| Brahim Hemdani || Marseille || Bosman
|-
|6 July 2005
| José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan || Paris Saint-Germain || Bosman
|-
|8 July 2005
| Federico Nieto || Almagro || Loan
|-
|11 July 2005
| Dany N'Guessan || Auxerre || Free
|-
|4 August 2005
| Julien Rodriguez || Monaco || £1,000,000
|-
|30 August 2005
| Sotirios Kyrgiakos || Panathinaikos || Free
|-
|31 August 2005
| Filippo Maniero || Torino || Free
|-
|31 August 2005
| Olivier Bernard || Southampton || Free
|-
|31 August 2005
| Francis Jeffers || Charlton Athletic || Loan
|-
|1 January 2006
| Kris Boyd || Kilmarnock || £400,000
|-
|12 January 2006
| Moses Ashikodi || West Ham United || Free
|}
Out
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Date
!Player
!To
!Fee
|-
|31 May 2005
| Bojan Djordjic || Plymouth Argyle || Free
|-
|6 June 2005
| Shota Arveladze ||AZ Alkmaar|| Bosman
|-
|8 June 2005
| Tom Brighton ||Clyde|| Free
|-
|8 June 2005
| Graeme Smith ||Motherwell|| Free
|-
|13 August 2005
|Bajram Fetai ||Silkeborg|| Nominal
|-
|29 August 2005
|Allan McGregor ||Dunfermline Athletic||Loan
|-
|31 August 2005
|Michael Ball ||PSV Eindhoven||Free
|-
|31 August 2005
|Dragan Mladenović ||Red Star Belgrade||Free
|-
|31 August 2005
|Maurice Ross ||Sheffield Wednesday ||Free
|-
|31 August 2005
|Zurab Khizanishvili ||Blackburn Rovers
||Loan
|-
|31 August 2005
|Charlie Adam ||St Mirren||Loan
|-
|28 December 2005
|Federico Nieto||Almagro||End of loan
|-
|10 January 2006
|Steven Thompson ||Cardiff City||£250,000
|-
|17 January 2006
|Ross McCormack ||Doncaster Rovers ||Loan
|-
|27 January 2006
|Jukka Santala ||FC Nordsjælland ||Free
|-
|10 April 2006
|Zurab Khizanishvili ||Blackburn Rovers
||£500,000
|-
|21 April 2006
|Brian McLean ||Motherwell
||Undisclosed
|}
- Expenditure: £1,400,000
- Income: £750,000
- Total loss/gain: £650,000
Squad statistics
Goal scorers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! width=28|<br />
! width=28|P<br />
! width=28|<br />
!<br />
!League<br />
!Scottish<br />Cup<br />
!League<br />Cup<br />
!Champions<br />League<br />
!Total
|-
|15
|FW
|
|Kris Boyd
|17
|3
|
|
|20
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|26
|MF
|
|Peter Løvenkrands
|14
|
|
|4
|18
|-
|9
|FW
|
|Dado Pršo
|9
|
|
|3
|12
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|4
|MF
|
|Thomas Buffel
|4
|
|2
|1
|7
|-
|6
|MF
|
|Barry Ferguson
|5
|
|
|
|5
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|5
|DF
|
|Marvin Andrews
|3
|
|1
|
|4
|-
|10
|FW
|
|Nacho Novo
|2
|
|
|1
|3
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|14
|DF
|
|Sotirios Kyrgiakos
|1
|1
|
|1
|3
|-
|17
|MF
|
|Chris Burke
|3
|
|
|
|3
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|19
|FW
|
|Steven Thompson
|2
|
|
|1
|3
|-
|23
|FW
|
|Federico Nieto
|1
|
|2
|
|3
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|44
|FW
|
|Ross McCormack
|1
|1
|
|1
|3
|-
|2
|DF
|
|Fernando Ricksen
|
|1
|
|
|1
|- bgcolor = "#F0F0F0"
|16
|DF
|
|Julien Rodriguez
|1
|
|
|
|1
|-
|18
|DF
|
|José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan
|1
|
|
|
|1
|}
<small>Last updated: 7 May 2006</small><br />
<small>Source: Match reports</small><br />
<small>Only competitive matches</small>