Brief Guide to Improving Team Morale

If you've ever inherited a team with poor morale, you may find these few simple tips will help you improve your squad's morale, especially if you have more than a few matches to make a difference.

The Set-Up

This experiment was conducted with Maidenhead United of the Blue Square South in England. According to the original database, Maidenhead has a club reputation listed at 800. They also have a team morale listed as 6. The media has predicted them to finish 22nd in the BSS at the start of FM/WSM 08.

To make the experiment more authentic, I went on vacation every match following the pre-match talk. My assistant manager was in charge for all in-match tactical changes, substitutions, team talks at half-time and post-match, as well as all disciplinary issues resulting from the match itself. I also had the box ticked for "use current players whenever possible" but left the team's tactics up to the assistant manager to change in-match however he saw fit.

I hired an assistant manager. His level of discipline is rated a 3. His motivation is a 5. His tactical knowledge is a 6. His reputation is unproven.

I did ask my board for a parent club and of the three choices Reading (EPL), Watford (CCC), and Aldershot Town (BSP). I recommended Aldershot Town. The Board accepted them and they sent me two players on full season loan: a D RC and a D/ AML.

I hired up to my maximum allowed coaches (1 asst + 3 coaches). No players were purchased and I allowed my asst manager to run my friendlies following the same rules as listed above for matches.

The Results

As of 31 October 2007, Maidenhead currently sits in 11th place in the BSS. The club's match results are 7 wins, 0 draws, and 7 losses. The club has a goal differential of -1.

Of my starting top 16 players, 9 of them have me listed as "favored personnel".

Those facts may not seem impressive until you consider Maidenhead's starting predictions, team morale, and club reputation.

Maidenhead also used a starting tactic of a standard 4-4-2 with full attacking arrows for the ML and MR.

Simple Steps to Improving Team Morale

1. Consider an individual player's personality whenever you use player interactions

2. Reward good play in the media

3. Reward good play with match starts

4. Remain silent with the media regarding match predictions

5. Be patient

1. Player personality

There are many categories of players. To keep it simple, I will use balanced, determined, and ambitious personalities as examples.

Balanced personalities need to be nurtured whenever if their morale is listed as very poor through okay at the time of the interaction.

Balanced personalities need to be accurately represented if their morale is listed as good or better at the time of the interaction.

Determined personalities need to be challenged when they have very poor through okay morale.

Determined personalities need to be undersold when they have good or better morale.

Ambitious personalities need to be nurtured if their morale is listed as very poor through okay.

Ambitious personalities need to be oversold when they have good or better morale.

2. Rewarding good play in the media

A player must have played in at least five matches (friendlies don't count) to use this player interaction feature.

7 is the standard match rating I expect from a player.

I use the last three matches under the recent form column to determine which media comment I select.

If they have less than an average match rating of 7:

Balanced with lower morale=acceptable

Balance with higher morale=subpar

Determined with lower morale=subpar

Determined with higher morale=disappointed

Ambitious with lower morale=acceptable

Ambitous with higher morale=disappointed

If they have an average match rating of 7:

Each comment selected moves one response up to the top from the base responses described above.

If they have an average match rating of more than 7:

Each comment selected moves up two responses up to the top from the base responses described above.

If they are balanced with a higher morale, it is acceptable with an average of 7.

3. Reward good play with match starts

I use the recent form column to determine my starting eleven, including substitutes.

Ties (players listed near each other who play same position) are broken in this order:

a. The player with the highest total over the last three matches gets the start.

b. The player with the highest morale listed gets the start (unless it's lower as a result of a media interaction)

c. The player's personality closest to determined gets the start

d. How they handle pressure situations gets the start.

4. Remain silent with media interactions regarding match predictions

Different player personalities will respond differently to your comments. If you insist on giving a comment to the media, make sure it is one that considers your captain's personality type first. Then, you also need to consider the others who have high influences on your team.

Generally, I ignore all comments to the media before matches. It affects my team talks pre-match too much.

5. Be patient

Getting players to start a match with good morale or higher is key. This takes time, especially if they have poor morale and less skilled players. However, I've found that even though they don't always seem to be listening, they seem to play better by following these extremely simple guidelines for pre-match talks.

Players with reddish morales need nurturing comments unless they are determined or respond to a player interaction negatively (i.e. doesn't feel they have to do much to please the manager). Determined players and those negatively respond to player interaction need to be challenged.

