Help Keep Staines up in the Premier League (lots of images)

Thanks for looking, the title sums it all up. The date is 1/1/2020 And Staines are in the top flight of British football, but the season has been a rough one leaving them in 19th place.

We have had a couple updates along the way for stadium and facility's

Here's our fixtures and league table

I'm considering its ether my tactics or my players. here's a snap of the tactic & training

Now on the the players in the next posts

So based on what you see, what would help us at least keep a at least avoiding being regulated. I seriously think it has to do with a combo of players and tactics. Any advice would be helpful. This is the first time in my 10+ years on fm having a team reach the top flight.

GK's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/GK1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/GK2.jpg

DC's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DC1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DC2.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DC3.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DC4.jpg

DL's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DL1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DL2.jpg

DR's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DR1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/DR2.jpg

MC's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MC1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MC2.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MC3.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MC4.jpg

ML's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ML1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ML2.jpg

MR's

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MR1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/MR2.jpg

Poachers

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ST1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ST2.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ST3.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/ST4.jpg

Target men

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/TM1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/TM2.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/Soverntear/FM%20game/TM3.jpg

Now based on what you can see where should be improved to keep staines alive? Also how do i get the spoiler tags to work?

I use a totally different formation to you so couldn't say how to use your wingers for example, but I can see some things I'd do differently in your team instructions:

Rigid: Yes, I'd keep this as I think it's the best philosophy for teams trying to stay in the division.

Defensive: I'd change this to Standard, and alter it depending who you're playing. If you're playing an out-of form Wigan at home for example, change to Attacking and go for the win. If you're against Man Utd at Old Trafford, go with the Counter mentality and try and snatch something on the break. Take into account things like form/aerial prowess/morale/home or away before each match and slightly alter your tactic to accomodate this. But overall I'd stick with the standard mentality - with defensive you are just inviting pressure onto yourself from the start.

Passing style... I would have said more direct, as you are managing an underdog and you're just looking for any goal no matter how ugly. But you seem to have a lot of good passers of the ball in central midfield. Personally I never use wide players in FM as I just find them too inconsistent - so I play with either a 4-1-3-2 or a 4-3-1-2 (with three CMs and either a DM or an AMC). With the level of passing quality in your central midfields I'd seriously think about switching to such a formation. If you don't want to, I'm not sure what to recommend in terms of passing style.

Closing down, I'd again switch to either default or stand-off more. This makes the side more regimented and you can become extremely hard to break down with the right roles assigned to the right players (I always look to accomodate a CB-Stopper, CB Defender and a Ball Winning Midfielder to help this) and a rigid philosophy. Pressing makes you lose your shape, and better opposition players will exploit this and create opportunities. Pressing is good if you're the favourites or if a team has poor condition and to an extent poor morale.

Tackling, switch this to default for sure and assign different instructions to each player. More aggressive can be amazing used correctly - hell, I won the FA Cup with a League Two side largely thanks to switching to more aggressive tackling - but using it every game is just asking for a crisis. Harder tackling will mean your players are more likely to suffer an injury, and obviously more likely to commit a violent tackle and get sent off. Never worth it in either case. I wouln'd t recommend cautious tackling - the best bet is to assign different instructions to each player. Use more aggressive when playing a really big team (Arsenal/United/City etc), because against these sides (if you motivate your team correctly) and in conjunction with other tactical decisions it can work wonders. Just don't use it every game.

Marking - I'd swicth to man marking. I used zonal in my first few seasons (BSS, BSP, League Two) before my average-paced strikers were found out by intelligent forwards. In the Premier League, a lot of the strikers will be physically amazing so man-marking these guys is the way to go. To use zonal successfully at the top level you really need elite defenders, ie world-class positioning, concentration, pace, agility, acceleration as well as the standard tackling/heading/marking/jumping attributes. I'm sure people on here have mastered it but personally I find it too difficult. Your CBs are nowhere near fast enough to play a zonal system imo.

Crossing - each to their own on this. I alway go for float crosses as I imagine it's easier to pick out a man at the back post and head it across goal rather than sneak in at the near and squeeze it in. Personal preference though. I guess you need decent crossers to start with as well as forwards with good anticipation and heading to play float.

