Passacaglia's FM Questions

[Passacaglia]

Of course, others are free to jump in with their own!

1. When I'm looking at tactics, are instructions pre-set? Are they based on position alone, or does each tactic have its own set of instructions?

2. Let's say I'm in the 4-4-2 tactic, and I want to switch to a 5-3-2. I put a defender in at forward, then move him back to defender. Is that defender's instructions those of a forward, or are they smiliar to the other defenders?

3. If I sell a player, do I pay his release fee?

4. If a player's contract expires and I cut him, do I pay his release fee?

5. What attributes make a good playmaker or target man?

6. What's the difference between a forward and a striker?

7. The manual says something about a contract being protected for 2 or 3 years (depending on age), but it also says something about protected until 6 months are left. Which is it?

8. Does it matter what my starting lineup is during the week (i.e. when I'm not playing a game that day)? Does it affect morale, training, etc?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

[Ajaxab]

I'm no expert at this, but I'll give these questions a shot.

1. When I'm looking at tactics, are instructions pre-set? Are they based on position alone, or does each tactic have its own set of instructions?

The instructions preset according to the standard tactic you load. Switching from a 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2 will change some of your team instructions. If I remember right, it will only change your team instructions and not your individual player instructions. You can load in position specific instructions at the individual tactic screen.

2. Let's say I'm in the 4-4-2 tactic, and I want to switch to a 5-3-2. I put a defender in at forward, then move him back to defender. Is that defender's instructions those of a forward, or are they smiliar to the other defenders?

I'm not sure I'm remembering this one right, but I think that a player's instructions will not go with him if he switches positions with another player, but will go with him if you move him to a place on the pitch another player has not occupied previously. For example, if I sub a defender in for one of my forwards and move him behind my back four, I'm pretty sure I need to alter his individual instructions.

3. If I sell a player, do I pay his release fee?

No, the other team pays his release fee. If you can get away with it, try to negotiate contracts with your best players that do not include release fees. A release fee allows another team to purchase that player for the release fee amount whether you want to sell him or not. I got screwed over the other day when my best player refused to sign a new contract and had a 30 million pound release fee. He was probably worth twice that much, but I could only get his release fee amount and that sucked.

You can also use the release fee to your advantage if you want a player who has one in his contract to force that club to let him go. Just offer the release fee amount and the club cannot reject the offer.

4. If a player's contract expires and I cut him, do I pay his release fee?

No.

5. What attributes make a good playmaker or target man?

It's my understanding that a good playmaker will typically be your best offensive midfielder or a forward playing 'in the hole' behind the two strikers. You will want good passers with excellent creativity, off the ball, anticipation and decision-making skills. It might be a bit of a stretch to compare, but a playmaker might be kind of like a point guard who spreads the ball around to get your team it's best chance at a goal.

A target man will be the forward/striker who is the one who will have balls lobbed into the penalty area so he can head them on to another striker or put them in the back of the net. Look for guys with strength, good jumping and heading skills.

6. What's the difference between a forward and a striker?

This is one I'm not entirely clear on. It's my understanding that a forward generally has better setup skills than a striker and a striker generally has better finishing skills. This isn't true in all cases. It doesn't make any difference tactically if the player has the skills I'm looking for as far as I'm concerned.

7. The manual says something about a contract being protected for 2 or 3 years (depending on age), but it also says something about protected until 6 months are left. Which is it?

At a certain point in a player's career (I'm guessing 18), they can be signed without any compensation going to the team who owns them. However, I'm a bit confused about this one too because some players have unprotected contracts into the mid 20s. I'm not sure about the criteria for whose is unprotected and whose is protected.

8. Does it matter what my starting lineup is during the week (i.e. when I'm not playing a game that day)? Does it affect morale, training, etc?

As far as I know, it has no effect.

[Marc Vaughan]

1. When I'm looking at tactics, are instructions pre-set? Are they based on position alone, or does each tactic have its own set of instructions?
Each tactic has its own particular instruction set for players and team.

The CPU customises its own according to the managers preference and the strengths and weaknesses of his players available.

2. Let's say I'm in the 4-4-2 tactic, and I want to switch to a 5-3-2. I put a defender in at forward, then move him back to defender. Is that defender's instructions those of a forward, or are they smiliar to the other defenders?
Depends on how you move him around, if you place him into a 'blank' position then he'll take his current instructions - if you swap him with a player then he'll take those of the player he's replaced as a default.

3. If I sell a player, do I pay his release fee?
No, he's agreed the move so you don't have to pay him off.

4. If a player's contract expires and I cut him, do I pay his release fee?
No - he's out of contract so its ok to release him.

5. What attributes make a good playmaker or target man?
Play-maker - good technical and passing skills (ie. off the ball, passing, technique, vision)
Target Man - good physical and heading skills (ie. jumping, heading, strength)

What good means is dictated by the team you're at - aim for 10+ in minor teams and 15+ in larger ones as a very rough rule of thumb.

The skills I've listed will give you a 'basic' player in those positions, additional abilities will give him a more flexible and useful role in your team (ie. you don't REALLY want a target man to only be any good at heading).

