Player/Press relations after 659 hours!

As the title suggests Steam informs me I have managed to get in 659 hours of game play since the release date of FM2011.

Only now and only a few weeks away from the release of FM2012 have I worked out a method for making the most out of press conferences and team talks etc etc.

Unfortunately I think the game relies far too heavily on the way in which the media aspects and player relations sides of the game effect actual results. I found a simple way of getting the best out FM2010 through player/press dealings and by Jove I think I've done it again with FM2011.

Before explaining this it's probably a good idea to describe the setup of the game I've tested this on. I'm using an downloadable edited database that goes down to local football level starting as Woodley Town FC in the Hellenic League Div 1 East. I'm sure this has absolutely no effect at all on how player/press relations work in the game but still it's not an original database.

The only thing I have changed myself in this database is the reputation of the lower league cups, for some reason the creator of this database had them set to the same level as the Champions League !! Again I can't see any reason why this would effect the player/press relations. I've not used any other external tool for scouting etc nor have I used any tactics or training schedules that are not of my own creation (I will elaborate on these if anybody wants to know but that's not the point of this post)

Anyway I've achieved 4 promotions using this player/press handling method gaining two cups along the way and even getting into the FA Cup 2nd round proper. I won the last league (Zameretto Prem) by a clear 20 points and I'm currently sitting 3 points clear at the top of the Blue Square North after 14 unbeaten games. My player roster hasn't changed that much at all either, I've only bought in one new full back this season.

Onto the explanations -

Press Conferences - For ALL questions not directly mentioning one of your players you answer with the third response. For questions relating directly to one of your players you use either of the top two responses, it's up to you, they seem to have the same positive effect whichever one you choose. It really is as simple as that.

Responding to manager comments - Only respond to negative comments and always make 3 remarks. The first 2 should not be too cutting but the last should be positive "Harleston Town should be very proud of Joe Bloggs" etc etc

Team Talks - For home matches the pre-match team talk should be "You can win this" and for away matches choose "Do it for the supporters". At half time in either case always choose the general team option to encourage the players and if you have any stand out performers then tell them individually that you are delighted with them, if you have players at half time with a rating of less than 6.0 then let the know you are disappointed or sub them, if you have players with ratings of 6.1, 6.2 or 6.3 tell them that they can making the difference.

I've not had too many losses to I tend to always choose that I am pleased with the teams performance at the end of the game again picking out a man of the match whom I say I'm delighted with but expressing my disappointment with anybody getting below 6.0

I am strict with my players after games if they have got less that a 6.0 issuing warnings and fines which are usually accepted. On the rare occasion when a player gets upset by this I then use the player interaction function to talk to them trying to finish on a positive, it's not that hard to work out how to do this. I also warn players about poor performance in training, if my assistant reports that they have failed to impress in training regular first team players will be told that they have to improve in training if they want to remain in the first team and squad players are told to improve if they want to remain at the club.

I've stuck to this throughout my new game and I can honestly say it's made a very distinct difference and I'd be eager to know if it works for others and if it has a positive effect at higher league level.

This is absolutely the case. If it's about your team, be positive and hopeful, about the others be damning but not too much so. Encourage your players unless they are performing dreadfully then tell them you "are disappointed". Rinse and repeat. The reaction to using any other options is so extreme as to be unusable, especially given the role that morale plays in team results.

It's like new signings. Take the pressure off them. Players who handle pressure well don't care either way, but those who can't, do. So it's pointless to choose anything other than the no pressure options.

But then the media has been woeful since it started because it's so banal and identical. Find the ones that work, use those until the end of time. In press conferences now I don't even read the question because I know the answers so well you just click through them.

This is a massive oversimplification.

This is a massive oversimplification.

The exact point of the post...... :-)

This is absolutely the case. If it's about your team, be positive and hopeful, about the others be damning but not too much so. Encourage your players unless they are performing dreadfully then tell them you "are disappointed". Rinse and repeat. The reaction to using any other options is so extreme as to be unusable, especially given the role that morale plays in team results.

It's like new signings. Take the pressure off them. Players who handle pressure well don't care either way, but those who can't, do. So it's pointless to choose anything other than the no pressure options.

But then the media has been woeful since it started because it's so banal and identical. Find the ones that work, use those until the end of time. In press conferences now I don't even read the question because I know the answers so well you just click through them.

