Jimbokav1971

Yeah of course. There are both short and big arrows on the flanks. Of course there are. When I have used proper WB's though it's so long since I pared them with a ML or AML that I don't know if that relationship also exists, (although it might). DM is another one, (particularly something like a HB that links closely with a DC), that also doesn't link to the defensive line. AM can link with SC and MC can link with AMC, but if you remove the AMC then there is no possible link. Even if the AMC was an Advanced Playmaker or a Roaming Playmaker, you couldn't remove him and replace him with a Wide Playmaker or a Wide Target Man and use that as a link instead. Like so many of the FM features I actually think it's a really good ides and works well as far as it goes, but it feels like it hasn't been finished. It feels like it's a 1st draft of an idea that needs to be fleshed out.

Yeah, I was looking for that, but didn't realise that I had found it and that it didn't show me what I wanted. In my head I think of the 2 wide attackers as wingers, when in actual fact their just SC's with a different role. I suppose what I would want then is a the role(duty) to also be included in that, but I suppose that within that many managers change multiple times within each game, (I don't), but either way it's probably not the comparison with real life that I was suggesting. He always plays as a SC, so there is nothing to see here, but the difference between the PF(a) roles and the AF(a) role is enormous. I should add that his tactical familiarity is identical for both PF(A), (as shown above), and AF(a), (as shown below). Although I've mentioned "partnerships" previously, he has a really positive relationship with (47b) Smith (Det) *, but (47b) Smith (Det) * is the 2nd Team SC so the 2 of them rarely get to play together. I think the relationship formed when they played together in the 2nd Team and I'm really just waiting for new relationships to be formed. It's taking longer than I would like because he keeps moving from 1st Team SLC to 1st Team SC, but also linked with that is that the players he's playing with obviously keep changing too. Our 1st Team front 3 looks like this when everyone is fit. (51c) Mackie (F.Pro) (IRL) * has a "Fairly Decent" partnership with the other 2, (so it is getting there and fingers crossed that will have an impact on playing performances when it does. Something that I've always found strange though is that the wide players have no relationships with anyone. Why is it impossible for (51b) Kirkwood (F.Det) PPM * at WBL to develop a relationship with any player on the pitch? It's been so long since I used normal full-backs rather than WB's that I can';t remember if it7's different with them. I think they can develop relationships with ML's, (and possibly even AML's, but why not anyone else? I think of the eway that Neville used to team up with Becks, and Trent & Salah to a lesser extent. These relationships shouldn't be so restricted in the way that they currently are. What about a centre-half, (like Alderweild), hitting diags to a striker like Son? I'm sure there are other even more obvious examples of players building relationships between the lines.

I've encountered this in a few of my saves using similar tactics to the one I'm using now and to a certain extent it's a by-product of the 2 wide attackers playing more narrow and forcing the central striker in deeper, more "link" positions. Looking at the tactics screen, the way it appears graphically is that the AF(a) is in a more advanced position than the 2 wider PF(a) players, but especially as the 2 wider players improve in quality as the save progresses, (it doesn't happen as often at lower levels), the PF(a) players almost play so narrow that you would think they are in a 2, and the AF(a) has to drop jut to try and find space. When this 1st started happening I thought it was a bug and I really didn't like it and it was only after it continued to happen that I started looking for reasons why. The only bit here that offers even so much of a hint is the section that reads "and lay off passes and crosses to teammates". When you compare that the the PF(a) description, (and especially linked with a high press), then what happens, (at least what I see happening), is that the PF(a)'s often find themselves in more advanced and more central positions and it's them that's forcing the AF(a) to move elsewhere looking for the ball/space. Something else to consider is the delivery of the ball, and as well as "pass into space", (there is no space for the AF centrally high up the pitch). If we add "whipped crosses" to that, then the deeper position of the AF gives him less opportunity to attack the delivered ball, (because he's not in the usual advanced starting position you would expect). So that's my general thinking, (and it's still something that I'm still not 100% sure about), but in this instance it's not all just down to that because although he's best suited to being an AF and I see him as an AF, he's actually often been playing as the left PF(a) simply because I can't get him in the side as an AF when everyone is fit. I was looking for a screen that showed how many games a player had played in a particular position, (like this, which is actually for James Maddison in real life). I'm astonished that this isn't in the game. 1 thing I would say, (in his defence), is that for the last 3 seasons he has been our 1st Team SLC playing as a PF(a). So he's effectively playing out of position. The season before that he was 2nd Team SC playing as an AF(a). The problem is that as you can see from his form screenshot earlier in this post, is that he hasn't been playing on the left because (50a) Donald (F.Det) 6'0" * has a broken ankle and all in all we've been absolutely smashed by injuries all over the shop and because of this our partnerships have been disrupted all over the pitch. I think this is especially important in forward areas and as his partnerships improve with the players that are playing, (or injured players return with established partnerships), then I expect us to his output to improve.