Roam - I play with more expressive, but I have quite a few more flair players in my team than you so I'd recommend you stay on stick to position. Perhaps tweak Obita and Levy in their player instructions to have a freer role as they do have good flair.

You want to go to the tactics forum really, loads of guys in there that are better at this stuff than me. Best of luck surviving though whatever you do!

Oh, spoiler tags = [ spoiler] blah blah blah [ /spoiler] (obviously without the spaces).

(Excuse the spelling mistakes also, I'm very tired and cba to go back and edit them all. I'm sure a lot of people will also attack my view of zonal marking, for which I apologise for in advance as I'm sure it is pretty incoherent)

You might want to find a top class CB as your two current CBs aren't good enough to defend against top players (Fry has the right physical attributes and Gimpel has the right mental ones, if you could combine them into one player that would be perfect!). You should also find better attacking midfielders to improve your chance creation (Caroll should be able to get you some goals if the supply is good enough!). You have a lot of good prospects, so if you can stay in the league, your team should improve markedly in a few seasons. Try loaning some out to generate a little extra cash and get them some first team experience, they're not good enough for the Premier League yet, and loaning them out will clear up some wage room for you to being in some veterans you will help you stay in the league in the short term.

First of all good post.

I don't like your tactics to start with, especially having both strikers in an attacking role and all midfielders in support roles. Also I like to keep the width, tempo and defensive line boxes unchecked so they will change with changes during the match. Personally i'd change to standard philosophy and set the match prep to heavy until fluid if i'm not already close to fluid.

I'd personally consider trying a different variation of the 4-4-2. I'd push your wide men into attacking left/right wingers positions and play one in an attack and one in a support duty with your two centre mids having one with defensive role and one with a support role. I'd have support duty for a striker to attempt to drop of the oppositions defence looking for the ball and attack duty for a poacher looking to feed of your wide men and deep lying striker. I'd also change the fullbacks to automatic then they will change mentality according to team mentality.

As far as players roles go i'd trust your coaches opinions at first and go with the description on the report screen. I'd change these if I thought it was detrimental to player or team though.

For me you look weakest at centre back and I'd keep their roles simple and set both to centre back defend. Also if there is any money for transfers or even loans in January i'd replace Monty Gimpel. You have a couple of players you could possibly move on to release enough funds to do this.

Your at home to a mid-table side and have to be looking to try and press for win during the match. You'll be the underdog and possibly with low morale so I'd say no pressure in the team talk. I'd watch in full, at least to start with, and then I'd switch to attack mentality after 25/30 mins if I felt disappointed with the attacking threat my team was posing. However if leading the game I wouldn't want to play the whole match with attack mentality and could switch back to standard, counter or if late in the game defensive.

Basically what I've done above is set up a pretty standard tactic thats an easy starting point to tweak. I always do this when joining a new side or after a poor run of form as it allows me gather my thoughts about what to change. Watching the game you should be able to see things which you can use to your advantage. Using the shouts can make subtle differences.

Finally you should put your save file up as it looks a fun save or you should at least post a match for us to watch.

Everyone forgets you can click the blue words down the bottom in the permissions section to link you to instruction pages on forums

Try here for more interesting formatting options http://community.sigames.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

I use a totally different formation to you so couldn't say how to use your wingers for example, but I can see some things I'd do differently in your team instructions:........

Robsy, Thanks for the analysis of my current team instructions. I can see the points you making especially in regards to passing and play style. this season I have been a bit more experimental with tactics and this one is the last I made just trying to keep up. But it has been failing me. Seems I should be going for a similar style of play to when I was in BSS, the quick ugly any goal tactics that employ simple but ugly methods.

You might want to find a top class CB as your two current CBs aren't good enough to defend against top players (Fry has the right physical attributes and Gimpel has the right mental ones, if you could combine them into one player that would be perfect!)......

Canaries, I've never been good at judging players attributes so i do rely on my backroom staff to judge players a lot (I think i have around 20 scouts). Slowly I'm learning what to look for with the help of the tactic creator and its key attributes. I'll be looking to do a lot of moving in the transfer window so I can get rid of some dead wood and hopefully let some of the youngsters go out and get experience. Should I be looking to send them to a low division or a mid division?

First of all good post.

