FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 8 report: Is it eight in a row?

Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Scarborough AFC season 8 report. Season number seven saw the Seadogs gain promotion to the Championship and reach the FA Cup final in which we were very unlucky to lose against Premiership opponents Arsenal. But the season was not only dominated by success, I spent the last 6 months worrying about a potential takeover, when it would be completed and what would happen to my finances. Well I can confirm the transfer embargo was finally lifted shortly after I received my seasons expectations, while I missed the opportunity to sign a few quality players it didn’t hamper me too much. My chairmen, David Holland, got sick of negotiating for the clubs asking price and shut down any potential sale of the club meaning everything was back to normal.

Talking of back to normal, the clubs owners were content for me to merely avoid relegation, but I decided to go for the big budget. By claiming I could steer Scarborough into the top half I secured an impressive £2.65 million for transfers and extra £12K per week towards wages. For the first time since starting this game the media think I should be concerned with relegation, that should suggest a tough season.

With cash in hand I decided to sell, sell, sell. My eye was firmly set on a fair few targets but I needed more money and room in the squad to make way. The majority of my sales were made after finding better replacements but one key star was sold due to the asking amount on offer. Left winger Stephen Hagan had been with the club since our BSP days and developed into an Irish International but Rangers £2.5 million was too good to refuse. All together we raised £3.1 million which added nicely to my pre-season budget.

Now for what could change my season, the summer signings. I strengthened almost every area including a very expensive GK, but here are my best signings. Lopez Fuentes signed from Real Madrid, having spent his time in the youth setup he decided it was time to leave and I just couldn’t resist considering he can play MC or DC. I also added a new first team centre back in Norbert Weiller for £250K. My third favorite signing was Petricevic who will be used to funnel the ball through midfield and to assist in set pieces. He cost £170K and is another example of how effective scouting Germany proved. £2 million was spent on our new recruits and its nice to know that we improved the team greatly while still making money.

Season Begins — results from August to October

This is it, Scarborough will ply their trade in the Championship for the first time ever. It took my new boys some time to settle in and when I think back those first three months felt like a real struggle. However, when you check the results they seemed like a doddle with 7 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses in the league. My biggest surprise though came in the Carling Cup as fellow Championship side Reading thrashed us at home 3-0.

In the midst of that terrible loss to Reading some news popped up inside my inbox. After negotiating to sell the club for more than 7 months before the deal fell through my Chairmen, Danny Holland, had found another buyer. But this guy seemed entirely different, for one he had shed loads of cash (or claimed to anyway.) This left me in two minds, I was obviously crossing my fingers for an owner that would give me loads of money, but I also didn’t want this deal to stop me strengthening in January as I had endured some bad injuries early on.

Results — November to December

With thoughts of a takeover pushed to the back of my mind and some of my injured players returning I tried to pick up speed in the league. We didn’t start so well with a draw at home to Hull and loss away to Huddersfield, but then things turned for the better as my boys won our next 7 games from 8. Almost every match was won by a three goal margin bar a few including the draw away to Swansea.

This had led my boys in the right direction as we found ourselves challenging the top two. Scarborough finished the festive season in third place, just two points off top spot. Despite the great start I still had reservations when looking through the Leicester and Newcastle lineups that seemed to have super star regens.

Then near the start of January the board announced an end to the takeover talks meaning I could strengthen my squad again. But it wasn’t Danny Holland who gave me the message!! ;) We have a new owner and he looks loaded, Jordan Bradshaw has pumped £9 million into my depleting bank balance and he even had the intention of upgrading all the facilities, which actually fell through nearer the seasons end.

The new owner had secured our finances and provided me fresh hope for the future but for now he didn’t increase my funds. This didn’t stop me adding to the squad though and I started by clearing out the under performers.

I then made a few signings, the two loan signings were made to help cover for the injuries we’d suffered on the left wing and central midfield. But Mattia Siviero is a very promising 17 year old right back, he was well worth the £250K price tag.

Results — January to February

So with my new owners watching on from the stands I was desperate to impress. January and February went well as Scarborough won 6 league games, drew 2 and lost just one. We also made it to the FA Cup 4th Round where Man City knocked us out 3-1.

Results — March to May

With our winning margins closing in and a tense time ahead I braced myself for a nervy end of season. But March provided just what we needed, a great run of form. We started by beating fellow promotion contenders Newcastle 2-0 and went onto win the next 4 matches. But then disaster struck as I endured a torrid run of injuries and International call-ups, for one game I couldn’t even field a fully fit bench as shown below.

Having to survive the remaining month with no left back wasn’t a fuzzy thought, but we carried on valiantly. From the last 10 games my boys won 5, drew 2 and lost 3 but was this enough to gain promotion?

Well it was as Scarborough finished 5 points clear of third. The title race was much closer though, going into the last game of the season I found myself level on points with Newcastle and we of course drew that game to Charlton, but Newcastle actually lost away from home to Hull meaning the Seadogs lifted our eighth title!!

Further good news followed as the board announced plans to increase the stadiums capacity by 1,477 seats at a cost of £1.9 million.

This brought the bank balance down somewhat so the new chairmen decided to inject a little more cash to keep the club in the black. I think this is a sign of things to come from our rich owner. :)

Squad stats and finances

This season was probably the first one in which I doubted our promotion chances until the end, but thankfully we have now hit the top level and it is thanks to the players below. Bartlett continued from last season with 31 goals, Weiller managed 10 goals from corners and free-kicks while new MC Petricevic was vital with 7 goals and 14 assists.

Many players have walked through the door at Scarborough, some left due to the speed of which we were moving and others were just too good to hang onto. But three players have been in my side for 4 or more seasons and these three are to thank for all this success…

Reece Hendrie: Joined the club in 2013 when we were in the ESL Northern Premier, he helped guide the club to 6 promotions which is probably my proudest achievement from a player. Unfortunately Hendrie will not make the grade for our EPL season and may need to be offloaded. Hendrie has scored 60 goals and assisted 59 times from his 191 league appearances.

Nikos Nikolaou: An outstanding AMR/ST that has attracted attention every single season. Nikos joined the Seadogs in 2013 when we were in the Blue Square North and was the most instrumental player every season for 5 seasons scoring 63 goals and assisting 62 times during his 188 league appearances. Again he may struggle in the top flight but will be used as backup.

Josh Ross: I always save the best until last, Ross is an absolute gem and has developed in huge leaps every year. Signed during 2015 for our Blue Square Premier campaign the young Englishmen has scored 35 goals and assisted 49 from his 146 appearances. Now this kid could be in our squad for many more years and I would like to get him past the 250 apps mark.

Thanks to the new owners I have a reasonable bank balance going into the new season, £4.8 million is what we have and that is despite the massive decline due to our tiny stadium. But I think the new chairmen will take care of us from now on and I also reckon he’ll keep pumping money into the club City style, but only time will tell.

well that is season 8 over and my rise through the lower leagues complete. It has been a rollercoaster that never stopped rising, though I suspect next season will be no walk in the park. I have spent some time researching the EPL opposition and I have never seen so many incredible regens, the standard really is ridiculous, but I have already found a few aces myself so tune in soon to see how we fair in the top flight. Until then please feel free to comment below and thanks for reading.