Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 13 report. Last season saw my sides best campaign yet as we lifted the Premier League title, Carling Cup and the Champions League, not to mention I wore a suit for the biggest final in club football :) But now is the time for change, from this season on its all about finances and youth. I aim to bring through 16-17 year old youngsters that can replace the older players as they leave for a profit…basically I am repeating my Y2G system from last year. :) So buckle up for a long ride as today’s post is jam packed!!
We’ll start today’s post as we do the rest with expectations and media odds. This season saw my board demand the EPL title for the first time, and my initial transfer budget started at £17 million but after selling a boat load of talent it was increased to £74 million. That should give you an idea of whats coming up. :) As for the media, well they had me as second favorites for the title again.
OK now its time for transfers and we’ll begin with players joining Scarborough today. The majority of which were youngsters under 18 years of age. These kids won’t see much game time but have a bright future. I did however make two impact signings, the first was on a free transfer and very explosive for the left wing, Fathi is probably my bargain of the season. But there was an even bigger transfer, I call it the return of the king! That’s right, Jonathan Southern has returned to Scarborough. I broke my Y2G system rules here but it was well worth it, the Scarborough icon had a minimum fee release clause of £17 million.
From now on you should see me make a sizable profit in the transfer market and this season is no exception. By offloading mega stars like Carlos, Matampi and Finke among others I raised £98 million.
But one of my favorite market moves was the signing of Lionel Messi, sure his stats aren’t great now but he must be able to develop into a mega coach, and if not I just love seeing his name as part of my backroom staff.
During the last post I mentioned wanting to lower the wage budget and most of my transfer activity was done with that in mind. We had too many key players on too bigger a wage…
But after my transfer activity the weekly wage bill dropped from £1,392,345 to £1,229,804. That is a saving of over £160,000 a week which will equal almost £7,700,000 a year. I wanted more of a saving but this may take some time to be honest. I think the key so far has been dropping my key players from 12 to 8.
Euro Super Cup and Club World Cup results
We’ll kick-off my results part of season 13 with two smaller competitions. The first, our Euro Super Cup final, was against French side Marseille. We played fairly well and while OM put up a good fight Southern’s first game back was a cracker as Scarborough left 3-2 victors.
The Club World Cup is a weird competition, while the opponents don’t usually seem worthy, you always want to win just for the sake of being crowned champions of the world. Our semi-final was certainly the perfect start to that goal as we thrashed Monterrey 3-0. We then played Brazilian champions Fluminense in the final and while the scoreline read 2-1 to the Seadogs, Fluminense never seemed to have a chance. Ow and I haven’t shown it but we also won the Community Shield beating Liverpool 3-1.
Premier League results — first half of season
There’s a lot to get through today so I won’t write much about the domestic challenge and instead let the screenshots do all the talking. My start to the EPL campaign was simply brilliant as we won 11 games, drew just one and lost the one too. Some of the scorelines were just outrageous and it seems that promoting from within and losing a few of the bigger egos has had a positive effect.
It certainly had a positive effect on my league standings as Scarborough are top of the table, 2 points clear of second with a game in hand.
There wasn’t much transfer action to talk about, I just invested in more youth spending £7.8 million.
Premier League results — second half of season
After enjoying a fantastic start to the season my boys carried the form forward winning 8 and drawing two of our next 10 games. We then had a minor slip through the next 7 matches winning just 3, drawing twice and losing twice. This form wasn’t helped by a poor run of injuries to my key stars.
Despite losing my three most dangerous CM’s and by far my best winger, the backup players came through fine. They helped Scarborough through the last 8 games, all of which ended in victory.
An excellent end to the season meant that any title challenge would require some miraculous form from my rivals. While Chelsea made a valiant effort they still fell 7 points short of us in second. Meaning the Seadogs have lifted their third consecutive EPL title.
Carling Cup results
So far so good, my boys have won every trophy we are in for and still have another three to get through. We’ll begin the trio with my Carling Cup run as Scarborough bulldozed through the tournament beating Burnley 6-0, Millwall 4-2, West Ham 4-1 and then Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-final. One more side stood between me and another Carling Cup victory as Tottenham await the mighty Seadogs at Wembley.
