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The wee man, Strachan, did well last season after what could only be called a nightmare start to the season. Having lost the plot completely by throwing away a three goal lead in the opening match and needing to be rescued by a last minute equaliser, followed by an embarassing 5-0 hammering by lowly Artmedia Bratislava, the gaffer faced early calls for his head. But will all around him losing theirs, Strachan steadied the ship and thanks in large part to the steady flow of goals from John Hartson established a strangle hold on the league. The Scottish Leauge Cup was the well deserved icing on the cake for Strachan in his impressive first season. They’ll need to add to their squad this year and hope that Kenny Miller can bang enough in goals to earn his keep. Keep an eye out for former Chelsea and Birmingham midfielder Jiri Jarošík pulling the strings in midfield, he be worth a few quid on him at about 8/1 to be first goalscorer.

Conversely, Rangers imploded last season. Their terrible form leading them to a rare trophyless season and a lot of work needed to make up the ground on their bitter rivals. Luckily for them, they’ve found a manager with the potential to achieve such a task in three time French Championship winning manager (with Lyon), Paul LaGuen. LaGuen is famed for unearthing diamonds in the rough, much like his compatriot Arsene Wenger, and has already poach a number of talented young players from his home league. After only managing an anemic third place in the league there can be little doubt that the blue end of Glasgow will be looking to throw down the gauntlet with a strong start to the season.

Hearts, after their magnificant run in last season may have other things on their mind this year, their squad is surely going to struggle in the Champions League have not managed to sign any new players in the close season. While their fans will be hoping to go one better than last year, here at Canny Punter, we can’t see them being able to beat either of the Old Firm this year. So while there’s little value in the market we’re predicting a Rangers win, followed closely by Celtic, with Hearts a distant third. Just don’t put your house on it!

A better value punt we feel (being somewhat conservative still) is for the top three from last year to get off to a winning start this year, which one should be able to get for 3/2 at your favourite bookies. *