Hey guys and welcome to my Football Manager 2012 Scarborough AFC season 5 report. During my last update the Seadogs won promotion to the Blue Square Premier in style, we also won the FA Trophy and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. Among all this the board also invested in our facilities, but that wasn’t what put a smile on my face…that came with the news that Scarborough Athletic would be building their own stadium and moving back to the City of Scarborough where we truly belong. That won’t happen for a fair few years yet, but I am counting down the days! Anyway, lets get kicking with the present as I have another promotion push to organize and this time we could really be up against it. The Blue Square Premier has some quality sides and if Scarborough are to compete, I’ll need to strengthen most of my squad.
Despite my optimism the board seemed overly pessimistic, requesting us to just avoid relegation. But this certainly didn’t effect their generous budget, while I have earned the club a sizable bank balance, I wouldn’t have expected the board to offer a transfer budget of almost £100K.
As ever the media were a lot closer to home suggesting my boys may be able to mount an outside promotion push…
Talking of a step up and promotion chances, if Scarborough were to stand any chance in this league I needed to offload the deadwood. Most of which were players that featured regularly last season, while they worked wonders I looked through almost every BSP side to see how my squad compared…and the theory is that if any of my players couldn’t play for the best team in my division then they’d be offloaded. This has been my minimum requirement from day one and seems to be working.
Now looking at the transfers in I’d like to draw your attention to some outstanding talent. The names Josh Ross (MC) and Jonathan Southern (ST) should remain in your frontal lobe for a long time as they will feature for Scarborough for many years to come. Both are just 16 years old and have mega talent. All the other players are good signings that could have an effect in L2 which is another one of my requirements…any signing must be able to hold his own in at least the division above mine. Obviously this won’t be possible forever but has again worked wonders so far. As for those two youngsters, you’ll have to wait to see their profiles till later in the post. :)
I was happy with the new signings and my assistant managers squad depth report suggested we could seriously challenge at this level. Our attacking options seemed very extensive again as they have for the last few seasons. But the big question is could my defense cope with the step up in class? Well lets move onto the results and find out.
Results — August to October
New league, new season, same old results. :) Scarborough managed 13 wins, 2 draws and just one loss during the first three months of the season. We also beat Dover in the FA Cup to reach the first round. You may also notice Bob Shepherd’s name popping up a lot, this kid was doing the business for us again after an incredible season in the Blue Square North. Needless to say he had attracted some attention from big, big clubs.
Results — November to December
The fantastic form continued into winter as Scarborough won their next 8 league games and drew just once. We also walked through the first and second round of the FA Cup against fairly easy opposition. December also saw the start of our FA Trophy campaign as we thrashed Kettering in the first round. Now look very closely at the goal scorers, where as the first three months saw Shepherd’s name pop up, the winter months saw Southern (my second striker) score a handful of goals. Why do you think this is? And remember I only ever use one forward in my tactics. ;)
We’ll move onto the shift in goal scoring next, but first lets check the Blue Square Premier league table. After 25 games Scarborough sit top of the pack, a staggering 17 points clear of second. The season seems over already bar those all important cup competitions, and this helped me make a very, very big decision…
January transfers
I have brought your attention to Bob Shepherd time and time again during this post, this is of coarse for a very important reason. My star striker and wonderkid was subject to interest from Blackburn, Stoke, Peterborough and the list goes on. With so many high profile clubs showing an interest I couldn’t get Shepherd to sign a new contract and with just 18 months remaining on his current deal I had to role the dice. So, I plucked up some courage and offered him out to clubs for £4 million, I know the amount is ludicrous but I wanted to get a minimum of £1.5 million so thought I’d start high. A few offers came in including one from Hull of £900K and Blackburn at around £1.2 million, but the offer I accepted was that of Belgian side, Genk, which came in at £2.3 million. Such a staggering sum took me back a little, but once composed again I quickly clicked accept and after long contract negotiations Shepherd was on his way (click the players name to see profile.)
You will also notice that I have mentioned Southern’s name a bit recently, this is because the 16 year old is Shepherd’s direct replacement and seems almost as talented. In fact, if it weren’t for Southern, I would never had sold Shepherd but I still wanted to spend a little cash. So I brought in Jimmy Wolfe for £75K who will act as backup to Southern. I also took the opportunity to strengthen my left wing, signing Hagan for £3K and my defense with Bowen who cost £4.5K. All these players were bought with a view to playing well in the league above.
