THE new league season is upon us, and l think it promises to be fascinating.

There are no prizes to be won for guessing I am tipping Celtic to win the title, but I don’t think that Brendan Rodgers’s side will have things all their own way this season.

For me, Rangers have done the best business in the transfer window. Celtic haven’t really brought anyone fresh in that will be a one of their main men, although Odsonne Edouard seems to have stepped it up a gear since making his move to the club permanent.

Celtic didn’t need to bring anyone in really to win the Premiership because of the quality that was already in their squad, whereas there were obvious areas for huge improvement at Rangers.

There have been a number of Rangers fans that have said to me they are going to win the league because of Steven Gerrard’s arrival, but there is no chance of that this season. There always seems to be this hysteria at Ibrox before every campaign. It was the same when Mark Warburton was there and even with Pedro Caixinha last summer.

In the real world, what I will say is that they are definitely better equipped to finish second. It’s all about small steps for Gerrard; can they win an Old Firm game? Can they finish second? Can they win a trophy to stop another Celtic treble? These are realistic aims, because in my opinion, a title challenge is beyond them.

I would give great credit to Gerrard for the way he has set about the rebuilding of his side, addressing the defence first and foremost. Niko Katic looks decent, and Conor Goldson looks like he will be a big player. I would even say he looks to have the quality to be an early tip for player of the year at the end of the season. Having the assuredness of Scotland’s number one, Allan McGregor, behind them will help too.

They have a lot of quality in the midfield, but for me, they do need another striker to help Alfredo Morelos and they could also be doing with a quality number 10.

Rangers fans might look at the Celtic of last season and think they can get close to that side, but it always seemed as if they had an extra gear to click into when required. I think we will see that Celtic side a lot more often this season compared to last.

I don’t think Celtic will win a ‘treble treble’ though. I fancy someone else to win one of the cups, with Celtic getting a double.

I would expect Rangers to be the closest challengers to Celtic in the league, but you could argue that every season given that their budget is far bigger than Aberdeen’s, but Derek McInnes continually proves people wrong.

Having watched Aberdeen against Burnley last week, I have to say I was impressed. They look strong again, and Mikey Devlin and Scott McKenna played well together at the back. If they can hang onto McKenna, that could be one hell of a partnership.

Devlin could be a brilliant signing for them, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him involved with Scotland at some point this season.

They too need a striker, that’s obvious, but they will be up there again.

Hibernian will be in the shake-up too, and if I was a fan, I would love to go and watch them every week. They play attacking football and score goals, but the Achilles heel is at the back, and they have to be more consistent. There’s no point in playing every match like a basketball game, and their ability to see out a match worries me.

It’s hard to predict how Hearts will do, but they are a club that have to be aiming to be better than sixth. They have a huge support and good resources, so it will be underachieving if they aren’t pushing for third.

Craig Levein has had a couple of windows to get it right now, it’s no longer Ian Cathro’s team, and he has brought in a whole load of his players. They have to sort out their away from, because they only won one of their last 12 away games.

After these sides there are a few who will fight it out for the last top-six berth. Kilmarnock may find it difficult to replicate their success of last season with Kris Boyd being another year older and Youssouf Mulumbu having left, but they will be around mid-table again, as will Motherwell who nobody will relish playing against. Tommy Wright will continue to keep St Johnstone up there too, although a lot will depend on what he can get out of Tony Watt, who is undoubtedly talented but needs an arm around his shoulder.

Neil McCann would hope that Dundee could break into that little group too, but if they are to do it, then they need a better option in attack than Sofien Moussa. They missed more chances than any other team, and they have to make more of those opportunities or it could be a struggle. I feel they will avoid the relegation scrap though.

That will boil down to three teams. Hamilton always get written off, and while their powers of survival have been impressive, they will have to get better at defending leads. They dropped 28 points after being a goal up last season. St Mirren could be doing with a striker, and they face a battle to stay in the league. I fancy it will be one of these two who will be in the play-off position.

Sadly, that means that Livingston will go straight back down. Kenny Miller faces a huge task to keep them up in his first coaching job, and it will be hard for him to juggle his playing responsibilities with his management role.

Whatever happens, all of the ingredients are there for this to be one of the most memorable seasons in a long time. Bring it on!