Players with yellowish morales get cheerful encouragement unless they are determined or negatively respond as described above.

Players with greenish morales get cheerful encouragement even if they are determined, unless the team is expected to win in the match analysis. Then the determined's are expected to win while the balanced types still get encouragement.

My personal idiosyncrasies

In matches:

I warn players who get a 5 rating.

I fine players one week's wages who get a 4 rating.

I fine players two week's wages who get a 3 rating.

Youth players in the starting lineup get one notch up from that described above.

Squad status is determined by match ratings immediately at the start of the transfer windows:

7.25+ gets key player status

7.00+ gets first team status

6.75+ gets rotation status

6.50+ gets back up status

6.50- gets not needed status

Favored personnel status:

Whenever a player lists me as a member of their favored personnel, I reward them with a new contract that extends one year and includes the "Head coach release clause". I have been successful in lowering their wages by two "minus sign" clicks, especially if their negotiations indicate they "want" a certain wage. I always make sure to consider their match performance and their match participation when assigning their squad status (unless they are injured).

User Beware:

I know it's a lot of information for a "Brief Guide" however, I tried to format it as simply as I could.

1. This example is based primarily on a lower league squad. However, following these guidelines also gave me good success at Chelsea during my first season there. I won a couple of trophies despite selling every player who was bid on by other clubs for their exact value. I didn't replace any of the sold players either. That was what gave me this idea to try it with the worst club I could find in the database in the English Leagues without modifying the database editor at all.

2. My season long experiment at Maidenhead is still in progress. I'm not even to the first transfer window when the computer re-adjusts the AI tactics in the second half of the season. The final season results may be altered slightly. However, considering that 9/16 players have listed me as a favored personnel gives me hope that they'll die with their boots on before finishing the season in the relegation zone or choose to accept a transfer away from me to a different club during the January transfer window.

Best wishes and hope you achieve enough success to stay employed.

Results continued

I mentioned that Maidenhead's record in league play is 7-0-7 with a -1 goal differential.

I forgot to include cup play results. Out of 18 matches total, Maidenhead has a record of 11-0-7 with a +5 goal differential.

Nice post copperhorse. Was wondering which category's instructions would you use for a professional personality?

Looks a good guide and I will print out and consider later.

Re Point 4 Silent pre match - even if you get perhaps a good reaction - "fired up" - they can end up being sent off in 1st min by being too "fired up".

Rejecting a job offer also appears to help with player happinness so may be worthwhile using this option, rather than just waiting to see if its offered.

Good post copperhorse i hope you keep up the work on this and post results

Nice post copperhorse. Was wondering which category's instructions would you use for a professional personality?

Thanks for the question.

To keep it simple, I tend to consider the professional personality a blend of balanced/determined personalities.

When they are listed with reds and yellows for morales, I follow my routines for a balanced personality.

When they are listed with yellows and greens, I follow my routines for a determined personality.

The trick is to figure out what to do when their morale is listed as okay. That's why I included the bits about making mistakes with media interactions and what I do to try and fix them.

i have been experimenting with player interaction and i have found that after a player lists you as one of their favoured personnel; using the feature is more effective when you want to tell the player you are:

Disappointed

angered

pleased

delighted

with there performance.

i wonder if anyone has noticed.

Where you fit Resolute, loyal, sporting?

Generally speaking, I tend to keep it simple, even if I mess them up a bit.

Resolutes I tend to follow my determined selections.

Loyals I tend to follow my professional selections which I described was a blend above.

Sportings I tend to follow my balanced selections.

Hope this helps.

Good post copperhorse i hope you keep up the work on this and post results

Here are Maidenhead's results through 31 December 2007 in the BSS, where they were predicted to finish in 22nd place with a morale of 6 and reputation of 800.

Maidenhead has had me as manager for 176 days.

Overall results are 33 matches (20-2-11) with a +13 Goal Differential.

League results are 23 matches (13-1-9) with a +6 Goal Differential (5th place).

Maidenhead's successfully sold two players, both ST's, on free transfers to other clubs in the BSS/BSN. Both requested to be listed as transfers and I accepted their requests. One of my goalkeepers has also requested to be transfer listed, although they are currently the starting keeper at the moment.

Maidenhead's wage budget has dropped from +10K over budget to 33K under budget.

Of the 20 players that I keep on my first team squad, 14 now have me listed as a favored personnel.