Results — January to February
So with Shepherd gone, Southern had some big boots to fill and I was excited to see how he coped with the burden. January and February saw 9 league matches played and 9 league matches won. Not to mention Scarborough’s narrow 3-2 loss to Premier League side Bolton in the FA Cup. The only negative was losing to Lewes in the FA Trophy which shocked me somewhat. But Southern scored 10 goals which equated to a goal for every appearance.
Results — March to April
Scarborough finished the season off with 10 wins, one draw and as many losses from 12 games. This domination just summed up the last five years and it was also nice to see the entire squad chipping in with some goals.
The Seadogs finished top of the table by 41 points, this was probably the most ridiculous margin we have won a division by since my reign began. But more to the point, Scarborough are back in the Football League where we belong after being screwed over all those years ago…I as a fan feel a small piece of justice even though this is just a virtual game, but the journey still has many chapters to go.
Squad stats, facts and finances
Such a brilliant season is always going to leave you with some outstanding performers, so rather than go through them all I’ll leave you to examine the squad stats. But below that is my favorite three players of the season and they are all by far the best wonderkids Scarborough have to offer.
Top performers
3. Josh Ross (MC, 17 years old)
2. Nikos Nikolaou (AMR, 18 years old)
1. Jonathan Southern (ST, 17 years old)
After selling my ex-best striker, Shepherd, for £2.3 million I asked the board to invest in almost every area possible and while some were turned down like making us professional and extending the scouting range, many others were accepted. I managed to upgrade the youth recruitment which was none existent, training facilities were extremely poor and youth facilities which seemed more like a play ground than a football pitch…
All these upgrades came to a cost of £1.4 million plus the January transfers I made meant a total of £1.48 million was spent from the £2.3 million received from Shepherds’s transfer. Not bad at all and this left Scarborough with a £1.5 million bank balance, a very nice sum to take into League Two.
Well that about does it for today, thank you all for reading and I hope you are enjoying the ride. Scarborough have made it to the Football League after 5 seasons of battling in the depths of English football and I feel like part of my challenge is already complete. Some amazing talent is to thank for what we have achieved to date, but what we can achieve from here on out could hang on my chances of keeping this crop of youth together. Either way I am delighted with the squad I have built and can’t wait to challenge them in League Two, I hope you’ll follow me there as the Seadogs continue their journey. Until next time please feel free to comment below or just check out the illustrated journey to date…the two stars represent my two main goals, one of which has been completed and the other I have just added. ;)
Frank
12 февраля, 2012 at 09:37
Hi Darren,
Another great season, you have built an amazing team which many of are youngsters who will grow together. But your team might even be strong enough to win promotion from League 2. Good luck for next season :)
thefootballmanagergaffer.blogspot.com
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 09:39
Thanks Frank, I definitely need to keep the team together and just keep adding every season, lets hope the board don’t make life harder for me.
saltwater
12 февраля, 2012 at 09:39
You’ve got a great (or rather ridiculous) promotion record and Scarborough will definitetly take the football league by suprise — I’m so envious you have got literally everyone in you team scoring. Also shame to see Bob Shepard go, but he can achieve gr8 things himself in Belgium.
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:36
Thanks mate, I must admit I never expected to rise through the leagues so fast, but once the amazing talented was found I started to gain some confidence. Losing Bob felt like a real blow but it was the right thing to do, he was been held back at Scarborough.
Malhar Bhadbhade
12 февраля, 2012 at 09:45
hey Darren,
this is turning out to be an absolutely fantastic story. your achievements are ridiculous!!! five straight promotions (though i suspected you would do that), and now in the football league. cannot wait for your next post. its going to be awesome to see how you do in league 2. your youngsters are pretty fantastic too and lets hope you can hang on to them. hopefully your next post is quicker than your last one. keep up the good work!! cheers!
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:38
Thanks Malhar, my biggest battle will be hanging onto those quality young stars, but if we do that then I think success will follow us around like a bad smell…they just seem to get better and better every season. :)
Malhar Bhadbhade
12 февраля, 2012 at 23:56
yeah precisely!! the most frustrating thing is to lose players when there’s nothing you can do about it. i.e. when the chairman of the club or whatever he is, steps in a decides that the offer is too good to refuse. thats how i lost Sanogo to ManUtd when i signed him for PSG, and they didnt even end up using him!!! anyway, good luck with your first season in the football league :D
Johnny Karp
12 февраля, 2012 at 10:04
Congrats on another amazing season, you surely are making it look easy! That 17-year old striker of yours is absolutely great, I think he could well play in a top Championship team at this age. And he could become a national team striker before too long, he’s fantastic! I see another promotion coming up :)
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:39
Cheers Johnny, I agree about Southern he should be with a Championship side and he certainly will be in the EPL one day…but I reckon it’ll be well before I get there. :)
Kevin
12 февраля, 2012 at 10:18
Hi Darren
Welcome to the Football League!!
