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 – 9th with 30 points.
Dunfermline Athletic – 8th with 30 points.
Hibernian – 7th with 34 points.
Motherwell – 6th with 34 points.
Celtic – 5th 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 – 4th 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 2nd 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 40th title. Something big to celebrate, surely.
A Football Blog