New Job - Bluesquare Premier - Kidderminster - Help ME!! :) Please...

hi guys,

I've only been playing Footy Manager 12 for a couple of days now. I've been playing the game for years and never have I seemed to struggle like I am now. I usually start as Sheffield Wednesday (the club I support) and I can usually get them up to the Premiership and do quite well. However this time I've decided I want to do it completely different.

So what I've done this year is decided I want to do it the way it probably should be done. Instead of starting with a club I've started unemployed and took what ever job I could get hold of or was offered to me. So 17 games down the line and who comes in for me.. Kidderminster. They have had a bad start to the season and after a media prediction of 10th I have taken control and find they are bottom of the Bluesquare Premier.

I haven't ever managed a club this far down the leagues before but thought this would be right up my street. I know some of the players down there and who is probably good enough.

What im lacking in is my tactics. Usually I like to get teams to play short passes and keep possesion ripping teams apart but Im well aware I cannot do this in the Bluesquare. This is due to many things. Pitch condition and because players just aren't good enough.

So what do I do with my team? The players aren't brilliant to start with and so im going to have to bring in a few new faces (although i might not be able to with the tight wage budget. I'm already 2k over budget.

I like to play a 4-4-2 which should be ok in that league. However I have tried all sorts of tactics for my players and none seem to be able to get me out of the poor situation that I'm in. Usually I only create 1 tactic and change the philosophy as to whether Im playing at home or away and this usually does the job for me. I'm not convinced that im FM12 you can use 1 tactic though. Do i need to create a "set" of tactics to make my team work? I'm not sure.

Perhaps someone can give me some inspiration as to how I can get my team to work properly.

The problem with lower leagues is what you've just said. Personally I would play a mixed passing game. Keep things simple as well. So either go with short passing and man marking and or mixed passing and man marking and leave everything default. They're bottom for a reason and if you're trying to get them to play like Barca, it just won't happen. Keeping things simple will work. When looking at signing players, look around the French amateur teams. Occasionally you can find a gem who can be great. I'd also do this for other nations too. Don't be afraid of losing money, it happens. When looking at buying players don't be afraid to not offer them what they want, negotiate every last penny that you can because if one player doesn't join, someone else will. Also don't be afraid of the high turnover of players as it happens.

The best thing so is to play to the strengths of the squad and not how you'd like to play. Also when signing players looked for determined players too.

It is precisely for this situation that the new feature of team meetings came about. for a short term morale boost to pick heads up off the floor when your clubs in a bit of a rut. try sympathising with your players that things will turn around.

tactically to keep things simple, try counter attacking, physically attributes are important for lesser teams.

Ive had a decent amount of success with smaller teams using a direct counter attacking style, some of the football they were playing was superb!

Ok so i went with a simple 4-4-2. Mixed passing and pretty much everything else set at default. I have just played my first match in charge against Forest Green and finally grabbed that 1-0 win. I found that the player individual chat at half time did the trick. Still i'm not convinced this will work as my team just... aren't good enough.

Hopefully I can crack on from here. Any more tips would be great.

Ok so i went with a simple 4-4-2. Mixed passing and pretty much everything else set at default. I have just played my first match in charge against Forest Green and finally grabbed that 1-0 win. I found that the player individual chat at half time did the trick. Still i'm not convinced this will work as my team just... aren't good enough.

Hopefully I can crack on from here. Any more tips would be great.

You'll find at lower levels consistency isn't that good. You'll find that alot of teams can have one good game and then get hammered the next. It's just the way it is unfortunately. The more you win though, the more your morale should increase which should hopefully help your team pick up better results.

I'd echo the point about French amateur teams, you might be surprised at the level of quality you can find. I've found I've been putting Swiss as my second nationality on new games, as it opens things up a bit language-wise (French, German, Italian), which can be crucial at lower levels.

One thing I would say is to be far less squeamish about signing older players than you might normally. As long as their physicals are up to it, a 38-year-old could do a job for you for 6 months. In particularly keep an eye out for Player/Coaches, as that's obviously one wage packet you're paying, rather than two. Player/GK coaches are particularly handy for this, as their physicals aren't quite so important and you can generally get GKs of a reasonable quality- provided you can attract them in the first place. Also, contracts tend to be a lot shorter- there's a decent chance a lot of your underperformers can be released either instantly or at the end of the season relatively cheaply.

The other thing to keep in mind is that they've been bottom long before anything you've done, so the board will probably let you off of relegation, provided you can sort some of the other issues (ie, wages) out. If there's still a chance for a cup run, even JPT, focus on that. There wouldn't be a great deal of harm in writing off this season and, using the rest of it to experiment tactically and get the rest of the shop in order- wage bill, backroom staff, finding a parent team.

I usually start with Cambridge in the BSP, my supported team, and morale is massively important. Don't rely overly on technical skills. If you see what looks like a bargain midfielder with 15s in passing, creativity etc at that level there's a reason he's not higher usually, so avoid. Also don't be afraid to try deep defensive lines and long ball football if you have pacey strikers, it might not be pretty but seeing 3 points at the end is enough.