Squad registration: Love it or hate it?

I was just wondering what your opinions are on registering players for league and/or cup. My domestic player bias has always been incredibly low and as a result I always struggle to include the 4 home grown + 8 players trained in England.

So I do what I assume a lot of people do at this point and go on holiday for one day and let the game sort the squad registration out.

I don't mind this at all but I've always felt it's always been a rather clumsy way of going about things - (and yes, I completely admit that it's my own fault for not going after enough English players).

There will be those of you that love the fact that you have to comply to these rules and plan your transfers accordingly. There will also be others on the opposite side of the spectrum that find it restrictive and annoying.

There's never been an option to turn off squad registrations (and to be honest I doubt there will ever be one) but adding it into editor might be the way to go?

It is restrictive and annoying, but it's an issue real managers have to face, and does encourage a well thought out youth policy. So over all, I'm all for it.

It is restrictive and annoying, but it's an issue real managers have to face, and does encourage a well thought out youth policy. So over all, I'm all for it.

I agree with this. I learnt the hard way before when I just went on a spending spree at a new club then couldn't register them all. So now I try to concentrate on bringing in youth, whether from my own system or pinching others!

My only issue is the way the AI deals with it, especially when they have a tycoon chairman and spend lots of money on players, only to not have the room to register them.

It's **** boring really but it's realistic so whatever. Really couldn't care much for it, I just auto select most of the time and then make changes the computer didn't that I want.

I like it. Because of the realism, and because it helps me manage my main squad. As I have a tendency to buy too many players (mostly young talents) and I can only register 25 senior players. So it forces me to get rid of the dead wood of older players that won't be getting much playtime, in favour of the younguns.

I rarely have much of a problem with it, on a top team at least, I often have like 16+ homegrown players as I like to develop talent.

it's tougher in the smaller leagues where it's hard to tempt youngsters.

restrictive and annoying. And does nothing to help or improve national football

I actually get by the squad restrictions for the Premier League and Champions League without any problems even though I only 2 English players who played more than 10 games last season...my strongest starting XI is actually entirely foreign. (I do have HG players but they're not English)

Champions League is a bit harder because of the registration bug but I have enough young players to register everyone.

It's realistic, so I like it. The more realistic the game the better, for me. Although saying that, I find myself way down in the lower leagues, so I probably have different concerns to most of you...

It's realistic, it's been introduced for a reason but in FM I really really dislike it

Especially when there are very strict rules for eligibility, age limits etc, it makes it almost impossible developing youngsters while keeping a couple of veterans/tutors around...

EPL's U21 rule gives me some leeway, but La Liga's U18 policy is unforgiving, even worse combined with the B-team being a liability and not an advantage.

I'd better land a job in Serie A where they still love their 35-men squads

Not a problem for me since I've kept it in mind for a long time. When I was new to CM/FM I think it might have messed me up once or twice but now I account for it.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've always found it a pain but after reading what you've had to say it's inspired me to plan ahead for it. I still think it would be beneficial to have an option to turn it off via the editor though. If you don't have 8 players trained in the country and 4 home grown players all you have to do is take a days holiday and SI will sort it out for you. Because of this lack of reality (which is there so you don't get stuck in the game) I think you might as well have the option in the editor to skip it completely.

You don't have to take a holiday. Just register fewer players, e.g. only 6 homegrown players, then register 23.

I like the idea both in reality and in FM. Gives youngsters more chances and stops the big clubs hoarding all the good players.

Just wait till the finacial fair play stuff comes into the game.

I have never had a problem. I prefer a young small squad anyway. Think this is the season I have had the most people registered at 19, with 2 of them loanees. So its never a problem for me really.

It's realistic BUT I hate the rule, there are much better ways of encouraging youth development. Look at Germany, some world class talents, great youth prospects and as far as I know, no squad rules whatsoever. Just saying, like

The Bundesliga does have a lot of financial rules actualy. There was a big article about it in 442 magazine. Couldn't be bothered going to get it now but i am sure you will find it if you have a look around google.

