An Idea - The Chalkboard Diaries - Feedback Wanted

This is something I am working on and thought I'd ask for some feedback as to what things you want to see included or what you think I've missed. This is nowhere near done as of yet but things should move quite quickly with this as I've done quite a bit already.

Remember this isn't the finished thread nor will it be the thread I'll end up using, this is just to gather feedback and ideas before I create a new thread for this project.

So let me explain a little about the thread and what its all about;

The Chalkboard Diaries

Introduction

A couple of weeks back I thought it might be a good idea to write about all the tactics that I use across various saved games I have. Then I thought why not put them all in one place under one thread and make it into a series or articles. I have many saved games, far too many in fact and some of them won't be getting played anymore. But the tactics I’ve used are still worth talking about because I’ve had success with every club I have managed. To give you an idea of some of the teams I have saved games with here is a quick list;

• Newcastle United
  
• Sheffield United
  
• Sheffield F.C
  
• Paysandu
  
• Ajax
  
• Palmeiras
  
• Tottenham
  
• Santos
  
• Rangers
  
  

That’s just off the top of my head I do actually have more. All the ones I’ve mentioned though all have more than 4 seasons played. So these will offer quite a bit of information about the tactics I used and why.

I wasn’t going to do this as it is a bit ambitious and will take up a lot of time but I really do like the idea and I like the name The Chalkboard Diaries so thought I’d give it ago. This is a very ambitious project though so I’m not sure how the content will flow or how often I’ll update. I have a lot done already but there is also a lot that isn’t done yet and will take some time to write about.

The idea is that I’ll keep all the information in one thread that is locked and then create a separate thread for the discussion. This will allow the information to be accessed easier and be more visible as each post in the locked thread will contain information about the tactic. This way people don’t have to look through page and page of comments to find the immediate content. I’ve done threads in this style in the past and they’ve worked really well so hopefully this can carry that on

Each tactic I write about for the team I used will be done differently and some will end up a lot more detailed than others because I’ve played them longer so have more talking points.

Welcome to The Chalkboard Diaries!

--------------------------

This is an example of the things I'd be including

The Sheffield United Years - 3-5-2 to 3-7-0

I class my Sheffield United saved game as my one true proper save now and its likely this is the only game that I’ll be carrying on and playing from now on. So I thought this would be a good place to start for that fact because everything is still fresh in my mind. Not only that but my tactics have evolved a lot and I think people will find it interesting. I’ve already mentioned it a few times on the forums and twitter and when I do people always ask if I’ve wrote about the tactics anywhere and I always say no. But that is about to change.....

This saved game will probably be the most in depth with the exception of my Ajax one. So there might be a lot to read on the 3-5-2/3-7-0 because I’ll be discussing a lot.

What the Thread Will Contain

Just to give you an idea of the things I’ll be discussing in this thread here is a very quick overview of what I currently have in mind.

Vision - Even though I am in League One, in the back of my mind I know what type of football I want to be playing and what type of player’s I would need. I’m a long way from been able to achieve that though but that doesn’t mean I can’t start the ball rolling now. I want to be able to play a game that doesn’t over focus on possession but rather a style that allows me to use the best of the possession to be a threat. I’d rather concentrate on having possession in a dangerous area as that is much more effective than having a high possession percentage in my own half. Creating quality of quantity is the most important thing for me.

The end goal - I’d write a little bit about where the club currently is and share my long term vision for it. This would purely be about tactics and the type of players I’d need to get to that level. As I’m down in League One finances are none existent so it’ll be a tough challenge once I’m out of League One. The tactics I’d use at the start of the game would be very different to what I see us using in the Prem after a few seasons. So I’d outline my current approach and explain why then tell how I want to play 6-10 years down the line. For example I might use a more generic 451/442 or something to start off with but as I get more finances and can bring slightly better players in, I’d be building to the formation I see the club playing long term which would be a 352 strikerless Libero.

Squad Building - This would follow on from the above and focus on the type of players I’d be buying and why. It would also include training and tracking the players development. I’d only do this for the long term players I buy though and not the players who I buy just for a season or so. I’d still tell why I bought them though but it would be pointless to track the development.

Pre-season - How I plan from the first day I take over the club and the build up to the first competitive match. This will include transfers, training, player searches, tactics etc.

Tactic - A look at how I came to use the current tactic and why.

Beating formations - This would take a look at how I beat all the different kinds of formations I come up against.

Analysis Tab - I’d highlight and show how I use this both during and after a game to keep on top of things and see if I can find any issues and try and offer solutions to fixing them.