6. What's the difference between a forward and a striker?
A forward can operate as an AMC as well as a striker, also generally speaking a striker is an out and out goal-scorer, a forward tends to also be a provider.

7. The manual says something about a contract being protected for 2 or 3 years (depending on age), but it also says something about protected until 6 months are left. Which is it?
Both unfortunately (soccers complicated at the best of times).

If a player used under 2/3 years of his contract from its start date its protected BUT if he's got under 6 months left on it then its 'effectively' un-protected as club can approach him (under a slightly different ruling, but same thing happens).

8. Does it matter what my starting lineup is during the week (i.e. when I'm not playing a game that day)? Does it affect morale, training, etc?
Not currently - but its something I'm thinking about ..


Hope this helps,

Marc

[WSUCougar]

A forward can operate as an AMC as well as a striker, also generally speaking a striker is an out and out goal-scorer, a forward tends to also be a provider
Marc, did you intentionally say AMC instead of AM? Is that just center and not right or left, or am I misunderstanding?

[Bee]

Marc, did you intentionally say AMC instead of AM? Is that just center and not right or left, or am I misunderstanding?

I think that was unintentional...I have a forward I play as my AML and he's very effective on the wing.

[Huckleberry]

3. If I sell a player, do I pay his release fee?

No, the other team pays his release fee. If you can get away with it, try to negotiate contracts with your best players that do not include release fees. A release fee allows another team to purchase that player for the release fee amount whether you want to sell him or not. I got screwed over the other day when my best player refused to sign a new contract and had a 30 million pound release fee. He was probably worth twice that much, but I could only get his release fee amount and that sucked.

You can also use the release fee to your advantage if you want a player who has one in his contract to force that club to let him go. Just offer the release fee amount and the club cannot reject the offer.
Marc -

This brings up a possible bug. I have a midfielder with a minimum fee release clause for £10M. He significantly overperforms compared to his ratings but he won't sign a new contract even though I've gotten him to Europe and we've spent this season in the top two of the premiership. I've been getting a lot of offers in the £8.5-9.5M range. When I get those, I respond with a counterproposal in the £20M range and they inevitably withdraw their offer. Why? They should know about the minimum release fee, right?

Also, someone finally offered £10M for him. They gave a response deadline. I ignored it. Never responded. The offer went away.

Guy is still on my squad. I'm not above taking advantage of program loopholes in single player universes with my limited time. But I figure you should know if it is indeed a loophole so it can be closed in the future.

[FrogMan]

Marc -

This brings up a possible bug. I have a midfielder with a minimum fee release clause for £10M. He significantly overperforms compared to his ratings but he won't sign a new contract even though I've gotten him to Europe and we've spent this season in the top two of the premiership. I've been getting a lot of offers in the £8.5-9.5M range. When I get those, I respond with a counterproposal in the £20M range and they inevitably withdraw their offer. Why? They should know about the minimum release fee, right?

Also, someone finally offered £10M for him. They gave a response deadline. I ignored it. Never responded. The offer went away.

Guy is still on my squad. I'm not above taking advantage of program loopholes in single player universes with my limited time. But I figure you should know if it is indeed a loophole so it can be closed in the future.
I've had this happen to me once too, thought it was a bit stupid of them to let it go. I'll now consider this a loophole and will restrict myself from doing this, sort of hous rules style. Agreed that is should be closed in the future, especially since if I find a good/great player with a low minimum release fee clause, I know I will pounce on the opportunity...

FM

[Passacaglia]

I've had this happen to me once too, thought it was a bit stupid of them to let it go. I'll now consider this a loophole and will restrict myself from doing this, sort of hous rules style. Agreed that is should be closed in the future, especially since if I find a good/great player with a low minimum release fee clause, I know I will pounce on the opportunity...

FM

I don't get it.

[Passacaglia]

It's my understanding that a good playmaker will typically be your best offensive midfielder or a forward playing 'in the hole' behind the two strikers. You will want good passers with excellent creativity, off the ball, anticipation and decision-making skills. It might be a bit of a stretch to compare, but a playmaker might be kind of like a point guard who spreads the ball around to get your team it's best chance at a goal.

A target man will be the forward/striker who is the one who will have balls lobbed into the penalty area so he can head them on to another striker or put them in the back of the net. Look for guys with strength, good jumping and heading skills.

This is strange -- it seems almost exactly the opposite of what I thought they were.

[FrogMan]

I don't get it.
Say a player has a minimum release fee clause at $5M. This means if another team comes to you and offers $4.5M, you can reject their offer, but if they offer the value of the minimum fee clause, $5M in this case, you HAVE to accept their offer, even if the player is worth tons more.

What happened in my case is I had a player valued at $13M, with a contract negotiated a year before that when the player was worth half that and we had agreed to a minimum release fee clause at $10M. So this comes and enquires as to how much I'd want for that player. Remember, the player is valued at about $3M over the minimum fee clause, so that team could have come to me and offered me $10M and I would have had to accept the offer that I want it or not. Instead, they simply enquired to see how much I'd want for him. I tell them $26M. They get back to me and withdraw they offer, which is stupid, they should have known about the minimum fee release clause and offered simply that amount, no matter what I said in response to their enquiry...

