Evening Times columnists Derek Johnstone and Davie Hay join Thomas Jordan in our studio to look ahead to the new SPL season.

By Davie Hay

I don't think this season will be too different from the last campaign, in that I would imagine things will go right to the wire.

I believe the Championship will be a close run thing, and I also believe that the relegation issues at the other end of the table will be just as fraught as they were a few months ago. Predictions SPL Champions: Celtic Relegated: Falkirk Promoted: Dundee Scottish Cup: Celtic League Cup: Dundee United

Of course, the title will come down to Celtic and Rangers and my tip for this season, as it was last, is Celtic.

The clubs have essentially the same players but to me, two things will influence this season and where the title goes: how Celtic's new players bed in and whether or not Rangers take a lot of confidence from their Championship victory last season.

While the Ibrox side have not made any signings yet, they are able to bring back Kevin Thomson and I agreed with Walter Smith when he said that was like a new signing. I thought the lad was very influential until he suffered the injury last November and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the injury.

Celtic, meanwhile, start the season with a trip to Pittodrie and if we are being honest I think it is a game Aberdeen will be more worried about than Tony Mowbray's team.

The Parkhead side actually have a decent record up there and I do wonder about the effect the European hammering against Sigma Olomouc will have had on Mark McGhee's side, given just how emphatic a defeat it was.

There is usually a surprise third force and this season I reckon that will be between Hearts, Dundee United and Hibs. It will be interesting to see how the new managers get on at their clubs. John Hughes is a guy that inspires a lot of passion and I am sure that his Easter Road players will respond to his promptings.

What I do fear this season, though, is the impact that off-field matters will have on the campaign.

The adverse effects suffered by the collapse of Setanta is already evident this summer.

There have been precious few signings made by clubs and the financial situation is very difficult.

I just wonder what that will do when it comes to maintaining a standard and a consistency in the SPL, because teams have suffered not just in terms of quality, but also in terms of quantity with squad numbers cut right down.

Despite the uncertainty, you do always tend to think that you can pick the top six and the bottom six in the SPL before the campaign starts and I expect this year to be no different in that regard.

It is harder, of course, to predict what order they will finish in. St Johnstone are the new boys this term and they are the ones that always come under the spotlight as the team to go straight back down again.

But in recent seasons both St Mirren and Hamilton Accies have come up and stayed up and I don't think it is a formality that St Johnstone will go back down again.

It will be tight at the bottom and essentially this is a league where there are many teams who are on a par with one another.

I definitely think that Celtic's aspirations for the title will come down to how the new lads settle in. Danny Fox hasn't been signed to play left-midfield. He will take over from Lee Naylor at left-back.

Naylor actually had an excellent six months when he first arrived at Celtic but he just couldn't keep that consistency going. Fox is next up to have a crack at what has been a real problem position for the club.

Landry N'Guemo is a guy that I have liked the look of. I don't think he is a frilly or fancy player but he is tenacious and I reckon he should do well in the SPL.

He is strong and it will be interesting to see what kind of balance the midfield would have with N'Guemo and Scott Brown at the heart of it.

Marc-Antoine Fortune is a player we have been told isn't going to be a 20-goal-a-season striker, but he will find that in Scotland the scrutiny on Old Firm strikers is immense and he will have to be strong mentally to deal with it.

He looks like a guy who can lead the line and hold the ball up and he and Scott McDonald is the partnership that I think will start the season.

As for Mowbray himself, I am looking forward to the kind of football that he wants Celtic to play.

He will not need to be told, however, that it doesn't matter what is going on so long as the team are winning. But a bit of flair and creativity would be nice to see.

All in all, there is little to choose from when it comes to separating Celtic and Rangers. The Old Firm games are always massive but last season, Celtic's away form cost them dearly and consistency has to be the main aim this term.