Results are too inconsistent

I think the results are too inconsistent on FMH 08. I've lost to Liverpool (just), beat Arsenal in a 5-goal thriller with an injury time winner, then lost to Ipswich and Portsmouth with performances which would suggest we were leagues below them. My players are far better than Ipswich and Portsmouth players, and I have studied the opposition players strengths and weaknesses and set tactics accordingly before each match which has made no difference. My tactical choices before and during matches seem to make no difference. I wonder just how random the results are in this game.

I think the results are too inconsistent on FMH 08. I've lost to Liverpool (just), beat Arsenal in a 5-goal thriller with an injury time winner, then lost to Ipswich and Portsmouth with performances which would suggest we were leagues below them. My players are far better than Ipswich and Portsmouth players, and I have studied the opposition players strengths and weaknesses and set tactics accordingly before each match which has made no difference. My tactical choices before and during matches seem to make no difference. I wonder just how random the results are in this game.

Well I do have gritty players in my (Newcastle) side - namely Alan Smith and Joey Barton - and you don't get much grittier than them. Admittedly they have been two of my better performing players. I had a great first season (as I seem to with every team I manage), then a terrible second season which was so bad I gave up half-way through and just went on holiday, and now in my third it's all going wrong no matter how much analyzing and preparation I put in before matches. It's an excellent game but it makes me very disillusioned sometimes...definitely a love-hate situation.

It's tough deciding which criteria to use when choosing players too...do I play my in-form players or my more skilled players? Do I try and exploit opposition player weaknesses or try and cancel out opposition player strengths? Or do I ignore the opposition completely and try and choose the best team for the match? Even without the depth of the PC version I find you can still get out of your depth in this game

Yeah I did buy a few players at the start of the second season...maybe that's the problem. It does seem like I've got too many players now. But if I sell some of them now will that fix the problem? Or should I start again? I haven't been choosing training schedules either so I'll start doing that. And can you get by without criticizing or praising players? I do that maybe once a month but I sometimes forget. Thanks for the help, this is the only game I know of where you can get help from and suggest features to the game developers! Out of interest is that "less highlights during a match" option going to be considered for FMH 09?

Thanks for the replies Marc! I got really annoyed with this game a few times and was convinced I was going to trade it in but I couldn't bring myself to do it in the end, so I'll definitely be carrying on playing, and will definitely be getting FMH 09 whenever it comes out!

Well I'm a season on now and things have changed for the better big time...finished 3rd in the premiership and so qualified for the Champions League, and at one point was challenging for the title, and things are going well in the cups too. I basically did a Keegan and stuck with 433 with an attacking mentality, playing very good attackers and midfielders. Makes exciting matches too! I'm thinking that the most important thing in this game is to stick with a certain tactic even if you're losing, because eventually the players will start to get used to it and you'll get better results.