Championship Manager 2 96-97 - Taking Queen's Park to the top! - Season 3

After having my most successful season yet with Queen's Park; retaining the Challenge Cup, winning the League Cup and winning the Division Two championship it was time to review my transfer options with a view to beefing up the team for the season ahead! Unfortunately the club takes a hammering on "Other Costs" every season with that figure being always in or around the £1.1 Million area (I think it's to do with playing at Hampden Park? - joint home of the Scottish national side?) so transfer budget for the last 2 seasons, despite player sales has been slim, meaning any shopping I do is usually left to the end of season contract expirations. I brought in Centre Back; Mark Cowan and Left Winger; Stephen Cadden both from competition rivals Alloa (cheers lads!) as well as Centre Forward; Steve Flack from Cardiff who I am aniticpating will play more of an 'engine room' role as opposed to being an out and out goal scorer. My only other signing was young Forward; Ross McNab, from Hibs but I think he is more of a player for the future than being someone who slots straight into the squad.

I also made John Martin's move to Hampden Park from Hibs permanent after he joined us on loan last season to cover injuries to McLauchlan and Osborne. Of the three Osborne has been the weakest and as a result finds himself surplus to requirement. But optimistically, I'm pleased with my acquisitions and hopeful they'll have an impact as we kick off football in the First Division! But first there is the small matter of welcoming a little team from Turkey to Hampden Park as, thanks to the League Cup win, we qualify for Preliminary qualification to the UEFA Cup! Our first jaunt in Europe! And we found ourselves matched up against Besiktas in the Prelim stage.

After besting them 3-1 at home and securing a 1-1 draw away in Turkey we then went on to face Denmark's Lyngby who we smashed 4-2 at home and played out a 0-0 draw away to be drawn against last years Semi Finalists; Newcastle in the Second Round. Potentially the worst draw we could have actually got. Newcastle were just a totally different class and they obliterated us 5-0 at their place and 6-2 at our place meaning our adventures in Europe abruptly stopped there. A defeat the Board referred to as "Very Disappointing"... I think these people need to remember that 2 seasons ago we were playing the bottom tier of Scottish football! Ultimately Newcastle went on to lose in the final to Rangers so we can at least take solace in knowing we were knocked out by the Cup Finalists!

Meanwhile though back in Scotland our start to the domestic campaign was progressing OK, we unfortunately weren't able to get passed Premier League Motherwell in the 2nd Round of the League Cup meaning we won't be retaining that this season, but we picked up results against Third Division Forfar, First Division Alloa and First Division Dundee United to achieve a spot in the Challenge Cup final and some decent league results against Dundee, Falkirk and Clydebank saw us sitting semi-comfortably in second place after 11 games. Pretty good by my reckoning but apparently not good enough for the men in the Executive suite who sent me a message stipulating they "expected a higher League position." Higher than 2nd. So... top then?... I feel a bit taken for granted to be honest. A reminder: 2 years ago we were sat in the lowest tier of Scottish football... and we are currently pushing Dundee for a spot in the highest tier of Scottish football. Our success has been remarkable! Oh, and on the subject of success:

It was a bit of a cagey affair but we managed to get passed Second Division Queen of the South, who played very well, to retain the Challenge Cup for the third time, and potentially the last should we achieve promotion as Scottish Premier League sides don't compete in it. A bit of a shame really as I feel a bit like it's our tournament now! The team also treated me to a nice belated Christmas Present with a new record win after we battered Dundee 6-0 at home:

Steve Flack, who I signed more as provider than goal scorer coming through with a hat-trick! Also interesting fact, I nearly signed Sergei Rebrov but couldn't afford the transfer fee the tribunal set. So Steve Flack joined us instead! Thanks largely to this win, by January, 19 games into the season we finally matched the Board's expectations and moved into first place above Dundee.

Our good form continued with key wins over Alloa and Falkirk as well as a fantastic 4-1 win against Premier League St. Johnstone in the Scottish FA Cup 3rd round, a brilliant 4-2 result over Premier League Motherwell in the 4th round to pay them back for knocking us out the League Cup and a 3-0 win over Raith Rovers in a Quarter Final replay as we couldn't break through their defences in a 0-0 draw at Kirkcaldy. League form continued to be positive as we opened up a 9 point gap over Dundee which increased to a 12 point gap as April came around and a message came through that we had done enough to at least secure a playoff place. However our FA Cup run came to end when we weren't able to best Celtic in the Semi and they beat us 3-1. I was secretly a bit disappointed but I think we did well to get that far really, knocking x2 Premier League teams out in the process.

However it may have had a knock on effect on the team morale as we then went on to lose to Falkirk 3-0 and bottom of the League; Stirling 2-0, the worst result of the season so far for me. However Dundee's form also appeared to falter and with only 3 games left to play they weren't able to get the better of Brechin (cheers lads) meaning with a 9 point gap we took the League Championship and automatic promotion to the Premier League.

The Board we delighted, and I should bloody hope so really because you put enough pressure on us! However with the title clinched our form continued to suffer for the last x3 games of the season. We handily beat Clydebank 4-2, but couldn't rescue anything more than a 2-2 draw against 9th placed Dundee United and were soundly beaten 2-1 by Brechin in the final game of the season in a game we were never really in. An anti-climactic end to what had been, broadbrushly speaking, a relatively successful season. Player of the season goes to reliable Right Winger; Scott Edgar;

Who has featured in our team as first choice Right Wing since Season 1 and assumed the mantle of Captain this season when David Graham struggled to retain a place in the squad. Top Goal scorer was once again split between x2 players with new signing; Steve Flack picking up 16 goals in all appearances:

And 18 assists! Replacing Robert Scott as first choice Forward who despite being a top scorer for us in Division Three and Division Two had an abysmal start to the season and quickly found himself left out. Equally despite racking up 16 goals;

Peter Dwyer also had a very mixed season, often under performing and struggling meaning he eventually found his spot taken by Joseph West and Ross McNab, the former of which appears to be really developing as a player now and I hope will cement a spot up front for us in the Premier League. Justin Cameron once again was the man pulling the strings in Midfield for us;

His 30 Assists this season a new record for the club and despite a slightly low average rating, just inside a sub 7/10, still a key player in our first eleven. It has been something of a transitional season though and players that I considered key members of the squad; Peter Dwyer, Robert Scott, Dominic Callan, David Graham, James Ward, all struggled with their form and in some cases found their spots taken up by new signings. Equally I have my doubts if Stuart Garden can really cut it for Premier League football but Goalkeeper options for next year currently look slim.

Thanks to clinching the Division One title I also completed a personal hat-trick of Manager of the Year awards with the Division One MOTY award this season, but my attention now turns to building for next season. As has been the case for the past x3 seasons I will once again be relying on the free transfer market to strengthen the squad ready for Premier League competition and I have my eye on a handful of targets. At time of writing - I don't know how it's going to go yet but there's a few lads from Eastern Europe that have caught my eye...