Totally shocked when I started to read about Shepherd leaving but it didn’t harm you in the least and turned out to be a great piece of business. Another stunning season for the Seadogs and I Think you’ve got some real depth of quality in your squad that at least can get you through League Two and perhaps to the Championship. Great stuff!!
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:42
Thanks Kevin, you know me, I love a but of wheeling and dealing. :) To be honest I wouldn’t have had the courage to sell Shepherd if it weren’t for Southern’s amazing run of form, so to cash in now seemed best as next season he’d be 1 year away from contract expiry and that is when the value falls to the floor.
Lets hope Scarborough can keep going, I do think we need to invest in more talent but the base is very solid indeed.
nielsneutron
12 февраля, 2012 at 10:26
I am utterly amazed. You keep finding the young talents which make the difference.
Have you ever signed a player which has disappointed you in Scarborough?
I guess the only question remains? When will this end? Can you reach the Premiership in 3 season?
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:44
Thanks mate, I have signed a lot of duff players to be honest but I don’t really focus on them as there’s little point. I probably sign around 5-10 players a season, I have done that for the last five seasons and I have only focused on like 6 or 7 players, so that would suggest the other 20 plus players weren’t really great buys. But I do always sign players that are good enough for the league I’m in, I pride myself on researching what is required for the level I’m at and then aiming above that, I put our success down to that I guess
Woody
12 февраля, 2012 at 10:27
Another astonishing season
An amazing sum of money to get for Shepard
I think with a few signings you should challenge for play offs or even automatic promotion
Anyway well done and good luck
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:57
Cheers Woody, selling Shepherd was a huge moment not only in the season as Southern was able to develop quicker but also in the long run as that cash could secure the club and mean more wage money for the next few seasons.
Laxeyman
12 февраля, 2012 at 10:45
Incredible season Darren, you’ve built an amazing young side, and the regens you have are just fantastic, Sheperd is a brilliant player, but Southern is even better! I’m sure they’ll keep getting better and better, and I’m sure Scarborough will too :)
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:00
Thanks Laxeyman, we have 4-5 amazing regens that for me could be with us until reaching the top flight but that just depends on whether I can hold onto them. Lets hope so.
denson
12 февраля, 2012 at 11:36
Amazing season again Darren!
I can’t believe how easily you are winning the league every season but i do think you will go up again next season.
The decision to let Bob Sheperd go was a good decision considering you got 2.3million he didn’t have long left on his contract and Southern is just as good.
I look forward to your next update!
Good Luck!
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:04
Thanks Denson, I think a large part of why we are dominating every division is because the spine of my team remains the same and in terms of changing the starting eleven each season it is done gradually, I think a lot of people panic and change the entire team for the step up but I’ve been fortunate enough to have a strong set of youngsters that are improving with each season.
Martin - F.M.J.S
12 февраля, 2012 at 12:12
Another great season Darren and congrats on the title. It must have been hard to let Bob go but you got a very good price for him and Jonathan has came in and done a very good job. :)
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:05
Thanks Martin, it was tough to let Bob go but Southern is a great player and when I saw the cash on offer there wasn’t really any choice.
vaibhavc
12 февраля, 2012 at 12:28
Its been a great season for you, again. To win the title with 124 points is absolutely amazing. You made a huge profit from Shepard, showing that even the lowest division teams can give sell their players for good money.
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:06
Thanks Vaibhav, I think any club can sign quality players and make money, its just about patience and really looking for those hidden gems. As long as the board don’t keep interfering and accepting offers for you you can make a nice buck or two.
Ivo
12 февраля, 2012 at 12:57
Really really amazing … You are just dominating through every league! And that bob shepherd kid is also amazing … He could become a premier leauge player! Very impressive darren ! Good luck (ur not going to need it :P) in league 2 :)
Ivo
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:07
Cheers Ivo, I agree that Shepherd could be a top EPL star one day, but I hold even higher hopes for Southern who we now rely on for goals.
