Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 17 report. Last year saw a dark contrast from what we have all come to expect in sunny old Scarborough…after selling off a shed load of my top stars, we were eliminated in the First Knockout round of the Champions League, lost in the Club World Championships and endured an early Carling Cup exit. While the Premier League title and FA Cup were retained, that poor showing in Europe sparked a change in philosophy for this season, so lets get straight into it.
Due to my European exploits the clubs reputation didn’t change and Man City’s heroics in the Champions League didn’t help either. So we remain 3rd behind Manchester City and Barcelona.
Financially things couldn’t be much better, after all those player sales Scarborough are now worth £506 million. This leaves us 3rd but still just short of £1 billion behind Real Madrid and Barcelona lol ;)
After last season my board will just be happy to see us qualify for Europe apparently, a little dramatic IMO. But I will be using some of their £279 million transfer budget to ensure we retain our status as Europe’s elite. The media odds pit Manchester City as favorites for the title for the millionth time in a row despite me winning the last 6, fools!
And now we skip onto transfers, today I’ll begin with players departing Scarborough. Quite a few names on this list really, but very few were top players. In fact the only player that got some real first team football was defensive midfielder Albachar, I sold him for £7.75 million to make room for a better replacement. Almost £20 million was raised this year, nothing like seasons gone by but I have thrown finances out the window for season 18.
Now I present to you the next generation of talent! Gabriel Lopez is an 18 year old wonderkid who has the potential to be the best left winger on the planet, the Spaniard cost £13 million but the potential profit to be made is scary. His compatriot, Alexander, is just 17 years old and has the potential to become one of the best attacking midfielders in world football. Again the transfer fee was hefty at £16.25 million, but more than worth it. And finally I signed a rock solid ball winning midfielder, he is 24 years old and could make the difference this season. Signed for £14.5 million, Stepanov is a true beast and fits into my tactic like a glove.
Premier League results — first half of season
With one thought on the poor previous season and another on the upcoming Euro Championship’s with Spain, I tried to focus on the job at hand. To be honest I didn’t need to do too much, just pick the right team and watch them do the business. From August to December my boys won 12, drew none and lost just 3 from 15 matches. This run included the 7-0 hammering of Peterborough, 5-2 onslaught against Manchester United and 8-2 thrashing of Huddersfield.
The league table is shaping up well, Scarborough sit 3rd one point off top, but with a game in hand. Simply put the best performers in the second half of the season will be crowned champions.
With that in mind I decided to strengthen my youth. Marko Ilic joined for £2.3 million and should be a very capable central midfielder in the future. While Gutierrez looks like a promising forward, with first team football he could be excellent, so the £1.7 million fee seemed very reasonable.
Premier League results — second half of season
After a good start I just needed to maintain our form, I could see the ‘S’ inscribed into the trophy with 15 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses from our next 18 games. But then ridiculous fixture congestion (of which I blame the lower league database for) led to one win, 3 draws and a loss from our remaining 5 fixtures. Looking at the dates you may say, ‘the fixtures weren’t that bad’. But mix them with cup competitions and the last five fixtures left me with a two day interval between each match whether it be league or cup…obviously a bug with using such a custom database I guess.
So did that slip cost me? Well it probably should have done and considering the point totals that second place has taken over the last few seasons I got lucky. But thankfully we finished the season 6 points clear of Chelsea on 88 points to retain the title for the seventh season.
Carling Cup results
After the disappointment of last season, I was planning a much longer run in this years Carling Cup. After victory against Sunderland, we then beat Stevenage, Man City and Tottenham to reach the final with ease. Chelsea enjoyed a similar run and await us at Wembley.
I think its fair to say we have endured a tough run to the final and capped it all off against the toughest of opponents. This wasn’t the prettiest of matches, the main theme seemed to be squandered chances and a lot of tussling in the middle. After going to extra-time my boys finally got their break with a Cavus goal (or the Turkish Messi as I call him!) The game finished 1-0 after 58% possession and 26 shots to Chelsea’s 6.
FA Cup results
With the Carling Cup under our belt I was hungry for silverware, but we suffered an early scare in the FA Cup. After thrashing Blackpool 3-0, Wigan were within seconds of eliminating us in the forth round, thankfully an Ilic stoppage time goal brought about a replay of which we won 2-0. It was all roses from there as Scarborough beat Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Liverpool to reach the final where Man Utd await.
