Alright boyz, here we go!!! (The Football Manager 2011 Impressions/General Thread)

[Shepp]

What extraction program are you using? I think I remember having problems with Winzip not extracting the files properly. Try using another one like 7zip and try again.

[Mike Lowe]

I've tried WinRAR and 7z or whatever it's called. It's strange, because I can get the first one to work (player pics that is), but not the 2nd or 3rd.

Do I NEED these? I don't know any of these guys...are there already logos and player pics in the game as is?

What about league names, etc.? Are those defaulted properly?

[Shepp]

The player pictures don't do anything for me so I just turn them off all together. The Metalic Logos and the Real Name Fix are all I use.

[Mike Lowe]

Where do these .inc files go? I guess these are for the name changes, etc.

[Mike Lowe]

Awards, Club Names, Competitions

These 3 files I'm not sure where to place. Program Files folder someplace? For some reason, in My Documents, I have two SI folders with neither one of them having anything much inside.

Weird!

Also, where do the shinny logos go?

[Flasch186]

damn, had to reformat the HD and start over.... gonna be a long night.

[I. J. Reilly]

Is there a rule of thumb for how tired you should let players get before they are subbed off? I’m actually playing FM10 if that makes a difference.

[DaddyTorgo]

Is there a rule of thumb for how tired you should let players get before they are subbed off? I’m actually playing FM10 if that makes a difference.

Depends on the time of the game and the player's stamina. As a rule of thumb I usually go for anything in the 60's, unless it's the last 10 mins or so of a game. Depends also on the position and the score though - I want my defenders fresh if I'm defending a lead, and my midfielders/forwards fresh if i'm trying to get a late goal.

[I. J. Reilly]

Okay, that sounds about like what I’ve been doing. It just seems like I’m making 2 subs a game due to fatigue which seems like a lot.

[Shepp]

Okay, that sounds about like what I’ve been doing. It just seems like I’m making 2 subs a game due to fatigue which seems like a lot.

You could try backing off on your training a little bit. I used to have one winger in particular whose fitness would drop really low during matches. Once I put him on a lighter training schedule he did a lot better.

[klayman]

Okay, that sounds about like what I’ve been doing. It just seems like I’m making 2 subs a game due to fatigue which seems like a lot.

Also, check your tactics. If you notice it is the same positions always wearing down, you could be asking them to do too much (ex always closing down, tight marking, forward runs from deep). For example, in my tactic, my wingers are expected to run all over the place, get forward on attack and yet track back deep on defense. By the end of the match, they are going to be knocked out, so I usually plan on subbing them out, or if the situation allows it (lead, poor opposition, etc) I relax their duties (mostly on defense). My fullbacks on the other hand, usually have nothing to do (cause the wingers are doing it all), and I don't have to worry about their fitness levels other than injuries during the match.

[CAsterling]

Just curious - can anyone remember when SI announce what new features are coming in the new version.....its June, they normally release the game in October/November and I haven't heard anything about FM12 yet.

I can't remember if they announce the new features in July/August or if it is sometime close to now.

Thanks.

[I. J. Reilly]

Also, check your tactics. If you notice it is the same positions always wearing down, you could be asking them to do too much (ex always closing down, tight marking, forward runs from deep). For example, in my tactic, my wingers are expected to run all over the place, get forward on attack and yet track back deep on defense. By the end of the match, they are going to be knocked out, so I usually plan on subbing them out, or if the situation allows it (lead, poor opposition, etc) I relax their duties (mostly on defense). My fullbacks on the other hand, usually have nothing to do (cause the wingers are doing it all), and I don't have to worry about their fitness levels other than injuries during the match.

This is it. After playing several games last night and really paying attention to what’s going on it looks like I’m just asking too much of my fullbacks. Of course now that I’ve tried to fix it I think I’ve broke the tactic that was working so well. I’ll probably just try to sign some high endurance guys in the summer and go back to what was working.

Actually my first choice solution was to yell “you’re on 50k a week, now move your ass!” But SI didn’t see fit to include that as a touchline shout, so it’s on to plan B.

[DaddyTorgo]

Actually my first choice solution was to yell “you’re on 50k a week, now move your ass!” But SI didn’t see fit to include that as a touchline shout, so it’s on to plan B.

LMAO

[OldGiants]

Last game of the season, I've managed to win the French Cup and qualify for Europe--which didn't particularly impress my fans, who were only 50% happy when we beat first division OM to make the final. Now we sit 5th with a tiny chance for promotion if three other games break exactly right (which they don't). However we are playing at the first place team who are nine clear. The odds and all the pre-game fluff say we are heavy favorites, completely absurd. After losing 2-0, everyone responds as if this was a huge upset and a massive loss.

Since the season is over, I don't care, but why is the morale aspect of this so devastatingly off? The season goal was top half finish, we came fifth and amazingly won a Cup and a place in the EC.

[Flasch186]

had to start from scratch, redownload and everything. I dL the cutouts faces megapack and cant get them to show up... what is the file directory structure where they should be?

[Mike Lowe]

I'm having the damnedest time trying to get these face packs to unzip. I kept getting corrupt every time I open something I've downloaded.

Aside from that, these instructions for the logos and face packs make ZERO sense. For instance, the face packs are asking for a /FM 11/Graphics folder inside of My Documents?!?! I don't even have that folder...hell, for some reason I have two SI folders within My Documents BOTH with FM 11.

Same can be said for the logo files..."Extract here, but only if you have this update already, and only if you downloaded it for Steam, and only if it was on a Wednesday, and only if there was NOT a solar eclipse going on and only if you sold more than you bought on the stock market.

WTF?!?!

[DaddyTorgo]

My lil brother is hilarious!!

He's 16 and I bought him FM for the first time in 2010 as a birthday gift (and again this year).

He downloaded a bunch of alternate league files, and has been playing a game in one of the African leagues (don't ask me which team, I forget) as a Saudi Arabian nationality manager. Ghanian league maybe?

Well he got bored there after a few years and transferred to Haebangsan in the Highest Class Football League (DPRK).

Just wanted to share that my brother is so awesome and ballsy. And also that league is a total bitch...he barely has a player with any one stat above 10. No foreigners at all...and basically no money for transfers in-country.

[Marc Vaughan]

I can't remember if they announce the new features in July/August or if it is sometime close to now.

Won't be for a while yet I'm afraid - we're notorious for keeping things quiet until fairly close to release.

Reason is fairly simple - we don't want to announce anything before its 'in' and we're happy with it, otherwise we might decide to remove it and upset people.

[illinifan999]

I just cannot get a feeder club to save my life. I'm Aston Villa in 2016. Worldwide reputation, consecutive Premier League titles. Can't get any kind of feeder club. Ugh. And the board just canceled my only feeder club because they were favorites to be promoted.

[DaddyTorgo]

Won't be for a while yet I'm afraid - we're notorious for keeping things quiet until fairly close to release.

Reason is fairly simple - we don't want to announce anything before its 'in' and we're happy with it, otherwise we might decide to remove it and upset people.

Jerks! :D We needs our crack fix!!

[CAsterling]

Won't be for a while yet I'm afraid - we're notorious for keeping things quiet until fairly close to release.

Reason is fairly simple - we don't want to announce anything before its 'in' and we're happy with it, otherwise we might decide to remove it and upset people.

Thanks Marc,

I just couldn't remember the ususal time frame for announcements (my memory gets worse each year), and for some reason the month of May got stuck in my head as a time SI normally give out some news.

Appreciate the response.
Cheers.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Yikes, I bought FM 2011 several weeks ago when I found it on sale for $19.99, and I still haven't started playing it. I need to at least begin before news about FM 2012 comes out!

[Alan T]

Decided for the heck of it to start a new career. I had horrible luck with injuries to start things off, including all 5 of my strikers going down with long term injuries after the transfer deadline.

So out of necessity, i decided to play Arshavin as a striker.. Needless to say, he did so well there, I never moved him back. Since van Persie got healthy, I've just been playing van Persie out at Right wing instead.

[RainMaker]

I'm trying an experiment tonight. Going to move all the Blue Square Premier teams to the Premier League and vice versa. Then see what happens over the years. Will the money for a few years be enough to change the balance of power?

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm trying an experiment tonight. Going to move all the Blue Square Premier teams to the Premier League and vice versa. Then see what happens over the years. Will the money for a few years be enough to change the balance of power?

Cool - keep us posted!!!!

[vex]

I'm trying an experiment tonight. Going to move all the Blue Square Premier teams to the Premier League and vice versa. Then see what happens over the years. Will the money for a few years be enough to change the balance of power?

Very interesting indeed.

[Barkeep49]

My guess, BTW, is the big winners in Rain's experiment will be teams that go up from the Championship League. They'll have better infrastructure than the former Blue Square teams and that will matter in terms of having more money. Meanwhile I think this will devastate the former EPL teams.

[Toddzilla]

I've done this a few times in a few different iterations. I won't spoil it for you, but Barkeep is on the right track.

[DaddyTorgo]

My guess, BTW, is the big winners in Rain's experiment will be teams that go up from the Championship League. They'll have better infrastructure than the former Blue Square teams and that will matter in terms of having more money. Meanwhile I think this will devastate the former EPL teams.

Yeah - I'd think the high fixed operating costs combined with dramatically reduced revenues would destroy the EPL teams...

[Marc Vaughan]

My guess, BTW, is the big winners in Rain's experiment will be teams that go up from the Championship League. They'll have better infrastructure than the former Blue Square teams and that will matter in terms of having more money. Meanwhile I think this will devastate the former EPL teams.

Interesting experiment - I haven't tried it ... but I'd expect the Premiership teams which get up at first attempt have a decent chance to claw their way back to the top, those who remain in the basement leagues for any length of time will find their stars increasingly unhappy and their finances increasingly stretched until they're eventually just considered as a 'has-beens' by the world.

Of the small teams at the top - those who make Europe the first couple of years will have a chance to stay the course and compete, However I'd expect a couple of the larger Championship sides to end up near the top of the pile (simply put the ones which come up at the end of the first season have a decent shot at Europe if you haven't given the 'falsely promoted' sides transfer money in the first season) and at least 50% of them will be somewhere lower down the pyramid in 10 seasons time ... probably not as far down as the bottom level, but around league 1-2 (the profit from their falling will allow them to bolster their squads enough to keep them professional in most cases I'd expect).

Intruiged - any chance of you posting your results somewhere ...

