By David Herd
Rangers entertain Ross County this Wednesday night. It’s also Valentine’s Day, there’s and no doubt what all of those who have Rangers at heart are wanting to see after the final whistle. The team we love back at the top of the table. A three goal win would see Rangers sit at the summit for the first time this season, which would further add belief that Philippe Clement might just be working unforgettable magic in his first season at Ibrox. Part of that magic is to get more out of the players he inherited (step forward John Lundstram as a towering example), but another vital ingredient for managerial success has to be getting recruitment right. It was what Clement’s predecessor got horribly wrong in the summer.
The first transfer window of the Belgian’s time at Rangers has now “slammed shut”, and there are three January arrivals who all have made good early impressions. Fabio Silva has a CV and transfer history that should see him shine in Scottish football, albeit only until May as there’s no way any Scottish club could afford a permanent transfer fee for a player who is worth north of £20 million. Mohamed Diomande has just made the one start in the midfield and there is optimism he will represent shrewd business. Then, of course, the weekend Man of the Match was Colombian winger Oscar Cortes, who looked a real goal threat from the wing against Ayr. If all three go on to play an important part in a successful title run-in, they will be instant heroes, and the support will be even more convinced that the club has a manager who is the real deal.
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How would they then compare to previous January arrivals? The winter transfer window started back in the treble season of 2002/03, and most within football will say it’s far harder to get the right players in mid-season than in the summer. How have the various Rangers managers of the last 21 years fared when it came to strengthening the squad in January, and how many mid-season arrivals became a success? Here’s a rundown of the good, the bad, and the instantly forgotten January window Rangers signings.
January 2003 Manager – Alex McLeish
Rangers were top of the table and in a titanic head-to-head battle with Martin O’Neill’s Celtic for the title, and for all the Scottish honours. Financial problems were becoming obvious in the background at the club, so there were little funds available for McLeish during the winter window. That didn’t stop him from making a few moves.
Stephen Thompson (Dundee United) £200,000 plus Billy Dodds.
Jerome Bonnisel (Bordeaux) free transfer on a contract till the end of the season.
Dan Eggen (Alaves) free transfer on a contract till the end of the season.
Fair to say, the three newcomers had varying levels of success in royal blue. Thompson went on to win two league titles, one Scottish Cup and one League Cup with the club, despite never really being a first choice striker. He scored in Old Firm games and in the Champions League, and grabbed a vital goal in the last-day win over Dunfermline in May 2003 when the title was won on goal difference. He left Ibrox for Cardiff City in the January window of 2006 after scoring 23 goals in 26 starts plus 59 substitute appearances. Left back Bonnissel only played four times when Arthur Numan was out injured, with two being against Celtic, and he was left back in the League Cup final win over them. Eggen never played a competitive minute, and was only seen when presented with a medal in the title party on the Ibrox pitch after the Dunfermline game!
January 2004 Manager – Alex McLeish
Season 2003/04 was a miserable one for Rangers, with many of the treble winners from the previous season now sold to raise funds, with cheaper and inferior replacements recruited to replace them. By the end of December, the title was already looking like a formality for Celtic. Manager McLeish did bring in three new faces in January, with very different individual careers.
Gavin Rae (Dundee) £250,000
Frank de Boer (Galatasaray) free transfer on a contract till the end of the season
Bajram Fetai (Boldklubben 1893) £200,000 recruited initially for the youth system team
Midfielder Rae’s Rangers career was blighted by injury, and is probably best remembered for briefly being named club captain by manager Paul Le Guen shortly when he stripped the captaincy from Barry Ferguson just days before resigning as manager in January 2007. Rae himself left the club a few months later, with his three years as a Rangers player only including 24 starts, 15 substitute appearances, and three goals. The only season of his time at the club where silverware was won was in 2004/05, and he played no games at all during it. De Boer’s signing made headline news, a genuinely world class defender at his peak, captain of his country, and the player himself taking only a nominal wage for the duration of his time at Ibrox with his aim being match fitness for the summer European championships. He achieved his aim, playing 17 times, but he failed to noticeably improve a struggling Rangers side who ended the season trophyless. Fetai only ever made one brief substitute appearance for the first team, and left Scottish football in 2005 after a loan spell at Inverness.
