When it's not going your way

As the thread name might suggest. When your side arent performing and it's not going your way what do you usually do to try and rectify this? Im currently Vauxhall Motors in the bluesquare. Im around mid table about 20 games and results are getting more and more disappointing. My players are "ok" for that league but im sure i should be finishing in the top half. What can i do to change things around? Tactics? Training?

What do you do when its not going your way?

As the thread name might suggest. When your side arent performing and it's not going your way what do you usually do to try and rectify this? Im currently Vauxhall Motors in the bluesquare. Im around mid table about 20 games and results are getting more and more disappointing. My players are "ok" for that league but im sure i should be finishing in the top half. What can i do to change things around? Tactics? Training?

What do you do when its not going your way?

I've found that rotating your team tends to have a good effect on players. Say if someone's not performing, i replace them for a couple of games, then bring them back and they seem to play better.

Also, the private chat is really useful. Telling a player they're getting dropped due to poor performance will soften the blow.

Try tweaking your individual tactics too. one or two changes could make the world of difference.

I'll second the above. Rotation definitely keeps things fresh and private chats definitely help.

Other suggestions:

-bring in short-terms loans - this can improve the squad and i've had it where players have spoken in the press after a loan signing saying it was a boost to the squad and just what the team and player needed

- look at your reserve and u18 games. If a player gets a good rating get them involved for the next first team game. I've found if a striker has a good performance for the reserves or u18 and i've put them in (regardless of their stats) in the starting line up or brought off the bench and use the "pick up where you left off" team talk setting to the player in question can have good effects. Sometimes it will back fire, but more often than not given the right opportunity it can work in your favour.

-tweak your tactics depending on the opposition. E.g. away from home when you aren't favourite play counter attacking or defensive and play narrow and direct. Keep things tight then try and hit teams on the break.

-At blue square level pace causes big problems as defences are often slow. If you have a pacey forward set them as target man with supply run onto ball and have midfielders trying through balls often. If you have a pacey winger get them to hug the touch line and run with ball and do forward runs often.

What do you do when its not going your way?

Tighten things up tactically.

Take less risks tactically.

Attempt to grind out draws and keep clean sheets as a priority.

Concentrate on my motivation and team talks. Maybe try a few different things to boost confidence. Encourage my players more often and be more supportive, while continuing to manage with a firm hand when necessary.

Spend a lot longer analysing games. Turn the highlights up to extended or even full match for periods.

Look to play my more experienced players even if I have more talented younger players. Hopefully their experience and their mental attributes can help steady the ship.

Think about dropping those on poor form or with poor morale in favour of another more confident and happier player.

Keep things calm in press conferences etc. Don't ever go over the top over a defeat or show that you are losing control.

Keep believing in your methods. If they worked before, they will work again, and perhaps bad luck, poor morale or just poor players is the main problem.

Have a complete reanalysis of your tactics. I know this contradicts what I said above but sometimes you need a fresh outlook. Check player attributes for each position. Make sure you are getting the most out of your players. Think about switching to a new system if it might suit your squad better and get that little bit extra out of them. Perhaps even make things more rigid, tighten things up, flood the centre and that kind of thing, in order to turn losses into draws, and maybe even draws into narrows wins!

The key, really, is to stay calm, keep believing and to take your time over things and never to overreact to a defeat. Always try to have a theory about what went wrong in each game and attempt to make small changes for the better rather than making huge changes that will probably unsettle things even more.

That's my opinion and how I tend to go about things during a bad slump.

I start fining the players 2 weeks wages.

Does the job.

Had to sell Luis Suarez cos he wouldnt take it. Which was a shame. But I've got 5 great strikers now anyway