PS - One big factor I've put in this is that you haven't indicated you've removed the former-Premiership teams from Europe in the first season, so I'm projecting that the European money will help partially-sustain the larger Premiership sides in the first season (I'm also expecting you haven't adjusted their fanbases to 'realistic' levels - in which case their attendance income will likely be higher than expected, especially if they manage decent cup runs .... also the income of the clubs in the Premiership will be somewhat lower if none are in Europe and the game has to take time to adjust them to the limelight (ie. expanding stadiums and fanbases due to their new level) ).

[GobBluth]

So I just got into an argument with my best player about him moving on to a bigger club and for once, he didn't back down. Now he's listed as alienated and won't talk to me.

Does anyone know if this is a permanent condition or can I eventually bring him back to my side?

[RainMaker]

Interesting experiment - I haven't tried it ... but I'd expect the Premiership teams which get up at first attempt have a decent chance to claw their way back to the top, those who remain in the basement leagues for any length of time will find their stars increasingly unhappy and their finances increasingly stretched until they're eventually just considered as a 'has-beens' by the world.

Of the small teams at the top - those who make Europe the first couple of years will have a chance to stay the course and compete, However I'd expect a couple of the larger Championship sides to end up near the top of the pile (simply put the ones which come up at the end of the first season have a decent shot at Europe if you haven't given the 'falsely promoted' sides transfer money in the first season) and at least 50% of them will be somewhere lower down the pyramid in 10 seasons time ... probably not as far down as the bottom level, but around league 1-2 (the profit from their falling will allow them to bolster their squads enough to keep them professional in most cases I'd expect).

Intruiged - any chance of you posting your results somewhere ...

PS - One big factor I've put in this is that you haven't indicated you've removed the former-Premiership teams from Europe in the first season, so I'm projecting that the European money will help partially-sustain the larger Premiership sides in the first season (I'm also expecting you haven't adjusted their fanbases to 'realistic' levels - in which case their attendance income will likely be higher than expected, especially if they manage decent cup runs .... also the income of the clubs in the Premiership will be somewhat lower if none are in Europe and the game has to take time to adjust them to the limelight (ie. expanding stadiums and fanbases due to their new level) ).

Sorry, I got caught up in a save and never got the experiment done. Plan to do it tonight and see what happens. I'll run it for 20 years and post the results sometime tomorrow.

I didn't adjust fanbase. I sort of want to see how they do with what they currently have. Assuming in a perfect world where fans are just loyal to one team and don't bandwagon on to the top teams. I'm assuming there will be some chaos but most interested in seeing if the top teams end up being at the top in 20 years, or if we have a whole new breed of leaders.

Also, not sure if I should be playing with any other nations loaded. I'm thinking of making a couple top ones in Europe playable just because I'm curious if there is a mass exodus to them and I believe playable might make those results more realistic. Also to see if an English team can get back to the top in European Competitions.

[Qrusher14242]

On sale on steam for $13.39...probably throughout the whole sale. Hope there's a daily deal on too.

[RainMaker]

I'm a couple years in and most of the teams that stayed up have put in plans to expand their stadium to around 25k. They have started bringing in good players too as AFC Wimbledon won the Premier League both times (I figured a Championship team would win the following year). Although each team that qualified for the Champion's League got throttled (0-15-1 with a -53 goal differential by the 3 teams in the group stage).

[Big Fo]

England's UEFA coefficient is going to crash. Good news for the German and Italian leagues on your save.

[RainMaker]

So I did about 15 years in with moving all 20 Premier League teams to the Blue Square Premier and 20 (of the 24) Blue Square Premier teams to the Premier League.

For the most part, the powerhouses made it back fairly quick (Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea). Chelsea got promoted each year and won the Premier League in their 2nd season back. Only AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town have rbeen able to stay in the Premier League. AFC Wimbledon has actually finished in the top half of the table in most years.

http://i.imgur.com/GhUaq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WCo2r.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/p0Kyp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/h0Y0a.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7Xy4U.jpg

Here is a list of the past winners. Some interesting teams made it near the top.

http://i.imgur.com/GAx8N.jpg


England's coefficient did drop and they lost a ECC team and had another moved back to the 3rd qualifying stage. But they have gained that back and now hover between 2 and 3 amongst other nations. However, they didn't have much success at all in European competitions until this recently.

http://i.imgur.com/CHZuF.jpg


Let me know if there is something specific you guys want me to pull up. Or another simulation. I sort of enjoy trying out weird stuff and seeing how things turn out in 10-20 years.

[Balldog]

Is it possible to convert FM10 saves to FM11?

[Barkeep49]

Is it possible to convert FM10 saves to FM11?
It is not. There were some recent posts (last page or two) which explain why it's not.

[Toddzilla]

Basically, the database changes so much year to year, and the structure of the competitions change so much, it is impossible to make the game backwards-compatible.

This has been and will always be the "holy grail" of FM improvements, but because of the complexity, it will never happen.

[Bearcat729]

If anyone hasn't bought FM11 and is thinking about it the game is on sale in the steam store

[Young Drachma]

Finally got it, the price when I got it from Steam was $13. Not $9.99, but finally made it worth it.

[Bearcat729]

Finally got it, the price when I got it from Steam was $13. Not $9.99, but finally made it worth it.

Yeah it was only $9.99 for the one day for the Steam summer sale. At least the game still was discounted after that.

[Ironhead]

Quick question - my laptop has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. Can that reliably run this or will it chug really badly?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Quick question - my laptop has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. Can that reliably run this or will it chug really badly?
I don't know the answer to that, but haven't seen much from you in a while. How are you, Ironhead?

[Ironhead]

I don't know the answer to that, but haven't seen much from you in a while. How are you, Ironhead?

This is a trick isn't it. For the last time Pumpy the answer is no - I don't have stairs in my house.

[Ryan S]

Quick question - my laptop has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. Can that reliably run this or will it chug really badly?


It's worth trying out the demo to see how quickly it runs. It won't tell you how quickly the game will run with the max database and 20 nations running, but it will give you some idea how it might run on your machine.

[sovereignstar v2]

SI boards have now been down for over 3 weeks. Sega is a joke.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, I've been floating onto other boards to figure out what add-ons I should get. Haven't even begun the editing process yet, but I suppose I'll get on that.

[Marc Vaughan]

SI boards have now been down for over 3 weeks. Sega is a joke.

No word on when they will return yet I'm afraid - there are some pretty decent unofficial forums for FM kicking around, in the meantime I'd suggest adopting one of those.

[vex]

Can someone recommend a good training program? I've been using one I created a couple of seasons ago but I'm still not sure that I'm getting optimal results. Thanks!

[Marc Vaughan]

In case anyones not noticed - the sigames.com forums are back up now btw.

[MizzouRah]

This has probably been asked, but can you just play the MLS?

[jbergey22]

This has probably been asked, but can you just play the MLS?

You can be a team in the MLS if youd like. Youd be missing out though if you didnt have any other active leagues though.

[MizzouRah]

You can be a team in the MLS if youd like. Youd be missing out though if you didnt have any other active leagues though.

Thanks, what would you suggest?

[jbergey22]

Thanks, what would you suggest?

Kind of depends on your computer. The recommended setup is a nice way to start.

[rlmayer32]

In case anyones not noticed - the sigames.com forums are back up now btw.

Finally! :)

[rlmayer32]

Kind of depends on your computer. The recommended setup is a nice way to start.

Can't go wrong with that. I usually find when I start in the MLS after 3 or 4 seasons I'm itching for something more, so you certainly want to be able to explore opportunities in other leagues. :)

[Young Drachma]

SI Forums are FINALLY back up.

[sovereignstar v2]

SI Forums are FINALLY back up.

3rd post from the top (4 days ago).

[whomario]

Just had the most amazing game and individual performance :) In 2015 i´m in the CL quarter final with Dortmund, matching up with Inter (who are still very good, semi final last year).
After winning at home 2:1 i go to Milan and quickly go down 0:2 (including an own goal), then shortly after half time one of my players gets a red card (the same who scored the own goal ...).
But then my reserve striker (25 year old Nils Petersen) goes off :

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/Mario84/petersen.jpg

He had scored 3 career CL goals (in 15 games mostly as a sub) prior to that :D

[DaddyTorgo]

Really enjoying my Athletic Bilbao game - I've even turned down a couple offers to move away from them (although I might yet, if the right offer comes along).

Reinvigorated my love for the game.

[Icy]

Really enjoying my Athletic Bilbao game - I've even turned down a couple offers to move away from them (although I might yet, if the right offer comes along).

Reinvigorated my love for the game.

It's a fun challenge as they only use Basque players but sometimes i find it too limiting as you can't have much fun in the transfer market.

I'm now going to start a new career with an updated db from SI forums tweaked a bit by me to manage my city team (Toledo) that promoted to Spanish second division B past season (was previusly on unaplayable 3rd division).

Will be a tough challenge for sure with no money and only 1500 fans going to watch the games every weekend (me included as i just purchased a season pass in real life).

[DaddyTorgo]

It's a fun challenge as they only use Basque players but sometimes i find it too limiting as you can't have much fun in the transfer market.

I'm now going to start a new career with an updated db from SI forums tweaked a bit by me to manage my city team (Toledo) that promoted to Spanish second division B past season (was previusly on unaplayable 3rd division).

Will be a tough challenge for sure with no money and only 1500 fans going to watch the games every weekend (me included as i just purchased a season pass in real life).

Very fun. It's more about designing a tactic and trying to find what guys you can who will fit into it.

Well I think I've excelled at the challenge so far (through like 1.5 seasons), but I don't intend for it to be a long-term challenge. Loaded up a selection of other major/interesting leagues and I'm open to moving.

Year 1: Finished in 4th place with 67pts (18w-13d-7l), a good 7 points behind Atletico Madrid, but qualified for Champions League. Lost in Spanish Cup finals to Real Madrid.

Year 2: Defeated Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeau in the league (TV game - woohoo!), and followed that up with a draw at home to Barca (late Villa equilizer for Barca). Qualified out of my Champions League Group (which included Chelsea and CSKA Moscow) in second place. Beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 2-1 in the group stage.

Just had 3 games in a row against Sevilla (2 Spanish Cup, 1 league in the middle). Drew the first one 2-2, won the league match 6-0, and won the third match 2-1. After the 6-0 win Sevilla fired their coach and came to offer me the job. Haha.

Have spent the whole season in 4th place or above (18 weeks in now), including about 1/3 of it in the #2 spot, and 2 weeks at #1 (weeks 10+11). Currently back down in 4th below the big 3 (7pts off the co-leaders, and 2 pts behind Real Madrid - all 4 of us even on games played).

So far I've turned down 2 jobs - Juventus (the roster hadn't changed enough from the beginning of the game to be any different from starting up initially) and Sevilla (why would I trade down to Sevilla?). I'm open to interesting job opportunities though, for sure.

