When we were in our pomp; when we were flying high in Europe, there was one secret to our success.
We just got the basics right.
It is one of those sentences that can elicit an immediate yawn, I realise.
It is not exciting, it is not glamorous, it is not even particularly groundbreaking.
But it was the foundation for our success under Brian Clough.
And, when we were beating teams like Liverpool, that was what people like Roy Evans would always say about us.
Try as they might, Liverpool could not pull us out of position, they could not break our organisation - they could not find gaps to exploit.
Because we did the basics.
We worked hard; we toiled for each other. We did things as a team. We closed down, we kept our discipline. We did the hard, unglamorous things.
That gave us the platform on which we built everything else.
If you have 11 players who embrace that attitude and are willing to work, you always have a chance of success. If you have two or three in the team who do not, you have no chance.
It was a thought that came to mind as I watched Liverpool achieve what many believed to be the impossible, against Barcelona.
Nobody expected them to have a chance; the consensus of opinion was that they were already out, as they looked to overcome a 3-0 deficit from the first leg.
But do you know what? They got the basics right.
They did not beat Barca by being individually brilliant. They beat them as a team.
Jurgen Klopp is far more than just a motivator. He is a great manager.
But the one thing he has done is to get Liverpool playing as a team - and working so very, very hard.
It was their work rate and desire that broke Barca’s spirit. They were poor. But it was because they had no answer to it, as Liverpool closed down, got in their faces and harried.
Good teams are great off the ball as well as on it. And Liverpool were fantastic in their work off the ball. Fantastic.
It was what made us so strong all those years ago. And it has made Liverpool a force to be reckoned with now.
It might not be enough to win them the Premier League title, even if it is utterly incredible that they could get 97 points and still finish second.
The failure to beat teams like Bolton was Nottingham Forest's problem this season
But it could bring them success in Europe, against the odds, after they had been written off following that first leg defeat in Spain.
Never underestimate the value of getting the basics right.