January 2005 Manager – Alex McLeish
A season that ended with Helicopter Sunday, and probably the January transfer window that was most instrumental in building a successful end to the season. Highly impressive French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong was sold to Newcastle for a record fee, representing a massive profit on a player only signed in the summer on a Bosman. The money was used to bring in a number of new faces, plus a familiar one. January also saw regular goalkeeper and club captain Stefan Klos suffer a season-ending knee injury. This meant a goalkeeping signing at the end of the month.
Bojan Djordjic (Manchester United) free transfer
Thomas Buffel (Feyenoord) £2.3 million
Sotirios Krygiakos (Panathanaikos) loan
Jukka Santala (HJK) free transfer
Ronald Waterreus (Manchester City) £100,000
Barry Ferguson (Blackburn) £4.5 million
Waterreus and Kyrgiakos surprised many by filling in for the loss of Klos and Boumsong superbly. Both remained first choice till their departures in the summer of 2006. The Greek centre half enjoyed a fine career after leaving Ibrox, spending two seasons at Liverpool and winning 61 caps for his country. And with the craft of Buffel and the return of midfield general Ferguson, Rangers won both the league and the League Cup. Buffel would go on to score 16 goals in 85 appearances, with many fans puzzled at the lack of game time he was given towards the end of his Rangers career. Ferguson cemented his reputation as a modern club great, with his 428 appearances across two spells at Ibrox filled with silverware. He also led out the team in the 2008 UEFA Cup final in Manchester. Winger Djordjic made his debut at Parkhead in a Scottish Cup defeat, and left in the summer after just five appearances, all but one of them in the month of January. That was five more than Santala, the Finnish striker leaving the club in 2006 without ever making a competitive Rangers appearance.
January 2006 Manager – Alex McLeish
In what would be his last season in charge, manager McLeish took Rangers into the knockout phase of the Champions League but suffered a dismal domestic season, with no trophies and the embarrassment of a third place league finish. A long run of games without a win during the autumn had seen Rangers fall well behind in the title race, and in January he brought two strikers to the club. Their Rangers careers could scarcely have been more different.
Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock) £400,000
Moses Ashikodi (West Ham) free transfer on a contract till the end of the season
Boyd was Kilmarnock’s top scorer in the season, despite leaving them at the end of December. And after hitting a hat-trick on his debut, he continued his goalscoring form to become the Rangers top scorer for season 2006/07 also. His 17 goals in 17 games meant he would hold a unique record in SPL history, top scorer for two top-flight clubs in the same season. And he would go on to be top scorer in every season of his first spell at Ibrox before leaving for Middlesbrough in 2010, as well as becoming the SPL’s all-time leading scorer since its formation in 1998. Despite a less-than-impressive return to the club in season 2014/15, Boyd will be remembered as an exception Rangers goalscorer, and nobody since has bettered his 138 Rangers goals. Ashikodi’s first team career has to be the shortest ever. He was sent on in injury-time at Parkhead in a 0-0 draw in April 2006, with his one-minute appearance the only time the Rangers fans ever saw him on the pitch. His contract was not renewed, and he ended up back in English football.
January 2007 Managers – Paul Le Guen and Walter Smith
2007 started with Paul Le Guen in charge, Rangers in disarray and miles behind in the title race, and the dressing room split with the decision to remove the captaincy from Barry Ferguson. The Frenchman only took charge for one match in the new year before resigning, with Smith then leaving the Scottish national team job to return to the club he loved. By the time he took charge of his first match, Rangers were out of every domestic competition, a horrendous defeat in the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline under caretaker Ian Durrant meaning only pride was at stake till the summer.
