new to fb & fm08

Your scouts aren't too bad for L1, actually.

cool. . . .cheers, thanks

Its question time....again,

If a player gets refused a work permit even after an appeal, is it worthwhile continually trying to sign him, or is it that, as he has been refused no amount of attempts will make a difference

Two players dislike one another after a failed tutoring experience,

my first thought was, went to player interaction and ask them to recommend a player, hoping this might give a boost to their morale, it didn't. Now if I do not act the recommendations they made is that going to be more detrimental to their morale.

I did put them into a new training schedule as suggested over at sortitoutsi. However if that does not work I will put one out on loan( the younger one), bummer is, he was on loan and not getting games, and his value dropped, so i cancelled it brought him back and his value went up again. Hopefully I won't need to send him out again......

cheers, tel

how did my last post end up.... way up there ......at the top ???????

I don't know why my last post ended up at the top of the page. . . .

On advice I have moved this to a new thread all of its own. . . .

Hi

Below is a series of questions and comments relating to myself and FM08

Background

My Football Knowledge is pretty much zip, I only know what I have gleaned from this site.

I have FM08, never owned or played a previous version.

My team Cheltenham L1 ( Chosen from the suburb I live . . . seemed like a good reason)

Tactic: polat 4-4-2 & counter

Training: Season Alcaholics

Oh and I don't watch FB on TV, so pretty much a dunce..

and IRL I have owned the game for about 8 weeks, so it has been a crash course

Season three current squad

Assistant Managers

How much of a role should they have? Or what role do they have? And how do I know if my Assistant manager is any good/ doing his job properly?

The booklet/manual says they are supposed to be your right hand man, however most people from what I read choose the team themselves and do the team talks, so then what is left for the Assistant Manager?

My Assistant Manager, Richard Hill( btw, is he any good), I let him choose the team, is that advisable? And what is he then basing his choice on. I have seen him put my ML (Kove), in at FC, and put my ST (Brunsy) in ML, is it because he drinks too much?

I also let him do the pre match talks, which sometimes he scares me and I think he says the wrong thing in which case I take over(wolfsongs guide to team talks)

Coaches

My Attack Coach Hristo Marashliev, Bulgarian. . . english basic, is this going to affect the attacking skills of my players?

Also Risso( much easier), I got him from the start, so he has been with me a while now, surely his english would have improved?

So do things such as that and also coaching attributes improve over time?

I have used the coach exploit but does having a coach for each area of training really help?

Should the Assistant Manager be involved in all areas of training or just the one which gives him the most stars?

Scouts

My players I have gone and found myself, so wondering why I need to have Scouts apart from scouting next opposition?

I have taken a couple of scout recommends, scout says "quality", and when it comes to signing Assistant Manager, says "good", So I don't understand the variation as the scout I had at the time had 16+ for both judging CA & PA, which is higher than Assistant Manager.

Players

I went with a smallish squad for this season(above) but I am struggling with when to rest players, I have read in other threads things along the lines of a squad of 27 with the firsts playing 25 games a year. My players unless they are injured or performing extremely bad play every game, so is there a system/formula/average to work from? I would assume form to be one and a pretty obvious one. I have gone into the player interaction screen and it is suggesting/options on resting that player, but his form is good , 7,7,7. So as already mentioned I do not understand when and at what times I should rest players.

I would if possible like to hear others thoughts on my team selection also, as I mentioned above I have taken the time to find these players myself, it would be nice to know I am selecting the right players. I don't use the third party programmes I have read about as they don't run on mac, however they do sound interesting

I think that is enough stupid questions from me for now, if time can be taken to respond it is appreciated

cheers tel

Assistant Managers

How much of a role should they have? Or what role do they have? And how do I know if my Assistant manager is any good/ doing his job properly?

Am in FM aren't all too important, but in my experience, it depends what you want him to do. My AM is responsible for Team Talks so I look out for good Motivation and Man Management. I also like to get his opinion on my best team, so I also look for Judging Play Ability.

Coaches

My Attack Coach Hristo Marashliev, Bulgarian. . . english basic, is this going to affect the attacking skills of my players?

Also Risso( much easier), I got him from the start, so he has been with me a while now, surely his english would have improved?

So do things such as that and also coaching attributes improve over time?

I have used the coach exploit but does having a coach for each area of training really help?

Should the Assistant Manager be involved in all areas of training or just the one which gives him the most stars?

