ramage was a first team regular in the 2005–06 season, appearing in twenty-nine games. the injury to teammate stephen carr allowed him to play a larger number of games for the magpies, as he made a good impression on both graeme souness and glenn roeder, who replaced souness as manager in early 2006. as a result of these performances he allegedly caught the eye of former scotland manager walter smith. ramage is eligible to play for scotland or england.