Maidenhead had six strikers at the start of the season (not including U-18 youth players). All of them have been either injured or free transferred at some point during the season. At one point, the best three strikers were injured at the same time.

Maidenhead was eliminated in the 1st Round of the FA Cup.

Maidenhead was eliminated in the Setanta Shield South 3rd Round.

Maidenhead is scheduled to play in the 2nd Round of the FA Trophy.

I've never been nominated for manager-of-the-month.

No Maidenhead players have been nominated for player-of-the-month.

Hope this helps to reinforce my theories of improving team morale.

I'll be anxious to see how the team fares after the AI re-ranks the teams.

Does this work with 07??

I've always played this way, starting with 07.

However, when so many forum users seemed distraught over how much morale impacted the results on 08, I really began to study the results of my interactions to determine if they were effective.

With many hours logged, I was finally able to start seeing patterns and test my hypotheses. I haven't gone back to 07 to play and test these things, nor will I in the future.

Final Season Results for Maidenhead in 2007/08

Media Prediction (22nd); Final Results BSS (2nd, promoted via playoffs)

Wage Budget Season (450K); Final Budget (377K); Avg. Wage (9.18K annually)

Profit on Season (68.42K)

Description: Local Reputation, Talented Manager, 324 days in charge

Overall Record: 57 matches (34-7-16) 112 GF, 85 GA, +27 GD

League Record: 42 matches (25-7-10) 88 GF, 59 GA, +29 GD, 82 PTS.

Transfers:

IN: 5 loans

2 affiliated club loanees

3 scouted short-term loanees, 2 of whom were recalled.

OUT: 3 free transfers, 2 ST's and a DC

Favored Personnel Status: 15/25 players first team and reserves, including 1 loanee.

Final Summary:

Morale plays an important role in match play over the course of the season.

When I followed my own tips successfully, I believe that my players competed at levels closer to their PA's. However, since I don't use FM Scout or any other programs like that, I can't guarantee the accuracy of those facts with documented supporting evidence.

This concludes my Brief Guide to Improving Team Morale

I usually cheat a little - if you have a period when there's no games being played for, say, 2 weeks or more, stick a friendly against a rubbish side inside there and go all-out and win the game by double-digits, praising and encouraging as you please. *bam* instant morale boost, at the expense of fitness and jadedness, so I tend to give every single player only 45 minutes (i.e. 11 substitutes at half-time, with 1 spare for injuries).

Of course, it doesn't work for LLM teams (like Maidenhead, sadly) but you may be able to find an amateur team to thrash around - but beware, of course, that LLM is, well, LLM and you're still not guaranteed a win...

Spot on x42. Your reserves are always available - who, with a liberal sprinkling of the youth squad are there to be thrashed to your heart's content!

Spot on x42. Your reserves are always available - who, with a liberal sprinkling of the youth squad are there to be thrashed to your heart's content!

I tend not to do that as it can end up injuring the reserves (they could still be useful).

While I currently have a high morale withing my squad, I havent always and I dont know how I've got such a high morale at the moment - I dont follow patterns...

To keep morale High I would like to be able to have something to follow, and this seems very good. Would it still be applicable to FM09?

WW

Nice thread.

The single best advice I ever got for improving team morale was to get rid of unhappy players. Players that you can't afford to play because they're too bad players usually grow agitated over the lack of play. So sell them, or even just let them go.

On my Valencia career I was seriously down at 0% team morale, because Zigic was ****ed over no playing time. So I sold him, and a few games after that (along with renewing some contracts on good players) I was suddenly at 77%.

While I currently have a high morale withing my squad, I havent always and I dont know how I've got such a high morale at the moment - I dont follow patterns...

To keep morale High I would like to be able to have something to follow, and this seems very good. Would it still be applicable to FM09?

WW

For the most part, many of these strategies work out very nicely in 09. In 09 it can be tough to figure out how they played as part of the senior team because the game allows you to easily see their last five performances, but that view also includes reserve team performances. However, after two consecutive matches in the senior squad as a starter, you can use the player interactions to your advantage, especially if a player is dissatisfied with a media comment you've made about an opponent. Just use the appropriate player interaction based on their personality and it seems to negate any previous ill effects of interacting with the opposing coaches.

Also, if you can use the player interactions to get players to list you as favored personnel (depends on hidden attributes), then you can rework their contracts for less money almost every time (sometimes even in half) which can help the bottom line for finances, especially in the lower levels.

Good luck and thanks for commenting.