[Big Fo]

It's a fun challenge as they only use Basque players but sometimes i find it too limiting as you can't have much fun in the transfer market.

I'm now going to start a new career with an updated db from SI forums tweaked a bit by me to manage my city team (Toledo) that promoted to Spanish second division B past season (was previusly on unaplayable 3rd division).

Will be a tough challenge for sure with no money and only 1500 fans going to watch the games every weekend (me included as i just purchased a season pass in real life).

Which updated DB and what did you think of it? Were player ratings changed or just what teams players are on?

[Scoobz0202]

Can anybody give me a quick rundown on what ratings I should look for at each league level?

EX:

Premier: 15+ in player attributes
Championship: 12+
Level 3: 10+
.........


Would appreciate it.

[RPI-Fan]

Can anybody give me a quick rundown on what ratings I should look for at each league level?

EX:

Premier: 15+ in player attributes
Championship: 12+
Level 3: 10+
.........


Would appreciate it.

You're not too far off. Prem would be more like 16+, Champ 14+, League One 12-13+, League Two 11-12+, Conference and lower: anything 10+ is good.

[Barkeep49]

Can someone recommend a good training program? I've been using one I created a couple of seasons ago but I'm still not sure that I'm getting optimal results. Thanks!
Anything on this? I too would like to use a premade training program as I don't feel at that level of confidence yet.

[Icy]

Which updated DB and what did you think of it? Were player ratings changed or just what teams players are on?

Metal guitarist db, it's the one i always use. He doesn't adjust ratings, only teams promotions/demotions and budgets, players/staff moves and contracts.

Then i usually adjust a few ratings myself, but not too much.

[gkb]

Anything on this? I too would like to use a premade training program as I don't feel at that level of confidence yet.

I found Major Raver's (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/245481-Raver-training-sets)training sets. I have no first-hand experience with them, but they seem promising to me.

[britrock88]

A novice FM question: Once I've offered contract terms to players, is there a way I can see exactly what terms I offered later on?

[AlexB]

A novice FM question: Once I've offered contract terms to players, is there a way I can see exactly what terms I offered later on?

On the transfer centre, highlight the line with the player concerned and if he is considering the offer, at the bottom of the screen it should have details of the contract offered

Once he has rejected, I don't think there is a way though

[Sweed]

A novice FM question: Once I've offered contract terms to players, is there a way I can see exactly what terms I offered later on?

On the transfer centre, highlight the line with the player concerned and if he is considering the offer, at the bottom of the screen it should have details of the contract offered

Once he has rejected, I don't think there is a way though

I usually make a note attached to each player, I am seriously chasing, with my offers. I amend it with each new offer until I either have him signed or he goes elsewhere. At that time I delete the note unless I think it is someone I will be interested in at a later time. If I do go after the player again in the future it's nice to have a history, right on the player card, of each offer.

[gkb]

I have a quick question based on the lower division clubs in England. I'll use Boston United as an example of a club in the Blue Square Bet North division in my save on FM12.

Basically I'm trying to get a feel for how seriously the players and staff take their football? Since they're semi-professional I'm assuming the vast majority of them have day jobs. So how hard do they train for football? Do you end up with a team full of smokers and drinkers that are out to have a great time during the match and then hit the pubs right afterwards? Or do you end up with highly professional teams that are determined to achieve promotion? Do those teams have scouts, physios, assistants, and coaches in real life?

I had originally thought about directing this question specifically to Marc, but I'm interested in anyone's answer who knows about what it's like working for one of these clubs. Are there any good books that have been written about a club at that level (either from a players or managers perspective)?

[Barkeep49]

Been playing a career as Charlton. Won promotion to Championship in year 1 and had a mid-table finish in year 2 which was much better than either what I or the predictors thought. A big part of that success was thanks to a 3 month loan I made of an AMC from Man U, who averaged 7.5 in his matches. Luckily for me Man U doesn't try and keep him and I win his services. Of course now he's been stinking it up. I'm wondering if the pressure of the big contract and accompanying key player role has made life difficult for him. Hopefully he'll settle down and we'll be able to make a bid for a play-off spot which is what I'd hoped for the team this year.

[DaddyTorgo]

Left my Athletic Bilbao team after guiding them to another 4th Place La Liga finish for a job at Porto in Portugal. Going from a "National" Reputation club (38th in Europe) to a "Continental" one (8th in Europe). Hopefully a springboard to bigger and better.

Also took the job of National Team HC for Congo.

[Barkeep49]

Been playing a career as Charlton. Won promotion to Championship in year 1 and had a mid-table finish in year 2 which was much better than either what I or the predictors thought. A big part of that success was thanks to a 3 month loan I made of an AMC from Man U, who averaged 7.5 in his matches. Luckily for me Man U doesn't try and keep him and I win his services. Of course now he's been stinking it up. I'm wondering if the pressure of the big contract and accompanying key player role has made life difficult for him. Hopefully he'll settle down and we'll be able to make a bid for a play-off spot which is what I'd hoped for the team this year.
After a late season run, I not only qualified for the playoffs, I got promoted. Any advice on how to handle this? My squad is likely not strong enough to stay up, and I want to try and make the right moves to protect the long term interests of the club.

[bulletsponge]

After a late season run, I not only qualified for the playoffs, I got promoted. Any advice on how to handle this? My squad is likely not strong enough to stay up, and I want to try and make the right moves to protect the long term interests of the club.

beats me, i try and tank the late season if i know im not good enough to stay up the next year

[Barkeep49]

beats me, i try and tank the late season if i know im not good enough to stay up the next year
Heh. I was tempted but would never do such a thing in real life so there you have it.

Basically I've tried to sign guys to reasonable contracts and all of the guys I've signed have had to accept a 40% relegation salary drop clause. I think I have just enough talent to avoid being relegated.

[DaddyTorgo]

Loan signings?

Pack it in and pray?

[BYU 14]

What DT said, 2 or 3 quality loaners can keep you above the drop zone while you build some cash up.

[klayman]

After a late season run, I not only qualified for the playoffs, I got promoted. Any advice on how to handle this? My squad is likely not strong enough to stay up, and I want to try and make the right moves to protect the long term interests of the club.

If you stress a counter attack philosophy you should manage to stay up the following year, as teams will be overly aggressive in attacking you your first season in the new league. You should easily be able to take several scoreless draws and even enough 1-0 steals to seal your stay, even in the premiership. Understand that you are going to lose some games, and by big margins. You need to rotate your squad in and out to handle morale drops from those games, as well as not trying not to put any pressure on your players to minimize morale loss.

Don't spend to stay up, spend to win in the Championship next season. If you do drop, it won't kill you. If you stay up, you can refocus for next season. A key older player or two can work wonders, especially if your squad is on the younger side, for one year contracts for free if you can swing it.

I find that moving from the lower leagues isn't as much as a progression as moving from the Championship into Premiership. Where as you could continue an attacking philosophy from BSP to the Championship in successive promotions, once you hit the Premiership it is a different story. Defense will win you points, and that will keep you up. Running and gunning and going toe to toe with ManU and Chelsea might be more exciting though.

[Karim]

In my first season in League Football, my lowly Wealdstone squad astonishes the critics by staying in the automatic promotion range for the entire season, despite no one making more than $57k, and a handful of part-time contracts. With six games to go, we control our own fate. In the first five of those games, we promptly can't handle the pressure and lose four of them but winning a massive 3-0 game against Rushden at home. The last game of the year, we need a win on the road to secure automatic promotion but promptly lose. I check the scores and realize that Luton Town also lose. Thinking I managed to get us promoted, I check the standings only to see that Luton Town scored one more goal than we did over the course of the regular season (we conceded the same amount). Even though we were in the playoffs, I just knew the squad didn't have it in them and sure enough, we didn't proceed.

I got rid of the part-timers and managed to secure a stud German right midfielder. My entire squad is 25 and younger, except for a right full-back. The first game of the new season, I lose my starting attacking midfielder and his back up each for a month, along with my stud German for six months. The next game, I lose my starting left midfielder for a month. I suspect it's because my pitch condition is 'Terrible' but there aren't any funds to improve it.

Luckily, I've been able to bring in a 17-year old midfielder on loan from the Premiership who is better than everyone I have. In seven games, he has three goals and five assists. Now I have to convince him to stay for the whole season.

There just is no better game on the market than FM...

[bulletsponge]

Heh. I was tempted but would never do such a thing in real life so there you have it.

Basically I've tried to sign guys to reasonable contracts and all of the guys I've signed have had to accept a 40% relegation salary drop clause. I think I have just enough talent to avoid being relegated.

i did say try. more times than not when i try to tank (rotate more and play hot prospects) i still end up winning. i find it harder to win when im struggling than trying to lose when im on a roll late season

[Barkeep49]

Thanks to everyone's advice. The match tactics advice has been particularly useful.

I've played 14 games and have 14 points. This actually has me in 13th place, but there are only a few points separating me and relegation. If this rate continues 39 points should keep me safe from relegation, based on the past 3 years of the game. In good news the profits keep flowing in and I believe we've got about 11 million in the bank. Considering, despite very modest budgeting, that our cash flow was always shaky even if we do get relegated I think we've got enough of a cushion, when combined with the salary drops I've negotiated, to have a soft landing. And if we do stay-up I'll feel comfortable making some investments in the team.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Time for my quick story. I'm with Dover in England. Started in the Blue Square Bet South, won the title in my first year, and got promoted to Blue Square Premier. After doom-and-gloom predictions of getting relegated from the BSP, we actually managed to finish in 8th place, only 6 points out of playoff position. Unfortunately, money is a major concern. The board slashed out payroll budget for the upcoming season, and I am in a bind. I have players making considerable salaries who have played their way out of the first team. As much as I'd hate to get rid of some of these guys, they have indeed become expendable.

I guess my problem at this point is that nobody else wants these players. I can't even give some of them away. I can't renegotiate contracts either because we're so far beyond budget. For example, I have a player making $36,000/year. I would love to cut about a third from that. Unfortunately, the board will not allow me to offer any more than $8,000/year to him. I see it as a strong-arm move by the board. Saving $12,000 this year isn't really going to help at all. I need to get rid of this guy completely.

Ideally, I'd love to transfer these guys out, even if I don't get paid. If I release them on a free, I'll have to pay compensation, which I'm not sure really helps me at all. I need to cut payroll quickly, as that's the only thing making me fear for my job. I just won manager of the year in the BSP, but it looks like I can't control salaries, and I'm sure the board is tired of cash injections every 3 months.

