Welcome back to Edinburgh and you join us at the end of season four and the end of our debut campaign in the Scottish Premier League. This season was never going to be easy, with limited funds, a small squad and a real lack of quality in the squad, but we were well up for the fight!
Summer Transfer Window
One of the biggest challenges we have faced and will face in this save is money. The club does not have a wealthy owner and prize money in Scotland is not lucrative. There are only two ways that we will generate enough money to challenge at the elite level in Europe. The first is to consistently qualify and reach the group stage of European competitions. The second is to buy young players and sell them on for a healthy fee. None of which we have been able to do so far. At this stage, we need to qualify for Europe as soon as possible to improve our financial stature.
As we had imagined, the board did not give us much to work with and it would be another summer window where we looked to rely on free transfers and loan signings to bolster the squad. We are yet to even pay a fee for any player which is quite remarkable at this stage.
A fairly predicable summer of outs, with players leaving on frees to free up some wage budget but also a couple of transfer fees received. Daniel Cummings leaves for a club record of £15,000, along with Jordan Eastham and Jadel Katongo who both failed to make the cut in the Championship.
With a sizeable chunk of the wage budget freed up, we were able to go and add some real quality to the squad. It was clear before the season that we had two options. Either we go for quality over quantity and have a stronger but smaller squad with the potential for injuries to hamper us. Alternatively, we could have gone with higher number of low quality players but giving us a bigger squad. We opted for quality.
In addition to the above, we were also able to bring in Jarell Quansah, Max Davies, Caleb Ansen and Cenk Gamblen on season long loans from Liverpool, Blackburn, Norwich and Derby respectively. Whilst I won’t go through all of the new signings, it’s worth highlighting the key incomings by position.
Goalkeeper
After a blind panic where Norwich wouldn’t accept my loan offer, they eventually agreed to let us have Caleb Ansen back for another season. I do very much think this will be his last season with us as he is outstanding and I am sure he will either be playing for Norwich very soon, or snapped up by a top club.
Defenders
Given that we had just been promoted to the top flight, defensive reinforcements was key if we had any hope of survival. We were incredibly lucky to secure Jarell Quansah on a season long loan, alongside Max Davies. We then also opted for a new right back in the form of Kayne Ramsay who had just had an incredible year at Harrogate. Part of our philosophy and success so far has been giving one of our wing backs a free licence to attack and Ramsay will certainly get that opportunity.
Midfielders
Incredibly, Derby were willing to let us have Cenk Gamblen on loan for the entire season. He is an elite talent and slots in as our Mezz. Harry Clifton arrives as our new defensive midfielder and he looks a solid option to operate as an Anchor for us in this system. Valdes Ngana arrives from Juventus as the natural successor to Saliou Faye and we will benefit from valuable game time this season. Finally, Jacob Sorenson, formerly of Norwich arrives to add some experience into the squad.
Forwards
With Dane Scarlett well prepared to lead the line in the Premiership, we bolstered our options out on the wing. Ronald Banda arrived on loan from Bristol City and he is some player for 18. We also brought one of his teammates with him in Dave Harris who will operate out on the left. Finally, we had a homecoming with Max McFadden signing on a two year deal after his release from Leeds.
Domestic Cup Competitions
As always, we start the season with my favourite competition, the Viaplay Cup. It was always the best domestic competition, right?
Correct. What a competition this is. We pick up our first domestic cup as we beat city rivals Hearts on penalties in the final. It certainly wasn’t a final for the ages but all that matters is that the trophy came back to the right club in Edinburgh. A fantastic achievement for the club and for the fans.
With one cup in the bag, could we complete the domestic cup double? No.
A disappointing campaign in the Scottish Cup although we were rather stiffed with a fourth round tie away at Rangers. We looked to have it in the bag with 20 minutes left on the clock but Hagi and Lammers had other ideas.
Cinch Premiership
An absolutely outstanding first 5 months in the SPL as we only lose twice, to Falkirk and Hearts. Some huge results thrown in there, including a 3-1 win over Celtic and two wins over Rangers in convincing fashion! Surely we couldn’t? We were simply looking to survive in the SPL at the start of the season.