United have endured a steady decline in my save…despite having an excellent squad they seem to put up with 4th place at best season in season out. So when I took the lead after 42 minutes it seemed as though the second half would be easy. But I couldn’t have been more wrong, Man Utd scored 4 minutes after the restart and then again with just 30 minutes remaining. I was somewhat shocked and made a few substitutions instantly. One of those changes was Diez who made an instant impact scoring on the 66th minute. With the clock running down I went all out for the winner and it arrived with 4 minutes of normal time remaining. The final finished 3-2 and was one of the most exciting matches I’ve been involved in.
Champions League results
This year saw me drawn in a group alongside Fenerbahce, Kobenhavn and Werder Bremen. All very easy opposition that led to a perfect 6 wins from 6 matches.
Some very high scoring matches left me with an average of more than 4 goals a game. I haven’t qualified from the group stages so convincingly before but the opposition were to thank for that.
My opponents for the first knockout round were Napoli, a nice easy victory was in order and my boys delivered 5-2 on aggregate. I was then a little disappointed to see Real Madrid in the quarter-final, our first leg experience at home involved some counter attacking football which led to a 1-0 victory. I was nervous heading into the second leg and used the counter strategy again, but what followed was shocking. My boys went on to thrash the Spanish giants away from home 6-2, this was probably the best result of my FM12 career. And it was followed by a 1-0 semi-final first leg victory over Juventus and 2-1 second leg victory. For the keen eyed readers out there, you’ll notice we reached the final winning every single game with a goal to game average of 3.33.
After all that my opponents will be Getafe, very weird I know. After inspecting their squad the full backs and midfield seem solid but the rest isn’t amazing and they have just finished 3rd in La Liga. Needless to say my boys dominated the first half scoring early through a Nene wonder strike, but just before the break Getafe clawed one back. The second half was a nervy affair but only saw the Spanish side conjure two half chance counters. The rest was all Scarborough and we were rewarded on 84 minutes as Arancibia headed home from a set piece. That could well be his last action for Scarborough!
Squad stats and finances
An incredible season and completely different from the last campaign. I was delighted to win the quadruple and have a lot of players to thank. Fabricio scored 38 goals and assisted 13 from 27 starts, now that is a real record. I also enjoyed my Spanish strikers form, Diez scored 29 goals and assisted 11. But I think player of the year goes to right winger Nene who scored 24 goals and assisted 17, an outstanding effort indeed.
Off the pitch things could be better though, I certainly paid for getting our football back on track. Last season finished with £200 million in the bank, but this campaign saw the balance drop to £129 million. I only spent an extra £25 million in the transfer market and while the wages aren’t exactly low they shouldn’t result in such woeful losses, I think these financial problems may end the save. Don’t get me wrong that won’t happen yet, but eventually I can see myself getting sick of playing catch up just because the board won’t expand or build a new stadium.
The Internationl scene — Spain
With the Euro Championships just around the corner I needed to a) wrap up qualifying and b) find my strongest squad. Qualifying was done with ease as we beat Malta 7-1, Hungary 3-0 and Cyprus 3-1. Then I arranged a tonne of Friendly matches, the first couple saw us draw to Mexico and Germany. Not bad results and my side seemed to be improving in quality within the tactic and their understanding of each other. This must have led to the victories over Czech Republic, Nigeria, Croatia and Romania. The perfect Euro build up and most importantly, no injuries!!
Here is how we qualified for the competition, 8 wins from 8 fixtures.
And I’ll leave you with the European Championship group draw, here is how each nation will line up. I have a decent group, Holland will be very tough but Israel posses very little threat and bar four or five stars Portugal will struggle. Surprising to see no group of death this year, guess that means the knockout rounds will be tougher. But what is very weird is that there are 6 groups, of which the top two nations qualify from, then the four best placed third position nations also go through. So instead of there just been a quarter-final the knockout stages start with 16 teams making it a second round…basically more teams qualify and as a result there is one extra round. Can anyone explain that? It would seem the rules changed in 2016, I wonder if this is planned for real life and that is something SI have allowed for? Or is it just another glitch in my game?
Anyway, that is all for today. My next post will be on the European Championships with Spain of which England are the hosts (they also won the World Cup so tough to beat.) I hope you’ll join me then, but for now please feel free to leave a comment below.
Aaron
4 июня, 2012 at 14:47
Another great season Darren. had to postpone my version of Y2G because I don’t have any players old enough to sell. Re the Euros, the tournament goes up to 24 teams from 2016, this was another of Platini’s bright ideas.