Andy Webster (Wigan) loan
David Weir (Everton) free transfer
Ugo Ehiogu (Middlesbrough) free transfer
Adda Djeziri (BK Frem) loan
Kevin Thomson (Hibs) £2 million
The signing of Webster was confirmed the day after Le Guen left, it appears to have been a signing made more by the chairman than either of the January managers. He had joined Wigan in controversial circumstances, leaving Hearts despite still being under contract. His move back north to Ibrox saw Hearts lodge a complaint, which was somewhat academic as the player got injured in his first training session with Rangers and missed the rest of the season. The player ended up contracted to Rangers all the way till January 2011, when after just three first-team appearances in four years, he was freed. He was almost permanently injured when at Ibrox, in stark contrast to being fit and available for both Bristol City and Dundee United in loan spells, he even captained United in their winning Scottish Cup final in 2010. He also won the cup with Hearts in 2012. Djeziri was a teenage striker who impressed in the youth set-up but never made the breakthrough into the first team squad, and he left Rangers in the summer.
The other three signings instantly helped turn the soft touch Rangers under Le Guen into the hard-to-beat Rangers that Walter Smith prioritised in his first months. Weir would go on to become club captain and the rock on which Smith’s second spell of trophy success was built. Despite being the oldest outfield debutant in club history at the time, he would go on to play 231 games for Rangers, leading the team to three successive titles at the age of 41. His fantastic contribution to the club on the pitch saw him given the ultimate accolade when inducted into the Hall of Fame. His first half season saw him paired with the experienced Ehiogu in central defence, big Ugo will be forever remembered not only for helping bring respectability back to the team, but for his glorious overhead kick goal in a 1-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead when Walter immediately showed he knew what was needed when manager of the club. Ehiogu made a lasting impression in his 12 appearances for Rangers, with the fans mourning his untimely death in 2017 at the age of just 44. The last signing of January was midfielder Kevin Thomson, a player who settled instantly into the team, and who was a key figure in multiple Old Firm wins, trophy successes, and reaching Manchester in 2008. But for a bad knee injury, he would have played a lot more than his 109 Rangers appearances.
January 2008 Manager – Walter Smith
In January, Rangers were top of the league and still in all four competitions at home and abroad. The manager had spent heavily in the summer, but financial constraints were increasing and he was forced into selling full back Alan Hutton for a club record £9 million in January. Despite having little money left for transfers, Smith still brought in three experienced players in the winter window.
Neil Alexander (Ipswich Town) free transfer
Christian Dailly (West Ham) free transfer
Steven Davis (Fulham) loan
Smith had signed goalkeeper Roy Carroll in the summer, but the Northern Irish international grew frustrated at a lack of games, and was allowed to leave the club. He was replaced by Alexander, a player known to Smith through his involvement with the Scotland national squad. Although signed as a backup to Allan McGregor, Alexander would go on to start in the UEFA Cup final as well as in two winning Scottish Cup finals and two League Cup finals. He stayed at the club after the chaos of 2012, being the regular goalkeeper in the Third Division title win. He left in 2013 after a contract dispute. Dailly was one of Scotland’s most capped players at the time of his signing, and experienced and versatile defender. He played his part in reaching the UEFA final, and ended his Rangers career by winning the Scottish Cup in 2009, fifteen years after he had played in the Dundee United team who had defeated Rangers in the final.
Davis would make a huge impression during his loan spell, and became a permanent signing in the summer. Over two spells at Rangers, the boyhood supporter played 371 times, scoring 20 goals and being named club captain in 2011 after the departure of Weir. Across his full Rangers career, he won four titles, 3 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups, as well as joining a very small and elite band of legends who played in two different European finals. He is a member of a second small group of Rangers players, those who have scored against Celtic in all three domestic competitions, and who scored against them in three different decades. He also is the all-time international caps record holder for a British player, with 140 appearances for Northern Ireland. Steven Davis was inducted into the Hall of Fame in February 2023 and only recently confirmed his retirement.
January 2009 Manager – Walter Smith
Season 2008/09 saw Rangers sitting second in the table and having lost to Celtic in the League Cup final. The manager would likely have wanted to add to his squad at that time, but the club had splashed out on several players in the summer and there was no money available for January signings at a time when the bank was taking a closer interest in the finances than ever before in the months after the worldwide financial crash. It meant no winter window arrivals for the first time since the transfer window system had been introduced. The only transfer business done during January was all outgoing, as the squad lost the likes of Chris Burke, Alan Gow, Jean-Claude Darcheville and Charlie Adam. The lack of incomers didn’t prevent Rangers winning the league and Scottish Cup double.
