New to FM09 and Greatly Struggling

I'm not new to the CM series - I'm a Yank that purchased Champ Manager in the late 90s and had it shipped internationally well before it was available in the USA. I've had a couple of versions since before I recently purchased the '09 version.

I like to manager a lower-division English team (like Gillingham or Shrewsbury) and see what I can do with them. I've downloaded tactics and training schedules because I'm not very good at creating them. But, unlike versions past, I'm really failing at this game. I played "football" (soccer) for 12 seasons, so I know the game somewhat. But I don't follow it and I'm not a tactician. So perhaps you might be obliged to help a struggling newbie.

First, I can evaluate my talent and come up with a good formation for them. But I don't understand how all of this stuff links, nor how to best tweak the squad to help maximize performance. Not only am I rusty after not playing the series after a number of years, but the game has become far more compex since my last prolonged session back in '03 or so. In fact, it's become so complex that the learning curve is approaching some programming languages.

It used to be that with a lower-tier squad, you'd go find players with high physical ratings, have a couple of older guys (with high teamwork) in the middle to distribute the ball, put the team on the attack and you'd have a pretty competitive squad. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I tried that and watched my team get repeatedly stomped. I've read a number of guides, but many of them are over my head - is there a basic guide on setup, placement, mentality and some general tips - especially ones designed for those of us who love to play in the lower divisions (which I've always thought was easier)?

Second, while I'm learning, I'll reload games to try different tactics. Yet there have been games where I'm greatly favored with a high-morale squad, tried multiple formations and tactics and still wind up with the same result. For example, I've played 4-5 matches reloading each time to try a different formation or tactic and I'll find that I'm dominating possession, shots on goal, etc., but I'll lose by a goal each time. It's happened a number of times. In fact, I'll notice the same players getting injured and so forth. It seems to me that FM09 gets "stuck" when playing out the games so that a replay of a match will produce similar results. I've never seen this in any of the CM series prior to this...is this a new thing or is something else at work here?

Finally, is there a good way to get rehired in this game? I joined up as the manager of Shrewsbury and was doing ok - not great, but better than expected. My contract ran out because I refused to resign a deal for lower money than I was earning under my current contract. Yet once I did, I couldn't find a job to save my life. I was turned down for every job application I submitted. After going on vacation for 6 months and still being unemployed, I gave up and restarted the game. Is there a trick I'm missing here?

Thanks for the help. I know these are newbie questions, but we all have to start (or, in my case, restart) somewhere.

Personally, I don't think the learning curve is steep at all. I'm like you, I only go with lower league management and I have had so much success with this that I would never manager above League 1 level again. The trick is to know your resources and know what areas of your team needs strengthening from an early stage. Get a decent assistant manager which will make this job alot easier. Scour the free market for good young players because there are plenty of them out there. If you are on a shoestring budget, take advantage of the loan market. If you have a big budget, use the loan-to-buy system.

Use the tactical forum for advice on tactics because various tactics works for various teams. For example, I developed a great tactic at TPS that won me the league and a cup but the same tactic nearly got me sacked at Braintree. You really need to know your players' strengths & weaknesses to really develop a great tactic. It's alright downloading a 'quick fix' one from the tactic forum but they rarely work like they are supposed to.

I'm not new to the CM series - I'm a Yank that purchased Champ Manager in the late 90s and had it shipped internationally well before it was available in the USA. I've had a couple of versions since before I recently purchased the '09 version.

I like to manager a lower-division English team (like Gillingham or Shrewsbury) and see what I can do with them. I've downloaded tactics and training schedules because I'm not very good at creating them. But, unlike versions past, I'm really failing at this game. I played "football" (soccer) for 12 seasons, so I know the game somewhat. But I don't follow it and I'm not a tactician. So perhaps you might be obliged to help a struggling newbie.

First, I can evaluate my talent and come up with a good formation for them. But I don't understand how all of this stuff links, nor how to best tweak the squad to help maximize performance. Not only am I rusty after not playing the series after a number of years, but the game has become far more compex since my last prolonged session back in '03 or so. In fact, it's become so complex that the learning curve is approaching some programming languages.

It used to be that with a lower-tier squad, you'd go find players with high physical ratings, have a couple of older guys (with high teamwork) in the middle to distribute the ball, put the team on the attack and you'd have a pretty competitive squad. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I tried that and watched my team get repeatedly stomped. I've read a number of guides, but many of them are over my head - is there a basic guide on setup, placement, mentality and some general tips - especially ones designed for those of us who love to play in the lower divisions (which I've always thought was easier)?

Second, while I'm learning, I'll reload games to try different tactics. Yet there have been games where I'm greatly favored with a high-morale squad, tried multiple formations and tactics and still wind up with the same result. For example, I've played 4-5 matches reloading each time to try a different formation or tactic and I'll find that I'm dominating possession, shots on goal, etc., but I'll lose by a goal each time. It's happened a number of times. In fact, I'll notice the same players getting injured and so forth. It seems to me that FM09 gets "stuck" when playing out the games so that a replay of a match will produce similar results. I've never seen this in any of the CM series prior to this...is this a new thing or is something else at work here?

Finally, is there a good way to get rehired in this game? I joined up as the manager of Shrewsbury and was doing ok - not great, but better than expected. My contract ran out because I refused to resign a deal for lower money than I was earning under my current contract. Yet once I did, I couldn't find a job to save my life. I was turned down for every job application I submitted. After going on vacation for 6 months and still being unemployed, I gave up and restarted the game. Is there a trick I'm missing here?

Thanks for the help. I know these are newbie questions, but we all have to start (or, in my case, restart) somewhere.

Come over to the tactics forum. Look through the stickies first of all because they contain gold. Ditch the downloaded tactics and training because you'll want to come up with your own after a while, download the tactical Frameworks document for some base insight into the game.

Also have a look at The common FM fallacies thread in the tactics section, we're having a nice ongoing discussion there

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61144

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=119133

Here is a decent starting guide:

Football Manager for Dummies

Can I just ask that are you patched to the latest one 9.3?

Its just that strikers had a bad conversion rate in the default game.

Come over to the tactics forum. Look through the stickies first of all because they contain gold. Ditch the downloaded tactics and training because you'll want to come up with your own after a while, download the tactical Frameworks document for some base insight into the game.

Also have a look at The common FM fallacies thread in the tactics section, we're having a nice ongoing discussion there

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61144

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=119133

Thanks, I'll look over there a bit more. But I feel like a High School dropout in a room full of PhDs in many of those threads. :o

Spizaa - that looks great! Thank you for that link.

hursty - Yes, I'm all patched up.

Thanks, I'll look over there a bit more. But I feel like a High School dropout in a room full of PhDs in many of those threads. :o.

Haha nah man once you get your head round the basic concept you'll be fine. If you stick at it long enough you'll have a moment when things just start to click in your head (like neo seeing the matrix at work for the first time) you'll just get it