Hope this helps...

FM

[FrogMan]

Dola, to add to the second part of what I was saying. If you see a player valued at $15M, with crazy skills, and the team that has him made the mistake of signing him to a contract with a minimum release fee set at $5M, he could turn out to be quite a bargain, as you can get him for only $5M, virtually gaining $10M...

I did that when I signed Keigan Parker. He was valued at over a few millions, but had a minimum release fee set to only $300k, so I offered them $300k and they had to accept that offer. He turned out to be very helpful and led my team in goals scored the following season...

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

Marc, did you intentionally say AMC instead of AM? Is that just center and not right or left, or am I misunderstanding?
Sorry meant AM - if he's a FR for instance then he can operate as a AMR etc.

Force of habit because there aren't many FR or FL's in the game.

[Marc Vaughan]

Marc -

This brings up a possible bug. I have a midfielder with a minimum fee release clause for £10M. He significantly overperforms compared to his ratings but he won't sign a new contract even though I've gotten him to Europe and we've spent this season in the top two of the premiership. I've been getting a lot of offers in the £8.5-9.5M range. When I get those, I respond with a counterproposal in the £20M range and they inevitably withdraw their offer. Why? They should know about the minimum release fee, right?

Also, someone finally offered £10M for him. They gave a response deadline. I ignored it. Never responded. The offer went away.

Guy is still on my squad. I'm not above taking advantage of program loopholes in single player universes with my limited time. But I figure you should know if it is indeed a loophole so it can be closed in the future.

Release clauses only trigger if a club offers the value in cash - if they have clauses or staged payments then the clause doesn't trigger.

IRL and in the game clauses aren't always known about* - in the game CPU managers may or may not be aware of them depending upon their personalities and attributes and knowledge of the player in question.

At the moment all such clauses are visible to humans, which is something I'm probably going include in the fog-of-war mask at some point in the future (ie. you won't know he's got a clause until someones checked him out).

I remember a player leaving Leeds a few years back who pissed off his new club because his agent didn't mention he had a release clause and they paid well over it ....

[Marc Vaughan]

This is strange -- it seems almost exactly the opposite of what I thought they were.
Play-makers come in many shapes and sizes, for instance you can have:

* Defensive play-maker
This is someone who's good on the ball and who will hold it up, looking around for a decent outlet for starting an attack from the back.

* Creative play-maker
This is someone who's a creative flair player who either plays in midfield or behind the forwards who is likely to make the 'killer' pass which sets up a goal.

Alternatively you can use the play-maker like a 'funnel' ..

* Killer play-maker
This is a player who you simply want to get the ball to at his feet, Hayler Emmenea* (regen in my game) plays this role for my Cambridge City team, he's a striker who I've given a run backwards to - he's set as a play-maker and to run with the ball and be as selfish as possible.

He's easily the most gifted player on my side (value £15m and rising) and my entire game strategy currently consists of him dropping off from the defense picking up the ball and running at the opposition .... works pretty well, especially as he's not a particularly selfish player and so despite my instructions will still sometimes offload the ball to other players once he's sucked the defense into him with his silky dribbling skills.

*He's past his peak now, but to give you an idea of his talent - he's got Dribbling, Finishing of 20, Composure, Concentration, Technique, Off the ball of 18, Pace 12, Creativity, Decisions, Acceleration of 16 .... not quite as good as he was in him prime but you can see why this tactic works with him :D

[FrogMan]

Release clauses only trigger if a club offers the value in cash - if they have clauses or staged payments then the clause doesn't trigger.

IRL and in the game clauses aren't always known about* - in the game CPU managers may or may not be aware of them depending upon their personalities and attributes and knowledge of the player in question.

At the moment all such clauses are visible to humans, which is something I'm probably going include in the fog-of-war mask at some point in the future (ie. you won't know he's got a clause until someones checked him out).

I remember a player leaving Leeds a few years back who pissed off his new club because his agent didn't mention he had a release clause and they paid well over it ....
Makes a whole lot of sense that way. Never thought that we were able to see all of this and not the CPU manager.

Including this in the fog-of-war is certainly a good idea IMO, it is probably true that you shouldn't know everything that is written on everybody's contract on other teams. Same could go with unhappy players that did not make it public that they want to leave their club. I mean, it's easy now to go on a player's profile when you see the "Unh" tag and see why he's unhappy and read that he wants to leave on a Bosman transfer, but I would have never known about it had I not looked at his team's roster. But in real life, you don't know that stuff by looking at a sheet of paper with players names on it...

Thanks for the clarification Marc.

Anything about the game day injuries?

FM

[Passacaglia]

So let's say I'm shopping for players, and I see one with a low release fee clause. I put in the bid for him, and it's accepted. Does that mean I pay the team the amount of the transfer bid, then I pay the player the amount of the release fee?

No, the other team pays his release fee.