Your coaches will learn the language, I think it takes around 6 months for basic and then another 6-12 months for fluent. With coaches, I tend to try to get one coach for each training section and obviously, try to get seven stars. You AM should be involved in whatever gives you the best training (so yes, the most amount of stars)

Scouts

My players I have gone and found myself, so wondering why I need to have Scouts apart from scouting next opposition?

I have taken a couple of scout recommends, scout says "quality", and when it comes to signing Assistant Manager, says "good", So I don't understand the variation as the scout I had at the time had 16+ for both judging CA & PA, which is higher than Assistant Manager.

With scouts, you can send them out all over the world and they will actively look for talent based on the criteria you specify. They will then travel to the country where you chose and watch games, if they see anyone worth looking at, they will come back to you and let you know

Players

I went with a smallish squad for this season(above) but I am struggling with when to rest players, I have read in other threads things along the lines of a squad of 27 with the firsts playing 25 games a year. My players unless they are injured or performing extremely bad play every game, so is there a system/formula/average to work from? I would assume form to be one and a pretty obvious one. I have gone into the player interaction screen and it is suggesting/options on resting that player, but his form is good , 7,7,7. So as already mentioned I do not understand when and at what times I should rest players.

I would if possible like to hear others thoughts on my team selection also, as I mentioned above I have taken the time to find these players myself, it would be nice to know I am selecting the right players. I don't use the third party programmes I have read about as they don't run on mac, however they do sound interesting

I usually try to have 2 good players for each position. You should be resting player when they are below 90% condition, if you have good backup. I tend to have a favourite eleven, and against weaker teams, I will play my second choice players.

I think that is enough stupid questions from me for now, if time can be taken to respond it is appreciated

cheers tel

Stupid 10 letter rule!

you need help. that of a pro. i suggest going to sortitoutsi and downloading their guide and reading it about 3 times. then and only then begin your research. its hard but when you get their your be a man my son

Hi ..

Welcome to the best game ever!

My Assistant Manager, I typically try to get good Judging Potential, Judging Current Ability, Motivation, and Man Management. That way, I can ask for a Coach Report and trust his judgment, or ask his advice on a team talk and somewhat trust his judgment. (Wolfsong's guide, btw, rocks well beyond the best A.M. I've ever had.) I'll also sometimes send him scouting players, as his JPA and JCA will rival my best scouts'. I never ever let him pick the team, though I might let him manage the Reserves or U-18s.

Regarding Coaches, if he's got English (Basic), that should be fine. Note that his presence will help Bulgarian players "settle" at the club better, and adjust to the English lifestyle. Yes I think setting up a coach for each area of training to maximize your total "stars" is the right way to go.

Scouts, I tend to play by the "LLM" rules, so I use my scouts exclusively. I usually won't go out and identify players myself; if I do it will be through specific matches or tournaments that I have watched, and I'll then ask for 3-match scouting reports on the players. For that, there is a large difference in accuracy and detail of information between an average scout and a very good one, and only a '20' gives you the maximum amount of detail at a specific level. I definitely recommend, if you want to get your scouts very involved, using a lot of "Scout For 3 Matches", and also having each scout scouting several countries, one region, and one competition.

Regarding using players, I do a lot of rotation. I try not to play my players if they aren't around 95% or higher, though that depends on my squad depth. Managing a strong EPL team, I'll usually have about 33 players I intend to use during a season (A starter, a rotation-quality alternate, and a youngster to blood for each position except goaltender). If we've only one match in a week, my first team starts .. if we have two matches, some of my rotation players will get a chance, probably bulwarked by my starting GK, DC, and DC, plus anybody who got subbed off btwn the 60m and 75m mark of the previous match.

If you prefer to really intensively use your starting XI as you describe, there are several things you can do to milk more performance out of them:

- Stamina: effects the amount of Condition that they lose during a match. Higher Stamina is better, obviously

- Mentality: more attacking = more Condition lost during a match

- Forward Runs, arrows = more Condition lost during a match

- Closing Down: higher = more Condition lost during a match

- Natural Fitness: the higher this is, the quicker they recover Condition between matches

- Training: the lighter their training regime, the quicker they recover Condition between matches

For my EPL side, we're making a lot of forward runs and closing down, and I train them pretty heavily (right at the edge of Medium and Heavy), so we lose Condition easily, and don't regain it quickly .. therefore I can't play them twice a week.

However, I've also got an MLS side (the American league) with an 18-man roster limit, some of whom are inevitably unavailable (injury, suspension, international callup) .. so for that side I've adjusted my approach to include less forward runs, fewer arrows, and a much lighter (though still in the "Medium" band) training regime. Those players tend to get back up to 93% or 94% even if we have matches Saturday and Monday (MLS has weird schedules!)