Carling Cup final vs Tottenham
Venue: Wembley
Attendance: 90,000
Starting formations:
My first proper final of the season and I must admit this wasn’t expected after the summer clear out. But looking through the lineups it is Scarborough that hold the better XI, we are far stronger in midfield and upfront, the only area Spurs may be better is in defense. Needless to say I was expecting victory here and a decent scoreline to boot, but finals never go as planned…..
Match stats:
A real bore draw, Spurs seemed to have everyone behind the ball and would only commit forward on the counter. This showed in Scarborough’s 58% possession and 20 shots, but we were restricted to long range efforts and couldn’t manufacture any magic so onto penalties we go!!
The penalty shootout:
I must admit after enduring the negative approach that Tottenham had enforced, I feared the worst for penalties. It just felt like they were winning the tactical battle even though my boys played far better…but thankfully that wasn’t the case as we thrashed the London club 4-1 on penalties.
FA Cup results
Just two more competitions to go and we’re still on for a clean sweep. The Fa Cup is what I secretly crave this season, mainly because its the only trophy I am yet to lift. But all looked good from the start as we beat Brighton 6-0, then Man City away 2-0, Southampton followed losing 4-1, then we beat Exeter 4-0 and West Ham 4-2 to reach the final. My arch rivals, Arsenal await, the same side that were lucky to beat us back in 2018.
FA Cup final vs Arsenal
Venue: Wembley
Attendance: 90,000
Starting formations:
Both sides are very evenly matched and Arsenal always seem to have an advantage over me in the match engine. Their side is full quality but so in mine and pre-match I honestly wasn’t sure which way this would go. I decided to stay strong and keep my attacking strategy. Rather than explain the match I’ll let you watch the highlights below, Scarborough are in red and Arsenal are in navy blue.
Match highlights: Click here to watch the FA Cup final highlights
**** Spoiler alert ****
**** Spoiler alert ****
**** Spoiler alert ****
**** Spoiler alert ****
Match stats:
Well despite having 58% possession and 25 shots to Arsenal’s 7 we still lost 2-0. We were very unlucky but every effort we had on goal seemed to be saved or skim the post, while Arsenal only had three efforts on target and two of them went in.
Champions League results
Well the clean sweep is over but we still have to see how Scarborough did a season on from winning the Champions League. One things for sure the group stage was much easier than last season. FC Bayern held us to a 0-0 draw away then we won our remaining 5 fixtures against the Germans at home, Sparta Prague and Panathinaikos.
The fantastic results meant Scarborough would qualify top, 5 points clear of Bayern who finished second. My favorite stat is the fact that we kept a clean sheet through all six group matches.
Onto the knockout stages and I wasn’t too thrilled with the 1st Knockout round draw, while Sporting Lisbon are a side I beat last year they are still a tough opponent compared to other preferred choices. This became very apparent as the Portuguese champions won the away leg 2-1, the home leg wasn’t comfortable either as my boys came from a goal down to win 3-1. As if that uncomfortable experience wasn’t enough I drew Barcelona in the quarter-final. After drawing the first leg 0-0 at home, I held little hope for the away leg and decided to tell my boys ‘there’s no pressure as no one expects us to win’. This actually worked and a fabulous effort from Fabricio was enough to see us qualify 1-0 on aggregate. The semi-final drew us against another Spanish giant in Real Madrid, boy I wasn’t having much luck this year. However, the stress of the previous rounds had passed and my boys secured a 3-0 victory at home before drawing the second leg 1-1…I was surprised by our ease of qualification but not so happy with the final opponents…Manchester City.
