Premier League – the top level. The
10 teams in it met 4 times against each other, so the season was
still longer than most European championships: 36 rounds. The last
team were relegated, as usual. Not much real fighting at both ends of
the table – one outsider and one dominant leader. Familiar leader,
whose arch-enemy was quite weak at the moment.
Dundee was the outsider – they
finished with 24 points and went down to second level. Again.
St. Mirren - 9
th with 30
points.
Dunfermline Athletic - 8th
with 30 points.Hibernian - 7
th with 34
points.
Motherwell - 6
th with 34
points.
Celtic - 5
th with 34 points.
Very weak at the moment: they won only 10 games this season – only
Dunfermline and Dundee won fewer matches than them.
Dundee United - 4
th with 35
points. Not as strong as they used to be in the first half of the
1980s, but managed to finish above Celtic and get the last UEFA Cup
spot – Celtic was not going to play in Europe.
Heart of Midlothian – much stronger
than Dundee United and the rest and entangled in battle for second
place, but nothing more. Ended with 44 points, losing the battle on
worse goal-difference and thus collecting bronze medals. Not bad at
all, especially by securing early a UEFA Cup spot.
Dramatic and successful season for
Aberdeen, but not a title contenders. Clinched 2
nd place
on better goal-difference, for they finished, like Hearts, with 44
points.
Glasgow Rangers had no rival – and
not only this season. Strong period and one can praise Graeme Souness
– no longer playing, but acting only as manager – for his
ambitious selection, aiming not only to dominate Scotland, but to
succeed in Europe too. Critics grumbled, though: success was based on
money – spend a lot to get top-class players and you will win, but
was it a real winning? And this plan was rapidly draining Rangers'
coffers – to try reaching the company of, say, Real Madrid and the
top Italian clubs, one must have their kind of money – Rangers
spent like the wealthiest clubs, but was not similarly wealthy (or
existing in environment where huge debts will be written off by
banks and revenue agency). Critics were quite right: Souness plan was
based on hopes of European success – without it, collapse was
almost certain. To avoid collapse, Souness must spend more to prolong
the hope of success, increasing the risk of collapse. And Souness
would gamble more and more – not just buying English players, but
making even more risky moves, breaking long established religious
lines in the Scottish Protestant-Catholic divide. So, he had Chris
Woods, Terry Butcher, Trevor Steven, Ally McCoist, Mo Johnston,
but... selling old Ray Wilkins (to QPR) was not equal to buying
Wilkins precisely because of his age – such players were expensive
to get, but much cheaply sold. That was the big picture – the
smaller and immediate one was new triumph.
Glasgow Rangers won its 40
th
title. Something big to celebrate, surely.
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