The patented "random Q&A thread"

Couple of quick questions:

1. Has anyone ever managed to get a 100% for squad harmony? I've only just started my second season and it's already at 90%...but my captain and vice-captain are both in the twilights of their careers.

2. Do coaches gain any scouting knowledge? For instance, the coaches that I hired at the beginning of my first season apparently have gained no knowledge of Canadian players, despited having lived in the country for over a year now.

3. Why does every member of the press dislike (best case) or hate (worst case) me? I answer all of their questions...

Updating...

1.???

2. Coaches finally gained some knowledge, so that answers this question.

3.???

Now:

Which attributes don't count towards CA? I've heard natural fitness doesn't, but what about stuff like flair, determination, and bravery?

My squad harmony is at 91%, even though I've got a very happy squad and haven't bought a new player that's gone into the first team in over two years. Most of my first team has been playing together for 4 and a half seasons, with a few changes. For it to happen, I imagine you'd have to have a completely unchanged squad playing together for longer than that with no squad squabbles (Some of my players don't like my LB's attitude.)

1. Has anyone ever managed to get a 100% for squad harmony? I've only just started my second season and it's already at 90%...but my captain and vice-captain are both in the twilights of their careers.

I reckon it would be very very difficult to attain and even if somehow managed wouldn't last for very long.

2. Do coaches gain any scouting knowledge? For instance, the coaches that I hired at the beginning of my first season apparently have gained no knowledge of Canadian players, despited having lived in the country for over a year now.

Yes they definitely do.

3. Why does every member of the press dislike (best case) or hate (worst case) me? I answer all of their questions...

Not too sure about this actually as I never do press conferences.

Which attributes don't count towards CA? I've heard natural fitness doesn't, but what about stuff like flair, determination, and bravery?

As far as I know flair doesn't but determination and bravery do.

Even when things at my club have looked perfect, the squad harmony has been in the mid nineties. I'm assuming 100% must be possible, but just incredibly hard to get. Perhaps a squad full of players with superb morale, no issues and identical personalities?

Couple of quick questions:

1. Has anyone ever managed to get a 100% for squad harmony? I've only just started my second season and it's already at 90%...but my captain and vice-captain are both in the twilights of their careers.

2. Do coaches gain any scouting knowledge? For instance, the coaches that I hired at the beginning of my first season apparently have gained no knowledge of Canadian players, despited having lived in the country for over a year now.

3. Why does every member of the press dislike (best case) or hate (worst case) me? I answer all of their questions...

1. No

2. Yes, they do.

3. I've not noticed that.

Now:

Which attributes don't count towards CA? I've heard natural fitness doesn't, but what about stuff like flair, determination, and bravery?

None of those attributes count towards CA, nor does aggression, nor do hidden attributes.

Hmm...so we have a disagreement as to determination and bravery? I wish SI would make this stuff more clear...

Even when things at my club have looked perfect, the squad harmony has been in the mid nineties. I'm assuming 100% must be possible, but just incredibly hard to get. Perhaps a squad full of players with superb morale, no issues and identical personalities?

If not identical, then at least very similar, is what I always try to get when building a squad. Makes the man-management side of things much easier for me.

Even if a player is supremely talented, if I get the impression they could upset the apple cart, I won't sign them. If they're already at the club, I'll look to move them on. High squad unity is something that takes time to build, but moments to ruin. All it takes is one balshy player causing problems and you can have severe repercussions.

New question:

In the backroom advice screen, is it safe to "dismiss advice" for reports on training improvements/drops and squad analysis? It's great that my players have shown improvement and all, but I'd rather not see the same report all year long...but I also don't want to upset my staff.

I do it all the time and haven't seen any negative effects.

As far as I know its just letting you know, there is no advice.

1. No

2. Yes.

3. The press hate everyone!

Do coaches develop their Determination, Discipline and Motivation attributes? As of right now, I've got all 4 stars and up for each training category. But in searching for improvements to the 4 - 4 1/2 coaches I can't find very many coaches (exlcuding head coaches) that have the necessary DDM to make an excellent coach. In fact, I haven't seen ANY newgen coaches that meet the 40 DDM requirement for 5 star coaches. I've got one or two at 38 or 39 but they haven't changed in two years...

1. No but close, 95% is the highest i've ever got.

Work permits - someone explain to me how and who gets one, please?

currently 87% squad harmony

currently 87% squad harmony

Where can I see squad harmony? Never noticed it before :blush:

Where can I see squad harmony? Never noticed it before :blush:

Work permits - someone explain to me how and who gets one, please?

If you are managing a club in certain nations (like Britain), your players will need work permits in order to play if they come from outside a certain zone (eg the EU). To get one, simply sign the player as usual. If he is "good" enough (which is judged on caps, reputation, and squad status), he'll be given one. If he isn't, you can appeal.

If a player isn't granted one, send him to play in a country where he can get an EU nationality and be allowed into your country, or keep offering him new contracts.

100% squad harmony is nearly impossible tbh, not everyone in the dressing room are friends IRL.

