First steps for a new team?

What do you when taking over for a new team in the first few weeks leading up to the first league fixture, and in general? Stuff to acquaint yrself w/ the players & staff, setting priorities, etc.

Just curious.

Go through each player from the first and reserve teams and decide who are the best talents, and what formation I should be playing. I normally have a piece of paper next to me so I can make a note of any gaps we have.

Then I go and search the market, see who I can strengthen the squad with, what gaps can be filled. At some point I'll set up training for them all as well.

As long as there are enough staff at the club, sorting them out is a second or third season job for me.

I can spend many playing hours of game time before a ball is kicked. Getting the right ass man is critical for me, then it's sorting the other back room staff early so you can offload at minimum cost. Assess the squad and identify players to fill the gaps....this can take hours of searching.

Mind you I always play llm so there is always more to do than I assume would be e case if you are settling into an established setup with a half decent club

Check the players, especially if it's a lower league team or one I'm not too familiar with. Then I'll decide on a formation and what to do with any gaps in the team given my transfer budget. Then I set up training (incidentally, I'd love to be able to have my training schedules set as part of my user profile so they're set up automatically every new game and I don't have to go through the process of manually importing them every game).

Next I usually check out the backroom staff. Most clubs have a couple of terrible coaches or scouts, usually ex-players, and these get sacked immediately to be replaced by competent guys.

Then I check the friendlies the club has planned and figure out the best way to make sure my team gets to its first league match in top condition.

Make tactic

Make match prep full on 'team blend' so your team learns the tactic

Assign players to any new training schedules you may have

Assign coaches to specific training areas. Offer any good youth coaches full contracts or get new coaches to fill gaps

Ask board for an increase in transfer revenue percentage

Offer out any older players that you dont need to reduce wage bill and also increase transfer budget

Identify your best players and put them into position in your tactic

Identify areas of the team that need improving and target possible buys

Look at your feeder teams for clubs at a decent level and a decent league to send your good prospects to for experience. If you dont have on, request a feeder

Before your first game of the season, move match prep slider back to a reasonable level (low if fully fluent in the tactic. Change to attacking movement also)

How do you check on whether you have a feeder team, or if not, go about requesting one?

How do you check on whether you have a feeder team, or if not, go about requesting one?

Goto Information under your team then click on affliates. It'll tell you if you have Parent or Feeder teams, and what type of contract you have with them. If you want a feeder or parent team goto board and request it. Its up to the board to search for those type of clubs.

1) look at team for holes

a. look at released players

b. look at youth- whos the best and the best tutor for him and try to sign

c. Put all players not into team plan into transfer list (less than 25yrs put a 50% fee on next sale.)

2) look at training schedule

a. See if coaches are good enough for team (**** at least)

b. Release crappy coaches and sign coaches

3) create a tactic that fits my team.

a. tweak ea. tactic for diffent types of play ie slow, fast, narrow

4) Scout

a. National

b. next match

c. under 20

d. division

e. division under or over mine

f. Argentina, Brazil cheap and the best in the world

g. Floater for whoever I want

-Set tactic

-Set training schemes

-Examine backroom staff and how many we're allowed

-Fire all excess staff and staff that don't make the grade

-Advertise for new positions.

-Ensure AM has high JPA/JPP as I'm extremely keen to play as a "pure manager" and have reports and advice from the AM/Scouts as to players while having the final say myself (in other words, I refuse to trawl through a search engine... IRL I'd be relying on them so I do so in game too, or I scout games for specific players anyway.)

-Examine first team squad

-Offer to clubs all deadweights and dead youth prospects, release on free if no offers and final year of contract.

-Begin extensive local scouting assignments related to the UK and Ireland.

-Rebuild entire team with free transfers if need be. (This is a drawn out process but usually finishes within a month.)

-Examine youth team

-Offload youth wasters

-Clear out entire reserves (so the youth can play there generally)

-Set board expectation

-Play crappy friendlies

-Kick off season against top club with a "surprise win"

-Dominate league and make the media and bookies cry.

Playing LLM - get a couple of good scouts and send them out. Don't rush into signings - unless you have a board with high expectations, you've can write down the first season to developing the team in the right direction, and looking for players who will really improve what you have. Obviously, if you've got two centre backs who are over 35 and whose knees have gone, you need to get cover in, so look at the entire squad and see if there are any gaping holes. I look first at strengthening the spine of the team - usually trying to find a keeper, a central defender, a central midfielder and a striker, all with good stamina and work rate because you need them to put a shift in week in week out. Fit your tactics to your squad's qualities (though I'd need a very good reason not to start with 442, with a backup tactic of 4141 to close out a game or try to play on the break when away to the better teams). Money will be tight (unless you can get a good lucrative cup run) so you need to plan ahead, and not get tied into long contracts for players who may have limited usefulness - my aim from a start in BSN or BSS is promotion in the second season, and then 2 or 3 seasons in BSP before going up again. You'll need to revamp the team to achieve that, so if you can't clear out the squad without paying off long contracts, you'll be in trouble. And try to get contracts with some players that give you the flexibility to keep the starting team fresh as the season goes on - if they are all contracted as key players or first teamers, you're going to either have to start very tired legs for too many matches, or end up with a lot of unhappiness when they are dropped/rested too many times for their liking. Get some on squad rotation or backup contracts. What you do when you start has a nasty ability to come back and haunt you later on - I've had a stroppy dressing room and its no fun (went from a play off place to near bottom after a run of two draws and ten defeats in the last twelve games of the season with very poor morale through the squad). Hold backroom meetings regularly and scout the players they advise on. Offer trials to fill out your scouts' knowledge of potentially promising players who are out of contract (you may go for several seasons before you actually have a transfer budget, so freebies are the order of the day). Read the transfer rumours pages and consider hijacking someone else's deal (I've just found a very good French striker who my scouts hadn't picked up that way - offered him a trial to check him out and signed him up). Grit your teeth. Curse the winger who can't cross, the midfielder who can't run, the centre-back who can't jump and the goalkeeper who rushes out for through balls he has no hope of beating the opposition striker to, in the knowledge that they are all out of contract at then end of the season and can be shipped out as dogmeat.