Keeping star strikers

Anyone else having trouble keeping hold of there star strikers in lower divisions.

After a dreadful half season with Dresden in the German third divison which i was sacked half way through the first season and 21 days Eastleigh (The less said about that the better) I found myself at Valenzana in Italy. I started in Serie C2/A and was promoted the first season. I have been in Serie C1/B for 3 and half seasons now and every year i have had to lose my star strikers.

The first year we struggled against relegation but survived via the playouts. We lost Bruno Baras at the end of the season, he had only signed for us at the beginning of the season and wanted to leave for a bigger club after just 2 weeks.

The team beat our local rivals 7-0 in a freindly pre season and i told them to do it when it mattered. this didn't go down to well and half the team threw a strop Bruno was the main complainer though. as a result his morale had dropped and he only managed to score 1 goal in 25 appearances all season.

Losing Baras wasn't a surprise and although his stat's were great his heart wasn't in it so he had to go. We made 340k on the deal and we had a striker equal to Bruno who had just signed on a free after playing for us the previous season on loan. Some of that 340k helped to strengthen the squad and we now had 1 star striker, 1 good striker and 1 young hot prospect striker.I felt that the team could achieve promotion after this season. The team was gelling and i thought 1 more year and few more signing in the summer and we could make Serie B.

The season went as planned and we managed to achieve 7th 1 point off the playoffs. Oscar Torres who is the star striker managed to get 25 goals 11 assists in 31 appearances but decided he wanted to leave after banging in 4 goals in a league game midway through the season. I was unable to give Oscar a new contract because he decided he didn't want to renew although his moral was happy and he was enjoying playing for the club. Oscar was only on a 1 year contract because i couldn't get him to sign for longer then a year no matter how much i was allowed to offer him. I thought i would keep him as no one was offering him a contract and he was still on the books although it was only a rolling contract.

Then on the last screen of the transfer window Torres went in a tribunal for 350k to a struggling serie b team now i know this is a step up but i felt that with Oscar we had the quality to go up. The 350k doesn't stretch far as i only get 10% of it to spend and there are no strikers of Oscars quality to be found in the freebies. Players don't want to come to the club on loan no more either for some reason.

So we make do with what we got which is 1 good striker and 1 young hot prospect called Oyenuga. We also have a new Brazilian left winger called Juninho who can also play as a striker.

We ended up coming 4th in the league and making it to the playoffs where we lost the second leg of the final 4-0 after leading 3-1 from the first leg. Juninho grabbed 10 goals but he was being wasted up front oyenuga got 20 and has now become the main man, Jianu got 6. I feel that with Torres we would have gone up his 20 goals was badly missed to make matters worse he spent most of the year on the bench of his new team making just 6 appearences.

So the new season starts and we get 2 new striker in to help lead us to promotion. Turns out there duds 1 is sold for 25k profit in January and 1 warms the bench.

After having mixed results in the league we are hovering just below the playoffs. The teams strength now lies in midfield which is solid and has good backup for each position i create a new tactic during the winter break and tried it out in friendly against a smaller reputation team and it works a treat. The tactic gets the best out of Oyenuga's heading ability's and he goes on to score 8 goals in 4 games.

One of these games he gets 4 goals in and now he thinks he's Billy big boots. In comes the Transfer request which is denied and he throws a strop. The tactic becomes less effective as it requires the lone striker to do a good job not missing sitters and mopping around the place because his heads somewhere else. I have dropped him for a couple of games but results have suffered and his moral is not budging no matter what. I now have offers of 130k for him he is valued at 70k but he still has another season left on his contract. I'm starting to wish i took the Oldham job i was offered last year lol.

Sorry about the long post i wanted to cover as much as i could if you want any more information just let me know

Anyone else having these type of problems or got any advice on keeping star strikers. I know you can just offer them new contracts but i have kept this team on tight budget we only have 2 players on 1100 a week also the offending players didn't want to renew.

Also do you think that if a striker gets 4 goals in a game he starts to think he is bigger then the club

Oh My God.

That's the longest post I've ever seen

Oh My God.

That's the longest post I've ever seen

Look at some of the ones in the T&TT forum.

