With the new Scottish Premiership season now just a few weeks away, Rangers continue to work hard in pre-season in order to ensure they start their league campaign in a better fashion than their European one.

This summer has felt a little stop-start at Ibrox with competitive action starting in June before taking a six week break in which they've had to arrange bounce games with the likes of St Johnstone in order to maintain their fitness. None of it has been ideal and it wasn't the fresh start manager Pedro Caixinha was hoping for after the struggles in the tail-end of last term.

Still, there is a chance to put Europe behind them and now focus solely on trying to bridge the wide gulf that's now separating them from Celtic. It's the one thing supporters want, to provide some kind of competition next season whether it be in the league or in cups.

To begin that process we think Caixinha needs to make a bold leadership decision. We think it's time for him to change the captaincy at Ibrox from Lee Wallace to Bruno Alves.

Here are THREE reasons why...

Lee Wallace could focus on finding his best form

Lee Wallace was once one of the best and most consistent full-backs in Scottish football, winning plaudits for his fearless defending and ability to get forward with the ball to support the Rangers attack.

Last season in particular though he found the going pretty tough and lost the form and consistency that once made him a stand-out in a Rangers shirt.

On his day he is still a great choice and liberating him of having the added responsibility of captaining the side would allow him to focus on his own game and improve on a personal level.

It's not easy being a captain, especially when things aren't going great and you're considered part of the problem. Wallace is experienced and mature enough to not take being stripped of the captaincy personally and focus on the best areas of his game, rather than trying to prove himself as a leader too.

Alves has more elite experience than anyone in Scottish football

Nobody else in Scottish football has a CV quite like Bruno Alves. He's played in Portugal, Greece, Russia and Italy, all for top-flight teams, winning trophies with most of them.

At Porto he won nine major honours, at Zenit St Petersburg he won three and with Fenerbahce he won two. It's a fantastic record in three strong footballing nations and points to a player who can lead Rangers into a new era, even in the short-term for just a season or two.

When you consider he also won the European Championships with his native Portugal, an international duty that stretches 93 caps, it's clear that he has the kind of experience that everyone at Rangers can learn from.

He's Pedro Caixinha's man, his first signing at the club and someone who the Portuguese manager obviously trusts. Lee Wallace has dedicated his career to Rangers through difficult times and fans will likely never forget that, however it's time for a born winner to take charge on the pitch.

The current set-up isn't working

The result against Progres Niederkorn in the UEFA Europa League demonstrated that Rangers are still a team that will stumble from calamity to calamity without making any progress unless serious changes are made.

Lee Wallace was as poor that night as any player in a Rangers shirt and certainly didn't seem to inspire any sort of a captain's influence on his teammates.

Pedro Caixinha hasn't had the chance to field many of his signings yet, including Bruno Alves, and no-one really knows what his starting eleven will look like when they face Motherwell in their league opener early next month.

It's the perfect opportunity to introduce some new leadership and provide everyone with a fresh start despite the blip against the Luxembourg side.