I don't like your tactics to start with, especially having both strikers in an attacking role and all midfielders in support roles. Also I like to keep the width, tempo and defensive line boxes unchecked so they will change with changes during the match. Personally i'd change to standard philosophy and set the match prep to heavy until fluid if i'm not already close to fluid.....

Marty, We seem to be on the same page. I don't like my tactics either lol. Also thanks for the tip about keeping the boxes unticked, I was not aware that the ME would adapt with it unticked.

Now for formation, having the wingers set to AMR/AML could help create more chances. with having one set to support and one on attack is there any benefit to having drill or float crosses? With the setup your advising I would assume the front side will preform better as a unit and the FB's on auto will respond according to need.

For the transfer window if I move around my budgets I can get about 3.5mil to spend. Seems gimpel is the weakest link in the team and has got to go. I will try the tactical changes mentioned form both posts and hopfully start putting some points on the table.

I am uploading the zipped save now. it's 120mb. I will post when its done loading and add an edit to the first post.

Everyone forgets you can click the blue words down the bottom in the permissions section to link you to instruction pages on forums

Try here for more interesting formatting options http://community.sigames.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

Thats how I have them. I think i'm used to another method of spoiler tags. the ones here are highlight based which does not help with photos.

I have to ask, where should I upload a 120mb file? Multiupload is not working for me.

Should I be looking to send them to a low division or a mid division?

You should send them to a team who say they will see him as a "valuable member of the first team" and preferably to a team that is doing well in their league and this will help his match ratings and therefore development. If my scouts say he is a "good player for a championship side" then thats the level i'd be looking to loan him to. If I could meet the above conditions and had a few choices of where to loan him then i'd pick the side with the best trainning facilities.

Marty, We seem to be on the same page. I don't like my tactics either lol. Also thanks for the tip about keeping the boxes unticked, I was not aware that the ME would adapt with it unticked.

Now for formation, having the wingers set to AMR/AML could help create more chances. with having one set to support and one on attack is there any benefit to having drill or float crosses? With the setup your advising I would assume the front side will preform better as a unit and the FB's on auto will respond according to need.

I'd keep my crossing on default at least to start with as your poachers will appreciate the more drilled balls and your target men will prefer the floated balls. If you think in match that a team is struggling with one or the other then you could change for that match only.

I have to ask, where should I upload a 120mb file? Multiupload is not working for me.

Not sure i'm afraid but hopefully someone will help. Be sure to keep us updated on your results anyway.

Multiupload is not working for me.

I wonder why that is!

Well I have changed my tactic to

So far not the greatest result. We held out nicely in the first half but the last 10 min we got hit with two back to back goals. Lots of chances but I think it would have helped if I had a proper TM in but they were both below 90%.

Well I have changed my tactic to

So far not the greatest result. We held out nicely in the first half but the last 10 min we got hit with two back to back goals. Lots of chances but I think it would have helped if I had a proper TM in but they were both below 90%.

Edit the specific instructions as well, you're defensive line is too high up for that formation and you will get caught out easily. Drop a little deeper. Width I normall adjust to suit my home pitch size. Slower tempo will help your strikers convert their chances, and also allow you to retain possession a bit better so I'd suggest you have a think about that. You definitely want to be counter attacking seeing as it's likely you'll be getting dominated in most matches, and you have a lot og men high up the pitch so a counter could be a great opportunity to get a goal.

Also consider putting Carroll in the left hand striker slot and your regen in the other; the regen has better technique. If he has the PPM 'Places shots' then playing him in the right hand slot could be very effective given that he's left footed. To be honest your turkish striker could probably do a reasonable job as a Target Man if you really want to play one - he looks to be a far better striker than Carroll and quite strong too.

Edit the specific instructions as well, you're defensive line is too high up for that formation and you will get caught out easily. Drop a little deeper. Width I normall adjust to suit my home pitch size. Slower tempo will help your strikers convert their chances, and also allow you to retain possession a bit better so I'd suggest you have a think about that. You definitely want to be counter attacking seeing as it's likely you'll be getting dominated in most matches, and you have a lot og men high up the pitch so a counter could be a great opportunity to get a goal.