Maybe you could try adding some paragraphs in that post

I want more information.

Particularly your thought process in choosing Valenzana?

Maybe you could try adding some paragraphs in that post

I have trouble writing hope this is better for you.

I want more information.

Particularly your thought process in choosing Valenzana?

When I started the game I wanted to start as low as possible in Germany as i have never had a save game there in all my previous football manager games. That was a disaster so bad that I was gone before I could even speak the language.

Eastleigh was the next stop because they were the only team would take me. I jumped ship after 21 days as i realised I had taken on a lot more then I wanted to handle at the time.

Valenzana was the only team that would take me after my first 2 experiences. I have had success in Italy before in fm08 but that was with inter in a much higher league.

However after guiding them to promotion and establishing the team in Serie c2 the board are the best I have ever worked under they let you get on your with job with no fuss and they seemed to be pleased even when you promise them the playoffs but fail to make it. The money is tight but the wage budget is good enough to compete.

I was never going to stay here for long I saw it as a stepping stone to bigger things and another job where i could learn a new language but I have been here for 4 1/2 seasons now and I'm still having one of my best save games to date I even turned down the Oldham job (who are now in the championship).

I like the way this club is transforming in front of me, we have upgraded the stadium to 4000 now after having just 2500. We regularly only had about 500 fans turning up each game but now its around the 2000 at an average.

The only problem I have is keeping hold of the strikers and I feel if the team doesn't go up in the next 2 seasons we wont because as players are getting older and better they are wanting better contracts which we cant afford or they want to move. Getting replacements in of a better or equal quality is not easy when you don't have the cash.

Paragraphs help alot. It gives me a head ache trying to read that.

Paragraphs help alot. It gives me a head ache trying to read that.

You cant still be struggling to read it can you. I changed it ages ago

Some of it sounds interesting, but without structured paragraphs it's very difficult to read.

You cant still be struggling to read it can you. I changed it ages ago

Paragraphs with actual spaces in between them would be good, mate.

Paragraphs with actual spaces in between them would be good, mate.

fair enough but every comment is about paragraphs how about someone answer some of the questions instead of 5 different people saying the same thing. I told you i have problems writing. I thought this was video game forum not a English test.

Any way I'm not trying to argue with you, I just want to talk about my game

I have changed it a third time now so can you all understand it now or am i best off not bothering to post

If people get a headache reading that maybe they need a pair of reading glasses.

Though sod's law would have it, while i had no problem reading your post, i can't comment on your experiences since i haven't completed a season with a small club.

I have completed a season with Liverpool and Torres hasn't wanted to leave despite no trophies being won, but then there aren't many clubs bigger than Liverpool. He could only join Barca/Madrid/Man United/Chelsea i think.

I'll come back in a month when i hope to have completed a season with Boavista. (They're in the third tier now by the way.)

I often play in mid- or low-reputation leagues. Keeping top players is very difficult - sometimes impossible. When a player is good and valuable enough to get attention from larger, richer clubs, there's very little you can do to keep him there long-term. That's the place of the lower league club.

Just make sure to get as much value out of a sale (including sell-on % future income) and always be on the lookout for the next generation of that particular player. If you like his attributes, make a filter based on that combination of skills and look for a younger/cheaper replacement. Who knows, that next player may become as good as the first - and as valuable to your club's financial future.

i totally agree with your post.

ive recently started a save with peterbrough united, the are predicted to finish 23rd in the championship.

its mid-december in the 1st season and im sitting in 5th place.

George Boyd is playing as a striker as he is better than all the natural strikers in my squad and hes scored a fair amount of goals so far.

teams are constantly coming in for him with offers around the £800k mark and i keep rejecting. he is valued at £750k.

he now is demanding a transfer and what ever i do i cant get him to back down. hes my best player in the team by far and i cant afford to lose him.

i have set an asking price of £8m to try and scare teams off of him. im unsure if this will work but theres not much else i can try.

i will let you know how i get on with him in the next few days and you could try the same thing if i succeed, which i very much doubt i will.

Whenever a team comes in for players I don't want to sell don't reject, just negotiate and set the price to really high, that seems to not upset my players too much.