*edit* found some info

Under Bundesliga rules, members must own 50% of the shares plus one extra vote of these spin-offs. This is the so-called 50+1 model, which makes it impossible for private investors to take over a club.

Bundesliga clubs must submit information about their budgets and expected expenditure, and prove they are financially stable in order to play in the league. There are also check-ups during the season, and licences can be withdrawn.

The system by which Bundesliga clubs are regulated, with an emphasis on strict financial rules and licensing, means f.e. Bayern are debt-free, allowing the club to offer some tickets for as little as 12 euros (£11) in a world-class stadium.

"I think the strict system is just one of the reasons preventing them [German clubs] from competing in the Champions League," said Michael Ashelm, of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. .....the financial system prevented the clubs from a disaster and allows for stable conditions - in contrast to England or Italy."

The German model does have its critics. Hannover 96 president Martin Kind has been a long-standing and vocal opponent of the 50+1 rule, and challenged it in the courts last year. However, 32 of the 36 Bundesliga clubs rejected his proposal.

not once had i had a squad of 25 players, mine usually end up around 20 at most.

By default I tend to orient towards leagues with few restrictions in this regard. That's why the Serie A is one of my favourites, although it's pretty hard to get there as a career journeyman without a whole lot of time to play FM.

Usually however it isn't a problem. My ideal squad size is probably about 23 players unless i'm planning on seriously competiting for cups and in Europe... which, again, doesn't happen all that often for me.

I would have no problem with it if it wasn't for the ridiculous issue where players who are home-grown in nation for Premier League purposes (of whom I have 15) only count as home-grown in nation for European purposes if they did their three years at a single club0; I have three English-born England internationals, none of whom are home-grown in nation for Europe!

not once had i had a squad of 25 players, mine usually end up around 20 at most.

Im the same i never register 25 players for either the league or europe my squads are never big enough!!

I like the idea both in reality and in FM. Gives youngsters more chances and stops the big clubs hoarding all the good players.

Just wait till the finacial fair play stuff comes into the game.

As above, if this squad registration annoys you and you can control your transfers/qsquad just wait until FM13/FM14 when the new financial fair play rules are implemented. Gone will be the days when you can just BUY, BUY, BUY!!!

I have played the longest in Spain in FM11, and the harsh restrictions there combined with the absolute uselessness of the B-teams thanks to lack of control (and in my case lack of real league football) makes for a challenge.

However, I have had problems with registration only once and that was when one of my foreigners was waiting for paperwork in the whole january window, messing up my plans. Other than that, I have always managed to get rid of seniors in time for promising youngsters to get the chance. Thanks to this youth policy the restrictions are not a problem for me. Apart from the HG-bug making me have to use FMRTE to fix HG players not counting as HG in EC/CL registrations, they have been even less of a problem than the league registrations because the average squad age is so low.

I have honestly not even considered an emotional attachment to squad registration itself (only the bug and the poor AI team building). Squad registration is there, has to be done and that's it. I would never leave it up to the AI to figure out which players to leave out (if that was ever necessary) since the possibility of failure is extremely high - the annoyment of ineligible players would be infinitely stronger than having to select squads four times a season...

when I play as a big team its not to much of a hassel but when I play as my beloved Brentford and get them to a rare season of CL football its a bit of a pain not being able to import cheaper more obscure talent combined with the fact my youth setup sucks and the chairman is a cheap sod.

Don't like it but has to be there as it is in real life. Always feel 25 is too small a number though. 30 would suit me.

Its pretty easy really, 11 on the pitch, 7 subs and you still have 7 spare. I usually don't have enough over 21 players to fill that many as they wouldn't really be playing enough and if they can't be pushing for a spot on the bench at least by then they probably won't make it anyway.

Much harder in South America tbh, a combination of windows for transfers/registrations and foreign player limits etc make it a minefield at times.

I like the squad registration because it is realistic and makes me bring youth players at the club - which I do anyway, but when you come to a new club it takes 2-3 years until you manage to get regens out of the youth ranks and straight into the first team, therefore you have to adjust to not having all of the players available in the first seasons.