[FrogMan]

So let's say I'm shopping for players, and I see one with a low release fee clause. I put in the bid for him, and it's accepted. Does that mean I pay the team the amount of the transfer bid, then I pay the player the amount of the release fee?
A "minimum fee release clause" is not an extra fee you have to pay to sign the player, it's the minimum bid needed to cause the other team to be forced to let go of the player. Try it when you find a player with such a clause, go to the "make an offer" screen and make the value of your offer go up by increment (without clicking the "make offer" button). At first, you see something about the fact that this player as a minimum fee release of xxx dollars. Then, as you hit that threshold, it will say something like "this offer has to be accepted as it meets an active minimum release fee clause" or something to that effect...

FM

[Passacaglia]

Ah, okay, I think that explains it. I guess I was confused because a team made an offer, and the game mentioned what his minimum fee release clause is. Then I clicked on it, and the value of the transfer bid either increased by that amount or to that amount (I forget which). I just thought maybe clicking that number was telling the other team to pay the clause instead of me. But now I get it.

[FrogMan]

Marc -

This brings up a possible bug. I have a midfielder with a minimum fee release clause for £10M. He significantly overperforms compared to his ratings but he won't sign a new contract even though I've gotten him to Europe and we've spent this season in the top two of the premiership. I've been getting a lot of offers in the £8.5-9.5M range. When I get those, I respond with a counterproposal in the £20M range and they inevitably withdraw their offer. Why? They should know about the minimum release fee, right?

Also, someone finally offered £10M for him. They gave a response deadline. I ignored it. Never responded. The offer went away.

Guy is still on my squad. I'm not above taking advantage of program loopholes in single player universes with my limited time. But I figure you should know if it is indeed a loophole so it can be closed in the future.

Release clauses only trigger if a club offers the value in cash - if they have clauses or staged payments then the clause doesn't trigger.

IRL and in the game clauses aren't always known about* - in the game CPU managers may or may not be aware of them depending upon their personalities and attributes and knowledge of the player in question.

At the moment all such clauses are visible to humans, which is something I'm probably going include in the fog-of-war mask at some point in the future (ie. you won't know he's got a clause until someones checked him out).

I remember a player leaving Leeds a few years back who pissed off his new club because his agent didn't mention he had a release clause and they paid well over it ....
Marc, sorry to bring this up about a week late, but I don't think you addressed the second of his issues. Is this a known bug? I'm asking because it has happened to me in the past, where a team put in an offer that meet the minimum release fee, with a certain deadline. I never responded to the offer and it went away. Thing is, it happened when I played yesterday and I couldn't bring myself to simply let it slip (because I felt it was like cheating) and even though I'm about certain it would have gone away had I let the deadline simply go by, I decided to respond a couple days before deadline and I accepted the offer, as I had to do, since I had agreed a deal with the player... If it's a known bug, you think it could be fixed?

Another question on this, more of a IRL kind of thing. Who legislates these things in real life? I mean, if a team puts in a bid for a player, who's the police who says "FREEZE, THIS BID HAS TO BE ACCEPTED!!!"?

Thanks in advance!

FM

[AlexB]

Another question on this, more of a IRL kind of thing. Who legislates these things in real life? I mean, if a team puts in a bid for a player, who's the police who says "FREEZE, THIS BID HAS TO BE ACCEPTED!!!"?

Thanks in advance!

FM

That's a damned good question: I guess as the agent/player involved would know the contract they negotiated, it would be public knowledge fairly quickly if a bid that met the minimum release fee was rejected - then FIFA/UEFA/the countries FA would deal with the situation

A little bit of knowledge I've not let slip yet, my old man used to be the Secretary (would now be known as GM) of a couple of major(ish) football teams and was involved in a number of contract mediations - I'll ask him when he gets back from holiday

[Marc Vaughan]

Another question on this, more of a IRL kind of thing. Who legislates these things in real life? I mean, if a team puts in a bid for a player, who's the police who says "FREEZE, THIS BID HAS TO BE ACCEPTED!!!"?
Its a legal thing - its the player who exercises the final say on such things, the clause indicates that the player MUST be allowed the option to leave if a bid is over a certain amount ... this is why its in the players contract.

If a club failed to live up to this side of things then they would violate the contract with the player - leading to the player walking anyway (for free after a legal battle most likely).

[FrogMan]

Its a legal thing - its the player who exercises the final say on such things, the clause indicates that the player MUST be allowed the option to leave if a bid is over a certain amount ... this is why its in the players contract.

If a club failed to live up to this side of things then they would violate the contract with the player - leading to the player walking anyway (for free after a legal battle most likely).
Okay, makes sense (the legal battle, the fact it's in the contract and that a contract binds both parties to some things), now, going back to the game, is it coded that way in the game? I mean, if I get a bid that meets the minimum release fee clause, with a certain deadline set by the other team, then I knowingly decide to let the deadline pass because I know the other team isn't gonna bother me about it, will the player be allowed to walk away for free?