Dino Ozbolt
12 февраля, 2012 at 13:24
Congrats on getting into real football league! :)
I’m happy that your journey didn’t end here and good luck during your trip to EPL
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 14:11
Thanks mate, I’ll try my best to reach the EPL but it could come down to restrictions in the end….lets hope not.
Sears
12 февраля, 2012 at 15:10
Amazing how you are making huge profits already, it’s phenomenal! Those youngsters are unbelievably good, you’ll be so loaded by the time you reach the PL lol :D Best of luck!
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 16:09
I wouldn’t be decieved by this years profit mate, while it is great for this level we will need that money to counter balance the tiny stadium as we progress through the leagues. I predict that another big player will need selling to balance the books within the next few seasons. Problem is my wage bill gets bigger and bigger but my stadium stays the same meaning our revenue isn’t rising.
mrj
12 февраля, 2012 at 16:54
what tactics did u use to dominate the football league and how did u find so many good regens
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 17:26
I use this tactic http://www.mediafire.com/?pqu0aera2ipb9zi its a 4-5-1 and it is very attacking. But for it to pay off you need very good players for the division you play in with pace and determination. As for the regens its all about patience, I do filtered searches under the attributes I want and add the age…problem is that without quality scouts not all the players available will show up…talking of scouts you need great ones as I found four of my better regens after scouts recommended them.
PeeDub
13 февраля, 2012 at 15:51
Where do you have your scouts assigned? And do you spend a lot more time actively scouting lower leagues or just count on your scouts looking for you?
PeeDub
13 февраля, 2012 at 16:06
And then also, how do you manage to get «great» scouts at low league levels? Of course I might be able to recognize a great scout, but I can never afford one.
Darren Smith
13 февраля, 2012 at 18:10
I can only assign my scouts within the UK and Ireland, so I mix it up…some are assigned to the UK and Ireland with roaming set in place and others are asked to do just England or just Wales. I count a large amount on my scouts, but I do a little of filtered searches as mentioned above, I don’t go trailing through every single lower league club…I do specific filtered searches for what I want and tweak them. E.G. If I wanted a quality young striker for the BSP I’d search under ‘no older than 19’, pace 13, acceleration 11, determination 14 and finishing 11 (obviously those attributes are the minimum.) I then adjust the search depending on results.
As for the scouts, remember I didn’t have any scouts for the first two years if memory serves me correctly…it wasn’t until I was a league below the BSN that I could afford any decent scouts. I just search for scouts with minimum judgement in PA and CA of 13, but prefer it to be above 14, though that is difficult to find until you reach the BSN/S.
PeeDub
13 февраля, 2012 at 18:49
Then you have had *outstanding* luck in finding some great young players. That’s pretty much what I do.
Do you think loading so many lower leagues helps to bump up the number of great regens available?
Darren Smith
13 февраля, 2012 at 18:58
If you do not play with the database I am playing with (to add the lower leagues) then there is a good chance you may be missing out as all the best regens I’ve got came from like level 12!
Though I wouldn’t recommend using it unless you want to play in those leagues as it slows your game down.
PeeDub
13 февраля, 2012 at 19:14
Yeah, I had to look up Seaton Delaval Ams :)
riggsy
12 февраля, 2012 at 17:27
Congratulations on another great season mate! You are dominating the leagues, and I fully expect to you to keep on growing as quickly as you have so far. Good luck for next season :)
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 17:29
Thanks Riggsy, everything is panning out great and I can’t see us slowing down until the wage vs revenue becomes a problem, which should be in a year or two :)
Akash
12 февраля, 2012 at 17:47
I’ve been reading your story from the very post and I must say its been very inspiring and has led to me starting a challenge with Flixton (in the 9th tier like Scarbrough). Great job and I didnt expect you to steamroll this division as well.
I’ve got a question if you dont mind answering it. How do you actually scout players, do you trust your scouts judgement or literally go through as many profiles as possible and decide for yourself? On my Flixton save I’ve found a couple that might be good for a couple of divisions above but not many others
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 17:49
Thanks mate, good to hear you’re giving it go. As for the players, I do a mixture of both. I look at players my scouts recommend and I also filter search myself…if you do just one you’ll miss a lot of talent. If I’m not sure about a player I will always rely on my scout, but 9/10 times when you find a great player you just know.
TheZiggy
12 февраля, 2012 at 18:27
Another stunning season, totally dominating the league, with an outstanding margin over the rest of the teams. A shame to see your star striker go, but you’ve managed to replace him with another star.