January 2010 Manager – Walter Smith
The wonder of Walter was never more obvious than season 2009/10. He only was allowed one incoming transfer in the summer, the loan signing of Frenchman Jerome Rothen. His squad was cut severely, including the sale of Barry Ferguson. Then in the winter, he was unable to bring any new faces into Ibrox for the second year running, while losing more first team experience with the loss of Pedro Mendes. Despite the increasing financial worries off the pitch, Rangers comfortably retained the league and added the League Cup.
January 2011 Manager – Walter Smith
This would be the last season before Walter Smith’s retirement from football management, and he was given some summer money to help in the reshaping of his team after another summer of significant departures. By January, there was a neck-and-neck title race with Celtic brewing, but the club were dealt a huge blow with the decision of top scorer Kenny Miller not to renew his contract and leave mid-season to the Turkish side Bursaspor. The modest fee received for the Scotland striker allowed the manager to do some late wheeling and dealing in the January market.
David Healy (Sunderland) free transfer
Kyle Bartley (Arsenal) loan
El Hadji Diouf (Blackburn) loan
Healy was a boyhood fan given the chance to live the dream after a fine career at club and international level. He remained at the club until the summer of 2012, with more than half of his 25 Rangers appearances coming off the bench. Bartley was a young and highly rated centre back at Arsenal, who would return to Ibrox again for another loan spell the following season. He went on to play for Swansea, Birmingham, Leeds and West Brom, mainly in the English Championship, and is still a mainstay of the West Brom defence. Diouf, Walter Smith’s last-ever Rangers signing, was a controversial figure before and during his short spell as a Ranger. He made 11 starts, came off the bench 11 times, picked up a league and League Cup medal, scored a vital European goal in Lisbon, got a red card after the final whistle in a cup defeat at Parkhead, wound up opposition players and fans, then left in the summer to go wreak havoc back in English football. Never a dull moment!
January 2012 Manager – Ally McCoist
By January 2012, Ally McCoist’s team on the pitch had blown a big lead in the title race while the club was heading towards financial meltdown off the pitch under the ownership of conman Craig Whyte. Despite the impending disaster about to unfold, McCoist did bring one player into the club in January.
Mervan Celik (GAIS) £240,000
The company who owned Rangers FC were placed into Administration in mid-February, with the 10-point penalty immediately ending the championship race, and the chaos off the pitch taking over as the priority for all connected to the club. The eventual outcome of the administration process is well known (even if intentionally misunderstood by fans of other clubs), and one minor consequence of it all was that the January signing Celik left the club again in March, tearing up his contract and leaving as a free agent. He only started one game, a Scottish Cup defeat to Dundee United, and appeared off the bench a further five times.
January 2013 Manager – Ally McCoist
As part of the punishment handed out to Rangers by the SFA for their financial collapse, the club were given a transfer ban to run from September 1st 2012 until the end of the summer 2013 transfer window. This meant that Rangers could not sign any players in January 2013. The club had challenged the punishment of a transfer ban in court, and were successful in showing that the football authorities had acted illegally. However, they eventually accepted the ban starting on September 1st as they would have been refused entry into the Scottish league set-up otherwise.
January 2014
Although the transfer embargo hadn’t ended until September, Rangers had signed up a number of players under freedom of contract in the summer with their contracts not being registered until the start of September. Some of these signings represented a significant financial outlay for a club with much reduced income in the lower leagues, such as Nicky Law, Jon Daly and Cammy Bell who all arrived from top-flight clubs. The team quickly sprinted clear at the top of Scotland’s third tier, and no players were brought to the club in January. Ally McCoist’s team ended up champions of League One without losing a game, and reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
January 2015 Manager – Kenny McDowell
A season of dreadful lows, as Rangers struggled to compete in the Championship, falling well behind league leaders Hearts, while off the pitch the Mike Ashley controlled board continued to run the club into the ground. Ally McCoist resigned in December, with his assistant Kenny McDowell reluctantly accepting the role of head coach, and presiding over months of abject misery. Towards the end of the transfer window, after the club had sold young star player Lewis McLeod to Brentford, Ashley’s Newcastle agreed to loan five players to Rangers, with the interim head coach seemingly not involved in their recruitment.
