The English Premiership - Different kettle of fish!

[NEO-BAHAMUT-]

Hay guys,

So i'm Sheffield Wednesday playing a basic 4-4-2. I've been playing this save now for about 2 weeks. I have had back to back promotions to get Wednesday from League 1 up to the promised land that is the Premiership. I have just had a job offer from Tottenham but turned that down because I feel as though my job isn't finished until im a well established team finishing top 6.

Anyway I managed to get back to back promotions easily. Finished 2nd twice to gain automatic promotion.

I've now started my 3rd season and managed to sign who I think are some really good signings that will do a good job for me up there. I don't plan on Winning the title but im hoping for a nice middle of the table finish. Anyway here are my signings through Pre Season.

Candido Costa (RB)
Jiri Kladrubsky (CB)
Giovani Dos Santos (AM RLC ST)
Vaclev Kadlec (ST AM L) - on loan from Man U
Wes Brown (CB)
Ludovic Baal (D WB M L)
James Morrison (M AM R C)
John Fleck (MC AM LC ST)

I thought that siging these players who I and my scouts say are very well established Premiership players would do a good job for me along with my other players that I have.

Im currently bottom.

P4 W0 D1 L3 F2 A8 GD-6 PTS1

Not very good im afraid and im actually fearing the worst this season. I can't seem to get them going. I thought I would breeze through this season and finish in a nice middle of the league position. Unfortunately not so far.

So what do you do to inspire your players to play well in games especially when you have just been promoted to the Premier league or any other top league?

In my match preperation all the bars are full except 2 which are 3/4 of the way full. Give it another 2 games and they will be fully functioning in my formation. However what can i do to pull this out of the bag?

[niletaylor]

i never do team talks or anything but good luck with your season i play 4-5-1 but u need the players for that,

[Jibby123]

8 new players are going to take a while to gel

[mackemforever]

The problem you're having is not the quality of players that you've signed, it is the number.

The mistake that most people seem to make when moving up to the prem is that they sign a lot of players. It is far better to play with good championship/poor premiership players who have been together for a season, playing well, and know your tactics perfectly than brining in a bunch of decent premiership players who have never played together and will really disrupt your team.

What I would suggest is that you try and stick as close as possible to the team you were picking last season, only introducing a couple of new signings into the team. This way you have the majority of your team settled like they were last season but you slowly introduce your new signings into the team.

[Jibby123]

I'd agree with Mackemforever. 3-4 new players per transfer window to go straight in to the first team is a limit I try to keep to when building. And to me that's a lot only if absolutely necessary.
Evolution, not revolution.

[NEO-BAHAMUT-]

Yeah i thought that too but it was something that was needed. Half my team were not good enough to step up to the next stage. How long does it take for my players to Gel? I though that the blue bar in the Match Preparation screen were to do with how gelled my team are... Saying that I've just beat Liverpool 1-0 Charlie Adam 30 yard screamer!

[mackemforever]

I'd agree with Mackemforever. 3-4 new players per transfer window to go straight in to the first team is a limit I try to keep to when building.

Evolution, not revolution.

Perfect way of summing it up.

In my current save game (starting from level 9 with Lancaster City) I've been very lucky in that I've had some great youngsters who are still with me in League 2, but I never sign more than a couple of players to go into the first team. I have been guilty of replacing virtually all of my backup players in a single transfer window but because the core of the team stays the same the team continues to perform well.

[NEO-BAHAMUT-]

ahhh I completely agree with you that it does take time to build a squad and 3-4 players should be what you should look at per season. However this was a desperate thing as my players werent good enough... or were they? Would you say that a good gelled squad is better than playing Fulham who have just signed 8 top quality players? Is squad gelling much more important than player attributes?

[Sir_aLex]

my first tip is to stick one up front and clog up the midfield...i did this with Southampton in my first season in the Prem without buying a single player...finished 15th and was safe with about 6 games to go...

it wont be pretty...but it should get you enough to stay up, i'm now in my 6th season in the Prem and now in the Champions League!

[Coentrao]

Yeah i thought that too but it was something that was needed. Half my team were not good enough to step up to the next stage. How long does it take for my players to Gel? I though that the blue bar in the Match Preparation screen were to do with how gelled my team are... Saying that I've just beat Liverpool 1-0 Charlie Adam 30 yard screamer!

Look on the Assistant team report > Team talk feedback.

On the top text it should give you an idea of how gelled the team is.

[tom_numbers]

I also don't think those signings are actually mid-table Premiership class, especially if they're gonna be up against it most games.

I think it was Harry Redknapp who said it's a lot easier to turn a 3 out of 10 team into a 7 out of 10 team than to go from 7 to 8 or 9 out of 10.

Successive promotions into the EPL isn't gonna see you do well in your debut season.

[NEO-BAHAMUT-]

Look on the Assistant team report > Team talk feedback.

On the top text it should give you an idea of how gelled the team is.

Ahh just had a quick look. Looks as though quite a few players are still trying to blend in to the squad. Does this take quite a few games? Do you have to play the new players with other new players or will they eventually find their feet?