I prefer finding players that are English in anycase and always search for English players first before i expand my search abroad. The rule should apply to UK grown players however i feel.

Squad registration is great!

I'm not a fan of it but I accept it as its the rules as IRL. I don't usually have a problem with home grown players because I buy a lot of under 18 players who become 'home-grown' before they reach 21.

The main problem I usually have s after a few seasons I have too many players and can't register them all. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though because it forces me to clear out the deadwood.

I don't love it or hate it, I just think it's kind of nice.

Personally it's no problem at all, and has actually changed the way I play the game for the better. I only buy players who are under 18 (with the odd exception, one star player every 4 or 5 years and a few South Americans who can't sign until they are 18), so these players don't need to be registered for the first 4 years or more, and after turning 21 they are all classed as homegrown.

Doesn't affect me, always had a policy of bringing through youngsters, even if I poach 95% of them from elsewhere. Also don't notice the squad limit as I rarely have more than 25 players in my first team, and many of those are under 21s anyway, including some of the 16-18 I actually bother to register.

So long as I'm careful about loaning them out to ensure they get counted as home grown there's no issues.

What could affect me is the bug that means players trained 0-21 don't count for champions league, only 15-21s. It seems random which one a player will pick up, so a bad few years could screw me over.

Doesn't affect me, always had a policy of bringing through youngsters, even if I poach 95% of them from elsewhere. Also don't notice the squad limit as I rarely have more than 25 players in my first team, and many of those are under 21s anyway, including some of the 16-18 I actually bother to register.

So long as I'm careful about loaning them out to ensure they get counted as home grown there's no issues.

What could affect me is the bug that means players trained 0-21 don't count for champions league, only 15-21s. It seems random which one a player will pick up, so a bad few years could screw me over.

Just fix it with FMRTE. That is what the program is for (for me at least; including helping the AI).

Edit: just make sure you try to avoid seeing the hidden stats and CA/PA values! They are not the alpha and omega of a player's usefulness but I don't like to see that nevertheless.

The Bundesliga does have a lot of financial rules actualy. There was a big article about it in 442 magazine. Couldn't be bothered going to get it now but i am sure you will find it if you have a look around google.

*edit* found some info

Under Bundesliga rules, members must own 50% of the shares plus one extra vote of these spin-offs. This is the so-called 50+1 model, which makes it impossible for private investors to take over a club.

Bundesliga clubs must submit information about their budgets and expected expenditure, and prove they are financially stable in order to play in the league. There are also check-ups during the season, and licences can be withdrawn.

The system by which Bundesliga clubs are regulated, with an emphasis on strict financial rules and licensing, means f.e. Bayern are debt-free, allowing the club to offer some tickets for as little as 12 euros (£11) in a world-class stadium.

"I think the strict system is just one of the reasons preventing them [German clubs] from competing in the Champions League," said Michael Ashelm, of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. .....the financial system prevented the clubs from a disaster and allows for stable conditions - in contrast to England or Italy."

The German model does have its critics. Hannover 96 president Martin Kind has been a long-standing and vocal opponent of the 50+1 rule, and challenged it in the courts last year. However, 32 of the 36 Bundesliga clubs rejected his proposal.

that's not squad restrictions though is it? Look at the standard of the German national team, one of the best in the world in my opinion, with great youth prospects AND they got there without restricting their teams to pointless rules.

I find it just... exhilarating!

No really, realism and make-believe is about 97% of the enjoyment for me, to the extent that I rarely play beyond a couple of seasons when it all starts to look too unfamiliar, so I'm all for it. :thup:

That's what I love about these forums. I rarely post threads but when I do I get intelligent and informative answers and more importantly, learn something new.

It's tricky for me as I usually take lower league clubs up to L2 or L1 (sometimes the Championship if I get more luck than judgement) and as a result I generally have poor to non-existent youth recruitment. It never even dawned on me to poach under 18s to avoid squad selection issues. I always go for the immediate solution and buy good mid-twenties players. Not anymore!

Can't wait for FM12 now

I like it. It keeps me from signing 12 world class strikers like I did when I was younger.