Will be interesting to see how the lads step up to the next level, but I reckon it could be another good season ahead.
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 18:46
Thanks mate, I was a little gutted to see Shepherd go but as mentioned I already had Southern ready and Wolfe makes for a nice backup too.
MRDNRA
12 февраля, 2012 at 18:47
Well I suppose the rate you’re getting promoted it almost wouldn’t be surprising if you got consecutive promotions all the way to the Premier League then won the Premier League in the first season you were in it! Seriously, the rate you’re going is incredible, I reckon you’ll be in the PL in no more than 5 to 7 seasons. Some excellent transfers again, and a great deal in terms of selling Shepherd.
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 18:55
Thanks mate, I am just as shocked as you guys, I just look for the best players I can find and they keep surprising me. I reckon we can keep going but once I reach the Championship things may take a sharp turn for the worst as that seems to be where the biggest jump is and I can’t get a bigger stadium either.
Tyler
12 февраля, 2012 at 18:49
Wow, you got a great price for Shepherd. It hurts giving up a player of that quality, but it clearly is going to benefit the club going forward. Of course, using it for signings is nice, but at this point you aren’t likely to attract interest from expensive players. But, improving facilities, and staying in the black will go a long way! By the way, great January signings! You’re still buying young players that are above the level of the league you’re in, plus they should develop. What is your plan for next season, building depth?
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 19:14
Thanks Tyler, I agree with you on Shepherd, letting him go was for the best and I think we managed to invest well in January. Next season I want to invest in depth as you suggested and hopefully be ready for the level above yet again though the majority of my youth are there to stay for the next few seasons.
Ivo
12 февраля, 2012 at 20:52
How do you find those great AND free players ?
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 21:54
I have answered the same question so sorry for a cop and paste but it seems the easiest way to answer :)
Its all about patience, I do filtered searches under the attributes I want and add the age…problem is that without quality scouts not all the players available will show up…talking of scouts you need great ones as I found four of my better regens after scouts recommended them.
Jack
12 февраля, 2012 at 21:01
Fantastic story Darren keep it up! I don’t know where you’re finding all this talent, you need to do a guide to winning with scarborough like you did with Malaga, Great stuff! I think you’ll seal promotion to League 1 as don’t 3 teams get promoted? should be easy :P
Darren Smith
12 февраля, 2012 at 21:58
Thanks Jack, we’ll see how the next seasons go and then I may consider making a guide. You are right with what you said, three sides do get promoted so I think we can certainly come close.
Mitchell Moure
13 февраля, 2012 at 00:39
Another fantastic season Darren! You should give profiles of how Bob Shepherd is doing in the future, he’s a fantastic talent.
Darren Smith
13 февраля, 2012 at 11:49
I will keep tabs on Shepherd and co, hopefully they’ll become amazing, not get played and want to come back to Scarborough ;)
CsAtlantis
13 февраля, 2012 at 08:54
Wow, Shepherd going off for 2.3 million pounds has to be some sort of BSP record, I doubt that there are others who can claim to be sold off for that kind of money in this league
Congratulations Darren, you are finally back in the Football League, League 2 will be where the real test begins, but you have assembled a young and hungry squad and should have enough money to improve your squad as necessary, good luck, Southern’s goals will be important too next season as long as you can hang on to him
Darren Smith
13 февраля, 2012 at 11:50
Thanks mate, selling Shepherd was very important for our finances, if we’re to keep rising through the leagues it may be difficult to stop the wages spiraling out of control so the bank balance needs re boosting like this.
Ana Garcia
13 февраля, 2012 at 21:27
First of congratulations on yet another promotion!
I cant believe how much you got for Bob Shepherd! When I managed in the lower English leagues (a while ago now!) I only got a like £80k for my star players (and I was very happy with that!) so well done on a fantastic find.
Jonathon Southern looks almost exactly like Bob Shepherd that you sold, similar corner, free kick, penalty, determination, off the ball and pace.
Bob Shepherd was a better finisher but to sell a player for over £2million and have a player ready to take over who is almost the same is just good business.
Good to see you upgrade your facilities also and now are you a professional club?
Anyways the best of luck on next season, with your free scoring side, back to back promotions and eye for finding amazing young players am sure another promotion is on the cards.