Also consider putting Carroll in the left hand striker slot and your regen in the other; the regen has better technique. If he has the PPM 'Places shots' then playing him in the right hand slot could be very effective given that he's left footed. To be honest your turkish striker could probably do a reasonable job as a Target Man if you really want to play one - he looks to be a far better striker than Carroll and quite strong too.

The specific instructions ive been getting conflicted about keeping them stock or modifying them. The next match I kept all the tactical settings the same and rotated the players (since my squad is young i tend to do a full rotation every game) This time I was using leonardo and kobzev. Kobzev got injured quickly and was subbed out. We won 2-0. I'm going to see how the new tactic starts running after we gel with it. ill update in 5 games.

This page explains key attributes for each role well in my opinion:

http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/tactics/creating-tactics/player-instructions/choosing-roles

You could take a look at your players PPM's as well.

I find this guide to be handy: http://www.truefootballmanager.com/2012/01/football-manager-2012-player-preferred.html

So far not the greatest result. We held out nicely in the first half but the last 10 min we got hit with two back to back goals. Lots of chances but I think it would have helped if I had a proper TM in but they were both below 90%.

Try perhaps setting your target man supply "to head" as thats where carroll will be strongest with or you could tick the target man box so that your team doesn't look for him so often possibly allowing your wingers and poacher to receive forward passes more often. The problem with a target man like carroll is that if he isn't playing well you'll lose possesion often and will struggle to build attacks. Also keep you eye on your advanced playmaker as if he starts getting caught on the ball you will be vulnerable to the counter. If you feel he needs more time and space to work his magic don't be afraid to set as a deep lying playmaker.

At the end of january and we are 2 points shy of 17th. 1 loss 3 wins and 1 draw, much better then before. I was unable to find a defender in my budget but found lots of prospects to keep an eye on.

At the end of january and we are 2 points shy of 17th. 1 loss 3 wins and 1 draw, much better then before. I was unable to find a defender in my budget but found lots of prospects to keep an eye on.

Good news, keep that form up and you'll avoid the drop

ED OF SEASON UPDATE

WE managed to stay up in 17th by goal difference. The end of the season went great untill I went up vs manchester, liverpool and a coupel other high end teams. We managed to win the FA cup for the first time, getting us in to the euros. The board is giving us better youth and training grounds, also a nice 6000+ stadium expansion putting us just shy of 20k. I lost omar due to not seeing he was about to expire. The team needs to strengthen if we are to have any success in the euros and the premire. I want to bring in lots of talent this year and start working on a youth setup to start finanical gains which I hope to use to bring us more cups and a better standing in the premire. We we're given a budget of 28m and 302k pw.

Congratulations on achieving survival and winning the Cup. Sounds like you have a bit of money to work with which is good because the Europa League (aka the Poison Chalice) will be a strain. My big piece of advice (from my own experience and a friend's) is not to go for wholesale rotation between the Europa League and the Premier League. In my experience for some reason this results in horrendous league form. I suspect this is due to the players who aren't playing European games getting upset at being 'dropped' even if you've set out a clear intention to prioritise the league. Limit it to 2 or 3 changes per match if you can. Apologies in advance if this seems blindingly obvious/completely wrong.

JANUARY UPDATE

The season has been going much better then the last. I got rid of lots of players including gimpel and fry. brought in new players across the whole team (let me know if you want images). some of the highlights from this season have been a 5-0 win over villa and the teams performance in euro leagues. The chairman sold the club getting in Shaun Allaway as the new chairman, he did not infuse any money but he did let me keep my job.

Well done mate. Having stayed up and improved your squad relegation should no longer be a fear in the coming seasons. Also having improved your clubs rep so much you are to almost untouchable. I personally would try to slowly build the club up instead of spending every last penny on first team players every season.

I'm guessing that, where you've come from, your youth and training facilities could be improved considerably and this is where i'd focus my spending for the next couple of years. Also try buying young and on low wages and selling for a healthy profit a few years down the line. To realistically be title challengers in the premier your gonna need a ground with at least 40,000 capacity i'd imagine, so watching your finances and keeping on top of your wage budget until you've achieved this is imperative.

Once again good luck and keep us updated.