Sucks to be me. :(

[DaddyTorgo]

Sucks when you can't transfer guys out even for $0. Do you have any cupcake league matches coming up where you can rotate them in to "audition" them?

[whomario]

In that situation i would try to still play/start those guys even if it means a few less wins in the short term (and if money is that tight, a push for promotion would be risky and who cares if you finnish 8th or 12th), interest in players can go up considerably when they are actually playing games and thus can be evaluated.
But yeah, sometimes thos guys just won´t leave :(

Maybe also try to put them on the loan list in hopes of a club taking on part of their pay for the season ?

[Blade6119]

It all depends on your finances as well, when you cut a player it frees up payroll room if you really need a new player. The downside is your overall finances take a hit since you are still effectively paying two players. So if you think you can get promoted or something if you make the move, I say cut them. If its only going to move you from like 12th to 8th, just bear it out

[EagleFan]

I am going all fanboy here and saying that this is the greatest game! :)

Similar situation as Pumpy in my current season. Played way over our heads last season and got promoted to League 1. Am getting buried this season and have run up quite a bill trying to get new players that can give us a chance to avoid relegation this season (still an uphill battle). Problem is the older guys that helped me get promoted last season; a couple have dropped off dramatically and another may have hit the point where our competition is at least as good as him. He had about a billion goals last year and was always able to make a break on a defender to get a clear shooting position. This year he looks like a second half sub at best. He shouldn't have lost his legs yet so I am assuming it is the rise in competition that did it to him.

He has a decent value so but I can't get myself to list him and offer him up.

This brings me back to my first point. Only in a truly great game can one get attached to players like this. In FOF or OOTP it takes a lot to get me attached to a player and I see them more as chess pieces to use to get to my goal of winning. Even more amazing since I am playing in a league that I don't know about and using players that I would have never heard of if not for this game.

[Barkeep49]

So at first I thought you were paying the guy 36k a week and considering I'm in the Premiership and not paying that much to a player, I was a little concerned. 36k a year seems far more fair for a BSP player. I would agree with those who suggest playing the guy a bit as that does tend to help possible interest. I have a similar issue with one of my players and I really wish there was a way to not only charge 0 transfer fee, but OFFER to pay a certain amount of the salary like is sometimes requested by the player when transferring out. If you think you are close to being able to push for a promotion, cutting the guy to gain the cap flexibility seems like a reasonable strategy.

[DaddyTorgo]

Just had to post this highlights video.

This was a LEAGUE match. Quite the disparity among the teams in Portugal. This is from my former-Bilbao game, where I left Bilbao after guiding them to successive 4th place La Liga finishes (38th best team in Europe) for Porto (8th best team in Europe). Still my first season with Porto.

Jo's been a great signing, as has bringing in Capdevilla.

Fucking thing won't embed. Here's the link.

http://youtu.be/j4-2QIX2YXs


<iframe width="560" height="349" src="YouTube - Academica 2 - 9 Porto - Match Highlights (http://www.youtube.com/embed/j4-2QIX2YXs?rel=0)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Pumpy Tudors]

To update, I did manage to give a few of my players away, including my leading goalscorer from the season we got promoted. He struggled after promotion (missing open nets twice a game became his new trick), so he was out of the first team anyway. The fans weren't happy that I let him go, but he was making too much money. Personally, I think he slacked off after earning a big contract from me. At least I dumped him without having to pay him for another year.

Now my Dover team is well under its payroll budget, and we're still playing fairly well. What helped me was shortening my pitch to the minimum length. At least when playing at home, my players don't get tired as fast, and we don't get exposed by fast opposing strikers. I play a 4-4-2, and my central defenders are old and slow. Their experience and influence are huge advantages for my team, but they just can't compete from an athletic standpoint. On the road, we have a little trouble, but at least we've tightened things up at home. I think we can stay up long enough to be considered a real competitor in the Blue Square Premier.

[fortheglory]

I have heard great things about this game, and everyone here really seems to enjoy it! I checked out the forums for Football Manager, and a lot of the people there seem to indicate that the AI does a poor job of building teams and managing rosters. Is this true? or is it just a bunch of nit pickers? I am considering picking this title up, even though I really don't know much about soccer.

[DaddyTorgo]

I have heard great things about this game, and everyone here really seems to enjoy it! I checked out the forums for Football Manager, and a lot of the people there seem to indicate that the AI does a poor job of building teams and managing rosters. Is this true? or is it just a bunch of nit pickers? I am considering picking this title up, even though I really don't know much about soccer.

I think that's pretty nit-pickery. The SI forums for FM are somewhat of a nitpickers vs. fanboys trainwreck in a lot of ways.

Could the AI be better? Sure...I suppose it could. But it's all about the team that you pick too. If you pick one of the best teams in the world you're going to find it not very challenging...if you pick a tiny team with no money you'll find it plenty challenging.

[Big Fo]

The problem is that good players cost too much so at the top level that the AI teams don't aggressively seek to improve their teams every season or two like most do in real life. Even a B+/A- type of player will take up a huge part of the summer transfer budget for one of these teams.

[DaddyTorgo]

The problem is that good players cost too much so at the top level that the AI teams don't aggressively seek to improve their teams every season or two like most do in real life. Even a B+/A- type of player will take up a huge part of the summer transfer budget for one of these teams.

This is true. There should probably be more movement of B+/A- players among top teams. I always hope that will be improved. Teams chasing a big signing just for the sake of it, and then selling off a perfectly good guy that they've replaced with their new signing.

Someday.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, player movement is woeful on the top clubs after a while. That's annoying.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Sometimes I wish I didn't read this board.

[Ironhead]

I have heard great things about this game, and everyone here really seems to enjoy it! I checked out the forums for Football Manager, and a lot of the people there seem to indicate that the AI does a poor job of building teams and managing rosters. Is this true? or is it just a bunch of nit pickers? I am considering picking this title up, even though I really don't know much about soccer.

I'll give you my prospective as someone in a similar situation. I really know very little about soccer - what I know I learned when I played FM about 5 years ago.

That said, I bought this on sale about 2-3 weeks ago and have been completely addicted since. Here is one of the great things I have realized - not knowing anything about the real life counterpart of the sport is incredibly freeing. It has allowed me to just immerse myself into the actual game without constantly saying, "Oh, well that wouldn't have happened in real life." The world in the game is the reality and I don't see any of the faults because I have nothing to compare it to.

[OldGiants]

Now my Dover team is well under its payroll budget, and we're still playing fairly well. What helped me was shortening my pitch to the minimum length. At least when playing at home, my players don't get tired as fast, and we don't get exposed by fast opposing strikers. I play a 4-4-2, and my central defenders are old and slow. Their experience and influence are huge advantages for my team, but they just can't compete from an athletic standpoint. On the road, we have a little trouble, but at least we've tightened things up at home. I think we can stay up long enough to be considered a real competitor in the Blue Square Premier.

This makes tremendous sense to me and is something I never thought of. Usually I go for longest pitch and get young wingers. But I also get older defenders who do tire. Definitely going to fire up a new game, likely in Serie C in Italy, to try this for myself.

[Toddzilla]

I have heard great things about this game, and everyone here really seems to enjoy it! I checked out the forums for Football Manager, and a lot of the people there seem to indicate that the AI does a poor job of building teams and managing rosters. Is this true? or is it just a bunch of nit pickers? I am considering picking this title up, even though I really don't know much about soccer.I had never watched a second of soccer, nor cared about it, nor gave it a chance to be interesting. I saw all of the interest in FM on this board - hell, the users on the FOFC board think FM is better than FOFC for crying out loud - and I thought I'd give it a shot. WSUCougar sent me a CD copy of WWSM 2005 and I was totally lost for a long time, but totally hooked. It really is the most immersive and detailed and challenging sports sim ever created. I played it so much and got so involved that I was asked to be a beta tester for the 2010 version (and even got my name in the credits ;)).

You just need to trust us and take this leap-of-faith: Buy FM and we promise you that not only are you going to love it, it is going to become your favorite game you've ever played and you'll wonder why you didn't jump on this train 10 years ago.

Hell, I'll promise you this - if you don't like it, PM me and I'll send you your money back - that's how confident I am you're gonna love it.

[Toddzilla]

Dola - Mark, I'll let you know where to send the marketing check ;)

[DaddyTorgo]

Dola - Mark, I'll let you know where to send the marketing check ;)
:lol:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here is one of the great things I have realized - not knowing anything about the real life counterpart of the sport is incredibly freeing. It has allowed me to just immerse myself into the actual game without constantly saying, "Oh, well that wouldn't have happened in real life." The world in the game is the reality and I don't see any of the faults because I have nothing to compare it to.

In addition, I've also noticed some people getting caught up with knowing who the up and coming players are or seeing regens of previous stars. I don't have any of those problems because I honestly don't know most of the players.

[Qwikshot]

Just one issue I have, when you take over a team for the first time. You can mutually dismiss coaches and staff, but, if you want to clean house on your players, the board will refuse to allow the sale of players that were recently acquired (by the coach prior). That is a pain, as then, you have players get mad at you.

The truth is that if you wish to create a new philosophy and players regardless of how long they've been at the team aren't fitting into plans, then they should be just as easily moved as staff.

[sovereignstar v2]

The truth is that if you wish to create a new philosophy and players regardless of how long they've been at the team aren't fitting into plans, then they should be just as easily moved as staff.

Roberto Mancini says hi.

[flounder]

Haha!!!

Last night I won the first leg of my Euro Cup Knockout Round stage 3-0 at home vs Dortmund. Of course, on the second leg I give up 3 goals and proceed to lose on penalties.

I was so disgusted I went straight to bed. Apparently I forgot to save my game. Windows updated itself last night and rebooted my computer. I start FM up again and it's just after my first leg win.

Is this what being evil feels like? I think I like it.

[Passacaglia]

Same thing happened to me last night, with FOF. I've assembled what I think is a playoff-worthy, almost Super-Bowl contender (including a 3rd year Matthew Stafford, who went from 83/83 to 89/89 as the season progressed), and they went 5-11, and most of that was from a 3-3 "run" at the end which basically just killed our chance of getting a good draft pick.

[Toddzilla]

HAHahaha..wait, what?

[Karim]

I'm a bit confused by the short-term loan limit in England. I've brought in five with I thought meant "five on a team" as opposed to "five per season". When the loans have expired, I've tried to extend them but I get the message that I've gone over the short-term loan limit. I'm in November and I could only offer 2 months; 'End of Season' was ghosted.

I've seen other teams extend loans so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Blade6119]

In addition, I've also noticed some people getting caught up with knowing who the up and coming players are or seeing regens of previous stars. I don't have any of those problems because I honestly don't know most of the players.

