Cant Let Older Players Go

Just wondering does anyone have trouble selling players that have been at your club for a long period of time when they are no longer required?

I have been managing my club for a 7 year period and I have been promoted 3 times since then, therefore the original players are now out of their depth as far as playing ability goes but I cant bring myself to release them because of the history they have with my team. I have no intention of playing them in the first team and I have them stuck in the reserves team permanently. I would like to get rid of them to free up some cash but as a couple are classed as club icons I fear I will regret it later on. What do you guys think I should do? Am I being selfish for not releasing them to a lower club to play first team games?

Keep telling them they would make good coaches through the player interactions menu, then if they get a staff profile retain their services as a coach.

I would but a lot of them are not at retiring age yet, around the 30-33 mark.

I usually start telling them they would be good coaches as soon as the option becomes available in the player interaction screen, as sometimes they can be very reluctant to at first, so the earlier and more often you pester them about it the higher the chance of them gaining a staff profile.

I find it's hard to keep some players happy if they aren't playing competitive footy, I'd love to keep Sami Hyypia, but he gets unhappy if he isn't in the first team, so I have to let him go to another club.

I always offer contracts to any players who have served me well. Regardless of their use to my current squad. I had possibly the greatest player of all time, Craig Fraser, playing in my Premier league Merthyr side until he retired aged 40. And Tom McKenzie was with my team from 17-37. I couldn't and wouldn't release them after what they did for Merthyr over the years!

I always keep my legends at the club untill they retire. On FM09 I still have Kolo Touré in my Arsenal side, he's 38 now and is nowhere near a starting place anymore. But he has over 530 league games for the club and I'd love to see him finish at the club and then offer him a coaching role...not shown up yet in his profile (but he is expected to become a coach) so I had too renew his contract another year! As long as the player isn't unhappy I keep them, bit more difficult if they still think they should be a regular.

I always offer contracts to any players who have served me well. Regardless of their use to my current squad. I had possibly the greatest player of all time, Craig Fraser, playing in my Premier league Merthyr side until he retired aged 40. And Tom McKenzie was with my team from 17-37. I couldn't and wouldn't release them after what they did for Merthyr over the years!

The years have certainly been kind to Craig!!

Other way around for me, im purely dedicated to the 1st team players (specificaly those good enough to play).

If a player asks to move on... ill accept it and try and get as much money as possible.

This has cost me a lot of good players in the last 8 seasons for my Networked Hibs team.

Kozlov, Zozulya, Stancu, Regen kids, Fletcher, etc. etc. etc.

But by doing that ive raked in a ton of money and been able to buy other players to fill their vacancies.

Or if a player simply isnt cutting it any more ill move them on.

Beckham, Buyten, Viera, Kleber etc...

Hell currently in my team ive got a 34 year old Arshavin and hes been good (free transfer) but as soon as i can sign a kid to replace him or he becomes a liablity hes getting sold.

The years have certainly been kind to Craig!!

He did well for his years, with plenty of mileage on the clock! He even scored in his last ever game as I put him on as a sub for his final game. From my post in Dafuge's challenge thread;

Craig made a total of 528 Premier league appearances in his career, winning 121 caps for Scotland with 41 goals to make him Scotland's all-time top goalscorer. For Merthyr he made 624 appearances, scoring 190 goals with a 7.45 rating. Fraser also has won a record breaking haul of awards, including;

Champions league Best player 5 times

English footballer of the year 11 times

World player of the year 5 times

World footballer of the year 3 times

Merthyr fans player of the year 10 times

Craig Fraser was easily the best player I have ever had on any version of CM/FM. Although, Tom McKenzie made 773 appearances for Merthyr with 444 goals, so Fraser was always a mere newcomer!

Obviously, this boils down to philosophy. I do not keep aging players if I am coaching in one if the premier leagues in the world. If not, then I will keep a player until he can either no longer do the job or has ALMOST lost too much so that I need to sell him immediately. This goes for great players and for players I personally love. I do this because I see it as good business. Gone are the days where a player could be signed to a good contract that paid him well and kept him at my club for life (I refer to the contracts that used to be available in baseball in the U.S. where a player like George Brett was signed to a lifetime contract of $1 million dollars per year and played almost twenty years for the Royals).

Tell them they would be a good coach/manager, he might agree or disagree with you. OR release him OR send him out on loan

Just wondering does anyone have trouble selling players that have been at your club for a long period of time when they are no longer required?

I have been managing my club for a 7 year period and I have been promoted 3 times since then, therefore the original players are now out of their depth as far as playing ability goes but I cant bring myself to release them because of the history they have with my team. I have no intention of playing them in the first team and I have them stuck in the reserves team permanently. I would like to get rid of them to free up some cash but as a couple are classed as club icons I fear I will regret it later on. What do you guys think I should do? Am I being selfish for not releasing them to a lower club to play first team games?

I had that problem with one guy in my Granada 74 team who was a talisman for several years. I kept him for about three seasons which he shouldn't have had to spend with me. In the end he happily retired and joined my coaching staff.

I also had one regen come through my academy. He was a load of rubbish, but he had me on favoured personnel and the club as favoured club, and complained whenever he was transfer listed even if he hadn't played a single game that season (which he usually didn't, especially when he went past the age to play in the B team). I pitied him stupidly and kept him on as a "pet", almost. It was really quite insane. I just couldn't draw myself to selling or releasing him and in all likelihood seeing him retire early with no clubs willing to keep him.

sometimes you can end up letting them go and regret it as i found out.

In my Boston United game my striker who i signed in 09/10 was top scorer for the next 7 seasons breaking all records with apperances and goals as i climbed up from BSN to league one but the goals dried up and at the age of 29 he looked past it scoring only one goal all season so i let him go to wycombe in league two for £20,000.

After this he scored 10 in 18 for wycombe from august to january whereas i couldnt buy a goal and i was in a relegation dogfight so in january i brought him back home for a record breaking transfer fee of £150,000 for the club. He went on to score 9 goals before the end of the season and i finished midtable.

But 5 seasons later i was in the championship playoff final against sheffield united with the score stuck at 1-1 and 15 minutes remaining i put him on for only his 4th apperance that season and he scored the 93rd minute winner to send us up to the premiership! (his only goal in two years what a time to get one)

Now at 35 hes well out of his depth but ill always play him in cup matches until he retires.

The mistake of selling him cost me £130,000 but in the end it was worth every penny.

my point is they may seem past it but there may be that one game you need them and they could still have some magic left in them boots