In English lower leagues, I'll do that sometimes for December and January, where the combination of fixture congestion and inclement weather can pose a lot of fitness challenge for a shallow squad.

That said, if you're getting consistent 7's out of your players, and don't feel that you're struggling, just keep doing what you're doing and don't worry about it.

I'd use "Rest Player" if I saw a guy start to get consistent 6's and stop recovering Condition as often as he usually does. His Morale will probably also be suffering at this point, even if the rest of the team's is okay. He'll also start to have problems listed under the "Personal" screen, so you know to start taking action from that.

Thankyou all for the responses, Lots of really good information there. I did wander over sortitoutsi, and looked around a fair bit but couldn't find a particular guide, which you may be referring to. I did find a few things so thanks for that jkae.

My scouts unfortunately cannot travel far as the chairman won't let them, I suppose thats part and parcel with L1, I can only send them to UK Ireland Scotland and Wales. My Scouts I think are ok, the best I could get that were not on a contract

Gunter Kutowski (Ger), 44 ::: Jud CA 15, Jud PA 14, Det 15, Tac Kn 13 - scouts nations

Christian Nerlinger (Ger), 36 ::: Jud CA 16, Jud PA 20, Det 12 - scouts youth 15 -17

Angsar Brinckmann (Ger), 40 ::: Jud CA 13, Jud PA 13, Tac Kn 14 - scouts next opposition

From the other information provided I think I should be adding to my squad by a couple as I don't wish to grind them into the ground. . .

"Stupid 10 letter rule!" - I don't get it

anyway thanks again

cheers tel

Your scouts aren't too bad for L1, actually.

The 10 letter thing was me getting around the fact that you can only have a minimum of 10 letters in any post you make (after quotes). Just ignore that bit

Welcome aboard, I was in your exact same shoes not long ago in regards to both the sport and the game and found a ton of help on these forums. I started a thread as well, and have printed the whole thing up and reread it several times from start to finish:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=9147

Reminds me that I have to ask to get that unlocked and add to it!

Good luck!

Welcome aboard, I was in your exact same shoes not long ago in regards to both the sport and the game and found a ton of help on these forums. I started a thread as well, and have printed the whole thing up and reread it several times from start to finish:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=9147

Reminds me that I have to ask to get that unlocked and add to it!

Good luck!

cheers, thanks sposfan.

would have to agree with you there is much help and a ton of information floating around here.

Lets see, it has been a tough time on FM08 for me of late. The team is playing well and my season is going well. The bummer is I am at a bit of a loss.

I have one guy, Luciano ST, who hands me a transfer request, I knock him back twice as I think he can become very good, the third time I say ok , fine, you wanna bail, done. A week later he is all oh don't know if I want to go now.

I have a gun midfielder, Jakub, well at least he should be, who seriously is the biggest girls blouse. Firstly three games or so into the season he does a hammy, he's out for three months, three or four games back, he strains his back in the gym, (was probably picking up his towel), he has not stopped whinging about his training ever, no matter what you put him on( I think SI needs to have a kick up the a*** button, or, even better, a smack upside the head button)

My goalkeeper, he's out . . . done a hammy,

My Captain, a brilliant AM RC,. . . out . . . he tore his calf

My DC/DM, Soley, 10gls, 4ass, 2 mom, 7.53av . . . suspended yellow cards

Three of my leading players, won't sign contracts yet, their thinking of stuff,. . don't ask me , they won't tell.. . ( I swear if Gillespie thinks he is going to Colchester....)

Anyway, I figure they are going to sting me with a relegation release clause,

Which if someone could, would they mind a brief explanation as to what that is. I assume it to be a lump sum payout if you were to be relegated, but does that also release them from their playing contract?

What else has been fun, . . . Scouting. . . my guys find great players, as long as you have several million dollars.. no to be fair they do come back with some good finds, but I just don't have the budget to compete. I am sooooo lacking in funds, it is becoming a worry.

I mean lets look at it, from a gaming perspective you dive in, and you just want to win, win ,win. Yep, great cool, but. . . . what happens if by hook or by crook you do get promoted all of a sudden the ante goes up, these guys you have can't play CH, or PRM as they don't have the ability. They are great for their L1, or L2. So of course as you move up you need to get players to keep you there. You see this is what has been dawning on me over the last couple of days, a what happens IF scenario, I have seriously pondered tanking a few games. Now, I am trying to get money, but I am buggered if I know how. One scout is on the youth hunt, but unless you strike it lucky it is going to be a few seasons before any good value is there. The other he is looking for all and sundry, hopefully I can nab a couple who become popular and in demand. Then there is the worry, it will turn you grey I swear. Do I, or don't I sell, ooh everybody wants him, but do I need him or do I need the coin, decisions decsions....