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 15:23
Thanks Aaron and cheers for confirming my game doesn’t have a bug. Platini strikes again I see…how can giving four third placed nations a lifeline be right, can’t help but question that guys thought process!
Thomas Pimenta
4 июня, 2012 at 14:48
That always happens in my games in the euros as well, don’t know why.
Anyway congrats on a brilliant season, Scarborough — Getafe Final, who’d predict that 10-15 years earlier!
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 15:25
Thanks Thomas, the whole Euro thing was explained by Aaron in the comment above.
As for Getafe, if you’d told me they would make the Champions League final at the start of this season I’d doubt your mental health lol ;) Been a weird campaign really.
Heresy
4 июня, 2012 at 15:10
Simply amazing, Darren! Doing the quad is a magnificent achievement, getting it with a team of average age of what? 22? 23? that’s simply unbelievable. Congratz are in order!
About the stadium and finances, this is why managing the same team all the way from amateur leagues is so difficult. In real life you can bend some rules a little. I’m certain you’d have a 40-50k capacity stadium built by now, regardless of how much time has passed since your last construction. Hey, if you have the money, who’s there to stop you?
As far as the WCH groups are concerned, the only explanation I can think of is that due to good form, more teams were allowed continental qualification. So if WCH were to include 1 or 2 more teams, they needed to include even more just to make the groups even and thus changing the number of teams participating in group stage as well as what happens after that. But isn’t that a little too complicated for an engine to execute? In any way, I’ve not heard about any changes to the number of teams entering group stage of WCH, maybe SI knows something we dont!
Heresy
4 июня, 2012 at 15:25
Scap the 3rd paragraph xD
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 15:31
Thanks Heresy, I always like having a young squad and tend to find my team performing better that way over loads of experience. The average age is currently 22.
As for the stadium, it is very frustrating indeed and more so because, as you said, this wouldn’t happen in real life. Now its ironic saying that because Scarborough won’t ever make it to the Premier League and be so rich in real life, but still annoying all the same.
karl deighton
4 июня, 2012 at 15:24
Congrats on adding another 4 trophies to your cabinet, I will laugh so hard if Man City are Prem favourites next season. I think you should show us your C.V, can’t remeber all the trophies you’ve won!
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 15:32
I’ll save the CV for when the save finishes mate, that way it will have more wow effect. :) And if City are put as favorites again I’m lumping a grand on Scarborough to win the title ;)
MRDNRA
4 июня, 2012 at 15:54
Brilliant season. What surprised me most was that Birmingham were 4th favourites for the title at the start of the season!
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 16:01
Thanks mate, I didn’t even realize Birmingham were so highly fancied for the title…I think they’ve had a big investor, but he recently pulled his support from what I remember.
erbsademon
4 июня, 2012 at 16:44
Fantastic turn around this season ;) Happy to see you’re back in your rightful place as champion of all competitions! In 2016 the Euro’s will change to a 24 team format. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/aboutuefa/organisation/executivecommittee/news/newsid=754190.html
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 17:42
Thanks mate.
Gary Male
4 июня, 2012 at 16:50
Great stuff, I’ve really enjoyed following your story. Yes, the Euros are expanding to 24 teams in real life, starting from 2016.
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 17:43
Thanks Gary, it was a really special season.
Malhar Bhadbhade
4 июня, 2012 at 16:54
back with a bang in your 18th season in charge!! wow, it’s been a long journey indeed! congrats on winning everything there was to win! your trio of Fabricio, Nene and Diez are insane!!! maybe Diez and Fabricio could play together….doomsday for all defenders :D i know what u mean about the finances….it would take forever to catch up with Barca and Real, its almost impossible…they have a ridiculous lead…it would be amazing to be the most reputable club though..maybe you could end the save on that? though i hope it never ends :D cheers~!!!
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 17:44
lol, yeah if the tactic was right Diez and Fabricio would be a real threat. I agree with you on the financial side, catching Barcelona and Real would be impossible, but finishing the save when we are the highest rep club has crossed my mind.
TheZiggy
4 июня, 2012 at 17:52
Wow, now that’s a season, doing the quadruple. The game certainly does throw up some real oddities once in a while. Getafe are not a team you’d expect to find in the final of the Champions League.
Frustrating that you aren’t being able to expand the stadium, especially when the club has plenty of money at this point. It’s certainly something that makes bringing a team from the lower leagues to the top of the game that bit more difficult. With all the financial restriction talks that have been going on recently, I’m wondering just what the next release with be like, as it’s damned tough right now.
