Rangers 'different animal' verdict as rival boss gushes over van Bronckhorst uplift and predicts titanic title tussle

David Martindale reckons Rangers will be a “different animal” this season as the Livingston boss looks to scupper their hopes of getting their Scottish Premiership campaign off to a winning start on Saturday.

The Lions gaffer believe Giovanni van Bronckhorst has improved the Light Blues despite surrendering their league crown after finishing four points behind rivals Celtic last season. But the Dutchman did lead Rangers to the Europa League Final and Scottish Cup glory after replacing Steven Gerrard midway through the campaign.

Rangers have sold Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey for big money and Ridvan Yilmaz will become the seventh summer arrival with Martindale personally checking out the new-look Light Blues in their 3-1 pre-season friendly win over West Ham United last midweek. Martindale said they were “phenomenal” in that match and expects the visitors to be pumped-up on Saturday lunchtime when the Sky Sports cameras roll into west Lothian for the 2022/23 opener with the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Union Saint-Gilloise coming just a few days later.

The Livingston boss said: “I was at the Rangers game on Tuesday night and they were phenomenal, honestly. I think it’s going to be a cracking title race this year. Rangers as a club have kicked on massively.

“Since Gio has come in, he has made them better and they have kicked on, brought a lot of revenue into the club, commercially and from player sales, and I think they have used that very, very wisely. So we are going to be facing a different animal this time round.

“They have a Champions League qualifier on the Tuesday so everyone that sets foot on the park on the Saturday is going to be vying for a place in a huge, huge game for Rangers.