Then we get on to player contracts, this is gold. . . I asked one of my players, Younghusband, to recommend a player (I did this as he was jacked at me for something, I think it was because I bagged his new boots, some bright yellow lairy things, I said he looked like a ponce), anyway after he finished sulking he suggested some guy Daenga, one his mates from the Thailand team. So I find Deanga, he's at Man City, not playing, so I go... make an offer, click, $0, confirm ( I'm broke, but I figure as long as Youngy thinks I have made an effort). Next thing media is splashing Daenga the contract rebel, yada yada yada. Man City get back to after a couple of days, saying yes we will accept your $0 offer, though we do ask for some panadol as this guy is giving us a freakin' headache. I say sure I'll send my P.A over with some now. So then Daenga starts with the I want, $1900 a week, $800 just to walk on the park and then another $800 if he does something when he is on the park. Now I did some quick math, used both hands, and realised I can't afford that kind of coin. So I began to haggle, I started by slashing the bonuses, to around 200, and drop the wage $1200. I mean he could be crap, anyway he kept whinging for more for weeks and weeks, I went up to $1600 and he kept whinging and in the end went nup no more. I say cool, sent my P.A back over to Man City and she took what was left of the panadol back , as I needed it. Now roll forward another month or so and Deanga is at it again, so I figure I would have a look , why not, he has reduced his asking price by around $500 a week, but this guy has the n*ts to ask for 1.3k just to walk onto the park. Well. . . couldn't help myself, I started the whole process again, not sure how it will turn out yet.

Work permits are killing me, being in L1 trying to get players is tough, just about everyone I have chased of late has been knocked back on work permits, I did manage to Bozanic AML, good aussie boy. Interestingly though I had tried to get him last season and was knocked back on work permit even though he was playing in England at the time. This time though went through no hassle at all.

Anyway now I am just confused, between me searching and scouts reporting I have no idea what or whom I am buying or for what purpose. I need to strengthen , for a what IF scenario, and I need to make money, I need to sell players and reduce wage salary, to increase wages for incoming players.

Then take into consideration that I am trying to field a squad that is running out of spares, board confidence yeah we're satisifed,. . . . satisfied . . satisfied, I am busting my b**ls, trying to keep us going on no coin, and players that don't know whether they are arthur or martha, too goddamned lazy to run around the park, and one, my favourite, who the fans have decided is an aberration, which I just took to mean he is some freaky weird lookin' dude, he could be part gypsy, not sure though.

Anyway I am sure there is a logical balance there somewhere.

Thats enough of a break, back to it now I guess...

cheers tel.

yes I know it is a lot of stuff and nonsense, but if it provides you with just a little amusement before you head off to the serious side of things, . . well it's all good then http://community.sigames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

The last time my fans thought a signing was an "aberration", the guy went on for scoring 9 goals and dishing out 8 assists, while averaging about 7.2.

Fans know nothing

Welcome to the world of FM by the way

Sounds like a rough patch there, mate.

Regarding all of the injuries - you may just have hit an unlucky patch. You may just have injury-prone players. Or, you may be doing something which is making them prone to injury.

How heavy is your training regime? (Very Heavy, Heavy, Medium, Light)? I aim for "Medium"; top-flight professionals can usually handle the high end of the Medium range, but at lower levels or during winter fixture congestion, I drop it into the midpoint of the Medium range.

Are you overplaying them? What's your minimum condition (%) to start a player? At what condition (%) do you pull a player off the pitch?

Regarding your guys who won't sign, that's not uncommon. They're thinking "We're leading players at this level, lets keep our options open for future seasons."

A relegation release clause is like a "minimum fee release clause" - its a price that, if you've been relegated, and if some other team is willing to pay, you are required to let the player go. They are still obligated to uphold their playing contract unless some other team is willing to bid that much for them. I don't tend to worry too much about them, as I figure I'll be sacked well before I get relegated. .. though to be realistic, I do try to make sure the club at least recoups their costs.

Yeah, lacking in funds is no fun .. but its part and parcel of lower-division management. You're absolutely right about the ante going up if you get promoted!

Ways to get money:

1. Make a deep run in the F.A. Cup .. prize monies get fairly decent as you go. Plus, extra home games help the bottom line!

