Rangers hope to make it three championship titles in a row
By Alasdair Lamont
Most Rangers supporters would readily accept that last season's Scottish Premier League title victory would have been far less likely had Walter Smith not been at the helm.
As such, Smith's decision to stay on as manager for the season ahead outweighs the lack of inward transfer activity at the club this summer.
Yes, the squad is even thinner than the one that successfully defended its title last time round and there is no doubt Smith is desperate to add to it both in terms of quantity and quality before August is out.
But having seen off Tony Mowbray in a matter of months, Smith believes he still has the wherewithal and managerial nous to gain the upper hand over Neil Lennon's Celtic.
Key to this assertion is the retention of the personnel the manager himself considers to be the mainstays of his team - Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and Kenny Miller among them.
McGregor - despite previous indiscretions - continues to enjoy the loyalty of Smith, and proved as recently as Wednesday, on his return to the Scotland team, that he is a top-class goalkeeper, the best in the league by a distance now that Artur Boruc has left Celtic.
Davis has consistently provided craft and drive from his beat on the right of midfield. It looks as though he will be used in his preferred role of central midfield this season, which should allow him to thrive even more.
And Miller, who had his best spell in a Rangers jersey last season both in terms of goals and consistency of performance, will look to continue where he left off.
Doubters can justifiably point to the departure of Kris Boyd as reasons for scepticism, but the prolific striker was used sparingly towards the end of last season, and though his goals will be difficult to replace, Rangers should be well enough equipped to cope without him.
Smith has announced he will retire at the end of the season
Players like Kyle Lafferty and Steven Naismith have to grasp any opportunity they are given to show they are good enough to become first-team regulars - but they will again be asked to play in a variety of positions because of the club's relatively small pool of players.
Depending on your perspective, the lack of investment in the Rangers squad over the last couple of years can be assessed in two ways.
Smith has spoken of a "staleness" because players haven't found their places under threat from new arrivals, while it remains to be seen how adequately the club's younger players can replace experienced figures such as Kevin Thomson and Nacho Novo.
But there is little doubt the squad last season used the economic adversity at Ibrox to help create an "us against the world" mentality, which made up for what was at times lacking in quality.
The core of that group of players remains and, if two or three attacking players can be added before the end of the transfer window, Smith can look forward to ending a glittering Rangers career with a third successive league title.
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