I know the answer is probably no because it happened to me once and nothing happened, the player didn't even get mad at me or anything. And if it's not coded that way now, anyway you could take note of it for future versions? It's possibly nitpicking, but as someone posted in this thread here, it is a loophole if it doesn't happen the way it should sinceI could offer contracts with ridiculously low minimum release fee, thus sweetening deals to get some players to accept a contract with me that probably wouldn't under other circumstances, and then simply never respond to offers I get that meet that low minimum release fee... Maybe I'm making it bigger than it is, but I see as one loophole I'd rather not have...

Thanks in advance for any info/response.

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

Okay, makes sense (the legal battle, the fact it's in the contract and that a contract binds both parties to some things), now, going back to the game, is it coded that way in the game? I mean, if I get a bid that meets the minimum release fee clause, with a certain deadline set by the other team, then I knowingly decide to let the deadline pass because I know the other team isn't gonna bother me about it, will the player be allowed to walk away for free?

I know the answer is probably no because it happened to me once and nothing happened, the player didn't even get mad at me or anything. And if it's not coded that way now, anyway you could take note of it for future versions? It's possibly nitpicking, but as someone posted in this thread here, it is a loophole if it doesn't happen the way it should sinceI could offer contracts with ridiculously low minimum release fee, thus sweetening deals to get some players to accept a contract with me that probably wouldn't under other circumstances, and then simply never respond to offers I get that meet that low minimum release fee... Maybe I'm making it bigger than it is, but I see as one loophole I'd rather not have...

Thanks in advance for any info/response.

FM

This doesn't happen in the game 'because' the club approaching has the facility to set a 'deadline' for negotiations - hence if they are serious about an approach then they can indicate a deadline before the transfer cut-off, thus the selling club isn't doing anything untoward if they let a transfer deadline 'hit' ... they haven't violated the terms of the contract, although it might not be wholly ethical.

[FrogMan]

This doesn't happen in the game 'because' the club approaching has the facility to set a 'deadline' for negotiations - hence if they are serious about an approach then they can indicate a deadline before the transfer cut-off, thus the selling club isn't doing anything untoward if they let a transfer deadline 'hit' ... they haven't violated the terms of the contract, although it might not be wholly ethical.
That is my point, even though a team has not done anything illegal by letting the trasnfer deadline "hit", not responding should be the same as rejecting a contract, no? The other team made a formal offer, one that met the minimum release fee and they gave me a deadline, before the transfer deadline say two days before the transfer deadline, to respond to their offer. I decide to simply not respond to their offer, not now, not ever, so I let their deadline pass, they withdraw their offer, two days later, the transfer deadline passes and I'm clear. The player never complains, even though I just cheated him of a way out of my team, a formal offer that met a clause in his contract, but he doesn't complain. Then, what's the use of having them clauses if I can bypass them as I want? Yeah, it's not ethical, but if it's not, there should be some repercussion, maybe the player getting mad, maybe him walking away, breach of contract, but something, don't you think? Then if not with the player, the other team, the bidding one, should be made more aggressive...

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

That is my point, even though a team has not done anything illegal by letting the trasnfer deadline "hit", not responding should be the same as rejecting a contract, no? The other team made a formal offer, one that met the minimum release fee and they gave me a deadline, before the transfer deadline say two days before the transfer deadline, to respond to their offer. I decide to simply not respond to their offer, not now, not ever, so I let their deadline pass, they withdraw their offer, two days later, the transfer deadline passes and I'm clear. The player never complains, even though I just cheated him of a way out of my team, a formal offer that met a clause in his contract, but he doesn't complain. Then, what's the use of having them clauses if I can bypass them as I want? Yeah, it's not ethical, but if it's not, there should be some repercussion, maybe the player getting mad, maybe him walking away, breach of contract, but something, don't you think? Then if not with the player, the other team, the bidding one, should be made more aggressive...

FM
Are you sure there was a deadline on the deal? - if there is then the game won't allow continuing until you have accepted it.

[FrogMan]

Are you sure there was a deadline on the deal? - if there is then the game won't allow continuing until you have accepted it.
I would swear there was a deadline on it and I remember going back to the player's page on the day of the deadline, or the day after, and the offer was not there anymore. Could it be that the team decided to withdraw their offer before their deadline happened? It was a season or two ago, but it made me feel like I was cheating in some way. If you say the game should not let me continue if a deadline is happening and an offer is still alive, then that should take care of it. Deadline happen and you have to make a decision, makes sense, and in this case, the only decision available is to accept the deal since it meets the minimum release fee clause. But for that to make sense, the offering team has to hold on to their deadline and not withdraw for no reason, thinking you're not gonna accept it because you're stretching it...

Thanks for your answers, very appreciated.
FM

[scooter]

FM,

Is is possible that the player turned down the approach? You keep talking about you and the other team, but isn't the player a party to it as well? Just because a team has the money to make a bid for a minimum release, doesn't mean that it's a team that the player wants to sign with. Did you ever get a message that contract negotiations had broken off between the other team and the player? You didn't mention it so I'm assuming not. Just thought though.

