Arthur's Column // 26th July 2022

THE new SPFL Premiership starts on Saturday and the summer break has just flown in.

It only seems like yesterday when we had that epic few days of the Europa League Final in Seville and winning the Scottish Cup against Hearts at Hampden. But the new campaign is back with a bang and there is no time for Giovanni and the players to waste. We are away to Livingston on Saturday and that will be a very challenging game. The astroturf surface there is far from ideal but the players need to put that to one side. If they are focused and professional, they will get the victory. This is the first three points of the season we need to get and it's important to send out the right message from Day One. The aim, come May 2023, of course, is to be the League Champions. I feel we are in good shape, squad wise, to get the title back from Celtic. Assessing the comings and goings in the past few weeks, it wasn't idwal to see players of the calibre of Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey leave. But I totally understand the decisions to sell them. The club will receive in the region of £30million for the pair and that's outstanding business. I wish them well as they were good servants. But I'm more interested in what the new signings are going to do. That's what matters now. John Souttar is a very good addition and it was great to get Connor Goldson signed again. What a brilliant bonus that was. The same applies to Allan McGrevor and Steve Davis. I'm excited at the prospect of what Ben Davies, Rabbi Matondo, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Malik Tillman and Ridvan Yilmaz can do for the Football Club. On paper, they all have very good pedigrees and have the ability to come and take Rangers to a higher level. One thing that cost us the title last season was a dip in results away from home over three or four games. We dropped too many unnecessary points. But we look a much stronger squad, with plenty of depth. This will allow Giovanni to rotate if he wishes and keep a freshness about the squad. That will be so important, especially with European football on the horizon again. The game against Union SG from Belgium is vitally important. We're away from home on Tuesday and will look to bring a positive result back to Ibrox. We missed out on the Champions League last season and do not want to do the same again. There has been good investment in the squad in the past few weeks and we look like we deserve to be in the main tournament. But we need to work hard, show bravery and personality, carry a wee bit of luck and just find a way to win the ties. It's a prestigious tournament and there is also around £35million to be made from it. That would be the biggest payday in the Club's history. Let's do it.