As far as the title is concerned, I think it will be a much closer contest this season between the Old Firm now that Walter Smith has helped stabilise RANGERS since he returned to Ibrox.

CELTIC had the league wrapped up for a long time before the end of last season, but they've struggled a bit in their pre-season games, where the opposite has been the case with Rangers.

Scott Brown should prove a be a significant signing for Celtic

Rangers have brought in a large number of new players and they all seem to have settled in well, but Celtic have impressed me by bringing in Massimo Donati and Scott Brown, who are both big-time players and can make it at the very top level.

Scott Brown is, for me, the outstanding young talent in Scottish football. He is a bona fide Scotland international.

There's no doubt he has a great engine, he can both score and make goals and, even though he cost �4.4m, he should prove to be an excellent buy for Gordon Strachan.

I think Walter decided against taking Scott to Rangers in the end because of how it would have affected the number of players he could bring in, as he has had to overhaul the squad dramatically.

Of Rangers new recruits, Carlos Cuellar looks the part at the back - he's comfortable on the ball and has excellent distribution, which will be important in home games with Rangers likely to have a lot of the possession.

Overall, if I had to make a choice at the moment, I still feel Celtic have the edge, but it's a long season.

I would expect the Uefa Cup slot to go to either Hearts, Aberdeen or Hibs, as they make up the best of the rest in the SPL.

I reckon ABERDEEN will have a similar season to the last one - Russell Anderson's departure to Sunderland will be a big loss to them as he was such an influential captain. How they deal with that will determine their campaign to a large extent.

Michael Hart and Ricky Foster are accomplished full-backs, but a replacement for Anderson is vital.

Not many teams will relish playing Aberdeen and there are signs that manager Jimmy Calderwood has brought the fear factor back to teams visiting Pittodrie.

Michael Stewart has a lot to prove at Hearts this season

HEARTS are a bit of an unknown quantity and there has been talk of the club having more of a British influence on the field.

Hopefully, with Michael Stewart coming back to the fold, he can apply himself and show his undoubted ability on a regular basis.

But we won't really know until Vladimir Romanov decides when to bring players in and he's always likely to surprise everyone.

HIBERNIAN are as good a footballing team as any in the country on their day.

However, they have to add the consistency that's required and hope that they won't suffer from the losses of Scott Brown to Celtic and Steven Whittaker to Rangers.

They have lost a number of players over the last few months, but there always seems to be another decent replacement waiting in the wings, such as Lewis Stevenson.

I am pretty hopeful that United will have a promising season ahead.

Barry Robson (centre) is a key man in Tangerine for Dundee United

They have done well since Craig Levein took over at Tannadice. He has settled the team defensively with a central pairing of Darren Dods and Lee Wilkie.

But their outstanding player in my mind is Barry Robson. He's the influential man in the middle and, if he can kick on with even better form, there's no reason why he can't push himself into the Scotland set-up.

United have underperformed for a few years, so I expect them to have a reasonable campaign.

When Falkirk knocked Celtic out of the CIS Cup last season, I thought it was a fabulous team performance.

The way they play fluent football is testimony to coaches John Hughes and Brian Rice, who I played with at Hibs.

Both are determined and passionate football people and, if they can get the younger players to work around the talent of Russell Latapy, a decent season lies ahead.

I think Gretna may well find it hard to cope in the SPL, despite the fairytale of coming up through the divisions.

It's going to be interesting to see how they cope with having to play their home games at Fir Park and that may well impact negatively on them.

However, owner Brooks Mileson has some money to spend if things get a bit tight. But, at present, I would have to say they would be favourites for the drop.

Inverness are capable of causing problems for any team in the league, with good home form in particular.

Charlie Christie finds it hard, to an extent, to attract players to come and play in the Highlands and has lost a good goalscorer in Craig Dargo.

However, they always manage to churn out enough points each season to survive. But I think they'll secure enough points to steer clear of relegation.

Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown have done an unbelieveable job at Rugby Park on limited resources.

Steven Naismith and Colin Nish have scored a lot of goals between them and, even if Naismith leaves, I think they will be able to cope, as they did when Kris Boyd left for Rangers.

Killie always manage to punch above their weight and they have great spirit, so I think they'll do okay overall and are a good bet for a top-six finish.

I felt sorry for Well last season. They had a torrid time.

New chief Mark McGhee will have to perform major surgery at Well

It was disappointing that Maurice Malpas departed as he had a string of injury problems to contend with.

Now Mark McGhee has come in and I think the Motherwell fans will be expecting big things from him with his wide-ranging experience and contacts in the game.

I'm sure they'll improve under him - I really can't see a second dismal season in a row for them.

Saints had a great start to last season that they turned out to be grateful for as they hit a slump in the latter stages and faced a relegation battle with Dunfermline.

They've added Craig Dargo to the ranks and Gary Mason from Dunfermline, who is, in my opinion, a very under-rated player, full of industry.

With Kirk Broadfoot going to Rangers, they'll need a good organiser at the back and Andy Millen, at 40, can't go on forever.

For all that though, I think St Mirren have enough quality to stay safe from danger.