[FrogMan]

FM,

Is is possible that the player turned down the approach? You keep talking about you and the other team, but isn't the player a party to it as well? Just because a team has the money to make a bid for a minimum release, doesn't mean that it's a team that the player wants to sign with. Did you ever get a message that contract negotiations had broken off between the other team and the player? You didn't mention it so I'm assuming not. Just thought though.
The player never got to negotiate with the other team because I never accepted their offer in the first place. That could have made sense and something else happened in my career over the weekend, but I don't want to spoil the unreported stuff for my dynasty... :)

Let's just say I received a bid for a player of mine, bid that met the minimum release fee. I accepted the bid out of fairness for the player and within 15 minutes (gametime, based on time oon the gameclock) he had agreed to a contract with the bidding team, on the night of the transfer deadline, only to see the bid be cancelled because the bidding team couldn't afford the transfer... In that case, the player could have rejected the contract offer because I had accepted the bid, but in the other case before, it never got to the contract negotiation part... Thanks for trying :)

It also also happened to me quite a bit in the past, that is, put in a bid that is accepted, and I can't get the player to sign...

FM

[Passacaglia]

Another question....I started a game as the USA manager. What's the deal with the U23 team? It's empty, and I don't know how to put players in it.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm not sure why it is empty, but you should have an option on the "player screen" for any U23 American player that should say national options and if you click on that there should be an option to add to U23 team.

[Passacaglia]

Hmm, I might have misread your post. I tried right-clicking and at some menu, my only options are USA, and USA U20 -- nothing about U23. Also, I don't think they even play any matches.

Also, in this career, I took a job at Notts Co sometime in November. Apparently, the old manager had used up all 8 short term loans somehow, even though there was only one loaned player still remaining on the team. I started using my long term loans, and had 3 guys by mid-December, when all of a sudden, my loans reset, and it looked like I hadn't made any loans for the season at all. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I loaned 4 more players in the last week of December. Is this a bug or what?

Also, any tips on how to find players for the USA team and the USA U20 team? I'm having my one of my Notts Co scouts look for players in the USA who might be good, but I really don't even know who would be good to have on the senior team.

[RPI-Fan]

U23 is only for the olympics, so you may have to wait for Olympic qualifying to near, to be able to put anyone on that squad.

[Passacaglia]

I'm just now starting to handle the training myself. The reason I'm doing this is so that I can rest players who need rest. The problem is, even if I have them rest all week, then play one day, my physio says they still need rest. Do they have to miss a game to get cleared of that?

Also, I'm worried about my injured players. When a guy gets hurt, his training stays at first team -- is that a problem? When I let the assistant handle it, it gets put to resting. Do I need to change it to resting when he's hurt, put him back at first team when he's healthy, or will it be okay to leave him at first team, and he will just rest since he's hurt?

[MalcPow]

I'm just now starting to handle the training myself. The reason I'm doing this is so that I can rest players who need rest. The problem is, even if I have them rest all week, then play one day, my physio says they still need rest. Do they have to miss a game to get cleared of that?

Also, I'm worried about my injured players. When a guy gets hurt, his training stays at first team -- is that a problem? When I let the assistant handle it, it gets put to resting. Do I need to change it to resting when he's hurt, put him back at first team when he's healthy, or will it be okay to leave him at first team, and he will just rest since he's hurt?

You have to rest them a match or two to clear the "jadedness," resting them from training doesn't seem to do anything in my experience. With injured players, they're out of training until you get the message that they have "returned to training," so I've always assumed it makes no difference. But it's possible I'm wrong on this, I have had players who were out a few extra days, or even a week, more than their initial injury assessment. Maybe that's because I didn't switch them over to resting, but I doubt it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Not currently - but its something I'm thinking about ..

(in regards to starting lineup affecting morale during the week)

For the love of god, please don't. :)

Likely I'd forget all the time, and then wonder why my players are all pissed off at me.

[Passacaglia]

(in regards to starting lineup affecting morale during the week)

For the love of god, please don't. :)

Likely I'd forget all the time, and then wonder why my players are all pissed off at me.

I didn't mention, but I agree with CW on this. I like not having to worry about my lineup at all until right before the match.

Malc, I think a lot of what you're saying makes sense. It's always the same guys who are in need of rest, and they don't practice at all. One of them is complaining on his personal page about needing to rest more too. I'll just have to bite the bullet and sit them out a game.

[Marc Vaughan]

You have to rest them a match or two to clear the "jadedness," resting them from training doesn't seem to do anything in my experience. With injured players, they're out of training until you get the message that they have "returned to training," so I've always assumed it makes no difference. But it's possible I'm wrong on this, I have had players who were out a few extra days, or even a week, more than their initial injury assessment. Maybe that's because I didn't switch them over to resting, but I doubt it.
Resting them from training does help with jaded players - however matches have a large effect upon a players tiredness though (so if they're on no training and still playing twice a week don't expect them to recover in a hurry) ...

Main thing if you're going to play a LOT of games in a short space of time is to ensure that players rest on match days and also the day after - this reduces the strain on them at critical times and (especially for the after match day session) reduces the risk of injuries a bit ..

[moriarty]

Ok - not to threadjack, but ....