I did go crazy this season with the transfers, but it was to make sure we stayed up. In the next few seasons i'm going to focus on cheap youth and ride out hopefully in the top 10 but top 15 will for now. I have been steadily up dating the facilities so they are currently at

Good corporate and training facilities

Adequate youth

Average youth recruitment and junior coaching

I will be looking to invest in in the facilities and the ground (once i start selling out again). The rep gains from the fa cup win last season have been a huge help. Here's hoping i can go back to back with fa cup wins. I have been working on tweaking my tactic in game and it seems to help but i still need a way to deal with the 442.

Also random question, I just finished training Leonardo shoot with power and i want him to unlearn round keeper. but everytime i try and interact to give him a new ppm it just asks the coach and theres no reply from them at all. this happens with every ppm not just stop rounding keeper.

Not sure about the PPM's but might be worth asking in a new thread if you can't find anything on a search as many people might miss the question in here.

I find the best way to improve facilities is to ask on June 1st and usually the work commences straight away but if you leave it too long work may not start until next June. Also doing this then means you know how much money you have left for transfers after paying for upgrades. If you have a decent pot of money ask for all available upgrades every season and if the board refuse then tell your disapointed and that they are holding the club back etc and usually they will buckle if finances are good. Never issue an ultimatum though as you might not like the outcome.

With regards to the 4-4-2 it really depends on how the opposition are using it and every team that uses will have weakness somewhere and the key is finding it. Don't look for a stock formation or tactic to combat it but instead react to what you see on the pitch game by game.

Against all opposition as well as scouting the team using the "scout next opposition" instruction I also ask a scout to prepare a report on the whole first team squad. Then when the line ups are revealed i'll try to find a weak spot to exploit. This is especially useful when injuries and suspensions come into play for the oppositions key players. Also looking at team scout report going through the analysis of what formations they have struggled against and when and how they have scored and conceded also gives me potentially(not always) useful information.

As an example if it says that they regularly concede the most goals in the first 15 minutes and are vulnerable to set pieces i'll go attack early on and set match prep to attack set-pieces. On the other if they score mostly in the frist 15 minutes and score regularly from set pieces then i'll go counter and defend set-pieces. So much information exists that can give you hints on what to do against a certain team it is just a question of being arsed to find it and then knowing how to utilise it.

If it does not clear b y the end of season I'll make a new post.

I always ask right before the end of the season if i have the finances for it. This year I might be able to afford youth, but the spending sprees at the start of the year hurt and im not making the most money yet. I always tell them they lack ambition and it seems to make them buckle quite a lot. Thanks for the tips on reading the scout report, I just started really using them and I know the information can be use. but learning how to use it is going to take time. The game is becoming much more fun now that ive started tactic tweaking.

Just beat chelsea 2-0

If it does not clear b y the end of season I'll make a new post.

I always ask right before the end of the season if i have the finances for it. This year I might be able to afford youth, but the spending sprees at the start of the year hurt and im not making the most money yet. I always tell them they lack ambition and it seems to make them buckle quite a lot. Thanks for the tips on reading the scout report, I just started really using them and I know the information can be use. but learning how to use it is going to take time. The game is becoming much more fun now that ive started tactic tweaking.

Just beat chelsea 2-0

At the begining of June you should have received all prize money for the season and therefore should know how much you can spend on facilities. I'd personally prioritise this over player purchases as players will improve faster and further the better your facilities are. It may take you longer to get to the top but once you get there you'll be better equipped to dominate and to produce some of the best talent in the world yourself. This may not be the right way to play for all but I wouldn't play any other way.

Learning bit by bit as you play is the way to go. How in depth you go is entirely down to personal preference but I believe that no matter how good a player is at the game they could still be better if they used all information available to them.

I will hold off till the beginning of june the prize money this year is going to help. As long as my squad can keep me qualifying for the euro's then I have no problem prioritising facilities. Do you know of any good guides to using the next opposition report?

Not sure if there is a guide but just go through each screen and take in all the information. Most of it you will disregard as it won't be helpful but I'd pay special attention to how and when they scored and conceded goals. With certain sides a weakness may be apparent, if so set your side up to exploit that. Really its just trial and error and sometimes the scout report will reveal nothing of note. Other times you'll think your got them by the danglies only to get your ass handed to you. But I guess thats football.

Also if you are going to make tactical changes keep them as few and as simple as possible to avoid disjointed performances.