Preparing for the step up - If I got promotion the second season would be a big step up so it would show my approach with dealing with that while at the same time keeping an eye on how I eventually want to play, so again this would be a step towards that. Everything I do is all a build up and a stepping stone to the end product. I’d also do the same again should I reach the prem the season after.

Development - Every season I’d show the development of the players who would be at the club long term. I’d show schedules/PPM’s training/retraining and even who tutored them.

There is a lot more I’d like to do and probably will but this is just a basic outline to show the type of thinking and direction I think it’ll go in.

So what do you think? If you think something is s**t or should be done a different way then say, I won’t be offended

Hey Cleon,

This is an excellent idea. Most interesting to me, which you post in all your threads anyway, is the reasoning behind why you setup a tactic and choose specific roles, duties, settings to complement each other. It was the best part of your "Understanding Your Tactic" thread, for me.

Also, having only your posts in the main thread makes a lot of sense as your threads are impossible to keep up with due to how popular they are

Regards

Shiraz

Cleon, that sounds great but it looks like a lot of work. Are you sure you have the time to do it?

Cleon, that sounds great but it looks like a lot of work. Are you sure you have the time to do it?

I've got lots done already. The Sheffield United stuff will take the longest to write but that is where I'd start and I'd write that up first and discuss that to begin with. That way I can keep the stuff I have already written about the other tactics because then I can post them every so often so the content keeps flowing. Once the Sheff Utd stuff is out of the way the rest would be simple because its already done

Hey Cleon,

This is an excellent idea. Most interesting to me, which you post in all your threads anyway, is the reasoning behind why you setup a tactic and choose specific roles, duties, settings to complement each other. It was the best part of your "Understanding Your Tactic" thread, for me.

Also, having only your posts in the main thread makes a lot of sense as your threads are impossible to keep up with due to how popular they are

Regards

Shiraz

I'll be expanding on that too and showing people how I beat the different type of set ups I face over a season.

Looking forward to reading following this.

Fantastic idea and I'm sure this will help a lot of people with their game(enjoyment).

Really great that you keep putting time in this!!

Great idea. I'll follow this for sure... I'm playing a game with AJAX, but I use an uploaded tactic. I would like to make a good working tactic myself and hope that this post will help me with this and other aspects of the game, like training, shouts and so on.

Great idea, looking forward to it

It's a very good idea to separate the discussion from the information, because a lot of threads soon become bogged down in discussion and it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Personally, I'll be very interested in the Analysis Tab, Preparing For The Step Up and Beating Formations sections.

Exciting stuff Cleon, as you said stuff gets "too much" with people asking questions every other post, if you title each post people can ask questions seperately and doesn't end up being a 15 page thread that's daunting. Always wondered, and imagine it's mainly for fun, how you come up with the wacky formations.

I am just worried Cleon will forget his day job

Fantastic idea/thread, one I will be following a lot.

I'm interested to see the type of material you put in. This has serious potential.

Think this would be really useful to most people but I think it would be really helpful having the actual thread and discussion apart so it doesn't become difficult to find relevant bits you need.

Sounds an excellent idea

Hi Cleon

This sounds like a great idea and to keep the main thread separated from discussions makes sense.

I have had good success in FM 2012 using other peoples tactics but I feel the time is now right to try and swim on my own with your help (is that a contradiction in terms or what?).

The only thing I can think of which you could add would be to show what you are looking for when hiring staff. For example - is motivating more important than man management etc.

Looking forward to this thread very much

Andy1938uk

Sounds like it would make a good careers forum thread, maybe it would get even more interest over there?

Just my 2 pence worth but if im completely honest i would love to see a thread concentrating on how to read the match engine and analysis tabs. Whilst im sure this project would be a success, i just think it would be great to see lots of match highlights with explanations of what you see going on and what changes you make during the match. I think this would teach players a lot more as they could see first hand as its playing out. Then they can look for similar patterns in their own game. Hopefully this would stop people coming back with comments along the lines of 'ive done this exact same thing with my own team but it doesnt work' etc etc.

As i said, only my 2 pence worth, whatever you write i will enjoy reading im sure

This would definitely be something I'd be interested in reading.

I would definitely be interested in this, the more opportunity to learn, the better

Sounds like it would make a good careers forum thread, maybe it would get even more interest over there?

Reading your threads made me wanna change the way I play FM. And I did...Now I have my thread where I am trying to implement your info on the game. A new thread that would have all the previous info plus some more insight of the game and all in one would be nothing but great!

KUTGW: Definitely a subscriber to it!