I know this has been posted before, but if I want to move my FM2005 saved game to another computer (i.e. faster machine) ... does anyone know which saved game files I need to copy? Or is it just everything in the My Documents folder?

[FrogMan]

Ok - not to threadjack, but ....

I know this has been posted before, but if I want to move my FM2005 saved game to another computer (i.e. faster machine) ... does anyone know which saved game files I need to copy? Or is it just everything in the My Documents folder?
I'd think you only need the savegame and nothing else.

FM

[MikeVick7]

I'd think you only need the savegame and nothing else.

FM
I'm backing Frogman up on that.

[moriarty]

Great, thanks I'll give it a shot later. With a faster computer wish i could add more leagues now ... but rather not start a new game just yet.

[MalcPow]

Great, thanks I'll give it a shot later. With a faster computer wish i could add more leagues now ... but rather not start a new game just yet.

Adding more, or just changing leagues, one of those things I've wished I could do many times :(

[Coffee Warlord]

And since this is the question thread, another one I have for people.

Can the color scheme of a team be changed at all by some editor or whatever? Once I get my new machine, I'll prolly just start a fresh game. But, if there's one thing I hate, it's when I find a lower level team I wanna manage that happens to have the most headache inducing colors ever.

(And I refer to the headline colors for the team, not the match kits - I kinda know how to change the latter.)

[Marc Vaughan]

And since this is the question thread, another one I have for people.

Can the color scheme of a team be changed at all by some editor or whatever? Once I get my new machine, I'll prolly just start a fresh game. But, if there's one thing I hate, it's when I find a lower level team I wanna manage that happens to have the most headache inducing colors ever.

(And I refer to the headline colors for the team, not the match kits - I kinda know how to change the latter.)

If you use the pre-game editor which comes with the game you can customise pretty much any aspect of a team (or even create your own ones).

[Coffee Warlord]

Spiff. Never really took a look at the editor (surprise surprise), guess I'll play with it.

[daedalus]

Any of y'all aware of a place that may have lowered the price of the game since '06 has been announced? I only have so much budget to tinker with but I refuse to go the eBay route with copies that I'm not sure about the validity of. The SI crew deserves better.

[Passacaglia]

Why are all the 5's backwards in the 2D engine?

[FrogMan]

Why are all the 5's backwards in the 2D engine?
huh??? I don't think I follow you on that one :confused:

FM

[Passacaglia]

huh??? I don't think I follow you on that one :confused:

FM

Go watch a match. Look closely at a circle whose jersey number has a 5 in it.

[FrogMan]

Go watch a match. Look closely at a circle whose jersey number has a 5 in it.
really??? I'll have to take a look tonight.

FM

[moriarty]

I've never seen that either, but I'm intrigued now. You're not using a special match skin or something are you?

[Critch]

Why are all the 5's backwards in the 2D engine?

FM is so in-depth it can even simulate your centerback being dumb enough to play with his shirt inside out, hence the reversed number.

[FrogMan]

FM is so in-depth it can even simulate your centerback being dumb enough to play with his shirt inside out, hence the reversed number.
or it happens after a goal and the player has pulled his shirt over his head... I'm sure Rob Styles would go gung ho on yellow cards with that one though...

FM

[Passacaglia]

Well, with all the nay-sayers, now I have to know if anyone else sees it, or I'm just insane! But no, I'm not using any special skin -- just the basic one.

[finkenst]

Go watch a match. Look closely at a circle whose jersey number has a 5 in it.
that's a 2, dude

[moriarty]

that's a 2, dude

:D

[ice4277]

or it happens after a goal and the player has pulled his shirt over his head... I'm sure Rob Styles would go gung ho on yellow cards with that one though...

FM
I just played a match with Rob Styles as ref and he only gave my squad one yellow card http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

[MikeVick7]

I just played a match with Rob Styles as ref and he only gave my squad one yellow card http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif
You know, I've been noticing that he has been a much kindler gentler ref since the last patch. :)

He was public enemy #1 for a loooong time.

[FrogMan]

I just played a match with Rob Styles as ref and he only gave my squad one yellow card http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif
THAT IS UNPOSSIBLE!!!!!!

[Passacaglia]

that's a 2, dude

I don't know if this is a joke or not, but now I'm *really* doubting myself! I'll have to check this sometime, because I could have sworn this was a backward 5!

[Critch]

You know, I've been noticing that he has been a much kindler gentler ref since the last patch. :)

He sent off Tottenham's Mido for not very much v Chelsea at the weekend, so he's still a bit of an ass in real life.

[Critch]

I don't know if this is a joke or not, but now I'm *really* doubting myself! I'll have to check this sometime, because I could have sworn this was a backward 5!

Just started a new game, then rushed through to get to the dot-o-vision to check out the numbers. Looks like a rightway round 5 to me.

Maybe you're playing in the Russian League? Dont they have some letters backwards? :)

[ice4277]

THAT IS UNPOSSIBLE!!!!!!
I know, the truth hurts http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[FrogMan]

I don't know if this is a joke or not, but now I'm *really* doubting myself! I'll have to check this sometime, because I could have sworn this was a backward 5!
honestly, I just checked and here's the field portion of my 2D viewer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/QcFrogMan/FM2005/2d-2.jpg

I see 5's and 2's, nothing backwards...

