Relearning the game

Right this is going to be a very long post, but please bare with it as you guys obviously have far more experience with the game than myself. Quick back story here, I have been playing Championship Manager since CM2 came out. Originally on CM2 I was Rangers, and then on subsequent editions of the game I have been Manchester United. So being far, I have had quite an easy life on the game. I was always just concerned about winning more games than I lost and didn't really apply myself to the game in the manner in which I probably should. For instance, I had never bothered with scouting, just bought players that were worth something and performing well in their relevant leagues. I had never bothered with coaching either as I really hadn't need to as I had always kept the board happy with the results I had so didnt see the need to change anything. Tactics I employed were just the bog standard 4-4-2, I dont think I even edited that.

On this game I have been playing a season in which I decided to start unemployed and get a job, in which I ended up with Regensburg. That season went OK and then I went to Nottingham Forest which is going average. I have decided since to start a couple of new games with lower league teams and see what happens and I realised that it appears my first season may have been a bit of a fluke and I don't really know what I am doing that much. Obviously I have read through various guides on the internet but I just thought I would take you through my pre-season and general other bits and see if you guys could give me some advice as I would like to try and get as much as possible out of the game but I seem to be missing some vital knowledge.

For the sake of this thread, I shall assume I have just taken over a team in Division 3. This is how I would start my game

----------------

The first thing I do is look at all the staff, I look to get a good assistant manager with high quality attributes in Judging CA/PA as I use his reports on who gets kept and who doesn't. Coaches, as a rule at this level, I only have 2. I tend to get one with good defensive coaching and one with good attacking coaching. Scouts again is just CA/PA. Physio's are good psyhiotherapy.

Once the staff are in, I then use their reports to look at players and where I need to get some in and get rid of the deadweight. As a rule unless my budgets are completely rubbish I don't have anyone less than 3 stars in the team. At this level I only look at current ability as by the time many of the high PA players would reach it, I intend to be in divisions where they would be less than useful.

Tactics - I must confess at this point I am just trialling tactics that seem to work on the tactics download of this forum. I'll happily confess I know very little of tactics and can't seem to wrap my head round them (might be worth pointing out at this point I follow little real football, just enjoy the game)

I train on 2 tactics, putting the workload high until the season starts so they can get used to it and then lowering to average once we actually get into the season and they are familiar. Either putting attacking movement or teamwork as the addition focus.

We seem to lose one hell of a lot more than we win and I just want pointers as to where I am going wrong, I have tried experimenting with various different things all to no avail.

How can I get better on this. I'm not looking for a wonder solution where I win every game, just some help so I can stand a chance. Will answer any other questions happily

In no particular order...

As a manager of a team in Division 3, I would look to get affiliated with a Premiership club and attempt to loan their better youth players. Checking the general loan market would be something else I would do. I tend to loan a strong spine to the team, GK/DF/CM/ST for example.

I would make sure my keeper was good enough, decide on a tactic that best suited the players I have, identify the weakest area of my 1st team and look to invest all (if any) of my transfer budget in that area.

I would also set-up a few high-profile pre-season friendlies to generate a bit of extra income.

I like to edit the default Squad screen display so I am seeing more of the important information on how each player performs (mistakes made/assists/key passes/key tackles/best role/best position...these sorts of things).

My 2 main tactics would be; fluid and more attacking at home vs' balanced and less fluid in away matches - therefore maintaining your shape and not shipping goals so easily.

Around January I would take a look at the reserve/U18 leagues to see if any player has set these alight. A scout would have already been assigned to provide instant star-ratings for all these players, but I like to see the Goals/Ave.Rating stats myself.

I use Director Camera view, and show Key highlights unless it is a 'biggie' and then I watch extended highlights, giving me a chance to rectify anything obvious that might be going wrong.

Given the amount of games you have in Div3 vs' budgets, I probably wouldn't accept the invite to the reserve league and just have a large 1st team squad. It's extra expense and can knacker players just when you might need them to slot in and do a job.

If I have a player who I deem not good enough for the 1st team and he is on big money, I would renegotiate these down or look to offload, every penny counts down there

As for the tactics side of the game, I think having a read up on the Tactics sticky http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/159310-Tactical-Theorems-amp-Frameworks would be a great starting point, I tend to stick to using the dropdowns within the 'team instructions' screen, and match up their best roles within the formations pitch area.

For me an assistant doesn't necessarily need the judge quality that is a scouts job, although it can be useful, an assistant is more about helping you set opposition instructions, giving you advice on what is happening inside a match, some may look for team talk help. In my team policy I usually have my assistant setting opposition instructions, as this can be time consuming to do alone.

An Assistant needs good motivating. This is now essential in FM12 a lot hinges on morale and motivating, he needs tactical knowledge to make sure he is giving you the right in game advice to turn matches and giving the right instructions. Depending on how involved you let him be, good discipline and man management can come in handy.

I terms of judging your players be careful if you use the stars they can be misleading. The potential stars are useful, often for ability it;s better to make your own judgements via watching them player and the distribution of their attributes.

For coaches at a low level I focus more on their Determination, Discipline and Motivating rather than coaching attributes since they need to be all rounders

At a lower level I actually keep their tactic training on high throughout even though they miss a little general training time, but I have a quick team turnover so players rarely mox out potential and I need them to be working on their teamwork.

But that's just the backroom.

If you're downloading tactics there is not much I can say, if they seem to have success then fair enough they probably are logical and non-conflicting styles of play.

If these are not working for you I would make sure your players have the right distribution have attributes to play in the role you have put them in. The game highlights the most important ones for the role for you anyway.