Champions League final vs Manchester City
Venue: Luzhniki, Moscow
Attendance: 89,318
Starting formations:
OK I’ll be the first to say that my side is insanely talented but Man City are even better. They have my old star striker Matampi and he isn’t even their best player. You’ll notice their formation above looks very aggressive going forward, now some gamers may be tempted to sit behind the ball and then break when the opportunity arises, but I think the best way to combat them is Barcelona style. Chase the ball down in their own half and get it back before those front four can make an impact. With this in mind I kept my usual attacking strategy and begun the game….it certainly promised goals and…
Match stats:
….goals were the only thing we didn’t see! This was very similar to the other finals, I enjoyed 57% possession and fired off 33 shots compared to Man City’s 5. We completely dominated this game and needless to say Joe Hart would be named the man of the match. I even felt aggrieved as Mokoena and Huerga went off injured, both disruptions seemed to kill our foothold in the match late on. But we move onto my second penalty shootout of the season and while the players looked confident I watched from behind my hands.
The penalty shootout:
But my boys didn’t let me down, we converted all our efforts and due to City missing their first kick I didn’t even have to endure the last penalty. A truly brilliant achievement, to win the Champions League once with this club is incredible, but to do it again after offloading many stars and facing such illustrious opposition in simply awesome.
Before and just after the match I started to arrange my yearly upgrades to take place during pre-season. The junior coaching and youth recruitment are now up to a decent standard. While the boards £6.5 million investment in our youth and training facilities will make them close to the top clubs in England.
Squad stats and finances
After winning all competitions bar the FA Cup its tough to single out individuals for praise but a few spring to mind. For starters my entire back four including those rotational players, 6 of the top 8 rated players were defenders. Southern and Fabricio really did a job upfront too scoring 64 goals between them including 24 assists. Then there’s new signing Fathi who chipped in with 19 goals and 9 assists from the left wing, while Huerga managed 19 assists and 7 goals from the advanced playmaker role.
All was fantastic on the pitch and by far my best yet off it! This is the first season my chairmen hasn’t pumped money into the club since we got promoted from the Championship. And the bank balance is very healthy at £72.5 million, I put this down to an insane summer transfer window but if that’s what it takes to be self sufficient then that is what we’ll do every season. Obviously we don’t need to make such a huge profit every season but I may need to be making around £30-40 million from transfers to keep the club making money year on year.
Well that about does it for today, I hope you enjoyed the read and sorry for such a long post. Next season will see more of the same in terms of down sizing the quality and investing in the youth, so lets see if we can maintain the same level of performance. Until then please feel free to comment below and thanks for reading.
saltwater
22 апреля, 2012 at 11:38
Another fantasic season, those finals between Spurs, Arsenal and City were amazing to the fact you dominated all three but somehow failed to win them in normal time. The self suffiecent part was very good, and somehow you’ve managed to attain your grip on Europe despite your summer sales. Can I also just say that’s brilliant getting Lionel Messi in. Top Class! Good luck for next season, although you wont need it :D
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 11:46
Thanks mate, those finals were very weird but I think we started to run out of steam during the second half of the season and it showed during the big matches. I am looking to offload even more stars next season and basically keep doing the same until that wage bill is down.
Malhar Bhadbhade
22 апреля, 2012 at 11:44
hey darren,
dont know where to start on this one. must be amazing to have southern back, i can honestly say that he is by far the best english regen i have ever seen on any football manager. he is just insanely good!!! that free transfer was an amazing bargain too! well worth ignoring your Y2G policy for. and lionel messi! that really was a great capture for you. to think that messi would ever end up at scarborough athletic! just shows what an awesome job you’ve done. this was really a transition period for you in the true sense of the phrase, and yet not only did you win the premier league, you also won every other competition apart from the fa cup. just absolutely incredible! and looks like you’re making the club self-sufficient too. you certainly dont need the sugar-daddy owner :) congrats on your finances too. and dont apologise for the length of the post, i wish it would have been longer :D can’t wait for your next post and next season. good luck mate! cheers!
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 11:51
Thanks Malhar, despite offloading a few stars and making money I think we maintained the same standard and getting Messi was purely for the name, if I’d seen his stats alone I probably wouldn’t have bothered. :) I just want to keep improving the clubs finances and facilities…would be nice to make Scarborough the new Barcelona but that would take many years so we’ll see how I feel.