I’ve noticed that Man United have slipped a bit off the pace in my game too. It’s not from lack of spending either. They are just being beaten by all the other big clubs, but still able to thrash most of the weaker ones.
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 17:59
Thanks Ziggy, it was a really great season. The whole stadium thing is very frustrating and as mentioned will be the end of the save, but I’m determined to keep it going despite that.
Louie
4 июня, 2012 at 17:54
The famous quadruple! Will you consider selling Fabricio to make way for Diez? As for finances- have you tried issueing an ultimatum? I know you could on previous installments.. :)
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 18:01
Thanks Louie, I won’t be offloading Fabricio just yet, but have other strikers that need to make a move up soon so its around the corner. As for the stadium, there isn’t even an option to request an increase in capacity, they’re all greyed out and have been for the last 7 years!!
Ivo Knežević
4 июня, 2012 at 18:25
Hey mate,
What a season.Lucky in the epl but so dominant in the other competitions :)
How are Southern and Ross doing ?
Nice to see a croatian guy in your squad.
Oh yeah, and nice to see getafe in the CL FINAL, WOW.
PS. you haven’t done a season 17 update. I just took a look at your stories and it is missing
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 18:35
Thanks mate, Southern scored more than 50 goals for Arsenal this season and won the golden boot while Ross is doing OK but not outstanding for Liverpool.
You’re right about the update, this was actually season 17, I got confused because of the upcoming Euro’s but have corrected it now. Thanks for the heads up.
vaibhavc
4 июня, 2012 at 18:44
And you are back with a bang! All trophies that you could have won, you did! Typical season from Darren! Late goals seem to be very crucial for you, in cups especially.
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 18:53
Thanks mate, I must admit we do leave it late sometimes.
saltwater
4 июня, 2012 at 19:37
It’s a mark of how good you are at this game that I’m not surprised you have done the quadruple! :)
This is as dominating as you can get, the four big trophies! If anyone else done this we’d all be going mental, but I think the community have come to expect this of you now, Darren. :D
Which leaves me onto my next question. Your first target was to get into the football league. Mission accomplished. Then get into the prem, MA, then win the champo league MA, then make Scarbourough self-suffiecent, MA. What’s the new objective? And how much longer will you keep this save running?
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 20:09
Thanks mate, this save has certainly been my best ever on FM. But I’m not sure when it will end…I’d love to create a record for the most amount of CL trophies, I’m currently on 5 trophies but Real Madrid hold the record at 10 so that may be too far away from me to catch…other than that I’d like to finish as the club with the highest reputations but it all comes down to me losing patience with the financial and stadium situation.
Conor Donovan
4 июня, 2012 at 20:50
Was about to explain the change UEFA are making to the Euros in 2016, but I see that it has already been done! :P
Well, it’s nice to see you put that slight blip last season behind you to get another stunning quadruple! It must be particularly sweet given the relative underachievements last season.
Just wondering were you in the Community Shield? I don’t see that anywhere…
I don’t want to put too much pressure on you but I’d like to see if you can win all 6 or 7 competitions Scarborough will be in next season and maybe the Euros for Spain. That would be a fine achievement and it is fairly realistic IMO.
Just one final remark on finances. It is one of my biggest bugbears with football management games. Fair enough that you should be required to be financially prudent and I am not particularly so, but to see myself drain SO much money is very frustrating. Whereas you are extremely prudent and you still drain loads of money so it must be especially irritating for you.
And of course the stupid stadium issue for you compounds it further. I wouldn’t blame you if you eventually ended the save over that, even though I’m thoroughly enjoying the series.
Darren Smith
4 июня, 2012 at 20:59
I must admit it was a really sweet season considering the problems we had last year, we were in the community shield and won but I choose not to show that.
I actually agree that it is feasible to win every competition I’m involved in next season, but it will be a tall task.
I do find the finances very annoying, sometimes we seem to leak money no matter what but I try and keep that at the back of my mind or it’ll effect my experience. However what will end the save is my boards reluctance to expand or build a new stadium.
Ana Garcia
4 июня, 2012 at 23:10
Before I congratulate you Getafe!!??
It really make no logical sense that they would ever get to a champions league final I know its a game but I just cant my head around that!