FM regens are not of previous players, just as a heads up. All new players are unique

[law90026]

I'm a bit confused by the short-term loan limit in England. I've brought in five with I thought meant "five on a team" as opposed to "five per season". When the loans have expired, I've tried to extend them but I get the message that I've gone over the short-term loan limit. I'm in November and I could only offer 2 months; 'End of Season' was ghosted.

I've seen other teams extend loans so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

From what I recall:

You can bring in up to 4 long-term loans (i.e. end of season loans) if I remember right.

Once you hit that number, you can only bring in short-term loans (unlimited) but each player loaned in can only be with the club not more than 3 months.

In each game, you can only field up to 5 loaned players (if you're in League 2 and above).

[Marc Vaughan]

The truth is that if you wish to create a new philosophy and players regardless of how long they've been at the team aren't fitting into plans, then they should be just as easily moved as staff.

This is simply down to how the staff, fans and players react to such things in real-life.

Coaches etc. generally work closely with their managers and because of that often move on with them to other clubs, however players rarely do the same.

As such you might be dismantling a team which are close knit and have relationships between the players, possibly formed over a period of years where they've bonded and gone through several management regimes .... as such its not surprising they might not like excessive change, just as players might react in real-life.

The 'team' aspect of soccer is a vital one and is often one of the determining factors which leads to success on the field (strangely enough I've been discussing on twitter today that one of the reasons why Man City haven't been more dominant is that Mancini hasn't done a good job in bringing the squad together as a 'team' ..).

[sovereignstar v2]

I think 3rd place and the FA Cup is about as dominant as you can expect for a team that has been revolving players in and out like City has been. And I do believe they had to bring in "mercenaries" such as Bridge and Adebayor just to get to the point where they could then bring in guys like Yaya and David Silva. It's been a total success thus far in my opinion.

[Marc Vaughan]

I think 3rd place and the FA Cup is about as dominant as you can expect for a team that has been revolving players in and out like City has been. And I do believe they had to bring in "mercenaries" such as Bridge and Adebayor just to get to the point where they could then bring in guys like Yaya and David Silva. It's been a total success thus far in my opinion.

I think they've done 'ok' and I don't think he's a bad manager at all - but I think some of the more dominant managers (ie. Ferguson or Mourinho) would have been able to subdue and gel the team a little faster, City have had a long of moaners going public which I don't think should have been tolerated - especially with Carlos Tevez ... I think having an unsettled captain if a bad situation for a club and provides negative leadership (ie. if you set the example where the 'leader' is constantly speaking about leaving the club and being unhappy, what are the younger players in the club meant to think or learn to behave?).

(but obviously one of the 'fun' aspects of soccer is that EVERYONE who's into it has an opinion about how a club should be run and what the current manager is doing wrong, I could be barking totally up the wrong tree ;) )

[Karim]

...each player loaned in can only be with the club not more than 3 months.

Thanks. That's what I'm running into. If I had known, I would have offered one guy a full-season loan but I didn't know if he would have been someone I'd want to keep around all year.

[Ajaxab]

Anyone have any ideas on dealing with your own players and minimum fee release clause requests? I finally got my Unterhaching squad into the UEFA Cup in 2019, but a few of my more important players have contracts coming up at the end of the 2020 season. A lot of them want minimum fee release clauses that are a complete joke. I value them at 3 or 4 times this clause. Is it best to just try to sell these guys over the summer and hope to replace them or wait it out in hopes they drop the clause request?

[whomario]

Have you tried raising the fee rather than striking the clause ? I found that to help sometimes.

[Blade6119]

If you can, a higher salary or signing bonus will usually take care of that. It obviously requires wage room, but bump their salary up like 5-10% and they will usually forget their demands in my experience

[DaddyTorgo]

Latest move in my Bilbao-Porto game...Man City came calling. So I said yes. It's honestly a bit ridiculous. Going from somewhere like Porto where Hulk (my best guy) was valued at like $16m and nobody else was really more than $3-4m in valuation, to Man City, where I just signed Pastore to a contract with an annual salary of $19 million. And then just because I could I went and bought Cavani too. And I couldn't get De Gea (he wouldn't negotiate a contract), so I was "forced" to go with Akinfeev. Poor me.

Definitely can see where the "kid in a candy shop" phenomenon comes in IRL for some of these managers, and appreciate it more.

[Ajaxab]

If you can, a higher salary or signing bonus will usually take care of that. It obviously requires wage room, but bump their salary up like 5-10% and they will usually forget their demands in my experience

I'll have to try that. It's going to be tough with my star striker though. He already wants a 66% raise and a salary that goes well above my board's limit. I'm still trying to decide if I should just get rid of him this summer or hope he comes to his senses before January.

In previous versions, it seems their demands on these clauses were more reasonable. To make things that much better, you could just about double the already reasonable clause and players would accept. With '11, it seems that they not only do not present a reasonable clause amount, but they won't negotiate it either.

[whomario]

i just had my striker miss a penalty, get fouled on the rebound and then miss the ensuing 2nd penalty as well. WTF ? :confused: Good thing for him the team was allready ahead 3-0 and he had scored all 3 goals ;)

If that guy could only stay healthy ... In league play he has 45 goals in 65 matches (and propably 15 of those were as a sub), unfortunately that´s stretched over nearly 4 seasons (had a torn calf muscle, a 2 month hip injury, a broken foot, a broken leg and a couple twisted ankles).

[PraetorianX]

Hey, SI announced FM12...

FINALLY!!!! We can add/remove playable leagues in save games!

This is brilliant, in my opinion.

I may have considered not bothering this year and just get FM13, but this one feature is enough to get me to get it.

And the tone setting for conversations/team talks is also good.

Other than that...most of what they've announced is just tweaking or purely aesthetic. Then again, they may not have announced all the major features.

Supposedly improving transfers/contracts...but I'll wait and see before I believe that there will be anything worth writing about in that regard. They always say they've improved transfers, and they're always a bit crap.

[DaddyTorgo]

Hey, SI announced FM12...

FINALLY!!!! We can add/remove playable leagues in save games!

This is brilliant, in my opinion.

I may have considered not bothering this year and just get FM13, but this one feature is enough to get me to get it.

And the tone setting for conversations/team talks is also good.

Other than that...most of what they've announced is just tweaking or purely aesthetic. Then again, they may not have announced all the major features.

Supposedly improving transfers/contracts...but I'll wait and see before I believe that there will be anything worth writing about in that regard. They always say they've improved transfers, and they're always a bit crap.


I started a new thread...:p

[Barkeep49]

Thanks to everyone's advice. The match tactics advice has been particularly useful.

I've played 14 games and have 14 points. This actually has me in 13th place, but there are only a few points separating me and relegation. If this rate continues 39 points should keep me safe from relegation, based on the past 3 years of the game. In good news the profits keep flowing in and I believe we've got about 11 million in the bank. Considering, despite very modest budgeting, that our cash flow was always shaky even if we do get relegated I think we've got enough of a cushion, when combined with the salary drops I've negotiated, to have a soft landing. And if we do stay-up I'll feel comfortable making some investments in the team.
It got a little touch and go at the end, but we managed to stay up and I came in 2nd player for manager of the year for the effort. Unfortunately my board blew most of the money we saved on installing a heated pitch. Fortunately I could still get them to upgrade our training facilities which had been my goal with the EPL money. I spent some on players to hopefully ensure a mid-table finish. We best get there because 2 of my 3 top players contracts are ending and they're refusing to entertain a new offer from me right now. I'm hoping that we're doing well enough in December/January that I will be able to enter negotiations.

[DaddyTorgo]

It got a little touch and go at the end, but we managed to stay up and I came in 2nd player for manager of the year for the effort. Unfortunately my board blew most of the money we saved on installing a heated pitch. Fortunately I could still get them to upgrade our training facilities which had been my goal with the EPL money. I spent some on players to hopefully ensure a mid-table finish. We best get there because 2 of my 3 top players contracts are ending and they're refusing to entertain a new offer from me right now. I'm hoping that we're doing well enough in December/January that I will be able to enter negotiations.

Yay for you!! Congrats!!

[law90026]

It got a little touch and go at the end, but we managed to stay up and I came in 2nd player for manager of the year for the effort. Unfortunately my board blew most of the money we saved on installing a heated pitch. Fortunately I could still get them to upgrade our training facilities which had been my goal with the EPL money. I spent some on players to hopefully ensure a mid-table finish. We best get there because 2 of my 3 top players contracts are ending and they're refusing to entertain a new offer from me right now. I'm hoping that we're doing well enough in December/January that I will be able to enter negotiations.

Selling the 2 players and reinvesting the funds not an option?

[CAsterling]

I have been play FM since the original CM when Domark published it and what suprises me is that no matter how long I play I keep running into little things that make it more enjoyable.

Little touches like.
You get a penalty and one of your strikers has already scored twice, that striker takes the penalty in an attempt to get his hat-trick rather than the normal penalty taker. A nice realistic touch.

Other Interface things I really like. You can select a number of players to scout at the same time.....i.e. In a player search/shortlist/team list you can select multiple pages of players by using the shift key (or ctrl key) and select scout reports on them all. I found this by accident when I was getting annoyed by selecting each player and getting a scout report and it was taking ages!! (Yes I'm slow, I just never thought about it and it made a manual boring process much easier).

In the scouting assignments you can right click on a country in a scouts knowledge list and assign a scout from that. It saves scrolling down the huge list of possible countries if you want to send them to a country that begins with a letter late in the alphabet and one of your scouts already has knowledge of the country.

These are all little touches I found/noticed in the last 6 months by accident and I suspect there are dozens more out there I haven't seen yet.....FM I love it :)

[Barkeep49]

Thanks I didn't know about the scouting tip. That will definitely be a time saver come end of season when I'm trying to find the right player from amidst a fairly long list.

[lighthousekeeper]

Thanks I didn't know about the scouting tip. That will definitely be a time saver come end of season when I'm trying to find the right player from amidst a fairly long list.

wow great tip!

[Karim]

So, how do you get a veteran to actually perform?

It's taken about eight seasons, but I got my Wealdstone squad to League 1. Mainly due to salary, my squads have always been young, early twenties - castoffs from the Championship and Premiership. I've never had a veteran do anything except be a stop-gap measure.

Now that I got to League 1, being scared that I'd be overwhelmed, I brought in a 34 year old right defender, a 31 year old midfielder, and a 33 year old striker - all players who had played in League 1 the previous year. I thought they would come in and perform but they've yet to do anything while my kids excel. I'm going to give my MC and SC a chance but I've already off-loaded the DR, the worst of the three.