No real business of note in the January transfer window, except for Everton sniffing around Saliou Faye. We turned down an offer from the Merseyside club as there just wasn’t enough cash up front to make it worthwhile. They’ll be back in the summer for sure.
By some miracle, our incredible form kept on going and as we reached the final game of the season, we needed a win over Celtic to qualify for the Champions League. Sadly, all we could muster was a 0-0 meaning that we have to settle for a spot in the Europa League qualifying stages.
I could not have imagined that this season would go so well for us. We entered the season with a small but talented squad and they have surpassed all expectations. Another Spartans season for the history books! Clearly we are still some way off being able to challenge Rangers for the title but we must now build on this and become a domestic force.
Player Performance
Like an idiot, I forgot to screenshot full player performance statistics for last year, so you will have to do without photographic evidence!
Dane Scarlett lead the way in front of goal with 20 goals for the season. He was closely followed by Ronald Banda who struck 14 times and got 10 assists from his wide right position.
Cenk Gamblen was by far and away our player of the season as he dominated the midfield. The 18 year-old finished with an average rating of 7.23 and 9 goals and 17 assists. You should never get attached to loan players but he will be sorely missed.
On the development front, our youth intake was pretty poor with nobody to write home about. The shining light for us was Darragh Gielty who spent the first half of the season out on loan at Arbroath. He then returned at a time where we had a right back crisis and he got some well deserved minutes in the tank.
We’ve tied him down until the end of 2029 and his value has rocketed to between £3m-£6m. Rangers are currently sniffing around and if they come in with a sensible offer then we may well be resigned to letting him leave.
Finances
With a very successful season behind us, we see a hugely positive impact on the club’s finances. Prize money was the biggest income with our third placed finish. For the first time in this save, we finally have a financial balance to build from.
A balance of £1.6 million is the best position the club has ever been in and is a testament to what has been achieved on the pitch. Sadly, in comparison to Celtic and Rangers, this is just a drop in the ocean. Unless we get some sort of takeover, we are going to have to rely on player sales and a good European run to really get the numbers moving in the right direction.
Looks like we are going to have to do it the hard way this summer. It’s going to be a pivotal window for us as a lot of our key players will return to their parent clubs and it looks like none will return for another season. Our wage budget has hardly increased and we have a lot of players due to leave on a free.
Save Objectives
As we hit the end of our fourth season, we can now start to review the progress being made in relation to the save objectives.
(A) De-throne Celtic and Rangers – we’ve got a little way to go on this front and I wouldn’t consider this achieved until we regularly pip them both to the title.
(B) Become the best team in Edinburgh – arguably, we have achieved this with our results over city rivals and our league position but I think we need to review this at the end of next season. If we finish above them both again then I would say it’s job done.
(C) Manage the Scottish National team – I have been monitoring this closely as Scotland are not performing well under Steve Clarke but his job remains stable. Maybe next year?
(D) Improve the nation’s co-efficient rankings – there has been considerable improvement this year, although through no direct input on our behalf.
A rise in the rankings which puts us in 14th position as we leapfrog Czechia.
Still a long way to go until we look at breaking into the top 10 but another strong season for co-efficient points. Celtic reached the quarter-final stages of the Europa League before bowing out to Benfica 3-1 on aggregate. Rangers played in the League Phase of the Champions League but couldn’t make it any further.
Hibs lost out to Brighton in the Conference League qualifications stages whilst St Johnstone did the same, losing to FK RFS of Latvia.
Next season sees five Scottish sides in Europe, with Aberdeen and Hearts in the Conference League qualifiers.
Close
A truly remarkable season for little old Spartans. To think, we’ve had three promotions on the bounce and just finished third in our first season in the top flight. We mustn’t get carried away as the hard work starts now. Our finances need to improve for us to put up a fight in Europe and to topple Celtic and Rangers.
It is imperative that we make it into a European group stage next season to bring in the money. This summer will be tough, a lot of players are leaving and the funds are not there to bring in top talent. We must be wise and we must recruit well. Until next time!
The FM Library 
Leave a comment