Remie Streete (Newcastle) loan
Gael Bigirimana (Newcastle) loan
Haris Vuckic (Newcastle) loan
Kevin Mbabu (Newcastle) loan
Shane Ferguson (Newcastle) loan
Only Vuckic made any positive impression in the remainder of a woeful season, with Rangers finishing third then losing heavily to Motherwell in the playoffs under temporary manager Stuart McCall. Vuckic scored nine goals from midfield and was a regular starter. Of the others, Streete played once (in a cup defeat to Raith Rovers), Ferguson played twice (in the Motherwell playoff debacle), and the other two were never seen at all. In amongst this pain, the removal of the board by the Dave King, John Gilligan and Paul Murray consortium finally gave the Rangers support light in the darkest of days.
January 2016 Manager – Mark Warburton
In January 2016, the Rangers support had enjoyed entertaining and winning football under a manager who seemed to possess a magic hat. Warburton had totally reshaped the team in the summer, with his signings instantly gelling together. The Championship was a battle between Rangers and Hibs, with both teams looking significantly superior to many in the league above. In the winter window, Rangers brought in four new players.
Harry Forrester (Doncaster Rovers) free transfer
Maciej Gostomski (Lech Poznan) free transfer
Billy King (Hearts) loan
Michael O’Halloran (St Johnstone) £500,000
Of the four, Polish back up goalkeeper Gostomski was the least seen, he never got close to a first team appearance in his brief Ibrox career and was freed before the season ended. Billy King certainly made the most instant impact, scoring a 90th minute winner on his debut against Falkirk. It would be his only goal in 13 appearances, before his loan ended and he went back to his parent club. Forrester was another who hit the ground running, scoring five times including a very early opener in a 4-0 demolition of Premiership side Dundee in the Scottish Cup. He stayed at Ibrox until the summer of 2017, amassing 44 appearances, although the main memory he left behind was failing to pass to an unmarked teammate when fluffing a chance to score against Celtic at Ibrox. O’Halloran had come to the manager’s attention when he ran the Rangers defence ragged in a League Cup win for St Johnstone at Ibrox, but he was a player who never looked particularly happy wearing the royal blue. He made just 38 appearances before departing the club in 2018, after playing at his old club on loan for most of that season. The season ended with Rangers finally back in the Premiership after winning the league, and included a memorable Scottish Cup win over Celtic at Hampden. But a bitter defeat in the Scottish Cup final by Hibs seemed to signify the beginning of the end of the Warburton magic.
January 2017 Manager – Mark Warburton
By the time 2017 had dawned, Rangers were finding life back in the top flight something of a struggle, and Mark Warburton was a man under pressure. He had gambled in the summer with some experienced veterans to augment his Championship winners, but it was soon apparent that this would not be a team remotely capable of “going for 55”.
Emerson Hyndman (Bournemouth) loan
Jon Toral (Arsenal) loan
Jak Alnwick (Port Vale) £250,000
The two loan signings made very different impacts. American midfielder Hyndman ended the season as the club’s Young Player of the Year. He scored four times in 17 appearances, with the fans appreciative of his contribution in a struggling team when he returned to Bournemouth at the end of the season. Spanish playmaker Toral, however, was a player who didn’t look fully committed to the cause, and although his return of three goals in 15 appearances looks similar to Hyndman, few were unhappy to see him leave. Alnwick was a dependable understudy to Wes Foderingham in goal, remaining a registered Rangers player till 2020. His 11 first team starts included a Hampden semi-final and an Old Firm match at Parkhead, both ending in defeat. This was much longer than Mark Warburton had left of his Rangers managerial career, that ended the week after the January window closed.