P.S try a forum search for "scout reports". You may come accross something that will help.

END OF SEASON/START OF SEASON UPDATE

The season went well took 10th in the league, lost in the euro semis and the FA cup final. I was trying to get sipoto to sign a new contract cause i was an idiot when i signed him and let a 50% per year slide in there. His wage was up top 40k so he had to go 5m later. At the end of the season Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium and South Africa we're added to bring some better movement t the transfer market. First thing barca does when they get in is take a 15m bid at Rei which my new chairman accepts. So I have had to bring in a new Gk,Poacher, Dl and DC this preseason. still looking for a couple of those but some great prospects have turned up.

END OF SEASON/START OF SEASON UPDATE

The season went well took 10th in the league, lost in the euro semis and the FA cup final. I was trying to get sipoto to sign a new contract cause i was an idiot when i signed him and let a 50% per year slide in there. His wage was up top 40k so he had to go 5m later. At the end of the season Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium and South Africa we're added to bring some better movement t the transfer market. First thing barca does when they get in is take a 15m bid at Rei which my new chairman accepts. So I have had to bring in a new Gk,Poacher, Dl and DC this preseason. still looking for a couple of those but some great prospects have turned up.

The first place that I look for cheap young players is France as you can pick up real bargains with hugepotential. After that younger players who are no longer wanted by the likes of the Manchester clubs, Madrid, Milan etc. The key is capturing these players on reasonable wages and balancing them with experienced players. Don't be tempted to sign too many though and make sure your squads are small enough that all players are getting football even if it's only youth or reserve matches. Otherwise your just wasting money on unnecessary wages.

It's quite obvious, your have got Andy Carroll in your team;)

would love to download your save and try to carry on the survival!

Doing really well, looks like you've progressed excellently in such a short space of time

Sorry for the delay, i got bitten by the dwarf fortress bug. Save has been uploaded here:

https://rapidshare.com/files/3750572517/save.rar

that should be in 2022 just after january if i recall correctly.

I'm going to be using this thread as a game log now. So a couple questions for the readers. Should I be updating the first post every season to reflect the new changes in the team (linking players and such) or should i do a new post for the season updates? while were on players should i link new photos every season to show there development? what about my youth team? also what other info should i be including. I am considering doing a monthly or bi monthly update which has all the games from that month listed and possibly any high ranking prospects im considering moving on

The first place that I look for cheap young players is France as you can pick up real bargains with hugepotential. After that younger players who are no longer wanted by the likes of the Manchester clubs, Madrid, Milan etc. The key is capturing these players on reasonable wages and balancing them with experienced players. Don't be tempted to sign too many though and make sure your squads are small enough that all players are getting football even if it's only youth or reserve matches. Otherwise your just wasting money on unnecessary wages.

I always do the french and german leagues for poaching. just too much raw talent in there. I try to check out the top flight teams as well. maybe i should check the top flight a bit closer. I keep my squad small at all times. front squad is 2gk, 2dl/dr, 4 dc, 2ml/mr, 4 mc, 2 poachers and 2 tm. I would like to have the same setup in my youth team as well. I never run a reserves unless its a player who needs to be loaned out to gain some CA.

It's quite obvious, your have got Andy Carroll in your team;)

Carroll is ok, leonardo does a much better job. that being said I do a full squad rotation every game so they both get lots of playing time.

would love to download your save and try to carry on the survival!

Save is in the start of this post.

Doing really well, looks like you've progressed excellently in such a short space of time

Thanks mate. The advice i have been getting in this thread has been a huge help. I have really expanded my know how of the tactical side of the game and have become a huge fan of tweaking my tactics (something i NEVER did before). There is still loads to work on, next will be juding players better. right now i rely heavily on scout reports to make the choices for me. I feel the team would have better results if i started brining in players who matched the key attributes for there position better vs the scout saying they are better due to nothing more then higher CA which could be distributed poorly.

If you like Dwarf Fortress, you might like Aurora 4X, which is the Dwarf Fortress of 4X games. [/OFFTOPIC]

If you like Dwarf Fortress, you might like Aurora 4X, which is the Dwarf Fortress of 4X games. [/OFFTOPIC]

as long as it has a real interface im all over it. it has taken me years to get in to DF. going to check out aurora 4x. thanks for the tip!!!!