Do they have a rich owner? Judging my your comments about them they dont seem to have an amazing squad, then again on my game Granada made the champions league final so anything can happen I guess! :)
Well done on another amazing season am looking forward too seeing if you can guide Spain to European glory so the best of luck!
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:35
I know, Getafe in the final was a shock.
From what I can see they don’t have mega rich owners but have afforded one or two decent value signings, they just have a solid midfield.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
4 июня, 2012 at 23:16
Oh yeah! Your team dominating the europe once again! Oh and for that media prediction for man city, yeah it also happen to me as well when I’m managing Nottm Forest. Damn, can this foolish media realize that my team already dominating the league 8 times in a row? Put aside, I can’t wait to see your journey in Euro Cup next season.
Oh if you wondering, yeah, it seems SI has planned the 6 group system like this just as real life does (though I don’t know if UEFA already announced it or not) from 2016, so you just have to adapt it.
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:36
Thanks Tegar, I’ll just keep plugging away and hope to get a new stadium sooner or later.
silva
5 июня, 2012 at 00:01
Getafe!!?? :O Who is their manager.
Anyway Congrats at keeping the titles you won last season and well done on winning back the CL
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:37
Their manager is some generated player now that isn’t real, certainly doing the business for them though.
Kevin
5 июня, 2012 at 00:11
Hi Darren
Oh dear I’m way down on this list for congratulating you on another fantastic season so I’ll just say flipping brilliant mate :) the podcast was awesome mate so great job with that too. Stepanov looks absolutely fabulous and is the sort of DMC i’m looking for as I like to play with an anchorman.
So, England out in the first round of Euro 2012? :)
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:38
Thanks Kevin it was a great season and I’m glad you enjoyed the Podcast.
As you can tell I don’t hold high expectations for England :)
Lye
5 июня, 2012 at 02:12
You are taking back what belongs to you mate. Last season was a hiccup and this season you mean real business. Congratulations on the quadruple. Too bad about the financial problem. I guess that really will affect your mood of continuing unless the board do something about it.
Great qualifying results there with Spain. I am keep my fingers cross for a good campaign.
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:42
Cheers Lye, it did feel like we got back on track this season. Lets hope I can have as much success in the Euro’s.
CsAtlantis
5 июня, 2012 at 04:54
A great season Darren, did not make too much money though but I think that might change soon with Brooks and Arancibia reaching their peak, the Euro’s should be interesting in the knockout stages, though I think that the tournament does not need 24 teams to be honest…..
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:42
Yeah those two will move on soon, maybe not next season but certainly the year after.
Johnny Karp
5 июня, 2012 at 08:26
Nicely done Darren, it’s good to see Scarborough back in the dominant position in all competitions. Good luck for the Euro, you have a really tough group I think but I hope you will win the tournament.
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 11:43
Thanks Johnny, fingers crossed in Europe now.
Martin F.M.J.S
5 июня, 2012 at 12:26
Congrats on the Quadruple Darren it was a fantastic season. Good luck with the European Championships like Johnny I hope you can win it. :D
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 15:12
Thanks mate, with a little luck we’ll win the Euro’s.
Dan
5 июня, 2012 at 13:23
Hey Darren,
Another successful season with Scarborough and some quality signings too which look to have had a great impact. It made me laugh seeing Getafe in the Champions League final and the fact they — a sports team — are sponsored by Burger King — a fast food restaurant!
Good look with the European Championship too, your group looks quite difficult in contrast with England’s…
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 15:14
Thanks mate, I think the Getafe thing was very bizarre, but can’t complain when we are pratically handed a trophy lol ;)
Sears
5 июня, 2012 at 14:26
Havn’t been around much of late , but great to see still dominating with Scarborough buddy . Another fantastic season topped off with a wonderful Champions League victory . Well done mate :)
Darren Smith
5 июня, 2012 at 15:14
Thanks Sears.
kev
5 июня, 2012 at 23:04
congratz on another amaing season wondering if u will be leaving us this save like u did with the malaga one
Darren Smith
6 июня, 2012 at 11:53
Thanks Kev, unfortunately I won’t be leaving this save for anyone as the size of the database due to changes makes it very difficult to upload to any media sharing sites.
Martin Pickard
6 июня, 2012 at 12:46
Hey Darren fantastic season a great way to bounce back from…well you cant really call it a bad season but but a less trophy filled one lol.
Darren Smith
6 июня, 2012 at 19:00
Thanks Martin, guess you can’t call last season a bad one, but no matter what it was this season was way better.