Isn't the media very repetitive in real life as well?

Isn't the media very repetitive in real life as well?

So much so that I get embarrassed reading it!

On the same token however does that not mean that the answers are also repetitive in real life?

Anybody given this massive (and intended to be so) oversimplification a go at higher league level yet?

I have better things to do in the game than answer the same question every time I'm at a press conference. Set the Assistant Manager to go to them.

"Do you think your €60m striker you bought will lead this team to glory?"

"No I bought him for the reserves as they are under-performing"

I noticed this too.

Moral is key to winning games, probably more important than anything else. Team talks and press conferences have massive effects on moral. Get them right and youre going to win. Get it wrong and you will lose.

A good team talk is more important than buying a good player, I took most of my blue square players to the championship, as long as I kept their moral high they played well enough. It didnt matter if I played a star striker or a reserve, they would both perform equally well, trying to out score each other.

I went back to FM10 and team talks dont seem to be as important, as in get it wrong and you will lose. But maybe my tactics are stronger to compensate, or I'm doing enough with team talks to keep moral high and win more often than not.

It does seem to get more focused on team talks and less on the quality of player as each year goes on.

I've spent 60 seasons across multiple leagues doing:

Pre-match: Nothing

Half-time: Nothing

Post match: Pleased

I have better things to do in the game than answer the same question every time I'm at a press conference. Set the Assistant Manager to go to them.

"Do you think your €60m striker you bought will lead this team to glory?"

"No I bought him for the reserves as they are under-performing"

I've tried this too just using the Assistant but even he can lower a players morale with a comment made in a press conference. Using the method I've illustrated I've never once had a played upset after a press conference and my results have improved vastly when my tactics have remained the same.

Too right it's repetitive, I hate Press Conferences, ideally I'd like to be able to have an option at the start of your game to have them taken out because I think they are far too influencial in the game and remove the focus from the actual football.

Perhaps they could have an option/page whereby you could preset your press conference answers and teamtalks ?!?

I've spent 60 seasons across multiple leagues doing:

Pre-match: Nothing

Half-time: Nothing

Post match: Pleased

Exactly what I did for FM2010 :-)

Tried it with FM2011 and started to get negative feedback from the players hence why it took 659 hours of gameplay to find an equally effective method for FM2011.

Took about 2 hours to find a winning tactic and 659 to find a way of dealing with the press and players.......says a lot about the game really doesn't it?

My answer was to not buy FM11

My answer was to not buy FM11

Haha that'll explain it :-D

I've tried this too just using the Assistant but even he can lower a players morale with a comment made in a press conference. Using the method I've illustrated I've never once had a played upset after a press conference and my results have improved vastly when my tactics have remained the same.

Too right it's repetitive, I hate Press Conferences, ideally I'd like to be able to have an option at the start of your game to have them taken out because I think they are far too influencial in the game and remove the focus from the actual football.

Perhaps they could have an option/page whereby you could preset your press conference answers and teamtalks ?!?

Had the exact opposite. I spend a lot of time looking for the right Assistant Manager. I've even fired some for upsetting players and lowering morale.

If you get a good Assistant Manager you can leave a lot of the repetitive things to them.

Had the exact opposite. I spend a lot of time looking for the right Assistant Manager. I've even fired some for upsetting players and lowering morale.

If you get a good Assistant Manager you can leave a lot of the repetitive things to them.

I'll give this a go once I get to a higher league level.

Because I tend to start right at the bottom I'm usually held back in exactly who I can hire most often only being able to have one PT assistant and one PT coach which means that I usually choose an assistant manager who is either a good GK or Fitness coach over one that has good Man Management/Motivational skills.

I'll give this a go once I get to a higher league level.

Because I tend to start right at the bottom I'm usually held back in exactly who I can hire most often only being able to have one PT assistant and one PT coach which means that I usually choose an assistant manager who is either a good GK or Fitness coach over one that has good Man Management/Motivational skills.

Eactly, when your lower league, you cant really get a good assman so have to go through all that mundane stuff your self, unless you want your team to self destruct.

I find that it doesn't really matter what my Assistant says in the pre-match press conference. I just look at the pre-match predicitions, which is the -result- of the press conference.

