FM10: "If you could give one small tip that changed your managing for the better"

Inspired by this thread: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=125560

Let's do the same again - this time fine-tuned to fit FM10.0.3.

If you could give one small tip that changed changed your managing for the better, what would it be?

#1: Experienced players can be invaluable - Pay massive attention to mental attributes.

#2: Motivation is vital to success. If your players are listed as motivated at half time just say nothing in the teamtalk (possible exception if they're averaging 6.1 or less and you can tell them to prove a point).

Sign an ass man with good motivation and tactical knowledge.

This means you can send him to press conferences with confidence as well as ask his advice on opposition instructions, and usually receive a reply that is usable.

Never, ever let the Assistant manager do anything or listen to his advice. No matter what attributes he/she's got, their advice is dreadful and it's more than possible to believe that they are working for the AI and want you to lose.

give time to the new signs to adapt, and try to keep everybody happy, you can do that by playing al your players and renew contracts that you think they deserve....

Scout as many underage competitions as you can, top regens are a lot cheaper at 16!

Have versatile players as substitutes. This will save on wages.

Read TT&F. Nuff said.

"Rigid" doesn't mean "Stand around like statues." For teams with low mental attributes, it's invaluable.

3 words: Attack, Attack, Attack

even if the match might be 3-0 down, there is always the off chance it can turn 4-3 to you

i'll never give my players the hairdryer treatment .

neither will i issue warnings or fines .

motivating and encouraging them works better for them .

A corollary to my first piece, if he's still on a youth contract offer him one but don't finalise it. Look at the full compensation, take the offer off the table, then make a bid for half the compensation up front. 90% of the time it will be accepted, the other 10% he's already looking at first-team action.

i'll never give my players the hairdryer treatment .

neither will i issue warnings or fines .

motivating and encouraging them works better for them .

i give out warnings/fines for rd cards if i lose the match. A bit of the old Hairdryer treatment works wonders.

maybe i'll try out too . LOL .

havent been doing that for 3 seasons straight .

same here i fine with a warning any red car and if he made more that one red card , one week salary fine..

high pace, acceleration, balance and agility is all you EVER need to score

Pay attention to the following: weather, pitch dimensions, and opposing formation. All three matter. You have to adjust to what the game throws at you and take those factors into account. In fact, I'd argue that those three + motivation are probably more important than anything else. Play direct and hard-tackling in the rain, don't push up on a long pitch or pass too long on a short one, and feel free to play wide and attacking if the pitch is also wide. Also, don't be afraid to make slight tweaks if your opponent's formation doesn't quite match up with yours, like dropping a deep-lying playmaker - support to a DLP - Defend if your opponent has an AMC, for example.

If you do these things you will win a lot more, and I can't point to a single other factor that's helped me aside from the realization that those three variables are super important.

Read TT&F. Nuff said.

This. It's exactly what I was going to write. Covers the lot.

Point three, if a bigger club steals the young player you've been shadowing, don't give up on him. Unless they start him right away themselves, they'll probably push him to the youths and release him on a free in a few years (or offer him to you for peanuts). A regen where that happened on me went to Real stayed in the youths got released and picked up by me. He scored two on his debut.

Trial players who are out of contract.

Not only will it enable you to view players from countries who you cannot scout, but you will notice they accept less in wages if you decide to sign them whilst on trial.

Try it, go to sign a player and see how much he is asking for, withdraw the bid and offer a trial, once on trial offer a contract and he will be asking for a little less!

Reduce long shots to rarely for every player. Your more creative players will then make the effort to create better chances, your less creative players won't waste possession by having a crack from 35 yards and your team will see more of the ball.

Be more patient! Never get a player because "he seems good enough"; spend ten more minutes searching.

Pump all your money into wages and get the freebies at the end of each season.

A quality DM is a must, you can have two-three-four lightweight midfielders around him but that good DM is essential.

Mental, physical, technical in that order. Out of my all my strikers, it is the guy with the lowest technical attributes that is performing best and getting all the world player awards.

Yea. You always want to look for high determination, high work-rate, and high teamwork players.

Oh and please trust your scouts. If you dont trust them, why are you employing them in the first place?

Simplify things. Show cause and effect clearly, like in mental issues.

Possession football is by far the most rewarding experience. Specially when your team could not string 4 passes together and maybe after one or two seasons of struggling you get them to play almost like Barca.

Touchline instructions can change the course of a game, take advantage of them.

If your players get upset about being fined etc. a good 2 games in the reserves will quickly sort that out!!

Do not forget your players also have individual tactics that can be used to alot better effect than all around team tactics

Possession football is by far the most rewarding experience. Specially when your team could not string 4 passes together and maybe after one or two seasons of struggling you get them to play almost like Barca.

Touchline instructions can change the course of a game, take advantage of them.

Possession football is nice and all but remember......trying to play like barca, doesn't mean you will win like barca.

I cannot even begin to stress how important good physical/mental stats are. Technical ones are all well and good, but if they can't last 90 minutes, forget it.

Always retrain players to play in different positions. I've got someone who came to me as a Striker, and was retrained for the right wing, and is now probably playing better than he's ever played before, and is in with a shout of world player of the year.