I kinda agree with you on this one. Not sure I really like the whole sign a 4-5 year contract play one year and then request a new one and start the cycle all over. And the whole agent coming runnig and demanding new contracts because a player has been in kinda ok form and happened to play one pretty good game seems kinda ridiculous. More ways of communicating instead of having to negotiate a new contract that usually is very little negotiation and more of a give me exactly what I want or I'll throw a fit that ruins the team spirit completly. I think a lot of the flaws I still find with the game is down to communicating and the lack of relevant alternatives to use and I don't think it is all that realistic (I know it is a game, but it still claims to strive for realism) that you should have to negotiate new contracts with your players sometimes twice a year to have a chance to preserve the team morale. Not everything should be determined by having to write up a new contract that can cost a fortune in other fees except the wages, especially not a thing like I want to play a few more games per year. I agree you shouldn't be able to hoard young star prospects and expect them to be happy to sit around and not getting games, but the problem is not just the star prospects that actually have the ability to compete for a spot here and now. I have found that a lot of mediocre prospects, even those brought up by the clubs youth system, that will probably not go further than squad or fringe players if they realise their potential will go bonkers if you don't let them leave for a pretty much identical setup somewhere else. Perfectly happy players, some team with the same reputatiion and same quality facilities and coaching and so on make a bid and the player gets terribly upset that you don't sell them to sit in the other teams reserves instead. And if it weren't players that have the club as their favourite team and got staff from the club as favoured personnel I might find it a bit more realistic that they would throw a fit as in I will never ever even consider discussing a new contract with you people because you wouldn't let me move to an identical setup whit the same if not slightly worse prospects of developing.
And while I'm at it if I offer a player that has used 1 or 2 years on his 5 year contract a new contract that will more than double his pay and put him up with the other top earners at the club and the agent/player shut down negotiations as unacceptable I don't really think he should be pissed because he thinks a promise has been broken and run off and cry to his team mates causing a stir and **** half the team off. And if he got that chance I should get the chance to tell the others that come crying about that players contract that I made an offer that would had more than doubled his salary and put him at the top of the payroll, but he and his agent decided to shut it down completly without any negotiation because they wanted a few thousand more.