5 WSM Questions

[Karim]

1.) Does it ever pay to offer a player a squad status other than first team or key player? I'm playing as Vauxhall Motors in the Conference National so I can't see 'backup' or 'squad rotation system' being too attractive.

2.) What exactly do the arrows on the formation screen indicate? I've assumed it's 'area of responsibility' or 'area to run' but I've done some minor changes without seeing any noticeable difference on the pitch. I have a DM playing MC in a standard 4-4-2 but I put a diagonal from him back to the DM position, hoping he'd stay back in defence more. With creative freedom off, run with ball off, forward runs off, he's still wandering too far up the pitch even though attribute-wise, he should be my best player.

3) Does 'negative talk' ever pay? I discovered early that criticizing my squad after a game led to a morale drop. I try and limit my harshness. And I've never seen fit to engage with mind games with other managers. Maybe it's more prevalent at higher levels.

4) I have awful facilities and lost out on a good player because of it. I asked for the board to improve facilities during the season but it said there was no money. After the season, they offered me a contract. They gave me $18k in transfer money and reduced my salary budget from $300k to $275. I would have accepted a $0 transfer budget if they would have improved facilities. We ended up with ~$150k profit so I figured a new weight room and locker room was doable.

5) Loans have saved my bacon but is first team action at a low level (like the Conference North/South) much better than reserve or under-18 action in League One or Two?

This game is so addicting. http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...es/biggrin.gif I just managed to 'steal' a potential star striker - a 17 year old Man U youth player who wasn't renewed. My scout found him before any of the vultures and he's just ripping it up.

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Karim

1.) Does it ever pay to offer a player a squad status other than first team or key player? I'm playing as Vauxhall Motors in the Conference National so I can't see 'backup' or 'squad rotation system' being too attractive.

Yes. In the lower leagues you won't get much use out of it since you won't be able to afford a large squad. But as you move up in the divisions, offering older players backup status is a good way of keeping coverage in case of injuries, and plenty of young players will sign for hot prospect status as well. If you have a really good team, then incoming transfers are going to know that they'll likely only get limited playing time (unless they're superstars) and they'll sign for rotation squad status.

2.) What exactly do the arrows on the formation screen indicate? I've assumed it's 'area of responsibility' or 'area to run' but I've done some minor changes without seeing any noticeable difference on the pitch. I have a DM playing MC in a standard 4-4-2 but I put a diagonal from him back to the DM position, hoping he'd stay back in defence more. With creative freedom off, run with ball off, forward runs off, he's still wandering too far up the pitch even though attribute-wise, he should be my best player.

The arrows simply mean to go forward in attack, or to drop deep in defence. Therefore your DMC is actually playing a MC role until the ball is turned over, in which case he'll backtrack deep to the DMC role. This isn't really want you seem to want. When you have the ball he is pushing up the field to regain his MC role, and when you lose it, he's trying hard to fall back. If you want him solely as a defensive player, just put him on the DMC role, and then if you want him to contribute offensively, add forward runs or an arrow to midfield. That would probably work more the way you intended.

3) Does 'negative talk' ever pay? I discovered early that criticizing my squad after a game led to a morale drop. I try and limit my harshness. And I've never seen fit to engage with mind games with other managers. Maybe it's more prevalent at higher levels.

I've had teams turn around a bad run of form by using it. I think it has more effect if you are praising your players or sympathising with them alot after losses. Then one day you blow up at them, and they think, "Shit, I must have really been horrible on the pitch today."

4) I have awful facilities and lost out on a good player because of it. I asked for the board to improve facilities during the season but it said there was no money. After the season, they offered me a contract. They gave me $18k in transfer money and reduced my salary budget from $300k to $275. I would have accepted a $0 transfer budget if they would have improved facilities. We ended up with ~$150k profit so I figured a new weight room and locker room was doable.

When I had my facilities improved, it cost around 300k pounds, and that was to go from horrible to adequate.

5) Loans have saved my bacon but is first team action at a low level (like the Conference North/South) much better than reserve or under-18 action in League One or Two?

I would say it is. Especially under-18 since there are so many U18 players in league 1 and 2 that are never going to go anywhere.

[Desnudo]

1. You should be realistic in what you offer people. If you offer a squad player a contract as a key player, they will become unhappy when they aren't playing regularly.

2a. The arrow indicates where the player should go when his team has posession of the ball.

2b. What is his mentality set to? If it's attacking, he will try and go forward. Also if he doesn't have good decision making skills and positioning, he might get caught out.

3. I let my Asst. handle the team talks

4. I can think of serveral factors, how much money you have now, how much income/loss the board is expecting in the future, how much confidence they have in you, what the board personality is like

5. I think it somewhat depends on the level of training facility available. If the facilities are equal, then a player is probably better off playing competitive football in front of crowds.

[Karim]

Thanks for the responses.

[sovereignstar]

Piggyback

An appearance bonus has to do with any kind of appearance? Or are we talking about an international appearance?

[Blade6119]

any first team appearance

[klayman]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Piggyback

An appearance bonus has to do with any kind of appearance? Or are we talking about an international appearance?

For transfers? There are two. One for so many league appearances (and those are only league, not cups), and one for so many international appearances.

For contracts, I'm unsure. I think it would be for any senior squad game, so cups and european competitions would count in the bonus, but I could be wrong. I know that you don't give the bonus for reserve or U18 games, nor do you give it for any international appearances the player might make.

[Karim]

Make that 6 questions...

What is better, "Natural" or "Accomplished"? I was thinking accomplished but then I had a great game where everyone was set at their natural position, so I'm not quite sure.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Karim

Make that 6 questions...

What is better, "Natural" or "Accomplished"? I was thinking accomplished but then I had a great game where everyone was set at their natural position, so I'm not quite sure.

Natural. A guy can work to become accomplished at a position, but a natural position is something that he's born with.