[FM10] Annan Athletic: Disaster or Destiny...

[Cardiovascular]

Evening all,

I would post a history of Annan Athletic but their are no major titles from the Scottish Footballing divisions because of their recent inclusion. Most of their titles/trophies are lower regional leagues. If you don't follow Scottish Football, Annan Athletic replaced the now-defunct Gretna in the Scottish Third Division at the end of the 08/09 season and I'll hopefully guide them up the leagues. This is part of iacovone's Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation challenge.

Career Summary

Cups

| Season | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Challenge Cup |
|----------------------------------------------------|
| 10/11  |   4th Rnd    |   1st Rnd  |    1st Rnd    |
| 11/12  |   3rd Rnd    |   1st Rnd  |    3rd Rnd    |
| 12/13  |   4th Rnd    |   2nd Rnd  |    1st Rnd    |
|13/14   |   3rd Rnd    |   1st Rnd  |    2nd Rnd    |

League

|Season  | League | Finish |    Achievements   |
|----------------------------------------------|
|2010/11 |  SD3   |  5th   |       None        |
|2011/12 |  SD3   |  2nd   |  Lost in playoffs |
|2012/13 |  SD3   |  3rd   |  Lost in playoffs |
|2013/14 |  SD3   |  1st   |     Champions!    |

[Cardiovascular]

2010/11 - Annan Athletic

Media Prediction (10th) | Final League Table (5th) | League Graph

In all honesty, if we were basing this on August - December form, we didn't deserve to finish 5th. But it doesn't work like that, it's based on the entire season and after our form picked up, it all went right from there. After the victory over Scottish Division One side Stirling in the Scottish Cup, we lost 5 league games out of a possible 23. This lifted us away from 10th place and we began to soar up into the dizzying heights: at one point, there was even a chance of play-offs. But it was not to be, but I am really happy and satisfied with a 5th place finish.

Cups: Challenge Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup

The cups which came early on in the season were an absolute disaster. Thumped by Queen of the South and the recently relegated Kilmarnock in the Challenge and League Cup respectively. Even then, our shocking form only just saw us scrape past Lossiemouth to make the 3rd round. Chances looked slim against Stirling but then came the change of tactic and the change of the season. A 4-2-3-1 was deployed successfully and we eliminated Stirling to face yet another SD1 side, Morton. But it would be the SD1 side who'd make it into the bag for the 5th round as they deservedly eliminated us.

Annan Athletic Squad Stats | Transfers

Key Players

David Cox - David wasn't spectacular nor was he bad but he had good games, bad games, the odd great game and the odd awful game. But he scored 15 goals, making him our top scorer and you can't ask more than that from your lone striker.

Jamie McCluskey - Jamie joined late in the season around the time our form picked up and he may have been one of the reasons for it. A 4 week trial (trialists are allowed to play in the Scottish Divisions) saw him score 3 and set up 4 which was enough to offer him a permanent contract and he clearly enjoyed his stay, accepting our contract over the likes of Arbroath. He played very well but a torn hamstring meant he missed the last month of the season.

Mark Baxter - Another late arrival. Baxter arrived around the same time as McCluskey and he instantly strengthened the defence. His leadership qualities ensured the defence were tighter and made less mistakes and he made the right back spot his own in what was a great debut season.

Jean-Yves Anis - A great player for our side. He scored a few, assisted a few and generally played well. He did have his bad games (who doesn't?) but the majority were good/average games so he pleased me throughout the season.

[Cardiovascular]

2011/12 - Annan Athletic

Media Prediction (7th) | Final League Table (2nd) | League Graph

An unbelievably good season, regardless of our lack of success in the play-offs. It started alot better than last season and finished ALOT better than last season. We were hovering just outside the play-offs, occasionally moving up into them and then falling back out until there were 10 games to go where we hit a marvellous run of form, winning 8 out of a possible ten and picking up 25 points out of 30 which shot us up into second place and into the play-offs. Sadly, East Stirlingshire overpowered us at their place and despite pulling it back at Galabank, we lost out on penalties. A slightly disappointing end to the season but I'm sure we'll take heart from it and maybe push for the title next year.

Cups: Challenge Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup

We started well in the Challenge Cup by beating Albion Rovers of our division in a scrappy affair. We then knocked SD1 side Morton out on penaltyies before Partick Thistle were too strong for us and we succumbed to a defeat. The League Cup was never going to go well against Caley Thistle and we did well to keep the scoreline respectable against them. And the Scottish Cup was also ok, we breezed past Forres and almost caused an upset against Peterhead but they won it in stoppage time.

Annan Athletic Squad Stats | Transfers

Key Players

Thomas Cruise - Tom was our best player this year, probably defensively and throughout the squad. He was consistent, and sometimes covered the defensive midfield position. He was a rock on the left side and throughly deserves a mention here.

Diarmuid O'Carroll - An absolutely fantastic buy. He had his off games which may be why his average rating is so low but when he was on form, he was unstoppable. A late arrival to the squad but took no time to settle in, made the striker spot his own and finished with an excellent total of 18 goals, our top scorer.

Adam Pepper - Another late arrival. Adam Pepper joined after our scout found him following his release from Liverpool and he was a great addition. His ability to hit a great long shot and set up others meant he ousted Hewson out of the AMC spot and made it his. Good season for him, he contributed where neccessary.

Sam Hewson - Another fantastic signing if I do say so myself. Joined after the scout found him, was originally an AMC but upon Pepper's arrival, I slotted him into a support role as a DMC. He was fantastic, threading through balls for other players to get 9 assists and even popping up with the odd shot or free-kick.