Sometimes one or a few players have had their morale slightly reduced (sometimes it is suddenly poor or very poor and then I don't pick them), but mostly it is just fine. However, having a player go from Superb/V.Good to Good/Ok may be a good thing. It is always better to boost than to calm down or demand. Players on Superb morale for a while become increasingly difficult to handle, although it is of course better than having players play without confidence.

Having a look at the match odds I decide what to say to my players. Depending on the mental make-up of my players of course, I look at what the assistant suggests (which should be in accordance with what he said in the press conference) and reduce pressure on players needing it; which is normally youngsters and players with OK or less morale plus strikers on a goal drought.

In the break I look at player ratings, possession, shots and the motivation meter. If I am in the lead and many players have "playing with confidence" I use either Encourage or Avoid Complacency. If players are nervous I say Pleased to those unless they play very poorly (6.3 and below), usually in those circumstances Disappointed on the others because the performance is usually poor. If the performance is poor (6.7 or below for most players), and they are not nervous, I am Disappointed. If the former is true but I am in the lead or severly behind (0-2+), I am Angry. I am usually only Pleased when I deem there is little risk of complacency. There are more "ifs" than this, but I can't write them all down. Would take ages!

Anybody given this massive (and intended to be so) oversimplification a go at higher league level yet?

It's worked from Fylkir to Real Madrid, from Lech to Juventus.

Which is especially funny after the inevitable "but you don't speak Polish" press conference and yet in the first match the subtlety of "you're playing like a bunch of big girls blouses now make sure that you get the ball out to the flanks quickly and try and walk the ball in the net" is instantly understood.

heh, I Generaly get good results nowdays but yeh its taken a lot of learning the hard way. Most players won't be upset unless you say somthing stupid or they are a bit tempremental.

Think the best way to go is to get a good realtionships with the reporter first as they then go on to lead with the least controversial story. Learnt that the hard way too when the only local reporter decided they disliked me.

The worst morale rating for any player in my team is "OKAY" and that's for a guy who got the ump after I fined him for a rating of 5.9 in a game. I instantly put him on the transfer list, changed him to unwanted and offered him to clubs.....he's still okay with that :-)

Was trying to post a screenshot but I'm useless.

Thanks for posting this its really helping me out with that side of the game and because of this journalists are getting annoyed with me haha

Just read the blog on media - states that questions at press conferences regarding players sold, fixture congestion and a few others are "new" features.

Also..

I would say, looking through this and other forums, the most complained about features are:

1) press conferences

2) team talks

The main reasos for these complaints is repetitive actions that just require a set answer to guarantee the best result making it an admin task rather than a subtle immersion in the game

This begs the question - why not have the option to turn them off the same as you can with attribute masking?

Because it's one of those things that developers think they know better than people who spent hundreds of hours in the game... I hate many things in recent FM editions so I don't buy them. I'll be back when SI shows some balls and make a revolution one year instead of new, yearly patch with improved interface.

for matches i always say I expect a win. but if i am drawing or down 1 or 2 goals at half time I saw I expect a better performance. Or if its close against a main rival i will say do it for the fans.

I always bag an opposing manager if I am linked to taking over the club eg _ barcelona or Liverpool in my current save. I always say I dont think he is the right manager to take lead this club to glory

Because it's one of those things that developers think they know better than people who spent hundreds of hours in the game... I hate many things in recent FM editions so I don't buy them. I'll be back when SI shows some balls and make a revolution one year instead of new, yearly patch with improved interface.

No matter even if you try to deny it, I'd be more than happy to put my money on that you are currently playing FM11 and loving it with success.

heh it's wierd how people play the game differntly, I NEVER say I expect a win, think it started when i was playing FM10 and that used to always make players feel under pressure and play poorly. May well have changed or been tweaked for FM11 but its one of those things thats taboo for me.

FM12 is going to have a tone feature, so you can respond with anger joy etc. Hopefully they make the press conferances more interesting. It's all great in theory but usualy takes a few versions to get right.

I've stuck to this throughout my new game and I can honestly say it's made a very distinct difference and I'd be eager to know if it works for others and if it has a positive effect at higher league level.

I started out doing it as you do, but now my team is a top team (9th best of europe). So when they ask if make a chance to win the next match, I really can't answer with "maybe" as that'll upset my players, thinking I don't believe in them.

If I play at home I really do "expect a win". And players that can't handle that pressure, don't belong in my team.

Still, moral is a bit too important in the last 2 fm's.