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

As another side question for Marc...

When you start a brand new game with non-real players...is it the exact same players with random names, or is it totally random players with different stats?

From what I've seen, it's the former, but just making sure. (Me and my brand spanking new computer coming soon wants to know if, when I start a new game, whether or not I'll know some the stats of some of the players even with non-real players flipped on.)

[Marc Vaughan]

As another side question for Marc...

When you start a brand new game with non-real players...is it the exact same players with random names, or is it totally random players with different stats?

From what I've seen, it's the former, but just making sure. (Me and my brand spanking new computer coming soon wants to know if, when I start a new game, whether or not I'll know some the stats of some of the players even with non-real players flipped on.)

If you start a game with non-real players the players are randomise totally - however there are a fair few constraints in place which sometimes leads people to ask these questions, I'll detail the main ones:

* The skill level in a club is retained (ie. Man Utd will still be a good club, Brighton still won't have fulfilled their obvious potential ;) ).
* Nationality biases remain, ie. if a club has mainly foreign players then this will still be the case.

Bank-balances etc. aren't affected by this option.

Hope this helps,

Marc
PS> And no the first striker you find with high pace is NOT Micheal Owen (the amount of people who indicate it hasn't randomised 'x' because they've found a similar player in a fake player game is astonishing ;) )

[Coffee Warlord]

So the first striker I find with high pace is Michael Owen? :)

[FrogMan]

So the first striker I find with high pace is Michael Owen? :)
That's what I understood too. These british dudes are sometimes hard to understand, but I got that loud and clear...

:D

FM
PS: (/fanboy hat on) I gotta say that after my QPR game got corrupted, and with the arrival of Summer and the nice weather, I was unable to get back in the game, until last weekend. I've started another career with QPR and man I had almost forgotten how good that game is. Major kudos to Marc and the chaps at SI for making such a great game. :) (/fanboy hat off)

[Passacaglia]

Grr. I totally checked my game, and it's not that the 5s were backwards, they were upside down. It looked like your 5s were the right way in your pic FrogMan, but I couldn't zoom in enough to be totally convinced. I'll see if I can figure out how to post a screen shot.

[moriarty]

^^ Losing it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Grr. I totally checked my game, and it's not that the 5s were backwards, they were upside down. It looked like your 5s were the right way in your pic FrogMan, but I couldn't zoom in enough to be totally convinced. I'll see if I can figure out how to post a screen shot.

Enough with the hallucinogens.

[moriarty]

Turn your monitor upside down ... that might help.

[samifan24]

Here's another question for you guys. Have any of you seen this happen before?

I was fired as manager of Weymouth after going winless through the first five games of the season and making an unprofessional comment to the media. I went on holiday and told the computer to auto apply and return upon my appointment to a job and went downstairs.

I came back upstairs to see I was once again "manager, Weymouth." I checked my inbox and the Weymouth board approached me about leading the team and I auto accepted. The message referenced that it was a shock that I was back at Weymouth (and after four games went by) but had the support of the board. Is this really a part of the game or just some sort of glitch? If it's really a part of the game and I'm assuming that it is, this is awesome.

[DaddyTorgo]

this game is hilarious and realistic. i love it. Started a new game as Real Madrid today (hey sometimes it's fun to have money and status be no object and just play). Right off I paid 52 million for Patrick Viera. But then I get a message that Perez thinks that's not enough and he's going to be making some moves.

Fast-forward a few days, Perez brings in Francesco Totti for 95 million and Ronaldinho for 89 million!!!!! I love the fact that he didn't even bother trying to bring in defenders at all, but just went straight for his midfield galacticos. And I have hopefully arranged a Robinho deal as I couldn't get that done with the Viera deal earlier.

Anyways, I know, flame me for starting as Madrid, but laugh because now I literally have like 5 AMC's who all should be starting. It's hilarious, but irritating, if such a thing can be irritating.

[finkenst]

yeah.. having a ton of money to play with is nice..

always nice when the board gives you 175-200million pounds in transfer funds for a season... thank you, mr. abramovich.

won the quad, player's player of the year, player's young player of the year, manager of the year...

everything but the scoring titles... but that's what happens when you have 2 full teams to play every other team. :)


in my first season, i bought iker casillas for 84 million euro/dollars (i switched currency a little bit ago to pounds) as i was ticked that cech pegged the same guy in the head 3 times and gave up dumb goals on free kicks.

[ice4277]

175-200million pounds in transfer funds for a season... thank you, mr. abramovich.
Damn. And here I thought my measly 40 million pounds/season from Man U was something to get all excited about http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif

[finkenst]

Damn. And here I thought my measly 40 million pounds/season from Man U was something to get all excited about http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif
my apologies, ice4277...

i switched currencies mid-game.

i really did have euro 165 million in transfer funds one season...

http://moosh.net/%7Etimothy/fm2005/xferbudget.JPG

http://moosh.net/%7Etimothy/fm2005/morexferbudget.JPG