League Cup - suggestion for future FM(?)

I've taken IRL initiative from Fergie and decided that in my League Cup 3rd round game against Sunderland that I'd field the most promising Youth/Reserve players on the roster. I lose the game, as is expected. When I goto my inbox I find that I've apparently suffered a huge embarrasement, despite learning getting a massive learning experience about my younger, rookie-ish players.

The point of this post is that maybe fielding this sort of side for this type of game should be encouraged by your assistant manager, that is if you are a "top four" team, or have stated that you aren't really looking to capture the cup (if, maybe, this was possible?).

There aren't that many options available in this game in regards to youth development; if you're told to offload the players, then there's very little chance (without cheating at least) of making this players good enough to battle in the premiership. If, however, you're told they're promising, then you just give them a few tutors, loan them out, and give them a few first team games. It isn't as 'hands on' as it could be, and I'm sure other managers out there would relish the opportunity to not have to fork out upwards of 7 million quid to get a decent goalie/defender/attacker when you could nurture, and eventually field, home grown talent.

I didn't even have enough potential talent to field a whole team, I ended up using a couple of first team players in there too.

There has to be a way to develop the skills of youngsters so that they can become future stars of the premiership.

If you're talking about the 'match confidence' screen saying the result was disappointing then just ignore it. It's the League Cup and it won't cost you your job (although it is possible it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back).

If you're talking about the 'Board Confidence Summary' where they state it was an embarassment then again ignore it. As with the first point you would have to seriously underachieve for that to be the final nail in your coffin. The common consensus based on people's experiences here is that the board section will always have a negative comment of some description. If anyone reading this has done the quadruple can you post if the board still has a negative comment.

It would also be nice for news items to also reflect this instead of just a generic text string that has no reference to the actual players utilised but instead seems to just look at the match odds before declaring a result an upset. And if you have success then maybe references to the future of the club and the manager's talent at spotting quality youth could be incorporated. But I don't know how 'doable' that is.

Can't disagree for the suggestion for more complex interaction rather than the one way communication it often feels like right now, especially with respect to giving youngsters some experience, consequent results and fans moaning about their performance. I would say everyone on here who manages a top team (or even those who don't) treat their most minor competition as a chance to experiment if they are in Europe.

In relation to your other point not sure if I understand but how much more hands on could it be other than, as you say, give them a few tutors, loan them out, and give them a few first team games. Possibly they could consider the idea of manager -> player interaction being more in depth so that you 'nurture' the youngsters but to be honest I struggle to think of ways this could be incorporated without it being anything other than fluff. As it stands if you give a youngster some decent runs in the first team, be reasonable with your team talks and media interaction then in general this will bolster your 'virtual relationship'. It may take a while to manifest visibly in the game in the player's favoured personnel list but you are still picking up brownie points which when they reach a certain level will trigger the appearance of your name in their favoured personnel list.

Maybe some interaction with the youngster about going on loan. As it stands (although I think they are largely cosmetic) the player often mentions about lack of first team opportunities or looking to make the move permanent. Instead I'd like to see something similar to 'give the player a rest' interaction.

1. Tell player A you are putting him up for loan because you feel it will benefit his development but he remains part of your future plans.

2. Depending on his personality player A responds either positively or negatively to this.

3. If he reacts negatively you then have the possibility of imposing your will if desired

4. Again how the player reacts to this will depend on his personality, your reputation and the current level of your virtual relationship (it could even be tied into recent threads about more rounded, evolutionary manager profiles)

5. If club A makes a loan offer which you accept, then player A doesn't just say 'he has no intention of going on loan to club A', he says 'he has no intention of going on loan to club A because...'

6. Again you have the opportunity to interact and the outcome of your choice here will depend on the same factors as 4

7. Within all of these interactions there is the potential for you to modify hidden personality traits much like tutoring does currently. So you as the manager can mould personalities of younger players in a more hands on approach, but of course with the potential for you to push them further towards a negative personality and sour your relationship.

Of course there is a chance that something like this could become repetitive and boring like the other interactions. But as I would respond to those accusations that it probably is repetitive and boring in real life but with step 2 of the process you could create many different paths that a process like this could take.

Good stuff, both of you.

I think that the big clubs need to recognize the relative insignificance of the League Cup in the team's objectives. Maybe a string similar to "enjoy the experience" comes up for Cup competitions other than the club's most important Cup: "Expect you to use the competition to give young players match experience".

So, for example, if I'm West Ham, I might be expected to perform in the F.A. Cup but told to use the League Cup to give young players experience ... while if I'm Manchester United I'm expected to perform in the Champions League and instructed to use both the F.A. Cup and the League Cup to give young players experience. Also, the Charity Shield .. should that ever be anything other than the "Enjoy the experience" line?

That might be a bit too simplistic .. but I figure its pretty close: bringing home silverware from those less-than-high-profile tournaments is a bonus for a manager, but is an early exit really held against him?

could one of you please explain all of this to my board? Celtic's board expect the domestic treble every season but only for me to reach CL groups, so I'm better of using youngsters in CL once I've got past qualifers (if necessary). Surely I shouldnt be thinking 'better not play my first eleven against Barcelona because I've got Inverness Caley Thistle in the League Cup on Saturday'.