Debt Amnesty

Does anyone else cancel the debt of all clubs before starting a game?

I've started doing this for clubs with a reputation =>6500. There's 51 of them worldwide, including some of the biggest names.

If you think about it, that's a sizeable portion of teams who are going to be challenging you, domestically and continentally. So although you inevitably outplay the AI, at least it should prolong the time it can wage war with you.

It also gives me a nice feeling to let all these teams start with a clean slate LOL :o

No, my view is that the clubs were reckless an borrowing such an amount that they may struggle to pay back. They have made there bed, so they can lay in it!

On a sidenote, One of the greatest things about FM is the database and the accuracy and detail of it. Thats why i dont really like editing anything, although i did once edit every team in the premier league to have a 200 million transfer budget to start with, which was fun.

For accuracy/realism I obviously agree with you, and if you want a real game world then that's the way to go.

Don't you just think your game might be 'better' if everyone started equals i.e. starting off living within their means? (obviously their wage budgets could still be returning them to debt, but it'd be more manageable for them)

For accuracy/realism I obviously agree with you, and if you want a real game world then that's the way to go.

Don't you just think your game might be 'better' if everyone started equals i.e. starting off living within their means? (obviously their wage budgets could still be returning them to debt, but it'd be more manageable for them)

It could be i suppose. I quite like seeing who starts to struggle though TBH, and then see the teams that, over time, replace them and up challenging for honours. West Brom are doing it currently on my save, at the expense of Man Utd.

Off topic, but that is where dynamic rivalries should come in. For instance, im likely going to be joining Newcastle, Sunderland and Boro in the prem soon (playing as Gateshead) so they should become my rilval due to locality. Not the teams that are now unplayable or still in the BSN.

I quite like seeing who starts to struggle though TBH, and then see the teams that, over time, replace them and up challenging for honours.

Yeah, you would miss out on that aspect, which as you say is fun.

Do you find that the teams who replace the current 'big ones' challenge in Europe, or just domestically? AI controlled ones I mean, not humans.

You have to wonder irl what is going to happen to the premier league in the future, liverpools debt has caught up to them and man utd will follow in a couple of seasons with the massive debt they have, chelsea spent a lot of money on big name players who are now getting old and if Arsenal can manage their finances well and develop their youth they could quite easily take over as the strongest epl team.

Off topic, but that is where dynamic rivalries should come in. For instance, im likely going to be joining Newcastle, Sunderland and Boro in the prem soon (playing as Gateshead) so they should become my rilval due to locality. Not the teams that are now unplayable or still in the BSN.

Maybe the old Fierce rivalries should drop off to 'Other Rivals' after a few years of being divisions apart? Should be a logical formula in there for, say, a 5% drop in level of rivalry for each year being out of the same division, or maybe a lower percentage for if you're only 1 or 2 divisions apart, for example.

Also, can Rivalries be different levels between the same two clubs, depending on which way round you look at it? I think there is an element of this in real-life.

e.g. Notts County fans will see Forest as huge rivals, but due to County being the League 2 and Forest being in a higher division for quite a few years now, I'm sure from Forest's perspective, the rivalry is lower...

The same can probably be said of my team, Mansfield, and County, and also Chesterfield too, although the latter is a very, very similar level of rivalry on both sides, but wouldn't be surprised if it's a touch higher for Mansfield fans than it is for Chesterfield fans.

That would lead to my equation above being multiplied by, I dunno, 1.5 for the team that is in the higher division. So if the teams became 1 division apart, for the lower team, the Rivalry would drop by let's say 2%. For the higher team, it would drop by 3%.

I'm not sure if FM2009 does this, or if I'm offering a refinement to the feature

Oops, and yes this is off-topic!

Yeah, you would miss out on that aspect, which as you say is fun.

Do you find that the teams who replace the current 'big ones' challenge in Europe, or just domestically? AI controlled ones I mean, not humans.

Man City, obviously, pretty much pound everyone in fornt of them nowadays, and have wonn both UEFA cup and Champions League. Teams like West Brom, who i said earlier are just catching up, are progressing in Europe but not anywhere near winning anything yet. They progress further each year though.

Maybe the old Fierce rivalries should drop off to 'Other Rivals' after a few years of being divisions apart? Should be a logical formula in there for, say, a 5% drop in level of rivalry for each year being out of the same division, or maybe a lower percentage for if you're only 1 or 2 divisions apart, for example.

Also, can Rivalries be different levels between the same two clubs, depending on which way round you look at it? I think there is an element of this in real-life.

e.g. Notts County fans will see Forest as huge rivals, but due to County being the League 2 and Forest being in a higher division for quite a few years now, I'm sure from Forest's perspective, the rivalry is lower...

The same can probably be said of my team, Mansfield, and County, and also Chesterfield too, although the latter is a very, very similar level of rivalry on both sides, but wouldn't be surprised if it's a touch higher for Mansfield fans than it is for Chesterfield fans.

That would lead to my equation above being multiplied by, I dunno, 1.5 for the team that is in the higher division. So if the teams became 1 division apart, for the lower team, the Rivalry would drop by let's say 2%. For the higher team, it would drop by 3%.

I'm not sure if FM2009 does this, or if I'm offering a refinement to the feature

Oops, and yes this is off-topic!

No, rivalries are fixed and so will never change.

I once set ALL Prem and Champ clubs to have zero debts, a sugar daddy, £2billion ballance, £500million transfer kitties, and £2million remaining wage budgets. Fun at first watching Hull spend £25million on mediocre French players, but Man U and the other big boys bought in the real tallent and nothing really changed in the overall ballance of power. Hull and Stoke still went down, along with - bizarrely - Everton.

I have also been known to INCREASE the debt of the bigger clubs, just for a laugh, although never in what I class as a "serious" game.

Man U and the other big boys bought in the real tallent and nothing really changed in the overall ballance of power.

That's really the point of what I'm hoping for. It's not unusual for Liverpool and Man Utd to struggle/get relegated which leaves things a bit light at the top; and after a few years it can get a bit simple.

If you reduce the debt you have 'the big four', Man City, and Newcastle who may even get a tycoon takeover. For my own part, I'm running a British league, so I also have Rangers and Celtic.

No, rivalries are fixed and so will never change.

I think there's an option in the editor which states a rivalry can be set to never change so presumably unticking this would mean a rivalry could fade? I don't know about a new one developing? Has anyone every tried being mega-negative towards a clubs manager to try to engineer a new rivalry?

Ultimately if I feel anything is unrealistic I just use an in game editor to amend it.

I agree a club has to live with the consequences of spending what they have spent.

What about adding a bunch of great managers in the beginning of a game? Just a bunch of really good young ones with average reputations have them build up to the bigger clubs so you get a decent challenge later on.

No, rivalries are fixed and so will never change.

I think geographic rivals shouldn't change, but we also see modern day rivalries emerge due to success or even simply numerous meetings, e.g. Liverpool and Chelsea.

I reckon 20 or so years ago Liverpool wouldn't even consider Chelsea as a rival.