The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football by Rangers.
Overview Rangers played a total of 68 competitive matches during the 2007–08 season. It was Walter Smith's first full season at the club since 1997–98. The early season priority was qualification for the group stages of the Champions League and this was secured with hard-fought victories over FK Zeta and Red Star Belgrade.
Rangers were drawn in Group E with Barcelona, Lyon and Stuttgart. The group stage started well, with the first two matches resulting in victories, over Stuttgart and Lyon. A home draw with Barcelona left Rangers with seven points after three games, but the last three matches all resulted in defeat, meaning Rangers finished third in the group and entered the UEFA Cup. However, the European adventure continued for Rangers as they progressed to the semi-finals of the competition by beating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon. They then reached the final with a penalty shootout victory against Fiorentina. They played Zenit Saint Petersburg, managed by formed Gers boss Dick Advocaat, in Manchester on 14 May. Rangers lost the match 2–0, with over 200,000 fans in the city to see the game. When asked if the SFA should have extended the season to benefit Rangers, Ally McCoist said: "They were a disgrace. It was embarrassing. I think the Russian federation cancelled Zenit's three or four games previously. I think we played something like eight games in eighteen days. It might just sound like sour grapes, but no: any other country in the planet, the association would have helped the team. If you're asking me if it was wrong, it was completely and utterly wrong.""Si Ferry Meets... Ally McCoist" - Open Goal, YouTube, published on 16 April 2018
While the league season was extended by four days until Thursday 22 May. over the course of the season Rangers had a total of three domestic league games postponed, which in conjunction with the European run led to severe fixture congestion. The first was to support the national team's bid to qualify for Euro 2008, another was to aid Rangers European campaign, and the third an agreement to cancel an Old Firm derby following the sudden death of former Celtic player Phil O'Donnell. However, Celtic played on without postponement after coach and club legend Tommy Burns passed away toward the end of the campaign.
On the domestic front, the race for the Scottish Premier League continued until the final matchday of the season. Both Celtic and Rangers were tied on 86 points going into their games (against Dundee United and Aberdeen respectively) on 22 May 2008, but Celtic were top of the table due to having a +57 goal differential, six ahead of Rangers. This did not prove to be decisive, as Celtic beat Dundee United 1–0 while Rangers surrendered their hopes of landing the championship with a 2–0 defeat away to the Dons. The club had had a ten-point lead in late March, although their nearest rivals, Celtic, had games in hand at the time. However having to play four competitive matches (including a UEFA Cup Final) in the last eight days of the season proved just too much of a problem for Rangers to overcome.
The club appeared in its first final since 2005. They played Dundee United on 16 March 2008 and won the League Cup on penalties. The match was tied 2-2 after extra time, with both goals coming from Kris Boyd who also scored the winning spot kick.
They also reached the final of the Scottish Cup for the 49th time. They beat St Johnstone 4–3 on penalties in the semi-final after the score was tied at 1-1 after extra time. The club played Queen of the South in the final on 24 May 2008 and won the match 3-2 thanks to goals from DaMarcus Beasley and a double from Kris Boyd.
Players
Squad information
Transfers
In
DatePlayerFromFee22 May 2007Alan GowFalkirkFree29 May 2007Georgios EfremArsenalFree27 June 2007Graeme SmithKilmarnockFree27 June 2007DaMarcus BeasleyPSV Eindhoven£700,00027 June 2007Kirk BroadfootSt MirrenFree27 June 2007Jean-Claude DarchevilleBordeauxFree29 June 2007Andy WebsterWigan AthleticLoan6 July 2007Carlos CuéllarOsasuna£2,370,0007 July 2007Roy CarrollWest Ham UnitedFree10 July 2007Marco MichetschlagerAdmira Wacker MödlingLoan11 July 2007Lee McCullochWigan Athletic£2,250,0001 August 2007Steven WhittakerHibernian£2,000,0009 August 2007Daniel CousinRC Lens£1,100,00031 August 2007Thomas Kind BendiksenHarstad IL£90,00031 August 2007Amdy FayeCharlton AthleticLoan31 August 2007Steven NaismithKilmarnock£1,900,00030 January 2008Neil AlexanderIpswich TownFree31 January 2008Christian DaillyWest Ham UnitedFree31 January 2008Steven DavisFulhamLoan
Out
DatePlayerToFee1 June 2007Steven CampbellFree1 June 2007Makhtar N'DiayeFree1 June 2007Antoine PonroyFree1 June 2007Stefan KlosRetired1 June 2007Dado PršoRetired22 June 2007Gavin RaeCardiff CityFree10 July 2007Lee RobinsonGreenock Morton Loan20 July 2007Brian GilmourQueen of the SouthFree27 July 2007Karl Svensson Caen£700,0001 August 2007Libor SionkoCopenhagen£90,00022 August 2007Filip ŠeboValenciennesLoan24 August 2007Ian Murray Norwich CityFree18 January 2008Ugo EhioguSheffield UnitedFree30 January 2008Alan Hutton Tottenham Hotspur£9,000,00031 January 2008Roy CarrollDerby CountyFree
Expenditure: £10,410,000 Income: £9,790,000 Total loss/gain: £620,000
Squad statistics
Top Scorer PSPLSCSLCETotal9FWKris Boyd14652510FWNacho Novo102221619FWJean-Claude Darcheville12121529FWDaniel Cousin102126MFBarry Ferguson711927MFLee McCulloch322718FWSteven Naismith5520MFDamarcus Beasley212524DFCarlos Cuéllar41528DFSteven Whittaker41511MFCharlie Adam22417MFChris Burke2243DFDavid Weir21323DFChristian Dailly2222DFAndy Webster1121DFKirk Broadfoot118MFKevin Thomson1112MFSteven Davis112DFAlan Hutton11Own goal22
Last updated: 24 May 2008 Source: Match reports Only competitive matches
Disciplinary record PYC RC 1GKAllan McGregor212DFAlan Hutton1313DFDavid Weir35DFSaša Papac26MFBarry Ferguson27MFBrahim Hemdani28MFKevin Thomson109FWKris Boyd210FWNacho Novo2211MFCharlie Adam414MFAmdy Faye117MFChris Burke318FWSteven Naismith219FWJean-Claude Darcheville1120MFDamarcus Beasley221DFKirk Broadfoot523DFChristian Dailly324DFCarlos Cuéllar6127MFLee McCulloch7128DFSteven Whittaker4129FWDaniel Cousin11
Last updated: 24 May 2008 Source: Match reports Only competitive matches
Club
Board of directors
Coaching staff
Other staff
Matches Pre-season and friendlies
Scottish Premier League
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Cup
Competitions
Overall
Scottish Premier League
Standings
Results summary
Results by round
UEFA Champions League
Group E
References