[Coentrao]

Ahh just had a quick look. Looks as though quite a few players are still trying to blend in to the squad. Does this take quite a few games? Do you have to play the new players with other new players or will they eventually find their feet?

If they constantly play with each other, i'd say they should take like 10-15 to achieve a decent gelling.. though it depends on how well they are playing and their personalities,etc.

[Marluff]

I took Tonbridge Angels from the Ryman Premier to the Premiership in 9 seasons and know exactly what your talking about. As soon as i got into the Premiership i thought my team was certain for relegation and went a blew all my cash on 6 / 7 players and thought it would be enough for at least a mid table finish. How wrong i was. After the hardest season ive ever had to endure (2 broken mouses) it came down to the very last game which i managed to win and just about survive the drop on goal difference. If i could go back in time i would have only purchased a decent centerback and a fast striker.

My advice to you would be not to get to disheartened. If you have a tactic your confident in stick with it and never give up!!

By the way, in my 2nd season in the Prem i finished 5th and got into Europa League so its well worth the pain.

[Liam-Shannon]

Its a different kettle of fish, not cattle LOL.

[Lazaru5]

mackem is right, pick last season's first XI where possible and introduce the new "better" players gradually, obviously replacing the weaker players first. It will take about half a season for the squad to blend enough to be truly effective although you can probably speed this up a bit by increasing the match preparation workload to medium or higher and choosing "team blend" as the focus. To blend to a "strong" understanding the majority of the squad would need to be together for at least a couple of seasons..

[crouchaldinho]

Kettle!

[Some Guy!]

My suggestion, if you get in a rut just attack attack attack. You're not going to get out of a slump by sitting back!

Moo-ving along though good luck to you. I hope you do well. Also, stay with them even when you're a top 6 side. If you can get there why not go all the way?

[Krald]

The mistake that most people seem to make when moving up to the prem is that they sign a lot of players. It is far better to play with good championship/poor premiership players who have been together for a season, playing well, and know your tactics perfectly than brining in a bunch of decent premiership players who have never played together and will really disrupt your team.

I'd disagree, if you have "team blend" on your match preparation permanently, and bring in real, quality players that enhance your team greatly in areas you are weakest it's never bad to sign many new players. Personally when I got Truro City to the premiership I signed seventeen new players and released/sold at least thirteen. Of those I signed, I intended at least eight to play a good part in the first team squad immediately, the rest being either youngsters or backups.

Really, it depends on your situation, but I'd definitely say having decent mid-low level premiership players (think 130 CA) is a lot better than having settled mid-championship players that barely scraped promotion (think like 100 CA).

That said, It is difficult making that leap whatever the circumstances, the premiership is a tough cookie to crack, you will lose a lot, you will consider yourself doomed, but you can make it, with the right signings and some luck.

[Viggo Vickers]

This might be a bit late, but you are only 4 games in and you bought 8+ players. They need time to mesh, keep churning out games and if morale drops really low play a friendly against an easy team to get a little booster.

[mimland]

I usually try to start building my team for a step up before it happens. I spend a lot of time going through free transfers and transfer listed players that I can get for peanuts. I try to always sign players with enough quality to make it higher up in the divisions. That way I can change the players more slowly over time and don't have to jeapordise the teams gelling.

As said what your players need is time to become a team. Untill that happens I think the best you can do is defend, play counters and hope for a point here and there.

[tom_numbers]

Who changed this to kettle? I much preferred it when it was cattle...

[Some Guy!]

Who changed this to kettle? I much preferred it when it was cattle...

The allusive Ichthyobovine australisigcognito is a rare and beautiful species. Sadly, due to it's rarity we are not allowed to disclose the location of filming in this documentary. They are often known to stay in shallow areas awaiting their pray, the scripsi scriptum erratum. Best known for their grace and ability in water the Ichthyobovine is one of the most skilled waterborn hunters on the planet.



They are known by some as the gentle giants of the waterways, however they do have a darker side.



They are capable of great speeds in open water and have been known to race dolphins.



However they are becoming rarer and rarer in recent time due to poachers.

[Some Guy!]

With your help, and a donation, we may help prevent the hunting of this precious animal so future generations may enjoy their beauty and spender. So please, donate generously.



Back to FM 11 though, I usually keep my match preparation focussed on team blend. Also, I've never once gotten more than 5-6 new first team players or came to a new team without losing at least 1 in not all of my first 5, regardless of how the rest of the season ends up going.

[aderow]

I'd agree with Mackemforever. 3-4 new players per transfer window to go straight in to the first team is a limit I try to keep to when building. And to me that's a lot only if absolutely necessary.
Evolution, not revolution.

Shoot I'd say 4 players is pushing it. I have made 3 changes to my starting lineup compared to last season and, defensively, I looked a lot more vulnerable than last season. If not for some luck, I could be without a win so far this season.

One of the worst things you can do in any situation is bring in a bunch of new players. West ham are the best example of what can happen when this is done.