The summer is coming along quite nicely at Rangers so far. After putting a grossly inadequate season behind them, everyone at the club is pulling together and moving forward with the business ahead.

Their first competitive match of the season is not far away, due to play Progres Niederkorn next Thursday in Europa League Qualifying and it'll be supporters' first chance to see whether Pedro Caixinha is going to start putting things right at the club over the next 12 months.

There are key objectives next season. In the Scottish Premiership it will be all about overhauling Aberdeen at least and taking Celtic as far as they can in the title race, although even the most optimistic Gers fans would admit their chances of a title are slim. In the domestic cups then a final placing isn't too much to ask for and that'll give them a great chance of picking up some silverware. In Europe it's all about getting acclimatised to continental football again and given the standard of opponents they can face in the 3rd Qualifying Round and the Play-Offs, a group stage place is more of a hope than an ambition.

The signs so far is that Rangers could in fact achieve most of the objectives ahead next season and that's reason enough for fans to be excitement but there are THREE more key reasons why that excitement is fully justified...

Pedro Caixinha is backing up his words

Pedro Caixinha isn't messing about. He promised to change things at Ibrox and everything points to him doing exactly that.

Having gotten of Joe Garner, Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos, you'd expect them to be the first of many to leave club. The signings coming in have been numerous too with six players already added to the first time squad, five permanently. With the likes of Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Pena also joining training and the European squad list but waiting for work permits before being officially unveiled, that makes eight so far.

That's not unsubstantial business and it's clear that Rangers chiefs are fully backing the man they picked to bring the club forward in the transfer market.

Caixinha has utilised his contacts in Portugal and Mexico well to bring in former players and footballing legends like Bruno Alves, who has won more in the game than almost anyone in Scotland.

Nobody really knew what a Caixinha team would look like when he came in and talked about tactics and evaluating the squad in his unique press conferences but it certainly appears he is not just a man of words but a man of action. Now fans are eager to see if that translates onto the pitch.

The fans have a new avenue of investment

Most football fans take the opportunity to buy football strips in support of their team for granted but at Rangers over the last couple of years that's been a very complicated thing.

Mike Ashley and Sports Direct owned the rights to Rangers' merchandise and so any money spent on strips and the like was not going to the club, meaning they could not tap into the Light Blues' massive support for a key revenue stream.

That all changed this week when Dave King announced a new deal that would allow Rangers to receive a far bigger cut of replica strips sold to supporters and with many having boycotted the buying of said kits, they've been out in their droves investing back into the club with sales.

It's unlikely to be the kind of money that puts them back on a par with Celtic but it could be the difference between signing a player or two of quality and not and is a massive positive.

For fans, it's also a sign that the club are moving in the right direction off the pitch after years of worry.

Pedro Caixinha was right about Aberdeen

Britain Football Soccer - Aberdeen v Celtic - Scottish Cup Final - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland - 27/5/17 Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes   Action Images via Reuters / Jason Cairnduff Livepic

Pedro Caixinha drew a lot of criticism towards the end of last season when he said Aberdeen were coming to the end of their 'cycle', suggesting that they may have reached their peak.

As time has passed since those comments, it seems that he was fully justified in that stance considering Rangers have signed their captain Ryan Jack on a free transfer, Celtic signed their best player in Jonny Hayes, consistent defenders like Ash Taylor have left the club and key talent like Niall McGinn also said goodbye to Pittodrie.

Derek McInnes may have rejected the chance to join Sunderland but it's clear he has a summer of rebuilding on his hands up North and the squad that enjoyed consistent second places behind Celtic is now very different indeed.

That gives Pedro Caixinha and Rangers a massive opportunity to overhaul them next season and that'll be the first step towards bringing themselves closer to Celtic.