Good luck! :)
Darren Smith
14 февраля, 2012 at 12:05
I agree Ana, the fee for Shepherd was great but its not often you find a player capable of playing for the bets clubs in the world in such a low league and that is what I see Shepherd as becoming. Hopefully Southern can live upto his early hype but the season is shaping up nicely and we are now professional.
Adam D
14 февраля, 2012 at 19:30
Well ….
*Tears up list of predictions made back on the 1st post*
….. shows how much I know about lower league Football Manager. :-)
Promoted every year, at this rate you’ll be in the Premiership teams need to start watching their backs.
Have any clubs tried to tempt you away from Scarborough yet?
Darren Smith
14 февраля, 2012 at 19:36
Thanks mate, its quite funny looking back at your list of expectations for the story, while I thought I might surprise you I never expected this ;)
As for the clubs, well I have been offered three EPL jobs and two Championship jobs but no one will tempt me away.
Simon
15 февраля, 2012 at 06:52
What an incredible story and great blog mate! Can’t believe you got 2.3mil for a non-league player, nice work! That’s a tip I might use, offering a player who won’t sign for well over their value providing there is interest.
Keep it up!
Darren Smith
15 февраля, 2012 at 17:41
Thanks Simon, that cash will certainly help the club and like you say the best way to get rid of players is to offer them out while they are in form and have interest from other clubs.
Bhargav
15 февраля, 2012 at 10:44
Wow, congratulations Darren! You have an eye for talent, that’s all I can say. Best of luck against the big boys :D
Darren Smith
15 февраля, 2012 at 17:39
Thanks mate, the save has been made much easier by these youngsters so lets hope they continue to pop up.
David Warner
16 февраля, 2012 at 12:09
It’s just ridiculous how well you’re doing. At this rate, Barcelona doesn’t stand a chance in a few years! Hahah. Well done :)
Darren Smith
16 февраля, 2012 at 18:24
Thanks mate, must admit I am still astounded by our progress but we are starting to feel untouchable, a very risky attitude to have. :)
Tegar Triemanudigdo
17 февраля, 2012 at 03:10
I can’t believe it! 5 seasons in a row and now the seadogs already in League Two! You simply awesome there! Those regen players must be helpful towards your journey! Keep up the good work and hopefully that you’ll reach the Premier League, or even Champions League if anything goes your plan!
P.S: Just wondering how many times have you saved the game until now?
Darren Smith
17 февраля, 2012 at 11:45
I am not a fan of that question as it usually leads to some very foolish and misplaced comments but I’ll answer it anyway, I am currently way ahead of this post in game but my saves equate to a save every 45 minutes and anyone who doesn’t save their game that often is asking to lose it…I use rolling save to help avoid losing the game if anything happens.
Stu
17 февраля, 2012 at 22:22
Good progress being made Darren. I can remember the sad days when Scarborough dropped out of Division 2(as it was then), and the club going defunct. Nice to see them, or at least their reincarnation going well.
Darren Smith
18 февраля, 2012 at 08:49
Cheers Stu, its been a weird rise to be honest but really great as a fan of the club…I’m hoping to take them well beyond the glory days of when I was a kid.
Wesley
10 апреля, 2012 at 08:53
You have done some great work with Scarborough. I just have a question regarding your tactics. Do you use the same tactic for each game or do you make changes to your tactic depending on the team you play against.
Darren Smith
10 апреля, 2012 at 11:54
Thanks mate, I generally keep my tactic the same, but if we’re away to a tough side I may change from attack strategy to counter.
Ryan N
17 апреля, 2012 at 00:53
Hi Darren,
Great work so far, I’ve followed your stories for a while now and enjoy them a lot, especially since I play the same tactic as you it works a treat. I just wanted to know how you compare your players to other clubs in the same division as you say above, what’s the process of how you do it?!
Thanks,
Ry
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2012 at 11:49
Its simple, I just look at the players I have in every position compared to the players in the same position at the top clubs…usually attribute wise and av. rating too.
Ryan N
17 апреля, 2012 at 15:00
Ok cool, I’ll give that a go. Do you usually buy players from attribute ratings/average ratings or through your scouts?
Darren Smith
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:48
A bit of everything to be honest. I rely on my scouts when the players are under 18 to see how much potential they have, because unless you cheat there is no other way of knowing if they can improve to a good level. Then I look at the players attributes to make sure they have decent stats in the areas I need…obviously if I need pace for a full back and he starts with a 9 rating in that area theres a good chance I may struggle to make him good enough for my system.