PS: At the moment I can't think of any suggestions to make. Your list above is what I would have wanted. Maybe I would like to see yours LLM saves and explanations. That is if you have any...

Not sure it would fit in with careers forum and no way would it get more views or more discussion points. The careers forum doesnt seem to have a lot of meaningful discussion. Reading about peoples games is great but the feedback you get are all one liners

I would completely agree with this. I remember in my careers thead last year writing a tiny bit of tactical stuff and no one was bothered, hence why in the end i did a thread here in the tactics section.

Great idea. I'll follow this for sure... I'm playing a game with AJAX, but I use an uploaded tactic. I would like to make a good working tactic myself and hope that this post will help me with this and other aspects of the game, like training, shouts and so on.

I've covered every single shout on the game and listed what they do as well as give the combos I use in other threads already. I've also covered training with Ajax. You might want to check out my profile and the thread's I've created

I am just worried Cleon will forget his day job

Been your own boss is great

I'm interested to see the type of material you put in. This has serious potential.

I've listed the things you can expect to see. If you look at my Understanding Your Tactic Thread it'll be similar to that but more indepth and better quality.

Think this would be really useful to most people but I think it would be really helpful having the actual thread and discussion apart so it doesn't become difficult to find relevant bits you need.

Isn't this what I said in the opening post

Hi Cleon

This sounds like a great idea and to keep the main thread separated from discussions makes sense.

I have had good success in FM 2012 using other peoples tactics but I feel the time is now right to try and swim on my own with your help (is that a contradiction in terms or what?).

The only thing I can think of which you could add would be to show what you are looking for when hiring staff. For example - is motivating more important than man management etc.

Looking forward to this thread very much

Andy1938uk

I covered how I approach and hire staff in my Ajax thread already

Just my 2 pence worth but if im completely honest i would love to see a thread concentrating on how to read the match engine and analysis tabs. Whilst im sure this project would be a success, i just think it would be great to see lots of match highlights with explanations of what you see going on and what changes you make during the match. I think this would teach players a lot more as they could see first hand as its playing out. Then they can look for similar patterns in their own game. Hopefully this would stop people coming back with comments along the lines of 'ive done this exact same thing with my own team but it doesnt work' etc etc.

As i said, only my 2 pence worth, whatever you write i will enjoy reading im sure

I'll be showing people how to play the game. I've done threads that show you how to beat the ME in the past, check out my SI Sports Centre thread. This thread will offer the things you want to see but its aimed more at playing the game and understand what your tactic actually does/doesn't do in a game and show that side of things and focusing on playing the game and winning by been logical rather than playing the ME.

I would completely agree with this. I remember in my careers thead last year writing a tiny bit of tactical stuff and no one was bothered, hence why in the end i did a thread here in the tactics section.

Yeah its deffo better suited for here

That picture looks great! Can't wait for the full thing

That picture looks great! Can't wait for the full thing

OneUnited created it for me

Going by your thread history I would like to see this also, your threads have given me a bit of help in creating my own tactic which I will hopefully make a thread for soon, and with training which I am now getting into thanks to your Ajax thread.

I've listed the things you can expect to see. If you look at my Understanding Your Tactic Thread it'll be similar to that but more indepth and better quality.

I'll be showing people how to play the game. I've done threads that show you how to beat the ME in the past, check out my SI Sports Centre thread. This thread will offer the things you want to see but its aimed more at playing the game and understand what your tactic actually does/doesn't do in a game and show that side of things and focusing on playing the game and winning by been logical rather than playing the ME.

How is this even possible!?! I thought your 'Understanding Your Tactic' was great

As for the latter, that sounds good

Cleon would it be possible to put small video sequences of you explaining what you see in the ME? I might give a more detailed view on how to analyse the game.

always like reading about people making 'odd' formations viable in FM, looking forward to it

How is this even possible!?! I thought your 'Understanding Your Tactic' was great

As for the latter, that sounds good

Thanks

Cleon would it be possible to put small video sequences of you explaining what you see in the ME? I might give a more detailed view on how to analyse the game.

Maybe. The point of the thread will be to show people how to play the game and stop thinking of it in terms of sliders or numbers 1-20. While I will be showing how to solve issues and spot things that go wrong it'll all be from a 'playing the game' stance rather than a beating 'the ME' if that makes sense. Once people start thinking this way then frustration will dissapear and things will be clearer. That is the hope anyways

always like reading about people making 'odd' formations viable in FM, looking forward to it

Cheers

Cleon this sounds great - I've appreciated you making up my questions on PM too. A great asset to the community.