3. The journalist personality has a pretty big effect on this, but I generally find most of the friendly journalists like me well enough.

It's on the "confidence" screen, hovver over it and it will give you the percentage.

Whoa, here I was thinking that people were using some scouting tools to see theirs. Thanks for the info!

100% squad harmony is nearly impossible tbh, not everyone in the dressing room are friends IRL.

Pfft. Must be 100% in France

When it comes to attributes such as injury proneness, is a higher number better than a lower number (as it is with the other visible attributes?) Is a player with a rating of 1 more injury prone than a player with a 20?

Also, does this apply to hidden attributes as well? Particularly dirtiness and pressure?

When it comes to attributes such as injury proneness, is a higher number better than a lower number (as it is with the other visible attributes?) Is a player with a rating of 1 more injury prone than a player with a 20?

Also, does this apply to hidden attributes as well? Particularly dirtiness and pressure?

For injury proneness, you would much rather have a player with a rating of 1. 20 doesn't actually reflect good in this case, which is a little confusing - it just represents that they are at the top end of the injury scale and will get injured every second match.

Dirtiness is also the same as this iirc, not sure about pressure.

When it comes to attributes such as injury proneness, is a higher number better than a lower number (as it is with the other visible attributes?) Is a player with a rating of 1 more injury prone than a player with a 20?

Also, does this apply to hidden attributes as well? Particularly dirtiness and pressure?

Injury proneness, Dirtiness and Controversy: 20=Bad, 1=Good

All the rest are like any other attribute (although aggression is a little ambiguous, good for someone who you want making tackles but too high and they might get too many cards/foul too often)

Injury proneness, Dirtiness and Controversy: 20=Bad, 1=Good

All the rest are like any other attribute (although aggression is a little ambiguous, good for someone who you want making tackles but too high and they might get too many cards/foul too often)

Yep, same for eccentricity with goalkeepers - you don't want that too high either or else they will do ridiculous things often like coming up for corners, rushing out a lot, etc.

Thanks, everyone. Any thoughts on my previous question about DDM ratings for coaches? I've stacked my team with 14 coaches, the lowest being a 4 star. However, I'm attracting interest to my coaches with a few successful seasons and I'm looking for replacements to start training. I'm having a heck of a time finding coaches capable of 4 star+ ratings, though- I haven't found a single newgen coach with a DDM rating over 40, and even the big clubs in Europe don't have them, either. I've been successful with finding some recently retired players (Gary Neville, for one) that may become great coaches, but many coaches get 20's for coaching attributes and somewhere around 25 for DDM...

I presume a lot of the newgen coaches are young? Since coaches - like players - improve as they get older, you may find something of a vacuum for a little while.

how are the groups for euro qualifying formed? we've got 5th and 6th ranked sides ('world ranking' - whatever that means) in the same group, and another group (Azerbaijan/Sweden/Iceland/Poland/Slovenia) where the highest 'world ranked' team is Sweden at 26th?

And another group has: Andorra (77th), Ukraine (22nd), Estonia (79th), N. Ireland (71st), Switzerland (27th).

Can someone assure me there's some logic to this? i.e qualifying record for the previous euros/WC ? Is there a way we can see the pots or rankings for the euro qualifying draw?

Is it true that you can't have a feeder club from a playable league? I'm currently using Toronto FC and would like to have a feeder club in Canada; however, I have added in a playable Canadian Soccer League via the editor and since then, I've never had the board recommend any of the CSL teams as a feeder/loan club.

Also, what's the most effective way to prevent a veteran player's pace and stamina from dropping rapidly? I had a 31 y.o. go from 12pace/11stamina to 7 and 6, respectively, in two year's time. I set his training schedule to focus on strength/aerobics with everything else set to light, but I've also heard of people that lower the physical training in favor of the technical areas to keep players from wearing out. Any thoughts?

That's not true, if you manage a club in a top division in Europe for example, you'll definitely get a feeder club from a playable league at some point.

Feeder clubs are based upon reputation and status of facilities. If the Canadian clubs reputation is too low, or too similar to your own, they won't affiliate. If their facilities are too poor, your board may not deem them worthy of affiliation. This was obvious in FM09, but it's not so obvious in FM11.

My own philosophy with regards to ageing players is to let them age gracefully instead of trying to keep them fit and trim. Lower the physical training and increase the other areas, but not so high that he'll tire quicker. As his physical attributes (weighted higher) decrease, they take up less 'space' in his current ability (CA) and with proper training, you'll notice his other attributes increasing as they take up the space in his CA. Obviously his CA drops with age after a certain point, so it's worth baring that in mind.

Thanks for the info.

Next question:

Do Teamwork/Work Rate ratings really matter for keepers?

New questions:

How important is the "positioning" rating for strikers?

Also, are there various levels of "natural" when it comes to positions? For example, I currently have 4 players that have been trained to "natural" but in the training tab it still has them training at the position (10% of the workload) and the new position remains under possible choices. However, if a player is listed as natural at the start of the game (striker, for instance) that same position isn't listed. Is it safe to remove them from further training, or will they revert?