Yeah, I just don't like doing that. I've had a problem in the past with autosaves becoming corrupt and me losing about 18 months in order to go back and find a save that wasn't corrupt, and since then I've just not been keen at all on the autosave feature. Considering I'm in 2055, losing a month is neither here nor there really in the grand scheme of things. It's just annoying, When I replay I don't try to replicate results or scorelines or anything like that. I just replay the lost matches and let the dice fall how they may. Losing more than a month might be a bigger issue, but this was only 4 games and probably only 1 of them of any importance. I am more careful close to deadline day and often save after significant deals are done though. I don't even save after Cup Finals usually. Losing the Hibs result is just one of those things.

Wonderkids. Jan 2056. We've currently got 3 players at the club who are actually described as "Wonderkids". (53a) Brownlie (Dri) 6.0" * is our 1st Team Libero and has already been capped by Scotland. He's got 3 years remaining on his contract and the biggest thing for him is forgetting his PPM. I've been trying and trying and trying, but he just won't forget it. (52a) Fraher (IRL) (F.Det) * has been capped by Ireland, again while still being a teenager. I'm currently working on some of the less "playmaker" attributes that are a little lacking. (51c) Mackie (F.Pro) (IRL) * not only has 9 Scottish Caps at the age of 20, but has also scored 5 International goals. He's playing on the right of a 3 for our 1st Team and although he only has 4 goals in all competitions, he also has 6 assists. He's probably a player who deserves to be playing centrally, (and he actually has done recently due to injury), and I certainly see him more as a central striker than a wide striker going forward, (but that doesn't mean he will play there).

I save manually on the 1st of each month. I saved on 1st Jan 2055 as normal, and then did the update on 1st Feb 2055. Usually I save 1st and then do the update but on this occasion I did the update, (which is actually done as the month progresses in a different tab), and then before I press continue I make sure I save if I haven't saved already. I had posted the Jan update but not yet progressed away from Feb 1st so hadn't saved yet. You might wonder why I don't just set it to save manually on the 1st of each month and I don't have a reasonable answer for you. I guess it's just a control thing. I just don't like doing it.

I don't think this one was FM related. I know it caused FM to crash, but I think it was caused by me watching a live football stream in full window mode while FM rund in the background. (Casting from my laptop while FM is running also causes a crash). Fingers crossed we won't see continued issues.

Apologies for the lack of updates, but I've just had another crash and it means I have to replay the Jan fixtures and it's just really annoyed me and every time I go to load up the game I just can't be bothered.

He was Scottish 1st, (born in Alloa), and Uzbek 2nd, so not quite so weird. He's had a decent career, spending much of it in Italy, but is back in Scotland now and 2nd choice at Hibs. Thanks for making me look at this because I've just noticed that the Hibs 1st choice GK, (who is actually decent in matches), is 5'10" and maybe that's something we can exploit, (especially with his really low aerial ability.

Completely agree. That's the challenge. I know Youth Only makes it harder, but I've really struggled to field 6 centre-backs, (3 in the 1st Team and 3 more in the 2nd Team), all the way through this save. I don't think I've managed it at any point. Add in that ideally you also want at least 1 big midfielder and 1 big striker and it becomes far more problematic. I look at Rangers with envy at the moment with all their giants.

I gave it some thought after my post and I think I would allow myself to sign all Academy produced players, (simply because that's the way I like to play), but more actually with a view to moving them on for cash rather than playing them loads. In terms of a min height, i think in terms of feet and inches rather than cm, but I think 6'0" or 183cm is what i would limit myself to. i'm particularly thinking about full-backs and central midfielders where I wouldn't want to limit myself too much. 190cm (or 6'2") really is quite extreme, so it makes sense that you dropped that to 185cm (6'1"). 6 foot is a nice rounded limit to stick to, (but the bigger the better obviously). I imagine that while we might have huge DC's and ST's, (and even wide players), we would still need quality on the ball in other areas.

Jan 2055. Scottish Premiership. There was only 1 league game this month, but it was a biggy as we went head-to-head with Hibs and came out on top with an injury-time winner despite the fact that we missed a pen. UEFA Champions League. 2 draws mean that we're in the Playoffs rather than the Knockout stages. Debuts. Both our 1st choice and 2nd choice GK's had the flu at the same time so we had to play a 16 year old 5'10" GK in the Champions league. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 69/89 from the spot at 77%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * is 1/1 from the spot at 100%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

I was a bit slack earlier in the season and although I've got better recently, the relationships I've been asking for have been with a view to getting foreign youngsters through our Academy. In any case, we currently only have 3, (which is pitiful). We've had a few more domestic links, but they have been promoted to the same level as us and the link is then obviously cancelled. I really need to do better in this area.

The clauses thing is a big deal for me because it has played a large part in getting us where we are. It always interests me and I suppose I just made that post because it was something I wanted to look at, so thought I would share. I completely appreciate that it's no longer needed with our income from Champions League, but it's just habit I suppose. If I sold a player tomorrow I would still add loads of clauses into it.