January 2018 Manager – Graeme Murty
One year after Mark Warburton had signed three players in January, Rangers had already hired then fired the hapless Pedro Caixinha, and were now under the interim charge again of youth team boss Graeme Murty. He had closed out 2017 with a very encouraging 0-0 draw at Parkhead, and the board decided to give him until the end of the season. He brought in six new faces in the winter window, and made a summer loan deal into a permanent move.
Declan John (Cardiff) undisclosed fee, loan made permanent
Sean Goss (QPR) loan
Jamie Murphy (Brighton) loan
Jason Cummings (Nottingham Forest) loan
Russell Martin (Norwich City) loan
Greg Docherty (Hamilton Accies) undisclosed fee
Glenn Middleton (Norwich City) undisclosed fee
All this recruitment didn’t take Rangers any closer to silverware, the season ending in total depression, with heavy defeats to Celtic, Murty removed before the season ended, and Rangers finishing third for the second season in a row. It was summed up by the farce of a final day when they conceded five goals on the last day at Easter Road in a 5-5 draw. Welsh left back John remained the first choice for the position for the remainder of the season before being sold in the summer. Murphy’s loan became permanent and he scored the first competitive goal of the Steven Gerrard era. But a bad knee injury suffered on the plastic pitch at Kilmarnock ruined his Rangers career, and he was last seen at Ibrox in an Ayr United shirt.
Cummings became something of a cult hero in his short loan spell, scoring six goals including a Scottish Cup hat-trick against Falkirk. But, like so many others around him, he simply wasn’t good enough for what was needed, and he ended up playing for Peterborough and Shrewsbury. Russell Martin looked a solid signing on paper, an experienced international defender with plenty appearances in the EPL. But Rangers conceded 27 goals in his 17 Rangers appearances, so it was no surprise when he returned south at the end of the season. Docherty and Middleton were promising young players who were both also Rangers fans. Both saw their Rangers careers extend into the Gerrard era, but neither were able to establish themselves as first team material. Docherty was sent out on loan to both sides of the border, and his career at Ibrox finally ended in 2020 when he joined Hull after making just 19 Rangers appearances. Middleton was given a run in the first team under Gerrard, and scored in the Europa League. But he fell out of the picture, and after a few loans (including a Scottish Cup win with St Johnstone), he joined Dundee United in 2022. He played 29 Rangers games, scoring five goals.
January 2019
The season where Rangers finally started to be challengers again, with the inspired appointment of Steven Gerrard. As the new year arrived, his Rangers team had just beaten Celtic in the league for the first time since the club returned to the top flight, and inflicted a first Old Firm defeat on Brendan Rodgers, who had enjoyed an easy ride as Celtic boss up till Gerrard’s arrival. There looked to be a genuine title challenge on, and the manager decided on these arrivals in January to help the expected assault on 55, which included two top class international players. Unfortunately, a terrible restart after the winter break put paid to those dreams.
Matt Polster (Chicago Fire) free transfer
Andy Firth (Barrow) undisclosed fee
Glen Kamara (Dundee) £50,000
Jermain Defoe (Bournemouth) loan
Steven Davis (Southampton) loan
There was also a pre-contract agreed for Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones, but unlike in the case of Kamara, a fee could not be agreed between the clubs to allow the transfer to go through in January. Polster is probably as much remembered for his glamorous wife than his football on the pitch. A versatile player who could play in midfield or in defence, his entire Rangers career only saw him start five games before he returned to the MLS with New England Revolution in the summer of 2020. Firth was a signing that surprised everyone, a goalkeeper playing non-league football who had known Gerrard from his time in the Liverpool academy. He remained a back-up at the club right through till the summer of 2022, but was only ever seen once in the first team when replacing Wes Foderingham at Rugby Park for the last seven minutes of the final game of the 2018/19 season. He seems to have been a much more effective dressing room cheerleader than a goalkeeper.