Kevin
22 апреля, 2012 at 12:23
Hi Darren
Veery inspired to bring Southern back into the Scarborough team and along with Fabricio the pair were just devastating up front throughout the season I was waiting to see a Chairman $$$$ screenshot but it never came which you duely mentioned. Great job with the finances considring the lack of input and well done on winning the CL especaily with a revamped squad.
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 12:35
Thanks Kevin, this season was a big one for us and I’m delighted we didn’t fall behind after selling off some important players. The finances are looking great but I was mainly pleased to see Southern back, bit of a fairytale for me there.
TheZiggy
22 апреля, 2012 at 12:38
Congratulation on an absolutely outstanding season, and just a shame that Arsenal somehow won the FA cup without deserving it. Strange that the Carling Cup and Champions League finals both went to penalties after goalless draws. Good things your lads seem to have no fear when it comes to penalties, but it’s never a nice way to decide a match. Good to see Southern return and bang in lots of goals.
Something I keep being told when I get the scout report back about teams like Man City, is that we should be focussing on Defensive Positioning. After having done that a couple of times and we lost, only creating a handful of chances, I decided to go with a focus on Attacking Movement, and made a huge difference, so I’m sure you’re right to go attacking. I’m sure though, that I’m starting to find teams that are focussing on defensive positioning, which is making for some dominant, but frustrating matches.
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 13:09
Thanks Ziggy, the FA Cup final was just one of those games and the other two finals felt like they were heading in the same direction I think we really overachieved considering the amount of key stars that left which is pleasing. I think you are in that transitional period within your game now, where teams have to respect you and go out to defend, that is annoying part of the game and while I have had it for a few years now its still tough to predict just what the best tactical approach is.
John
22 апреля, 2012 at 12:43
Hi, i am trying to do something similar to this save by taking Chester FC to the premiership. i am 5 seasons in and have been promoted 4 times. Now in league 1 i am making a loss monthly (around 20k). is there anyway to make money other than arranging friendlies as i can only arrange them with ‘smaller’ teams. Thanks
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 13:10
I’m sorry mate but there are no quick fixes with finances, you need to go far in the cup comps and then make money from selling players and by keeping that wage bill under control…its tough for sure.
Johnny Karp
22 апреля, 2012 at 12:56
Well, that was just fantastic! And that might be an understatement :)
Bringing Southern back is a great success, I always follow the youngsters that I’ve lost and try to bring them back but that rarely can happen.
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 13:12
Thanks Johnny, it was a dream to spot Southern’s release clause, my eyes lit up and we still had to overcome the challenge of Arsenal for his signature (the London club are still higher up in the reputation leader board bizarrely.)
Martin F.M.J.S
22 апреля, 2012 at 13:09
Another great season Darren. It was nice to see that you brought back Jonathan Southern even though it brakes your Y2G system. As for the League you dominated that again which is great. I find it hard to see the loss against Arsenal as you dominated the game but it must not have been your day and the other two finals going to penalties must have been exciting but frustrating. You are proving to be the best in the business at taking penalties. Well done Darren Good luck on next season. I can’t wait :D
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 14:13
Thanks Martin, it was a frustrating few finals but just delighted to win two and have Southern back where he belongs. :)
Dan
22 апреля, 2012 at 13:19
Hey Darren,
Another great season for Scarborough and it’s always nice to bring back an old player to the club especially when he’s as good as Southern. It made me laugh as well the fact that you’ve signed Messi as a coach, surely he must be brilliant at coaching technical and attacking!
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 14:31
Thanks Dan, it has been a great season for many reasons, but signing Messi was certainly a highlight. He’s surprisingly bad stats wise but I think he can improve that is what I’m hoping for.
Jack
22 апреля, 2012 at 14:27
Hey Darren,
Great story pal really enjoying it! I just don’t know how you manage to keep selling your star players every season and still win the big trophies. I just wondered are you still playing your arsenal tactic with less creative freedom? Keep the posts coming!