The kids have been good to get me to this point but I can see from the start of the season that at best I'll have a mid-table position unless these veterans start performing.

[Marc Vaughan]

With 'veteran' players a lot depends on the type of player - if you're buying aging players (anyone over 30 really) then make sure that you sign players who are professional in approach to the game.

Simply put if you sign an un-professional older player chances are his approach to training and life will increase the wear and tear on his body and make him less able to play competitively as he ages.

Second thing is to check their physical stats - this is where players tend to drop off as they age, try and make sure your players are still somewhat competitive for the role you're looking at placing them in.

Finally if you're after a player for a position which relies on speed or stamina then an elderly player is NOT the signing to make.

That is no to 'fast wingers', 'roving midfielders' etc. at that age ...

However where older players can make a difference especially is where their increased leadership/mental skills (which tend to grow as players age) can offset their decreasing physical ability - for example a striker who is wanted to hold up and distribute the ball, midfield general (same sort of thing), reliable central defender who experience means he's always in the right place at the right time etc.

In all those cases the experience and age will be to their advantage and so long as you 'pair' them with a player who can make up for any potential lack of pace, stamina etc. then you will et the best out of them and hopefully your team as a whole.

PS - Look at Kevin Phillips in the Championship irl, hardly a spring chicken and he doesn't have the pace he once had; but his movement is great and his finishing is still lethal ... as he showed by scoring two against Brighton last week :( ;)

[bulletsponge]

also older players with high professionalism, ambition and determination make excellent mentors

[flounder]

Can someone explain the Europa League qualification rules to me? Last season I finished third in the English Premier League so I gained a berth in the Champions League. I failed to move on past the group stage though.

Then I get an email about the Euro Cup 1st knockout round draw and I find I'm seeded in that. Two seasons ago I won the League Cup, but I didn't win anything last season. What gives?

[bulletsponge]

if you get knocked out of the champions league before group stage, you get put into the euro cup. finish 3rd in the group stage and you get put into the euro cup knockout stages

[flounder]

Ah ok. Thanks for setting me straight.

[whomario]

So, how do you get a veteran to actually perform?

It's taken about eight seasons, but I got my Wealdstone squad to League 1. Mainly due to salary, my squads have always been young, early twenties - castoffs from the Championship and Premiership. I've never had a veteran do anything except be a stop-gap measure.

Now that I got to League 1, being scared that I'd be overwhelmed, I brought in a 34 year old right defender, a 31 year old midfielder, and a 33 year old striker - all players who had played in League 1 the previous year. I thought they would come in and perform but they've yet to do anything while my kids excel. I'm going to give my MC and SC a chance but I've already off-loaded the DR, the worst of the three.

The kids have been good to get me to this point but I can see from the start of the season that at best I'll have a mid-table position unless these veterans start performing.

Question : Have you altered your style of play to suit the veterans ? With young kids you might be best playing a fast paced game and have lots of guys cover a lot of ground, with veterans you might consider playing a smaller, narrower game and work with players in specific roles.

For example, if you play a counter attacking style i´d say a veteran striker might lack the physichal attributes to pull if off. However, a veteran Centre Back will likely be a huge asset because you face heavy pressure (but might prove a problem on a team playing high up the pitch and dominating)

And like MV said, sometimes you just miss on a players "turning point" and with less professional guys it comes earlier.


on a sidenote i just had one of the most fullfilling results in my FM career. After getting knocked out by Arsenal 2 times in a row in the CL (and they won the cup both years) i beat them, no slaughtered them. 7-2 at home and then 3-1 on the road :eek:

[whomario]

One little thing that is missing from FM imo are overall stats and records. Maybe i´m just missing it, but there doesn´t seem to be a way to show like the Top10 all time scorers for competitions (like the champions league or domestic leagues), is there ?

[Barkeep49]

At an inflection point. Man City has approached me. I had forgotten how a much difference there is between my club and the top of the heap. They have more room remaining in their wage budget than I have wage budget. If I'm going to make a move to a bigger club this is it. But is that what I want to do with this game?

[DaddyTorgo]

At an inflection point. Man City has approached me. I had forgotten how a much difference there is between my club and the top of the heap. They have more room remaining in their wage budget than I have wage budget. If I'm going to make a move to a bigger club this is it. But is that what I want to do with this game?

I did it in my Athletic Bilbao -> Porto game. It's definitely an extreme change, I'll tell you that!!

[Barkeep49]

I made the move. In real life I would find it too hard to turn down so I thought it only right to do it. So far I've gotten off to a great start as I have won 4 and tied 1 of my first 5 games. Man City was under-performing and it's been nice to right the ship.

[DaddyTorgo]

I made the move. In real life I would find it too hard to turn down so I thought it only right to do it. So far I've gotten off to a great start as I have won 4 and tied 1 of my first 5 games. Man City was under-performing and it's been nice to right the ship.

That was kinda my thought too...try to play it like "what would I do in real life...of course I'd move."

Finding it fun actually. Starting my second season...the Sheik is buying me Ganso in September as soon as he gets over this nagging injury, and I spent a ton of money on quality 17-19 year olds to be the "next generation."

But I've let some people go - sold Tevez, sold Dzeko (cuz he was unhappy), sold Poli (unhappy). So I'm trying not to be a disgusting stockpiler, but to actually keep like...turning-over the team and bringing in youth.

Just bought an 18 year-old Libyan DC who looks like he good be a 3.5-4 star player in the future, almost more hyped about guys like him than Ganso.

[flounder]

Man Carlos Tevez is having a 2015-16 season for the ages for Man City in my game. 36 league goals in 26 appearances. The next highest goal scorer has 13. I have a match against them to try and whittle down their lead and he goes for a hat trick in the first 21 minutes.

[Epi_862]

Just wanted to chime in for anyone who's on the fence about this game... You need to get it. If you have any inclination towards wanting to manage a sports team, this game will go far and beyond above your expectations. I'd venture as far as saying there isn't a more immersive world in video games, period.

And this is coming from someone who'd rather watch ice melt in a freezer than soccer on TV. This game is just straight up digital crack.

But also, seeing as this is a Football messageboard, you'll likely spend a shitload of time thinking to yourself: "Man, if they just made a pigskin management game like this".

[I. J. Reilly]

And this is coming from someone who'd rather watch ice melt in a freezer than soccer on TV.

Six months from now you will be glued to Fox Soccer Channel, trust me.

[dolfin]

Six months from now you will be glued to Fox Soccer Channel, trust me.

+1

[CAsterling]

One thing that FM does for you is gets you interested in players you never heard of.

In an early version Ian Jenkins at Chester City was a God at Left back, I was in Chester so I went to see them play and spent most of the game trying to figure out if FM was right about his skill level.

Two others I remember Nii Lampty and Tonton Moukoko (or something like that), were young superstars in various versions of the game, and I actually went and looked them up and was always interested in watching them play......if you look up Tonton in wikipedia it actually has a section on how CM as it was at the time made him a cult hero.

My friends and I have at various times loved or detested players for no other reason than how well or badly they have played in our FM teams.....and I still actually detest Arsenal FC because they knocked me out of 2 cups and beat me 8-1 in a league game in the same season.

This game took over my life at various times, if I added up all the hours I spent playing it I would guess it would be the most time I have ever spent doing one thing in my life. Yet I still love it.

[Young Drachma]

I'd much rather watch an FM game than a real soccer game. In part because in FM, I know I can affect the outcome and I have some investment in all of it. But no doubt, it'll make you care about teams in far-flung places. Which is fun when you meet people from those places who root for those teams; or foreign FM players who are always shocked when an American plays it.

[BYU 14]

One thing that FM does for you is gets you interested in players you never heard of.


I have a player (Scott Shulton) in my FM11 dynasty now that is pissed with me since I transfer listed him early in the year and he has not spoken to me since. Actually find myself getting legit annoyed with the guy and have to remind myself it is just a game :)

[Marc Vaughan]

Tonton Moukoko ...
He was a seriously talented player as a kid; it wasn't a huge secret that a lot of big clubs were following him for several years - unfortunately problems outside of football derailed his career which is a shame.

There's a bit more about him here and some clips of him playing:

Championship Manager Heroes Episode 5: Tonton Zola Moukoko | A Journalist in the Making… (http://cmacd.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/championship-manager-heroes-episode-5-tonton-zola-moukoko/)

[DaddyTorgo]

What about Kennedy Bakircioglu. Dude made me like...over $180mil at Rosenborg in one of my games way back when.

And who was the other one that game...there was another Swedish kid wasn't there? Last name started with S?

[Marc Vaughan]

What about Kennedy Bakircioglu. Dude made me like...over $180mil at Rosenborg in one of my games way back when

Well he's played for his national side so hasn't done badly - however his time at Ajax was somewhat 'rocky' (he was told he was 'leaving' the first year he was there but stayed for 3 years getting only sporadic appearances) which has probably affected his development and prestige somewhat.

Kennedy Bakircioglü - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Bakirciogl%C3%BC)

[Epi_862]

Six months from now you will be glued to Fox Soccer Channel, trust me.

I've been playing every edition, i guess about 5 years back, way too much. And when i say too much, i really mean productivity-killing much. But i still have no desire to watch soccer at all. The game's just that good.

[CAsterling]

I can't watch the Fox Soccer Channel - one is the fact it is Fox and their sports coverage annoys me, the second is the teams I like are not top teams, so they will never be covered (Sadly I'm a Swindon Town fan who will probably never reach the Premiership again in my lifetime).

I love playing FM but I do have a couple of problems with it.
The 1st season.....I struggle to raise the motivation to start a new game, because I know the 1st season is boring, it's hard to change the club too much in that season - I tend to get interested around the end of season 1 when I try and get all those talented youngsters released by big clubs to join me in the low divisions so I can remake the team in the way I want it (pacey kids with potential as pace makes up for a lot of other deficiencies in the low divisions). The 1st season just seems like a slog until I can have a "night of the long knives" and get rid of most of the squad I started with and bring in "my players".

My other problem with FM is that when I change jobs I have to go through every player in the new team and reset their transfer values to something sensible....I get annoyed having players worth 10K having a transfer value set as 500K or something equally silly.
This is the one task that I find makes FM feel more like work than something enjoyable. Why can't the players default to a value of unspecified unless they are actually listed when I join a new club.

Over the years SI have managed to remove almost everything else that annoys me in the game, (yes some other things can still be improved), but I wish the second problem would go away too :)

[DaddyTorgo]

So geeked to keep digging into my game. Just (finally) got Ganso in the midseason window, along with a 20 year old Spanish AMC/ST stud. He's not a wonderkid (not sure why not), but he's damn well developed offensively.