Charlie
6 июня, 2012 at 19:27
Hey man this is a great story :) perhaps your chairman and owner are recouping their previous investments? Surely it says something on your expenditure screen?
Furthermore, would it be possible if you could link me to an explanation of Y2G plan?
Thanks and keep on winning :)
Darren Smith
6 июня, 2012 at 20:17
Thanks Charlie, unfortunately the owners have nothing to recoup as the profits I have made them over the last four seasons would more than cover that. Its purley down to the stadium and bad sponsorship…we just don’t have enough cash coming in.
As for the Y2G system, I wrote a two part series, you can follow the links below.
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2011/04/football-manager-financial-guide-part-1-how-to-create-a-stable-club/
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2011/04/football-manager-financial-guide-part-2-youth-to-gold-system/
FMLOVER
9 июня, 2012 at 14:13
Hey Darren, sorry for the late comment but I’m new to commenting on the main site. Great season there winning the 4 big cups! Well done!
Darren Smith
9 июня, 2012 at 14:45
Thanks mate!
gormdubhgorm
9 июня, 2012 at 19:52
Long time reader, first time poster and former championship manager/football manager player from 1992-2010.
Very well done on the trophy haul Darren. But I do not understand your obsession with the finances and the stadium size.
Some of the arguments on here have been that in real life you would have had another stadium built at this stage.
My counter argument would be that in real life you would not be able to see players attributes listed in handy numerical form.
Surely, as you are successful winning everything in sight it is all that matters?
Regardless of the finances your Sugar Daddy chairman should bail you out anyway?
If you really want to test yourself I suggest you manage Athletic Bilbao, where you can only sign Basque players or players of Basque ancestry.
That should test you more since you do not like masking attributes its one of the ways you can make it tougher.
Alternatively, on this save you could voluntarily restrict yourself to signing English nationals. This would tie into your aspiring youth system project as well.
Good luck.
Darren Smith
9 июня, 2012 at 20:23
Well I have already mentioned that the ‘sugar daddy chairmen’ has retracted his backing so I now have no support what so ever from the powers that be, that was mentioned in a previous post…all the clubs finances rely on me. My issue is that if we invested the money in a good stadium now then I wouldn’t have to make £50 million plus in the transfer market every single season to break even…that is not a fun way to be forced to manage a club!
As for the Athletic challenge, I’d just get bored to be honest…I like scouring the world for the best talent and would get bored of the restrictions…besides, I think taking a team from below even the playable leagues to the top flight is more of a challenge than doing well with a team that is already in the top flight and well established in Spanish football, I don’t really see it as challenging to be honest, especially seen as Athletic get top youngsters handed to them from the youth intake most seasons.
There will be a new challenge but not in terms of restricting transfers, I don’t like playing the game that way. We all have different things that make us tick on the game, scouring the market is mine.
Anh Duc
3 сентября, 2012 at 18:26
Wow … Respect ! You have to be very patient to build a team like this one. I can’t even play with ,,weaker» team (Every team is strong, you just have to find a right tactic and have some luck) .
Once I played with AC Sparta Prague and in my first season a won treble ( league , cup and Euro Cup ( Even I didn’t know, how I did it :D) ) . Then I mistakenly delete my saves with Sparta , when I was deleting other saves. And now I’m trying again , but it is very difficult.
Sorry for my English , I’m Czech Republic and I’m studying english language.
Once more .. Respect !
Darren Smith
3 сентября, 2012 at 18:56
Thanks Anh, I myself have accidentally saved over a very good save once, it was like slow motion watching the bar progress to overwrite all my work.
Anh Duc
4 сентября, 2012 at 16:56
and I have one simple question….
How did you build a great team like this ? :D
Darren Smith
4 сентября, 2012 at 18:54
Just lots and lots of scouting, some from my staff, a lot of myself manually looking through clubs and U21 International sides and also tonnes of mixed filtered searches.
Iker Muniain
21 сентября, 2012 at 16:41
Great story Darren
Just wanted to know does the fact that some of your best players are foreign. I always stop saves because of it as I feel guilty about buying many foreign players, as I hate teams like Man City for buy the best players and I feel like I’m just like them in away
Darren Smith
21 сентября, 2012 at 18:22
No that doesn’t impact me, the way I see it is that if the game can’t provide me with more realistic youth recruitment for the amount of upgrades I invest in then its not my fault I have to delve elsewhere…I’ll always prefer homegrown talent but if its just not upto par then I have to buy elsewhere unfortunately.