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 14:38
Thanks Jack, I am still using my Arsenal tactic with less creative freedom yes, it seems to have worked at every level so far.
Ahmed Shah
22 апреля, 2012 at 15:30
Hey mate, absolutely great stuff! I think anything that possibly could be said has been said so I wont repeat. But, listen, take Scarborough as far as you can, would love to see Scarborough Athletic reign over Europe for years and years! It really would be quite a sight. Keep going, man, dont stop!
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 16:06
Thanks Ahmed, I will certainly carry this story on and probably won’t stop until the game has no further interest to me.
vaibhavc
22 апреля, 2012 at 17:37
The King has developed so much its not even funny! It was great to see your old striker come back. Just imagine where he would be in life if you had not signed him. I don’t think he would have been as good as he is now. Great wins in the Prem and Champions League and Carling Cup. You had your luck on penalties this year, but you deserved it! I guess for the FA Cup, this year was not your year, but next year, I am sure you can definitely win it! Good luck Darren, hope you find some great talents in the transfer window as well!
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 17:50
Thanks Vaibhav, Southern has really developed beyond what I expected all those years ago and its great to have him back. The FA Cup seems to be cursed for me but hopefully we can break that curse soon.
Thomas Pimenta
22 апреля, 2012 at 18:24
Well done, really good season. Good to see Sporting are good in your game, in mine, when I don’t manage them they’re always weak. How have they done in the portuguese league? Great season, shame on the FA cup. I can see you’ll be rolling in money soon.
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 18:57
Thanks, unfortunately I do not have the Portuguese league loaded so don’t know how they have done in the league but they have a strong squad.
lee
22 апреля, 2012 at 19:07
well done m8 that fa cup final is the 1st ever final iv actually see u lose and iv ead many of ur posts so well done
Darren Smith
22 апреля, 2012 at 19:54
Thanks Lee, I must admit the FA Cup final was a bit of a shock but I’m hoping we can win that competition soon as its the only one that I haven’t lifted as yet.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
22 апреля, 2012 at 23:49
Oh yeah! Southern is back! And I knew that his stats becomes very good now! Wow didn’t see Messi there, but it’s good that you’ve dominate the English region there (except FA cup).
In any case, I’ll be interesting to see the next chapter of yours. Say, did Wayne Rooney becomes coach there or even manager?
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:27
Thanks Tegar, getting Messi was awesome and I also got the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Veron for my backroom staff, as for Rooney he is a youth coach at Arsenal.
Conor Donovan
23 апреля, 2012 at 01:10
What?! No suit this time? :P
Fantastic season Darren. That’s by far your most impressive season to date (I seem to think that every season though).
Good luck breaking your FA Cup jinx next season!
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:27
lol, no the suit is back in the closet now. I also think this season was my best, mainly because we still challenged while making money.
Mohammad Sadek
23 апреля, 2012 at 01:12
Fantastic season Darren , & I am very pleased with the two fellow Egyptian players they look great :)
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:29
Thanks mate, those two Egyptians are simply brilliant and to think they both joined for free, I’m looking to make a massive amount of cash from them.
Mohammad Sadek
24 апреля, 2012 at 02:44
How did you find them ? I mean they were playing in Egypt or in Europe ?
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2012 at 09:15
Both were playing in Europe and came up in searches for specific attributes, I also tend to look for players with their contracts running out in six months after December and they both came up in that list too.
Luke M
23 апреля, 2012 at 02:29
Another great season darren, well done mate.
Any chance of some more screenshots of your players attributes? I would love to see how they develop year to year.
Thanks and good luck for the next season, not that you need it.
Luke N
23 апреля, 2012 at 05:07
Impostor! :D
Good season Darren, keep up the good work.
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:30
@Luke M, thanks mate I’ll try and provide more player screenshots in the future.
@Luke N, lol looks like someone has stolen your identity ;) Thanks mate.