I often play in mid- or low-reputation leagues. Keeping top players is very difficult - sometimes impossible. When a player is good and valuable enough to get attention from larger, richer clubs, there's very little you can do to keep him there long-term. That's the place of the lower league club.

Just make sure to get as much value out of a sale (including sell-on % future income) and always be on the lookout for the next generation of that particular player. If you like his attributes, make a filter based on that combination of skills and look for a younger/cheaper replacement. Who knows, that next player may become as good as the first - and as valuable to your club's financial future.

Yeah this does seem to be the case the problem i have is with the strikers exclusively though. They seem to think they are bigger then the club. I know that they should be playing at a higher level it just frustrates me when they start to moan just as things are going good and we look like we look like we are going to be in a strong position for promotion.

The midfielders by comparison are saints. They are also playing below there level and they like to have a moan but the strikers are just drama queens. I have lost 2 top strikers and i am about to lose a third in 4 seasons. I have only lost one midfielder and that was down to me stubborn and not budging on his wages.

Seems like the markets dried up at the moment though its hard to get hold of decent strikers when Im only getting 10% of the money. I fear that the side was built for last season with Oscars virtually guaranteed 20 goals we should have made it that season. Now players are after more money and eyeing up moves elsewhere. The other clubs also don't help by unsettling the players constantly but never actually putting in any offers of any value.

Whenever a team comes in for players I don't want to sell don't reject, just negotiate and set the price to really high, that seems to not upset my players too much.

They still lose moral though. They blame the manager for overpricing them. Clubs also send in non-negotiable bids most of the time so there is no option to drive the price up.

i totally agree with your post.

ive recently started a save with peterbrough united, the are predicted to finish 23rd in the championship.

its mid-december in the 1st season and im sitting in 5th place.

George Boyd is playing as a striker as he is better than all the natural strikers in my squad and hes scored a fair amount of goals so far.

teams are constantly coming in for him with offers around the £800k mark and i keep rejecting. he is valued at £750k.

he now is demanding a transfer and what ever i do i cant get him to back down. hes my best player in the team by far and i cant afford to lose him.

i have set an asking price of £8m to try and scare teams off of him. im unsure if this will work but there's not much else i can try.

i will let you know how i get on with him in the next few days and you could try the same thing if i succeed, which i very much doubt i will.

You should be ok if you lose him the money you get can help you strengthen. Try to get as much as possible for him though I got 350k for my player at a tribunal and he was valued around 130k if I remember correctly. Its only the first season so there are plenty of gems out there the problem will be if you cant get promoted in 3 seasons. You are finishing high enough to do it though.

I have been lucky at my club because the board worships me for getting them up to c1 in the first place so i have been given time but little money. I'm not so sure peterbrough will be as patient though.

Wow, im sure thats informative, but i dont have the attention span

They still lose moral though. They blame the manager for overpricing them. Clubs also send in non-negotiable bids most of the time so there is no option to drive the price up.

I've not noticed much of a morale loss, even if they are unhappy, as long as it's only slt and not unh, they'd get over it quickly.

I've not noticed much of a morale loss, even if they are unhappy, as long as it's only slt and not unh, they'd get over it quickly.

when i check the morale its now on very poor for my main striker. It was on poor, I have had an offer of 130k from Tours FC and i raised it 500k. They withdrew there bid and oynuga is unhappy. Then we got battered 4-1

Can't say I have seen that. The most was an "slt" saying frustrated at not being allowed to talk to Chelsea or something like that.

Another thing you could try that worked fine for me before, accept the offer, let them talk, then once everything is accepted, cancel the transfer.

Can't say I have seen that. The most was an "slt" saying frustrated at not being allowed to talk to Chelsea or something like that.

Another thing you could try that worked fine for me before, accept the offer, let them talk, then once everything is accepted, cancel the transfer.

I have decided to let him go in the summer, we have lost better players and recovered so we can deal with it. The squad needs a bit of a shake up any way. I think this team was built to go up last year and it failed at the last hurdle. players are after more money now and we just cant afford to keep them. A playoff spot is still possible this year and we could fluke it but another year or 2 and we should be strong enough to go up.