Let's pray for a replica of the 1989-1990 season

[reds123]

The last time we were English Champions. Statistics and (memories) show that altough we won the league by 9 points, the race was far from over by March/April unlike the 1987-88 season. Those of you over 30 can remember.

1989-90
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool 38 23 10 5 78 37 41 79
2 Aston Villa 38 21 7 10 57 38 19 70
3 Tottenham Hots 38 19 6 13 59 47 12 63
4 Arsenal 38 18 8 12 54 38 16 62
5 Chelsea 38 16 12 10 58 50 8 60
6 Everton 38 17 8 13 57 46 11 59
7 Southampton 38 15 10 13 71 63 8 55
8 Wimbledon 38 13 16 9 47 40 7 55
9 Nottingham Forest 38 15 9 14 55 47 8 54
10 Norwich City 38 13 14 11 44 42 2 53
11 Queens Park Rangers 38 13 11 14 45 44 1 50
12 Coventry City 38 14 7 17 39 59 -20 49
13 Manchester United 38 13 9 16 46 47 -1 48
14 Manchester City 38 12 12 14 43 52 -9 48
15 Crystal Palace 38 13 9 16 42 66 -24 48
16 Derby County 38 13 7 18 43 40 3 46
17 Luton Town 38 10 13 15 43 57 -14 43
18 Sheffield Wednesday 38 11 10 17 35 51 -16 43
19 Charlton Athletic 38 7 9 22 31 57 -26 30
20 Millwall 38 5 11 22 39 65 -26 26




That team was older than this one but had far more experience. Also we had Barnes, Beardsley, Rush, Whelan, Houghton.. all of them had an eye for a goal much more than the current first 11.

Unluckily I remember the 1996-97 season when up to mid January we were first. We used to drop points at home and I remember Barnes saying: we are still first, don' t worry...!!!

Hopefully this season will resemble that of 1989-1990 for us. We have already dropped 6 points stupidly at home. Something like this was not accepted at Anfield during the 80's though we used to lose at Luton. Also we had a much more attacking minded approach to football and perhaps better players!

Cross fingers in May they will give us something to cheer about!!!

[Craig_H]

I think things are much different now though mate, i very much doubt we're likely to see a side win the league with anywhere near 79 points anytime soon.

Mid 80s, at the very least, will be required i think.

[The Glove]

Losing 5 games as well. Youre only getting away with that if you draw about 2/3 games as well.

[Craig_H]

That's actually quite incredible to see, when you look at it from the point of view of today's title winning tallies. 5 losses and 10 draws, meaning only 60% of games were won. I think that'd get you 4th place nowadays, maybe 3rd at best.

[reds123]

Yes, I only wish we can win the league at least having a little edge but I cannot see us winning by 9 points!!!!

[The Glove]

Thing is the league can be won by 9 points real easy, youve only got to be in the chase up to about 35 games, then once youve missed out, field ****e teams and the team at the top can keep winning.

[dww]

I think Luton will struggle to replicate their 43 points this year.

[The Glove]

Man United on 48 will do tho.

[The Glove]

And it looks about right for Everton.

[zimbo]

By this point in the season, we'd already lost 4 games in 1989. My team of crack researchers also tell me that the season's results included home draws against Norwich, Luton and Forest, as well as a 1-0 home defeat against Coventry (attendances for all these matches being around the 36,000 mark).

Given the standard of opposition, you could get away with those sort of results then. Our nearest challengers were Villa who were little better than average as I remember, relying almost exclusively on Platt's goals. That they were still in the race for so long was more of a testament to our own shortcomings - we failed to impress in many games and made heavy weather of winning matches we'd have been expected to coast. There was a heavy reliance on Barnes that season (moreso than in 87/88, where he received greater support from all over the pitch), and a clearly ageing team yet there was a distinct lack of opportunities for young players. The indications were there that rebuilding would soon be needed, something Kenny was probably aware of but seemed unable (or unwilling) to address. If I'm honest, it was probably the least memorable of all the title wins since Shankly's revolution began.

It was a massive anti-climax when we won it. Both players and supporters seemed fairly blase, and it was more a case of the natural order of things being restored. If we'd known it'd be another 20-odd years before we even challenged for the title again, I think we may have chosen to enjoy it a little bit more.