[SunDevil]

After the forums went off line I completely lost my interest in playing this game. Tonight was the first night I checked out the forums and saw that SFraser had passed away in early July. For anyone not familiar with his work, I posted links to his most famous threads. His contribution to understanding and enjoying this game more will be greatly missed. This guy was so good and had such insight on how to make this game more than a game that I actually had a folder with his name under FM11 with these bookmarks.

Creativity and Flair (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/220742-Creativity-and-Flair)

Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/191080-Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them.)

A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/262465-A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters)

Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/257593-Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots)

Meet-The-Striker (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/258643-Meet-The-Striker)

Meet-The-System (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265090-Meet-The-System)

-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265615-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season)

Building-a-Cohesive-Team (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/256247-Building-a-Cohesive-Team)

Creative-freedom-a-management-style (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265974-%28Creative%29-freedom-a-management-style)

Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/259848-Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront.)

The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/205338-The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space)

Here is the thread where the announcement of his passing is and also people's responses. Most of the big time people who create guides for each new version of the game have posted their thoughts.

SFraser-Has-sadly-died. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/271385-ANNOUNCEMENT-Steven-Fraser-%28SFraser%29-Has-sadly-died.)

[gkb]

After the forums went off line I completely lost my interest in playing this game. Tonight was the first night I checked out the forums and saw that SFraser had passed away in early July. For anyone not familiar with his work, I posted links to his most famous threads. His contribution to understanding and enjoying this game more will be greatly missed. This guy was so good and had such insight on how to make this game more than a game that I actually had a folder with his name under FM11 with these bookmarks.

Creativity and Flair (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/220742-Creativity-and-Flair)

Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/191080-Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them.)

A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/262465-A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters)

Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/257593-Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots)

Meet-The-Striker (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/258643-Meet-The-Striker)

Meet-The-System (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265090-Meet-The-System)

-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265615-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season)

Building-a-Cohesive-Team (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/256247-Building-a-Cohesive-Team)

Creative-freedom-a-management-style (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265974-%28Creative%29-freedom-a-management-style)

Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/259848-Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront.)

The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/205338-The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space)

Here is the thread where the announcement of his passing is and also people's responses. Most of the big time people who create guides for each new version of the game have posted their thoughts.

SFraser-Has-sadly-died. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/271385-ANNOUNCEMENT-Steven-Fraser-%28SFraser%29-Has-sadly-died.)

I always really enjoyed digging into his threads. He was way to young for this to have happened - 27 according to the obit.

[samifan24]

After the forums went off line I completely lost my interest in playing this game. Tonight was the first night I checked out the forums and saw that SFraser had passed away in early July. For anyone not familiar with his work, I posted links to his most famous threads. His contribution to understanding and enjoying this game more will be greatly missed. This guy was so good and had such insight on how to make this game more than a game that I actually had a folder with his name under FM11 with these bookmarks.

Creativity and Flair (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/220742-Creativity-and-Flair)

Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/191080-Back-Room-Staff-What-They-are-Good-at-and-How-to-Use-Them.)

A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/262465-A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters)

Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/257593-Shoots-With-Power-versus-Places-Shots)

Meet-The-Striker (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/258643-Meet-The-Striker)

Meet-The-System (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265090-Meet-The-System)

-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265615-How-To-Meet-The-Next-Season)

Building-a-Cohesive-Team (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/256247-Building-a-Cohesive-Team)

Creative-freedom-a-management-style (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/265974-%28Creative%29-freedom-a-management-style)

Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/259848-Analysing-the-4-2-3-1-Why-Your-Playmaker-Should-Be-Upfront.)

The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/205338-The-Tactics-of-Attacking-Creating-Space)

Here is the thread where the announcement of his passing is and also people's responses. Most of the big time people who create guides for each new version of the game have posted their thoughts.

SFraser-Has-sadly-died. (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/271385-ANNOUNCEMENT-Steven-Fraser-%28SFraser%29-Has-sadly-died.)

I'd love to read these posts but the SI Games forum is a mess. I can't log on and it won't allow me to reset my password for some reason.

Does anyone have PDFs of any of the above?

[Radii]

I'd love to read these posts but the SI Games forum is a mess. I can't log on and it won't allow me to reset my password for some reason.

Does anyone have PDFs of any of the above?

+1, I spent about 30 minutes trying to reset my password, it e-mailed me a temp password but wouldn't accept it.

[flounder]

I saved them all as PDFs and zipped them up into one file. Here's the link
http://www.drflounder.com/images/SFraser.zip

[OldGiants]

Shocked about SFraser's death. Definitely the most interesting member of the SI forum. Like, many I have his threads book marked.

[TroyF]

I saved them all as PDFs and zipped them up into one file. Here's the link
http://www.drflounder.com/images/SFraser.zip

The thread called "meet the striker" has changed the way I view my players forever. I knew some of those things, but to put it all together like that.

Very sad he's passed. Selfishly, I'm sad I didn't find out about him until his passing. RIP

[SackAttack]

I saved them all as PDFs and zipped them up into one file. Here's the link
http://www.drflounder.com/images/SFraser.zip

You're awesome. Thanks.

[samifan24]

I saved them all as PDFs and zipped them up into one file. Here's the link
http://www.drflounder.com/images/SFraser.zip

Thanks so much!

[Barkeep49]

I made the move. In real life I would find it too hard to turn down so I thought it only right to do it. So far I've gotten off to a great start as I have won 4 and tied 1 of my first 5 games. Man City was under-performing and it's been nice to right the ship.
Had a successful season with City, managing to take them from 10th when I got hired at the very end of January to 4th, and Champions Cup, by end of the season. The key has been Gonzolo Higuain who has averaged a goal a game for me in the EPL and more than a goal a game in Europe and Cup competitions. He'd wanted out of Real Madrid right at the same time I took over and so I happily invested the 28 million that RM wanted to snag him lickety split. Charlton did fairly well with-out me which has been gratifying, especially as their success was due to players I'd picked up in August or before I left in January. I've started the new season strongly winning outright my first 4 games, after an off season where the moves I made were basically just allowing players who'd been surplus before but fit into my scheme the roster space to play and have already qualified for the group stage in Champions Cup in what I think is the weakest group. More success

[Radii]

I saved them all as PDFs and zipped them up into one file. Here's the link
http://www.drflounder.com/images/SFraser.zip

To echo the others thanks a ton for this.

I'm fascinated by the player development thread. Is that something that's only really possible with the top 7 or 8 teams that just have way more resources than everyone else? Or do you think a smaller version of that kind of development system can work if you're a middling EPL team? If nothing else I need to cut a lot of the fat out of my U18 squad and pay attention to a bit more than just the 3 or 4 strong youth pulls, but I'm curious if you have some cash but not Man U resources what are you guys doing with your youth programs?

[flounder]

I'm playing as Derby County right now. I've been in the Premier League for 5 years finishing 13th, 7th, 7th, 3rd and 3rd. I averaged the 6th highest attendance and my club is highly profitable and has paid off all its debts.

There is no way I could match what he's describing in his post. I spend the majority of my transfer budget on U18 players and I can still only get 3-4 a year that have any hope of making my adult squad. In addition, I can't get a feeder squad that's higher than League 1, but that's ok because most of my youth team players will only sit the bench if I loan them to a Championship team.

I think the idea is sound, but in my experience with a smaller team, I get much better results by keeping prospects at my club, letting them get mentored, and playing them against weaker clubs. I think SFraser said once that his rule of thumb is if the player can play in 10 first team matches, he keeps them at the club that season rather than loaning them out. If you're in the European competitions plus your national cups you can easily reach that number if the player is decent. If he isn't, and he's too old for your youth team, you should probably just sell him.

[TroyF]

Question for everyone here:

I poached a youngster at 16 and developed him to the point where he is now and I need to decide if he's now going to be a DC or a DR. I'm having difficulty getting a screenshot to work, but here are his ratings:

Technical:

Corners - 15
Crossing - 13
Dribbling - 13
Finishing - 10
FirstTouch - 17
FreeKick - 12
Heading - 18
LongShots - 8
LongThrows - 14
Marking - 19
Passing - 18
Penalty - 9
Tackling - 19
Technique - 18

Mental:

Aggression - 13
Anticipation - 16
Bravery - 10
Composure - 9
Concentraion - 12
Creativity - 11
Decisions - 10
Determination - 14
Flair - 12
Influence - 14
Off the Ball - 9
Positioning - 15
Teamwork - 12
Work Rate - 15

Physical:

Acceleration - 12
Agility - 11
Balance - 14
Jumping - 20
Fitness - 11
Pace - 14
Stamina - 17
Strength - 19

He's a natural at both DC and DR. I have decent numbers of each without having superstars at either position. That means I can use a star in either spot. I've played him at both and he puts up similar ratings.

He just turned 20 and I want to train him up in a permanent position.

Oh, he's very strong with his right foot, weak with his left. He likes to run down the right flank, avoids the use of his weaker foot and likes to switch the ball to the opposite flank for preferred moves.

[whomario]

hmm, good wing defenders are harder to come by than CBs but he has ideal ratings at CB and merely very good ratings for a DR (lacking speed and off the ball and just good but nothing special dribbling and crossing), especially since the lack of speed is hard to correct with training.
Not that there aren´t plenty great DRs with the same speed/Acc ratings, but as said i think he has absolutely no chink in his armor at CB while he has some select few at DR.
The great technical skills are tempting to put him in a more attacking role, but i´d personally play him at CB and give him some freedom (some run with ball, through balls)

Actually just looking at the ratings he´d propably make a kick ass centre midfielder as well ;)

What team/league are you playing at btw ?

[Blade6119]

I see a excellent CB, a good RB, and a good DM

[Ajaxab]

hmm, good wing defenders are harder to come by than CBs but he has ideal ratings at CB and merely very good ratings at RB (lacking speed and off the ball and just good but nothing special dribbling and crossing)
The great technical skills are tempting to put him in a more attacking role, but i´d personally play him at CB and give him some freedom (some run with ball, through balls)

Actually just looking at the ratings he´d propably make a kick ass centre midfielder as well

+1 I really like his jumping, heading and strength ratings. No one is going to win a header against him in the box. I would love to have a DC like that.

[TroyF]

hmm, good wing defenders are harder to come by than CBs but he has ideal ratings at CB and merely very good ratings at RB (lacking speed and off the ball and just good but nothing special dribbling and crossing)
The great technical skills are tempting to put him in a more attacking role, but i´d personally play him at CB and give him some freedom (some run with ball, through balls)

Actually just looking at the ratings he´d propably make a kick ass centre midfielder as well


I thought about converting him to a DMC earlier on and decided not to do it. I'm leaning on DC because he has unbelievable ratings there, but the anticipation and passing are tempting for a DR even if some of his other skills are weaker there.

