Gordon Smith reckons Rangers can reclaim the title in just one season — and insists Hoops heroes Ange Postecoglou and Henrik Larsson are proof it can be done. The Ibrox side are staring up at a 17-point gap in the title race and go into Sunday’s derby with nothing to play for. Celtic , meanwhile, are chasing back-to-back Trebles under Brendan Rodgers . But Smith, a former Rangers striker and director of football, believes all is not lost – and points to past examples where the pendulum swung fast in Glasgow’s fierce rivalry. The latest came after Rangers stormed to a 25-point title success over Steven Gerrard in 2020/21. Smith’s old club were in prime position to kick on, but Postecoglou halted them in their tracks and did so by building almost an entire new team in one season. It was as stunning a Celtic revival as it was immediate and, asked if his old club could possibly replicate what happened across Glasgow under the brilliant Aussie, he said: “Yes, it’s doable. No doubt about it. “It’s just about getting the right players in, even with a certain group of players as well. Steve Clarke gets credit for it at Kilmarnock when he came in. Kilmarnock had eight games and three points and he got them into Europe because he turned around the players he actually had. “So a certain manager can improve certain players. It’s also about the right recruitment. “When I was in at Rangers and had that short spell and some of the people said to me: ‘Gordon, you are always talking about not spending money, but you don’t get the right players unless you spend a lot of money’. “I remember the point I made to them was: ‘Alright, Tore Andre Flo cost Rangers was £12million – how much was Larsson then?’ “Some said, ‘aye okay, there are going to be exceptions’ but I said: ‘That’s your job. Your job is to find the exceptions’. “Your job is to find people who may not be the most expensive player in the world, but you can see from watching them this player could come here and make a difference. “Larsson was a great example of that. He was about £650,000. You are not going to get a player better than him at that kind of money anywhere, anytime, but it was just a question of seeing it. It’s about people watching players and saying: ‘This guy can play at a higher level.’” It’s also about identifying the correct characters as Smith added: “A lot of the clubs these days go down the route of stats. I’m a believer in stats to a degree, but I also have a belief it’s about looking at players, seeing players, understanding them. For clubs like Rangers and Celtic, you need to have players who have the mentality to cope as well. “I remember when Jock Wallace when he signed me. He said to me: You need two things to play for this club, son. Ability and character. “What he was meaning is that it is not the easiest thing to play for Rangers every week. If you have two defeats at Rangers, it is a crisis. “So you need to have players who can deal with that and that has a lot to do with the actual due diligence when you’re signing a player. “You have to make sure they have not only have the ability, but also know they can handle it and I have always had an opinion that stats don’t always tell you that.” And Smith believes there are players within the current group who could be part of future success. He said: “Some of them would be better with different players around them. “They need to address three areas. They need a very strong centre-back who can play alongside John Souttar. Leon Balogun, unfortunately, is getting to the wrong age of his career, but someone like him, a strong centre-back. They need a strong, controlling-type of midfielder. Someone like Barry Ferguson would be ideal – and a striker who is more reliable. “The ones they have got do get goals at times, but they are not reliable in that respect. “The spine of the team has to be strengthened, no doubt about it. “You have to get the right players in so you can say here is the system we are going to play, here’s the type of player who is going to suit that system. “That is down to the new manager or whoever gets the job because, if it is Barry who gets the job and he is left in there, he is the one who has to decide on the type of player he is going to need for the route forward. “If he is not getting the job, it’s down to who the new investors are going to get in because that person then has to decide and also to be looking very closely at footage of the current team to decide himself who are capable. “At the moment, you are maybe looking at Nicolas Raskin as one of the few. Souttar. I like Hamza Igamane, I think he’s good and I wouldn’t totally rule Cyriel Dessers out either because he does have 24 goals this season which is not bad for any player. “He does miss a lot of chances, but there are a lot of strikers who miss chances.” Smith was speaking at Kris Boyd’s annual charity golf day at Trump Turnberry. Boyd has been raising awareness and funds for mental health since 2017. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On , every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.