Kamara was a player who came through the academy system at Arsenal and was a full international with Finland. He made an immediate impact in the Rangers midfield, and became a key player at home and abroad during his Rangers career. His obvious class and ability made his transfer fee look ridiculous, and although his departure in the summer of 2023 to Leeds for £5 million was regarded as good business after the player had obviously decided he wanted a fresh challenge, he overall was a massive success. He played 193 times for Rangers, with one of his nine goals being in that unforgettable night at Ibrox against Leipzig.
There is little doubt that Jermain Defoe was a player Rangers could never have afforded when at his peak. One of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the EPL, he arrived at the club aged 36 thanks to a generous deal with Bournemouth around how his wages were paid. By the time he left in 2022, he had gained the admiration and respect of every Rangers supporter. Not just a tremendous finisher, a man who seemed to genuinely take to life at Ibrox and who became emotionally attached to the club. When he scored the last goal of the 55 season in the 4-0 win over Aberdeen, he became the oldest ever scorer for Rangers in a competitive match. His overall record of 32 goals from 32 starts and 42 substitute appearances started with a goal on his debut, and ended in winning his first ever league title. Signed alongside the returning Steven Davis, who became the only player signed by Rangers in two different January windows, the pair added experience and class as well as massive dressing room influence.
January 2020 Manager – Steven Gerrard
In a virtual copy of the previous year, Rangers had beaten Celtic just before the new year, this time a first win over them at Parkhead since 2010. Again, the title race looked well and truly on, and with the addition of two loan players in January, the squad looked more than capable of delivering glory. Unfortunately, in another copy of the year before, a dreadful run of form after the winter break saw the team fall behind in the league as well as crash of the cup. When the league was halted due to the pandemic, there was a significant gap to close, albeit with 2 Old Firm matches still to play. The SPFL vote to end the season and award Celtic the title remains one of the most disgraceful episodes in the recent history of an organisation that walks a fine line between incompetence and corruption.
Ianis Hagi (Genk) loan
Florian Kamberi (Hibs) loan
Hagi showed enough in flashes to become a permanent signing in the summer, and he played a big part in the title success in 2020/21 with goals and assists at crucial times. Although never a nailed down starter, he made important contributions at home and abroad before a bad knee injury in early 2022. He is now on loan at Spanish side Alaves, and it is looking increasingly unlikely that he will be a Rangers player much longer. He currently has 11 goals from 99 appearances, with 31 of these games from the bench. Kamberi was a surprise signing, but showed up reasonably well during a period of terrible results overall. But he only scored once in his brief Rangers career that ended when football stopped due to Covid. He has had a less than successful nomadic career since.
January 2021 Manager – Steven Gerrard
In a memorable season, unfortunately all played without fans, Rangers swept to an unbeaten league title by a massive margin, the wait for 55 was over. With a massive points advantage by New Year, it looked virtually impossible for the team not to be champions when the clubs stopped for their winter break. And this time there was no slump when the season restarted, the only disappointment in a historic season being two surprise defeats in the domestic cups.
Jack Simpson (Bournemouth) undisclosed fee
Scott Wright (Aberdeen) undisclosed fee
Both signings were players going out of contract in the summer, who then moved earlier when the clubs agreed a deal. Simpson arrived in January, whereas his Bournemouth teammate Nnamdi Ofoborh remained on the south coast till moving when his contract expired. Although an England under-21 defender, Simpson never impressed in his infrequent appearances, and after seven starts and seven appearances from the bench, he was allowed to leave for Cardiff in the summer of 2022. Wright is, of course, still a member of the first team squad at the club. While never a regular starter, he has played in the Europa League final and scored in a Scottish Cup final. His goals and assists numbers are just not good enough for a Rangers winger, but he is likely to play a part in the run-in this season before a decision on his future in the summer. Substitute appearances make up 68 of his 101 Rangers appearances thus far, and he has scored ten goals.
January 2022 Manager Giovanni van Bronkhorst
Steven Gerrard was succeeded by popular Dutch former player van Bronkhorst in the autumn of 2021, and although he took the team to withing a penalty kick of European glory in May 2022, losing the title to Celtic after enjoying a healthy lead over them was a blow from which his managerial career at Ibrox never recovered. In January 2022, a brief Covid break at New Year prevented a trip to Parkhead, and allowed Celtic to strengthen before the match was played. Rangers also had the chance to improve their squad, and these players were brought in to do that.