CsAtlantis
23 апреля, 2012 at 04:25
Despite selling off some of your key players (1 to Man City too!) you have done really well, only the FA Cup slipped away from your fingers Southern has been an inspired signing
Do you mind posting Siviero’s profile? He gets good ratings despite not contributing a lot in attack
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:36
Thanks mate, I was a little worried about offloading some of our best talent but happy the the players from within could rise to the challenge. Siviero is someone I signed for £250K back in 2016 when he was 17 I think. To think he has improved so much and is now worth more than £20 million is just crazy, he’s just a near perfect full back but like you say he doesn’t do as well going forward. Here’s his profile https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/imgs/2012/04/fm12-scarboro-s13-siviero.png
Lye
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:33
Too bad about the FA cup final Darren, guess you can’t do anything about it if your players can’t score. That’s still an impressive season wining the title, League Cup and the Champions League. Southern seems to be much better than he left. Awesome attributes and i am sure he will be a record scorer for you. Who is your record scorer by the way?
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 08:42
Thanks Lye, it was a weird season but getting Southern back was vital towards winning those trophies. Southern is actually our top goalscorer on 95 (that is league goals by the way.)
jaytee
23 апреля, 2012 at 14:47
can you create aguide to how you played the tactics saved game files shortlists and tactics
i would like to play sometime in the future
Darren Smith
23 апреля, 2012 at 17:05
Sorry I don’t understand exactly what you are asking, but if its a guide then I’m afraid I do not have enough time at the moment. If time allows then I will though.
Peter_G
24 апреля, 2012 at 16:08
Did you manged to take a screen shot of you club info, hounors and that?
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2012 at 17:32
Sorry mate I forgot, been moving house and a lot has slipped my mind…but I’ve actually just about finished the next season so will take the screenshots now and be sure to include them in the next post. Sorry again.
Peter_G
27 апреля, 2012 at 15:29
Haha no worries!
Sears
24 апреля, 2012 at 17:14
Everyone else has pretty much aid everything. Phenomenal season and congrats on all the trophies you won and of course for making the club sell-sufficient. Amazing job you’ve done and long may the success continue! :D
Darren Smith
24 апреля, 2012 at 17:33
Thanks Sears, it has been a weird but brilliant season, the trimming down will continue so hopefully the success will follow.
Liam O'Rourke
25 апреля, 2012 at 19:50
Hi Darren
Congrats on a very impressive season, probably your best, given the sale of three of your star players.
Has the local council given you the keys to Scarborough yet?!!!
Darren Smith
26 апреля, 2012 at 08:40
Thanks Liam, unfortunately there’s no key yet ;)
Ana Garcia
26 апреля, 2012 at 20:15
Late reply apologies. :)
Another amazing season am glad someone is lucky in penalty shootouts! Watching Kevin succeed in playoff games and you in penalty shootouts makes me feel frustrated as I cant win either! :)
Am glad to see Messi join your staff!
Anyways seems you are winning trophies and making money which is always nice, so the best of luck next season!!
Darren Smith
26 апреля, 2012 at 20:43
Thanks Ana, I think this is the first save I have ever had in which I feel confident about penalties…bit then again my top 5 takers have at least 16 in both penalty taking and composure so that says a lot.
Dave912
27 апреля, 2012 at 10:28
HI Darren
Another great season for the seadogs!
Could you please send me the link to download you tactic please as i’ve deleted it by mistake thanks.
Darren Smith
27 апреля, 2012 at 10:37
No problem, here is the link http://www.mediafire.com/?pqu0aera2ipb9zi
Dave912
27 апреля, 2012 at 17:27
thanks mate
Matt
28 апреля, 2012 at 10:27
Great story Darren but my game keeps crashing and coming up with the error the saved game could not be loaded, any tips on how to stop this happening?
Darren Smith
28 апреля, 2012 at 11:33
Sorry Matt, sounds like a technical problem of which you’d need to check the SI games forum for.
Matt
28 апреля, 2012 at 11:43
I’m able to load an older version of the save but i’m worried when I save this one that it won’t save to the date that i’m at in game
Darren Smith
28 апреля, 2012 at 11:50
Like I said these technical questions can’t be answered properly by anyone other than the SI forum unfortunately.