Thanks for the info.

Next question:

Do Teamwork/Work Rate ratings really matter for keepers?

Not really.

New questions:

How important is the "positioning" rating for strikers?

Not worth worrying about, positioning is a defensive attribute relating to a players position when the opposition have the ball.

Also, are there various levels of "natural" when it comes to positions? For example, I currently have 4 players that have been trained to "natural" but in the training tab it still has them training at the position (10% of the workload) and the new position remains under possible choices. However, if a player is listed as natural at the start of the game (striker, for instance) that same position isn't listed. Is it safe to remove them from further training, or will they revert?

I don't think so natural is natural but does come in two forms - created & trained.

When a player is created with natural in a position he will never lose it. If he is trained to natural he can lose it. This depends on his adaptability (hidden attribute) and how much he trains/plays in the position. The higher his adaptability the less he needs to train/play there to keep at natural. If you train the player in a second "extra" position he can also lose the first one you've trained.

How do you improve coaches?

An example: at the start of my game I signed Tony Meola to be my goalkeeping coach. He had a 17 for GK coaching. After about 2 and 1/2 seasons (he's now 43 years old) his GK rating has dropped to 15. I recently did some updating to the DB and noticed that he started at 80CA with a PA well above that, so it's not as though he's hit a wall or anything. I then fired up FMRTE to see if he had somehow declined as a coach, and to my surprise his CA is now 118! What's the deal? How can a coach increase his overall ability while declining in the only category that he's coaching? His DDM rating hasn't changed, either; for all intents and purposes, he is now a worse coach than when I signed him!

New question:

In the backroom advice screen, is it safe to "dismiss advice" for reports on training improvements/drops and squad analysis? It's great that my players have shown improvement and all, but I'd rather not see the same report all year long...but I also don't want to upset my staff.

"DISMISS ADVICE" is a very misleading phrase. It really means, 'Okay, I hear what you're saying, cheers!'.

Just had my pre-season meeting, and this guy tells me he's best at ball control training.

Why? He rates at 4 1/2 stars for defense and 4 1/2 for ball control, though I can't figure out how on earth the defense isn't higher than the other.

It's because his tactical training attribute is low.

It's because his tactical training attribute is low.

Well done

Digging this thread up from the grave with some new questions:

1. Do coaching attributes change after they have secured their Continental A License? Is it worth hiring a 38 y.o. coach if he already has this license, if he isn't going to improve in the future?

2. Why am I allowed to sign some youth players but not others? For example, at the start of the game I was able to sign Lucas Janson from Tigre (Argentina) when he was on a youth contract with them. However, I haven't been able to use the "approach to sign" option for any other Argentinians on youth contracts; I regularly sign Brazilian players this way, yet I don't seem to be able to for players in Italy. Are there different rules for approaching them in different countries?

Does my assistant understand we only get three subs, so I'm not going to consider subbing a player after half an hour because his condition is only 79%?

Digging this thread up from the grave with some new questions:

1. Do coaching attributes change after they have secured their Continental A License? Is it worth hiring a 38 y.o. coach if he already has this license, if he isn't going to improve in the future?

My own question, why is the background picture for fm on steam just now what looks like a playing card saying 'injury crisis'. It makes no sense. I'm telling myself it is some kind of jab at those who claim on the forums they get too many injuries whilst getting realistic amounts

I think it is just a random screenshot, of one of the challenges.

I think it is just a random screenshot, of one of the challenges.

That would be it. Think they should stick to better screenshots, though it matters not a jot

Digging this thread up from the grave with some new questions:

1. Do coaching attributes change after they have secured their Continental A License? Is it worth hiring a 38 y.o. coach if he already has this license, if he isn't going to improve in the future?

2. Why am I allowed to sign some youth players but not others? For example, at the start of the game I was able to sign Lucas Janson from Tigre (Argentina) when he was on a youth contract with them. However, I haven't been able to use the "approach to sign" option for any other Argentinians on youth contracts; I regularly sign Brazilian players this way, yet I don't seem to be able to for players in Italy. Are there different rules for approaching them in different countries?

1. There's still continental pro to learn and club reputation and generally gaining experience play a part and training players in certain areas. It's more dependent on the gap between his CA and PA, though.

2. You'll find the ones you can't sign, if you go onto the contract tab,contract info sub-tab, underneath the contract details sub-tab there should be something like: Future Contract: Provisionally agreed to sign a £x per week contract on whatever the date is he reaches the right age to sign a pro contract in that country.

Yep, same for eccentricity with goalkeepers - you don't want that too high either or else they will do ridiculous things often like coming up for corners, rushing out a lot, etc.

Unless you are at a top club, eccentricity can be a good thing. It controls how often the goalkeeper has a "crazy" day at the office. Sometimes a crazy day will mean pulling off saves he has no right to pull off and crazy antics that help your side, other times it'll be bad.

If you win most games, it can cause a defeat but is unlikely to prevent one, so bad. If you are a mid table side then while it could lose you games, it could also win you points so high isn't necessarily bad.