[Big Fo]

I'd make him a centerback due to his physical attributes. The dribbling and crossing might be wasted but he'll be a beast in the back and on offensive corners (assuming you normally bring the central defenders up and leave the fullbacks back). You could even teach him to hit long passes out of the back or something.

He'd make a darn good midfield destroyer too. What a player.

[TroyF]

I'd make him a centerback due to his physical attributes. The dribbling and crossing might be wasted but he'll be a beast in the back and on offensive corners (assuming you normally bring the central defenders up and leave the fullbacks back). You could even teach him to hit long passes out of the back or something.

He'd make a darn good midfield destroyer too. What a player.

I think this is what I'll end up doing. He's by far the best player I've ever developed in the game. Nobody else even comes close.

I gave him a handful of starts in the EPL the last couple of years and he's had an average rating of 7.54. I'm starting to throw him in more and more, but I'm still being cautious. I don't play him more than once a week and am probably even babying him too much. I do not want to burn the kid out.

[TroyF]

Whomario - Arsenal (the only place I can see them win trophies lately) :)

I try to make it realistic and develop mostly from within, attempt to poach young talent from elsewhere and have a gigantic amount of my transfer budget left every year. My success at developing players has been mediocre at best. This particular kid is very lucky I didn't find a way to ruin him.

The only time I have "splurged" for a superstar was Aguero. I had over 200 million bucks in transfer money left and he was unhappy about his contract. I couldn't avoid the temptation.

[Critch]

I'd go for CD too.

I read an interview with Andre Villas-Boas where he said if you brought the the ball out of defence with a ball carrying fullback a defensive opponent would just fall back into position and wait for you. But if you used a ball playing central defender, you forced them to respond and come to meet him, opening up space for the CD to pass into. His example was Pique bringing the ball forward then playing direct passes forward into space.

So play him CD, set him to run with ball and try through balls and see if it works in FM :)

Dribbling and high passing would make him perfect for that, if it works.

[whomario]

Whomario - Arsenal (the only place I can see them win trophies lately) :)

I try to make it realistic and develop mostly from within, attempt to poach young talent from elsewhere and have a gigantic amount of my transfer budget left every year. My success at developing players has been mediocre at best. This particular kid is very lucky I didn't find a way to ruin him.



doing it similarly at Dortmund, only without pouching too much young talent (2 sub 21 guys per year at most and no guys under 18) but i´ve also been incredibly lucky with my youth players from within the first couple seasons which is still benefitting me in 2019, currently have 7 guys from within that are in my Top 18-20 plus (plus leftover players

What is your strategy to develop ? I found that training them until they are 18 and then loaning them out a year works very well, that way they´ve trained under my schedules for at least 1 year and gotten mentored (often 2 or 3 times).
They´ll improve some on loan and a lot when back at the club. I also don´t mind playing him a bit at 19, sending him back out and then have him feature regularly at 21/22 "only".

My current No1 striker played 28 games in his first pro season as a replacement for injured players at age 17/18 (8 starts, 6,8 rating with 8 goals), then went on loan to Palermo where he scored 24 in 29 and came back improving massively and then playing at 19/20 scored 32 goals in 44 matches with a 7.4 rating.

[TroyF]

doing it similarly at Dortmund, only without pouching too much young talent (2 sub 21 guys per year at most and no guys under 18) but i´ve also been incredibly lucky with my youth players from within the first couple seasons which is still benefitting me in 2019, currently have 7 guys from within that are in my Top 18-20 plus (plus leftover players

What is your strategy to develop ? I found that training them until they are 18 and then loaning them out a year works very well, that way they´ve trained under my schedules for at least 1 year and gotten mentored (often 2 or 3 times).
They´ll improve some on loan and a lot when back at the club. I also don´t mind playing him a bit at 19, sending him back out and then have him feature regularly at 21/22 "only".

My current No1 striker played 28 games in his first pro season as a replacement for injured players at age 17/18 (8 starts, 6,8 rating with 8 goals), then went on loan to Palermo where he scored 24 in 29 and came back improving massively and then playing at 19/20 scored 32 goals in 44 matches with a 7.4 rating.

I also have a rule about how many I can poach. 2 under 17 guys in the summer, one in the January window. I have State of the Art youth facilities so usually one or two talented guys come through there a year. That gives me somewhere around 20 under 20 players I'm hoping to develop at any given time.

My success rate? Pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. As I stated, the guy above is by far and away the best I have ever done.

I try and mentor them until 18 or 19. Then send them on loan for a year, then try to work them into the squad. This kid never went on loan. His ratings and performance escalated so quickly, I didn't want anyone else touching him. Everyone I mentored him with he took to. I think something I need to do more is send them on loan twice. Practice, practice, practice.

[lcjjdnh]

Haven't played the CPU version of FM for quite a few years, but enjoying FM2011 on the iPad. Given that, I'm thinking about getting back into on the CPU. That said, I'm worried that it's too complex for something I don't have a ton of time to spend with--The iPad version is striking a nice balance for me right now.

Any thoughts on this? Can you enjoy the game without spending hours at a time playing it (hard as it may be to resist, I know)?

[Radii]

i wasn't sure whether to dig up the FM10 thread or not, figured I'd just post in the current thread, but, this is regarding FM10.

In my Ipswich Dynasty I promoted up to the EPL, and then finished 20th and relegated right back down to the Championship. Every player on the roster has a 25% Promotion Salary Increase and 25% Relegation Salary Drop clause. These appear to be mandatory per the club (I have no option to change them).

I'm not sure if I don't understand how these work or if there's a bug in the 2010 version... when I promoted up there were promotion raises all over the place.

Back to the Championship.. I haven't played a league match yet but I have advanced all the way through to early august. I have not seen mention of any sort of relegation clauses as of yet, even for players that I signed during my year in the EPL to 2 year deals that are still with the team. Everyone is making the same thing they made during the EPL year.

Additionally, I've seen no mention of parachute payments. When and where should I see that revenue?

Are these known bugs, or maybe I just don't understand the way its supposed to work, any ideas?

[Barkeep49]

My understanding for the parachute is you receive it at the end of the season and don't get it if you promote right back up. This is why in lower leagues you sometimes get the payment because the team in the championship doesn't qualify for it.

[Radii]

My understanding for the parachute is you receive it at the end of the season and don't get it if you promote right back up. This is why in lower leagues you sometimes get the payment because the team in the championship doesn't qualify for it.

Ahhh, thanks, that makes sense, and makes me feel a lot better!

[Barkeep49]

One nice experience, something I've been reminded reading Radii's dynasty, is seeing my talent development start to come through. In my first two seasons at Man City I've had to give up roster spaces because I've not had enough HG players at my club and when I came into the club the youth talent cupboard was basically dry. I've spent a fair portion of the dollars on buying U18 players who seem like they'll be good fits for my system.

In this, my 3rd season, it's been really great to see some of the youth prospects I bought start to reach a spot where they can play EPL level football. In particular my starting left Winger is an 18 year old who I found in Series B in Italy who has, in his second season on the squad, earned the 3rd highest average game rating in the EPL. And so while I'm still short HG players it doesn't matter as much because I have some U21s who are capable of playing on the 1st team and who, by the time they reach 21, will become HG players moving forward. My only other big club experience was with Real Madrid in 10 and they had a great program when I started the game with so it was more a matter of maintaining. This talent development aspect is just one more immersive aspect for me and one I've found really satisfying.

[DaddyTorgo]

One nice experience, something I've been reminded reading Radii's dynasty, is seeing my talent development start to come through. In my first two seasons at Man City I've had to give up roster spaces because I've not had enough HG players at my club and when I came into the club the youth talent cupboard was basically dry. I've spent a fair portion of the dollars on buying U18 players who seem like they'll be good fits for my system.

In this, my 3rd season, it's been really great to see some of the youth prospects I bought start to reach a spot where they can play EPL level football. In particular my starting left Winger is an 18 year old who I found in Series B in Italy who has, in his second season on the squad, earned the 3rd highest average game rating in the EPL. And so while I'm still short HG players it doesn't matter as much because I have some U21s who are capable of playing on the 1st team and who, by the time they reach 21, will become HG players moving forward. My only other big club experience was with Real Madrid in 10 and they had a great program when I started the game with so it was more a matter of maintaining. This talent development aspect is just one more immersive aspect for me and one I've found really satisfying.

I've invested massively in my youth players as well, trying to get those homegrown players up also Barkeep, and it's been a similar experience - I bloodied a couple of my U21 guys last year (particularly after I locked up the league), and am going to keep a couple more that I loaned out last year (including one striker who looks like a quality backup already) around this year for further bloodying. Most of my talent that's coming through has been in the front or the back right now, but I have invested heavily in midfielders, so hopefully they start to come through too.

[SackAttack]

So Carlos Vela liked his time in West Bromwich so much that we became a favored club for him, but when we approached to loan him for a full season again the next year, he rejected us out of hand, even though we have a spot in continental play this season.

I think that's the first time I've seen that particular combination.

[Blade6119]

Irony:

Having your board deeply upset with you for getting knocked out of the cup in the 3rd round, while your reserves go on and win the whole damn thing and get zero credit...

[Barkeep49]

Are there any skins out there which people recommend as helpful for conveying information?

[OldGiants]

Decided to play as Blue Cross in Mexico. Won first five games, then tied the second place team on the road. After a win in the CONCAF something or other over a team called "Joe Public" we faced Atlas, the third placed team. I got an email saying they expected record low attendance. Sure enough, attendance dropped from 31k to 21k. Why? This is the third place team and I'm still on top.

Just another detail that seems wrong.

[Pumpy Tudors]

lol joe public

[SirFozzie]

Don't laugh, they actually beat the New England Revolution in real life one year to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. (5-1 even)

[SirFozzie]

Decided to play as Blue Cross in Mexico. Won first five games, then tied the second place team on the road. After a win in the CONCAF something or other over a team called "Joe Public" we faced Atlas, the third placed team. I got an email saying they expected record low attendance. Sure enough, attendance dropped from 31k to 21k. Why? This is the third place team and I'm still on top.

Just another detail that seems wrong.

Actually, it may not be. Unlike UEFA Champions League, the CONCACAF version is still new and doesn't have the traction of in league games. In a lot of cases, teams will put their subs in to play CONCACAF games if there's a big league game shortly afterwards.