[EvilDave]

A great first couple of season there Cardio, unlucky with the playoffs but I'm sure you can do it next year. Your four key players look great for that level of football, so if you can keep them you should be fine. What's the financial situation up at Annan? Any sign of a transfer budget or is it still a case of scrimping and saving for the time being?

[the greyham]

great thread. i admire your guts to do this in scotland. only once have i took a scotish 3rd div side to scot prem and when i got there it wasnt good fm2008 version. but some advise if you like, the difference between prem and div1 is massive so you may need a couple of seasons in div1 to build up a strong team so you can get a safe mid table in the prem then the following season.

i'm looking forward to following this thread

[Cardiovascular]

Thank you Dave. The financial situation is actually ok - there's been no transfer budget over the past two seasons but plenty of wage and this season, I got £1,000 which is nice. Although that could change after a Madrid based businessman took over. Whether he invests money remains to be seen.

Thanks for the advice greyham.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Mmmm... Madrid to Annan. That's a move not made every day. But then, you do have Tom Cruise in your team.

[Cardiovascular]

2012/13 - Annan Athletic

Media Prediction (5th) | Final League Table (3rd) | League Graph

This was quite a strange season. We were, compared to last season, awful yet we still finished third. I was amazed too find us near around the playoffs at Christmas. Form picked up for about two months which moved us into them... then form dropped again and we were lucky to scrape third. I was fearful for my job when a Spanish businessman tookover but he did let me keep my job so I was thankful for that. The playoffs were a disaster, I thought that a home first leg might mean we could've went through but I was wrong. I knew we were never scoring 3 goals to win away at Fife, and I was right. We couldn't even manage one. Hopefully next season will be a major improvement, I want this title!

Cups: Challenge Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup

I never expected to do well against Kilmarnock so we were trying to keep the score respectable. To an extent, we did but we should've done alot better. The League Cup was good, we beat our parent club (forced link by our ex-chairman) Morton in the first round by a goal and were trounced by Hearts in the next round at Tynecastle, but the experience was good. We needed a replay against Lossiemouth but we scraped through before beating fellow Highland League side Keith by three goals. But we were no match for Raith and unfortunately, we could not progress any further.

Annan Athletic Squad Stats | Transfers

Key Players

Adam Pepper - Our best player alongside Hewson, again. Almost finished as our top scorer but eventually he had to settle for the top assister. I can see some big clubs sniffing around but hopefully I can hold onto him for a while longer.

Sam Hewson - Joint best player with Pepper because he was our top scorer. Yes, our strikers were awful this year and Sam filled in nicely when needed. He was our captain and a fantastic leader for the season and hopefully next season as well.

Ignasi Miquel - Best defender. Chipped in with a few goals here and there and was solid at the back. Good season for the Spainish youngster.

[crouchaldinho]

Good challenge this Cardio. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

Getting closer to that first promotion!

[RichG]

3 nice players man. They should take your division by storm.

Just out of interest how do you get the colours on your attributes? I assume green in improving red declining and black non mover?

[Cardiovascular]

Nono Rich, I just edited the skin to colours that stood out. I'm not too keen on the colours for 1-5 (light red) and 6-10 (dark red)

[RichG]

is that easy to do then? change the colours for attribute changes

[Cardiovascular]

It is for downloaded skins but it's more difficult with the original skin.

For download ones, go to FM10/skins/[sKIN NAME]/settings

then edit the following part:

<!-- profile attribute colours -->
<colour name="low attribute" red="200" green="50" blue="50" />
       <colour name="normal attribute" red="60" green="10" blue="10" />
       <colour name="good attribute" red="50" green="250" blue="10" />
       <colour name="excellent attribute" red="0" green="200" blue="200" />

to whatever you want (that is my current layout)

[RichG]

i do not have any downloaded skins

Just starting mess about with changing the look of my game so will bare that in mind thanks. Makes it easier to identify a good player with those colours

[Cardiovascular]

2013/14 - Annan Athletic

Media Prediction (2nd) | Final League Table (1st) | League Graph

We got what I wanted. The title was ours with a game to spare. A truly great season - our steady improvements were all for this. Once we grabbed top spot, we never let go and although we looked like we may slip up late on, other results favoured us. In my opinion, I was deservedly named Manager of the Year. Bring on the Scottish Second Division!

Cups: Challenge Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup

The Challenge Cup saw us scrape through then beaten by a better team, likewise the League Cup, except without the scraping through part, we were overpowered completely by Livi. The Scottish Cup was the biggest disappointment this year, we were struggling against St Cuthbert but we did get through, unfortunately Cowdenbeath were better than us although we should have progressed.

Annan Athletic Squad Stats | Transfers

Key Players

Mark Smith - Mark was absolutely brilliant this year, the new boy settled in quickly enough to become our best player at the back. 5 MoM awards tells alot about his achievements this season; he also picked up Fans Player of the Year so he is a hit with them clearly.

Adam Waite - Another great buy. Despite having a difficult season with injuries, he chipped in with goals and assists from the AML spot and generally had a great season - he was named runner up in signing of the season.

Tom Cruise - As far as footballing came for us, he was as good as his namesake is in acting. Recovered from an average season last year to a have a great one this year.

Steve Maclean - Had his good games, had his bad games, had his great games and had his terrible games. Top scorer though and there isn't much you can ask for other than from a lone striker, can you?

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done Mr Bruce.

[RichG]

I see you have signed Dani Sanchez.

Very good signing