I think you need to reunite the West Staines Massive and the East Staines Massive to get behind the team for your relegation battle

failing that you could always expose your rival manager for sucking off a horse, haha

I think you need to reunite the West Staines Massive and the East Staines Massive to get behind the team for your relegation battle

failing that you could always expose your rival manager for sucking off a horse, haha

If we could get them together we would have one massive massive....

+1 for guessing the sole reason why i choose staines. i do love ali g in da house.

Sovertear

Would you mind posting your save file in the thread linked below? Didn't want to add it without your permission.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/297938-The-FM12-Save-Game-Thread

Having trouble with your save because you have too many leagues loaded for my machine. Would you happen to have a save around May in game? I could remove some leagues and have a full pre-season then. Looks good though.

No problem, I will go post it now

As for an earlier save I do a three rolling auto save so none that are back far. but if you like I am willing to post a new "save as" at the end of my season with what ever leagues you want loaded.

Think it's time for a new skin. off to the skinning grounds.

VERY nice squad, must've taken you a long time to assemble those! Just my 2 cents, you have pretty good CDs already, but all your Backs are very defensive too, I'd suggest to get at least one FB/WB that can bring the ball up (high acc/pace/drib/cross/pass), and tell him to help with the attack, 2 CDs and one of your back should be enough to keep things safe in case your adventurous back stray too far up, and as far as I can tell, Ball playing back will do wonder with your offense (seeing how you get good strikers too), and the wide mid that goes inside the box when your back bring the ball up instead of him will cause havoc! That's how I like to play my 4-4-2 anyway and I think in your case it should help since you have really good attacking players, and maybe all they need is just an extra player running up from the back to help open up the opponent defense

No problem, I will go post it now

As for an earlier save I do a three rolling auto save so none that are back far. but if you like I am willing to post a new "save as" at the end of my season with what ever leagues you want loaded.

Think it's time for a new skin. off to the skinning grounds.

That would be great mate thanks. Any time between last match of the season and the 1st of june and I can remove leagues myself. It looked good but the processing times were just too long for me.

I'm gonna spend some of that lovely bank balance you've got though.

VERY nice squad, must've taken you a long time to assemble those! Just my 2 cents, you have pretty good CDs already, but all your Backs are very defensive too, I'd suggest to get at least one FB/WB that can bring the ball up (high acc/pace/drib/cross/pass), and tell him to help with the attack, 2 CDs and one of your back should be enough to keep things safe in case your adventurous back stray too far up, and as far as I can tell, Ball playing back will do wonder with your offense (seeing how you get good strikers too), and the wide mid that goes inside the box when your back bring the ball up instead of him will cause havoc! That's how I like to play my 4-4-2 anyway and I think in your case it should help since you have really good attacking players, and maybe all they need is just an extra player running up from the back to help open up the opponent defense

I'm slowly trying to improve all areas of the squad with brough up youth. Since I can comfortably sit where I'm at for now it will allow me my first chance at raising youth. That being said I would love it if all my prospects came out with high pace/agi/acc. I will look in to brining in a more offensive FB see if it helps.

That would be great mate thanks. Any time between last match of the season and the 1st of june and I can remove leagues myself. It looked good but the processing times were just too long for me.

I'm gonna spend some of that lovely bank balance you've got though.

The balance is at around 15million at the moment and I'm making aorund 300k a month. I have been just covering my bases in the transfer market and trying to find bargain youthss (less then 1million) the rest is all being spent on the facilities. I'll upload the save for you as soon as I get to there in game, it's at october now and with the weekend here it shouldn't be long now.

The balance is at around 15million at the moment and I'm making aorund 300k a month. I have been just covering my bases in the transfer market and trying to find bargain youthss (less then 1million) the rest is all being spent on the facilities. I'll upload the save for you as soon as I get to there in game, it's at october now and with the weekend here it shouldn't be long now.

I had noticed that but with available money I'll be looking to bring in at least one, possibly two, first team ready players. You've looked after your finances very well though so well done on that. I try to keep my balance above zero after all summer transfers and then build it up again during the season but your balance is better. I'm at work all weekend(12 hour nights) so won't be playing until tuesday at the earliest anyway. Thanks again