Ass Man or Scouts.... someone is lying to me!

I dunno what to believe when looking at reports for my players. Say I had a player scouted, numerous times, by different scouts. Bringing up pretty much the same reports each time. Ratings of between 3 - 4 stars saying he would be benificial to the team.

I sign him.

Delighted with my new aquisition, I go over his attribs again, for the 50th time... click on reports and Ass Man only shows two stars. Muppet. I play him for a few weeks, plays well, Ass Man reports 3 stars. OK. Play one more game... back down to 2 and a half stars. GRRRRRR!

I ditched him and signed a new Ass Man, but his player reports are just as erratic.

I dunno what to go with? OK, every one of my scouts CA and PA stats are +15 but all others are pants. Are there any other attributes which governs how accurate their reports are? Cuz my Ass Man's attributes are all mid to high range, especially this CA and PA.

I dunno who to trust!

I hope someone can shed some light on this, please!

Cheers,

Mad Brad

Well was he playing well?

Trust only yourself. If you feel he looks good enough, he probably is good enough.

Given that both have equivalent JPA and JPP, the reports by the Assistant Manager will be more accurate, as, realistically, they are for a player already in your squad, not a player that a scout saw a couple of times.

thats what i thought but the star rating from ass man keeps fluctuating. which is what confuses me. i thought it would be static

The star rating given by your assistant manager can change if:

- Your player increases/decreases in CA and therefore his CA star rating should increase/decrease.

- Your team increases/decreases in reputation and therefore all players CA/PA star ratings will tend to decrease/increase.

- Your team gets promoted/demoted and therefore (...)

- Your team league goals change up/down and therefore (..) - happens at the beginnign of the season.

- A player is playing very well (in terms of average rating) - this tends to make the player have a higher star rating, even if the CA didn't change.

- A player gets older, and therefore the PA star rating will decrease.

I think these are the main possible causes of star rating fluctuation.

Trust only yourself. If you feel he looks good enough, he probably is good enough.

Pretty much this. I never really sign a player based on the stars, just by attributes and stuff I can see and decide on myself.

The star rating given by your assistant manager can change if:

- Your player increases/decreases in CA and therefore his CA star rating should increase/decrease.

- Your team increases/decreases in reputation and therefore all players CA/PA star ratings will tend to decrease/increase.

- Your team gets promoted/demoted and therefore (...)

- Your team league goals change up/down and therefore (..) - happens at the beginnign of the season.

- A player is playing very well (in terms of average rating) - this tends to make the player have a higher star rating, even if the CA didn't change.

- A player gets older, and therefore the PA star rating will decrease.

I think these are the main possible causes of star rating fluctuation.

It also changes if the quality on your team changes. Just like a star striker on an MLS club might be five stars there but only two in the Premiership, as your team gets better sometimes once high quality players are outclassed by the new team around them.

My experience is that the team reputation is way more important for the star rating than the quality of the other players in the team. You can test this out by creating a team in the editor with the max reputation and putting just one player in it... the player will not have 5 stars (unless he has CA 200 or close) even though he has no competition... That being said team quality and team reputation are usually correlated.

My experience is that the team reputation is way more important for the star rating than the quality of the other players in the team. You can test this out by creating a team in the editor with the max reputation and putting just one player in it... the player will not have 5 stars (unless he has CA 200 or close) even though he has no competition.

That's interesting; I must've been noticing that gradually, then.

Things I consider when buying players.

Attributes

History (goals and league for experience etc)

Preferred Moves

Scouts

Go with your scouts that's what I would do.

Most scouts in FM would tell you Pele at 17 would turn into an average player, and that Tit-us Shambles will be a world class central defender.

In short, they are idiots.

I tend to look primarly at stats, and then only look at the scout reports to see their opinions on consistency/adaptability/injury proneness. Generally I won't pay much attention to the stars, unless players look very similarly matched, at which point I use the stars to gauge who, possibly, has the most beneficial hidden stats.

If you sign better players in the same position as the named other player as well it changes. For example if you sign two quality right wingers, the previous right winger at your club who was say a 4 star would be considered a lot weaker given the fact there are two much better players playing in his position.

The star system in effect is rating not just the quality of the player as an individual but as a unit within your team.

If you sign better players in the same position as the named other player as well it changes. For example if you sign two quality right wingers, the previous right winger at your club who was say a 4 star would be considered a lot weaker given the fact there are two much better players playing in his position.

The star system in effect is rating not just the quality of the player as an individual but as a unit within your team.

ok. so. Even though its showing that a player is 'average' its just showing that because he's being compared to another guy in the same position, club ambitions, form, league, league placing, what he likes to have for breakfast, car he drives - actually making him look worse that he actually is...... god this is confusing.

i think that star rating should only be tied to the division your in and the quality of the player you're looking at. nothing else. this would save me any confusion.