Change Season Expectations

So just got to the 1st of Jan in the BSP with FC United of Manchester and had this message pop up asking if I wanted to change my season expectations because of my performance in the league. I originally had chose to avoid relegation, but I made some fine signings and I'm sitting top of the league by 9 points after 25 games.

This seems like a nice feature, and a good way of getting that little bit more transfer/wage budget to make that important signing. Anybody know if this is a new feature of FM11 or just another one of those rare occurences?

Has anybody had this before as well? Find it useful at all?

For the full screen image - http://i56.tinypic.com/2qjzrpf.png

Quite a useful feature I find.

Whilst over-performing, it can help get some extra funds out of the board to bolster the squad. If under-performing, it can help keep you in the job a little longer

It is useful for getting a bit more cash sometimes.

I'm pretty sure I've had it in past versions, but yeah I've had it a couple of times already in FM11

I still don't go all out and say "win promotion" or whatever though... too risky

I went for promotion... The next game I got 2 injuries and 2 red cards, oops!

Didn't realise it worked the other way as well? I guess you must have to have a chairman that really likes you to offer you lower expectations!

I've never noticed this feature before and can see where it would prove very useful. Does it work with big clubs as well as the smaller ones? For example suppose you were Man United and you said that you can win the league but are doing badly. Will the board allow you to lower your expectations or will they simply give you the boot when you fail miserably?

It appears to happen in situations where your cash balance has improved markedly beyond expectations mid-season, and thus your effort in the January transfer window can be increased. I've had it once with Prestatyn Town FC in the Welsh Premier League.

I wonder about the other way around - lowering expectations....I have a situation playing as Arsenal, in which the season expectations are understandably high with this calibre team: Quarterfinal of Champions cup, Challenge for Premier lge title, Semifinal of FA Cup. While on pace to reach these goals through December, I then lost Van Persie for 4 months due to torn ligaments. Then in mid-January, I lost Chamakh (broken ankle) AND Nasri (torn ligaments) in the same game against Newcastle for same duration. I've already used up transfer $$ signing Manuel Neuer so there is no wiggle room to sign anyone else. Now I do have some up and coming players with pretty good potential (Lukalu, Alacer) and still have Wolcott so it's not completely dire.

However, these 3 players lost are easily the top forwards on the team. I really love this game, and looking forward to the challenge of reaching the team goals still , but am wondering if the AI (Board and Fan confidence) recognizes, or could be made to recognize key injuries and adjust expectations/performance evaluations accordingly (in my case, even if just very slightly in how far the team goes in the Cup competitions).

I'm pretty sure this has been in the game for several years.

I didn't see it in FM10. Could be a FM11 feature. I have seen it many times here because I consistently overperform with the clubs I manage.

Big clubs give you a minimum of i.e. Title challenge, so there is often little point in choosing "winner". The bigger your bank balance, the bigger the difference between the choices. Normally you get only a few percent more to spend on transfers and wages so it is not worth the risk of increasing the expectations.

Sometimes it makes a world of difference, though.

Its been in for a few years, but yeah I quite like it

It popped up for me the other day around about Christmas in my Cardiff save, I had just been promoted and i was coming 3rd so they offered to change my expectations

Chickened out however, went for a very safe top 10 finish