James Sands (New York City) loan
Amad Diallo (Manchester United) loan
Mateusz Zukowski (Lechia Gdansk) undisclosed fee
Aaron Ramsey (loan) Juventus
Despite receiving a hefty fee for Nathan Patterson from Everton, it was mainly loans brought in. Albeit, a couple of them looked like signings who should excel in the SPL. Sands was thrown into a midfield debut at Pittodrie where he was overrun, but later would be deployed more as a centre back with varying levels of success. He mainly looked ill-suited to the physical nature of Scottish football, and his 18 month loan was eventually cut short in March 2023. He played 41 times, scoring just the one goal in a controversial cup win over Partick Thistle. Diallo scored on his debut and excited the fans, but his Rangers career stalled after being pitched into the forward line at Parkhead in a woeful night when a timid Rangers were blown away. He started only six of his 13 games for Rangers, one of which was the Scottish Cup final win over Hearts, a match he was replaced when the score was still 0-0.
Zukowski was meant to be the back up to James Tavernier at right back after the departure of Patterson, but he only made the first team on one occasion, when a Scottish Cup tie at little Annan Athletic allowed the manager to rest several players. He was back in Polish football by the summer. Ramsey was a signing that caught the imagination of British football, not just Rangers fans. But a combination of injury and an infamous penalty miss will always mean his short spell at Ibrox is regarded as a disaster. He did score after just three minutes of his Old Firm debut, but just like his loan spell at Rangers, that day ended in terrible disappointment.
January 2023 Manager – Michael Beale
Gio lasted only a year in the job, and his successor would have an equally short spell in charge. But during January 2023, many fans thought Michael Beale was showing signs of being a good manager. The team had put together a decent run of form, and his recruitment during the month looked to be very promising. Sadly, the team lost every crunch game under him that they played, and his summer recruitment would prove to be his undoing. He was given some money in his first transfer window, resulting in the arrival of two highly-rated players.
Todd Cantwell (Norwich City) undisclosed fee
Nicolas Raskin (Standard Liege) undisclosed fee
Cantwell had been a young player with Norwich who seemed to have the world at his feet, starring in the EPL and impressing against some of the best players in the world. But his Norwich career had run aground, his relationship with the manager irretrievable, and he was a player who had to move on for the sake of his career. His first few months in the Rangers blue were hugely impressive, with goals and assists in amongst flashes of top class ability. He seemed to suffer this season for some time with the team tactics and not having a role at the heart of the action, but in recent times he has rediscovered his scoring touch and his ability to impact games. His winner against Aberdeen last midweek was on his 50thRangers appearance, and an on-form Cantwell would be a huge plus in the remaining months of this season’s treble quest. Raskin, meanwhile, seems to be at something of a crossroads in his Rangers career. A young player of great potential, he was talked about as an EPL player within days of his arrival at Ibrox. But a year later, we are still waiting on him being the dominant midfield force that he was claimed to be. He is in a real fight for a starting shirt at the moment, and unless he finds the form of his reputation, he may see the bench more often than he would like. He is coming back from a bad injury, but fair to say we expected a bit more.
January 2024 Manager – Philippe Clement
After taking over a squad in disarray, the Belgian has not only steadied the ship, he has turned a team of underachievers into challengers for a treble. With the first trophy safely won, a three goal win against managerless Ross County would see Rangers sitting top of the table for the first time in two years. In his first transfer window, he has signed three players, all on loan, with two of them earmarked as summer purchases. How will we rate Silva, Diomande and Cotres in years to come? Will there be another Davis, Weir, Ferguson, Boyd, Kamara or Defoe in there to join the list of January successes? Or will any of them join the January flops such as Ramsey, O’Halloran, Toral and Sands? Or will any of them be totally forgotten, the same as most of the Newcastle Five or Moses Ashikodi?
I trust this manager to have got it right. Title 56 would prove me correct.