2. Promotion tends to give higher TV contracts, better prize monies, and better attendance.

3. Schedule pre-season friendlies, at home, against big teams.

4. When you sell a player to a big team, always always always include a "Schedule Friendly" clause - you can sell out your stadium by bringing Man U in, and that may net you as much as the transfer fee does!

5. Buy low, sell high. Yes, this often means selling your best players ... but if it gets you the funds you need to bring in two quality players, you're coming out ahead!

6. If you sell a young and promising youngster up a division or two, keep about a 10% to 25% interest in the player's next transfer fee .. it can pay off in the long run!

The other thing that occurs to me is .. are you using your loans-in?

I've found them the best way to earn promotion: pick up young players off of the top Premiership Reserve sides. It can work wonders! Use the maximum number of loans, heck, sometimes you can get a player who becomes a star at your level by paying 0% of his wages. If you have a "parent club", make offers for all of their young stars who aren't seeing playing time.

Also, keep a close watch out for players whose contracts are expired or expiring. Sometimes I'll put a transfer target on my short list and wait for two years before picking him up on a free ... but when you don't have much cash, that's absolutely worth it!

Player contract negotiations often go as you described .. I like the "Include Panadol" checkbox, my manager needs it too!

Work permits are basically only going to be granted for international starters. (An exception MAY be made for youth internationals with tremendous potential). For L1, that means you're not going to be able to bring in a Brazilian or Argentina player .. but you might be able to find a Jamaican, a South Korean, a Nigerian, etc, who is playing for his international side but willing to sign for you.

Anyway now I am just confused, between me searching and scouts reporting I have no idea what or whom I am buying or for what purpose.

Umm... have you tried the "Transfer Centre"? Its a recent addition to the game, it should be a screen where you can see all of your transfers in and out .. and you can use the "View" checkboxes to define exactly what you want to see. (Offers accepted, offers in progress, etc).

It took me a while to get "used to" it, but now that I've wrapped my head around it I find it very valuable as a resource.

Especially when I get myself confused about what I'm doing.

If your board is "Satisfied", be happy with that - that's as close to a pat on the back as you're going to get.

Thanks to those having a read of the thread, I am trying to keep it light hearted and somewhat amusing,. . . .. .

Amaroq. . thanks for all the advice, in response,

My training schedules vary at the moment from medium to heavy, currently in the game the boys are recovering from christmas day gluttony, boxing day hangovers, and I have a game against Cardiff today and their heads are not on right as they are planning thier newyear celebrations for after the game.

As it is the midfield that seems to be having the injury blues, their schedule is on medium and pretty much has not changed all season. My strikers are on a heavy schedule, but I really backed off the Aero, & Strength, figuring that game time will keep those attributes reasonably steady. Defenders are on a heavy as well.

Overplaying, possibly, most of the team have been playing regularly all season so far, and that is due to my running or trying to run a smaller squad. An issue I had previous was lots of complaints from players wanting first team, so this season I paired it back and only had three/four players waiting in the reserves.

I would like to think I am pretty good when it comes to condition though, quite often my Asst Man will pick a player whose condition is 80% as the they are First team, however unless I have no chioce no one takes the field below 95%, and with subbing again unless I have no choice, I sub players when they hit 75%

Relegation clauses. . . they sound like a good thing then

Cups . . . I never do well in the cup matches, League Cup got through the first round, only to come up against Aston Villa in the 2nd, we lost 5 -1, the crap thing is the board say they are disappointed, yeah sure, L1 teams regularly go out and beat Villa, haha.

I have a third round clash with Colchester, which is ironic, ( irl Gillespie from Cheltenham,has signed with Colchester)

And am in the quarters for the J cup.

For the last two seasons I have done what you suggest with the friendlys, 07/08 I played only PRM teams, 08/09 played Euro teams, Getafe, SP Prague, Kobenhavn, which I thought was cool. I figure that the team overall would/or should learn from playing better sides

Loans, I have a couple, I spent a lot of 07/08 buddying up to Big Al, you have to call him Sir, if you aren't his mate. This season I got a couple of his reserves, Possebon & Sean Evans( both played very well), he let them come over as we're mates. Also have Wolves as parent, and they sent over a ST. But again I do worry about loading up on loan players, as in either a they will annoy the Firsts by getting the games, or B they don't get played enough and figure their loan was a waste.

Transfers, will look further into the international aspect, that may help out a lot

Anyway I am off to see what Cardiff put up today, fortunately they are not doing well, so I am hoping to come away with a draw

cheers