THE cup match between Hibs and Rangers at Ibrox this week highlighted what many people had suspected for a while.

That is that Rangers will not have things all their own way in the SPFL Championship this season.

That was not the case when they were in the bottom two divisions. But it is highly unlikely they will cruise to the title by a massive winning margin once again.

I think the Ibrox club have to find different ways of winning if they want to secure a place in the top flight this season. At times last season - and I am sure everybody associated with Rangers will accept this - they were a little bit predictable.

They often relied on their superior fitness to wear down opposing teams in League One. So many of their victories were secured in the second half last season.

The fact they were playing part-time rivals helped their cause. But this season they will be up against full-time clubs with a lot more know-how. Rangers are going to have to be far more versatile and far less obvious than they have been in the past if they are to prevail comfortably.

I noticed that Ally played with a back three in a 3-5-2 formation the other evening. Doing things like that, switching styles, is exactly what they will need to do.

Rangers should also not just rely on Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace to be the star men every week. Everyone in the team must contribute. Certainly, Nicky Law, who scored the winner in midweek, needs to up his game.

He started brightly last season and then tailed off dramatically. He and many of his team-mates need to stand up and be counted in the months ahead or their opponents will take advantage of them.

We will find out pretty quickly how Rangers are going to cope with the step up as they have some tough games straight away.

They take on Hearts at Ibrox in their first league game tomorrow. I will be commentating on the Rangers game against Falkirk on Friday for BT Sport and will be very interested to see how they fare.

In Scottish football, we are always looking for something a bit different, something not quite the norm. It is safe to say that we have it this season with the race for the Championship.

Some people are even ­suggesting it is going to have more quality than the Premiership. That is certainly not the case. But I do think that for excitement you will not go far wrong in the second tier.

Most football fans have homed in on the fact that Hearts, Hibs and Rangers, for so many years rivals in the top flight, will be contesting the division.

The general feeling is that two of the three will take the title and the play-off place.

BUT I interviewed Robbie Neilson at Hearts and Alan Stubbs at Hibs through in Edinburgh this week and one thing struck me about both of them.

They are both convinced that the other teams in the Championship will be no pushovers.

It will, of course, be ­important who comes out on top when Rangers play Hearts, when Rangers play Hibs and when the Edinburgh derby is played. But both Alan and Robbie felt the other teams have to be looked at and treated with respect. And they have a point.

Falkirk gave Rangers a good game in the Scottish Cup last season and are a decent club. Raith Rovers beat Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup final. Going down to Dumfries to play Queen of the South will not be straightforward for anyone - as Rangers discovered last season.

The other clubs in the division will have their profiles raised by the games against Hearts, Hibs and Rangers and I am sure they will rise to the occasion accordingly.

Robbie and Alan are two totally different characters. Robbbie, who is head coach at Hearts, is quietly confident.

He will be working under Craig Levein and I think that relationship will work. Having a director of football can be a success. The problems start when the club chairman brings one in randomly and forces him onto the manager. Both men have to be singing off the same hymn sheet.

I think that is the case at the Tynecastle club. They have a sustainable model that will work for the club in the long-term.

Alan, meanwhile, is an ebullient character who has overcome a great deal in his life and is a great role model.

I was struck by the upbeat atmosphere in the Hibs training ground when I was there and he said his first job had been to improve the mood.

The capital club had an encouraging start under Stubbs against Rangers and that could be a taste of things to come from them.

At the World Cup in the summer Everton manager Roberto Martinez told me he would have liked Alan to stay at Goodison Park.

He knew he would want to move on to management and feels this is a good opportunity for him. Rangers will have to be at their best to overcome Hibs, and the other clubs in the division, to win the Championship.