Match-day preparation

I have heard many-a-time on the radio and on the television of how the 'one of the biggest things in management is match-day preparation'.

Now, in my opinion, there isn't enough of this in Football Manager 2009 and it seems I can go straight into a game without a backward glance and get a result. Now that doesn't seem realistic to me and I believe that some degree of match-day preparation should be performed.

Now I am unsure on how this can be implemented and don't know people's opinions on this so I would like to ask whether adding some degree of match preparation is a good idea and what features could be put in?

I think it would be quite a good idea.

How to implement it is something I dont know what would need to be done. Maybe you could call team meetings before big matches to calm the nerves of your players

I like the idea, but also don't know what to do about it

I already prepare to an extent by having a good look at the opposition lineup and scouting report to see what I can exploit. But I suppose that's not really what we mean is it.

You should get feedback before the game from the players about their feelings - they're not robots!

I agree. Maybe deciding how to travel to an away match? I think that's usually a manager's choice, if the finances were bad then you'd have to go down on the day, if not book yourself in to a hotel a day before, or a week before depending on how much you've got and how much training time you are willing to give up. How good the hotel is would affect how much it would cost and how happy the players are. If you're a Premiership club maybe you'd be flying from London to Manchester for big matches.

Maybe selecting who is taking care of the warm-up. At Stockport the goalkeeping coach is normally out on the pitch with the first choice keeper for about an hour, then about half an hour before kick-off they go off and the strikers take shots at the reserve keeper. The Assistant Manager is usually in charge of the main warm-up, the Captain does a bit of a warm-up with the defence, while the Manager is inside, checking the opposition's team sheet or whatever, then everyone goes in for the pre-match talk.

Good ideas, bad ideas? Opinions welcome.