I have one request.Can we please have one thread for your comments and analysis and a separate thread for discussion? Your threads often get drowned in posts like this (ie 'well done's) and to focus on the article itself we should keep it just your comments. Just a thought.

I have one request.Can we please have one thread for your comments and analysis and a separate thread for discussion? Your threads often get drowned in posts like this (ie 'well done's) and to focus on the article itself we should keep it just your comments. Just a thought.

That is what he is planning.

Cleon this sounds great - I've appreciated you making up my questions on PM too. A great asset to the community.

I have one request.Can we please have one thread for your comments and analysis and a separate thread for discussion? Your threads often get drowned in posts like this (ie 'well done's) and to focus on the article itself we should keep it just your comments. Just a thought.

I do mention I will be doing this in the opening post

The idea is that I’ll keep all the information in one thread that is locked and then create a separate thread for the discussion. This will allow the information to be accessed easier and be more visible as each post in the locked thread will contain information about the tactic. This way people don’t have to look through page and page of comments to find the immediate content. I’ve done threads in this style in the past and they’ve worked really well so hopefully this can carry that on

I used to do all my big threads like this until FM13, not sure why I changed it though. But I do agree, the content as a stand alone works a lot better

Apologies, crippling hangover this morning......

Thanks

Maybe. The point of the thread will be to show people how to play the game and stop thinking of it in terms of sliders or numbers 1-20. While I will be showing how to solve issues and spot things that go wrong it'll all be from a 'playing the game' stance rather than a beating 'the ME' if that makes sense. Once people start thinking this way then frustration will dissapear and things will be clearer. That is the hope anyways

Cheers

Yeah I'm 100% with you on that , and that should be how to play a football game. It's just with some video it gets easier to learn how to spot the rights and wrongs, if you get me?

Yeah I'm 100% with you on that , and that should be how to play a football game. It's just with some video it gets easier to learn how to spot the rights and wrongs, if you get me?

Aye I get what you mean

Great! Can't wait to see what this will end up with.

Hi Cleon

I've read your Ajax thread now but I don't think it answered my questions. You have shown the staff you selected but not why. Some of them are very obvious with high attributes for Man Management, Mental, Adaptability, Determination, Level of Discipline, and Motivation but we can't always get coaches with high values for all these attributes as well as a skill attribute (especially if playing in a lower league). So my question is - which of these attributes are the most important - is a coach with Regional Reputation and good attributes better than a coach of National Reputation with slightly poorer attributes. Is good Technical Knowledge necessary for an AM (Carravetta has only 13). What skill is B.S. Christiansen going to teach?

Sorry if I'm being thick but I don't see the Ajax thread answering any of my questions.

Hi Cleon

I've read your Ajax thread now but I don't think it answered my questions. You have shown the staff you selected but not why. Some of them are very obvious with high attributes for Man Management, Mental, Adaptability, Determination, Level of Discipline, and Motivation but we can't always get coaches with high values for all these attributes as well as a skill attribute (especially if playing in a lower league). So my question is - which of these attributes are the most important - is a coach with Regional Reputation and good attributes better than a coach of National Reputation with slightly poorer attributes. Is good Technical Knowledge necessary for an AM (Carravetta has only 13). What skill is B.S. Christiansen going to teach?

Sorry if I'm being thick but I don't see the Ajax thread answering any of my questions.

You get the coach with the higher attributes for whatever you want him to do, rep doesn't matter. Use this;

[h=1]

[FM13] Tool for star rating of coaches[/h]

The attributes a coach needs depends on what you want him to do tbh.

Cleon, what sort of time-line are we talking about for the 1st edition?

Cleon, what sort of time-line are we talking about for the 1st edition?

I don't have one, it'll be done when its done

If I put a time line on it and something comes up meaning I can't finish it, people will be posting asking where it is etc.

A lot of it is already done though

Hopefully some of this will be up and posted by next weekend. I'll post up whatever I've done by next weekend and then just finish it off after its posted. I've wrote lots though, more than I have for any other thread that I've ever created. So rather than waiting for it to be complete I'll start uploading the bits done because it'll take a few days to upload all the images etc.

I look forward to reading this, it should be a cracking thread. I'm looking forward to the Paysandu part the most.

I'm half way through writing about my first season but still a lot more to do. This is just a very tiny snippet and just a basic overview of what I did in a game and what shouts I used to give you a little look at just 1 part of what will be included in this mammoth series;

The Colchester Games

This is an interesting formation to play against because it is very strong in the centre so that means it is highly unlikely that I’ll be able to play through them. So I decided to play around them and used the following shouts;

• Play Narrower
  
• Exploit Channels
  
• Push Higher Up
  

The reasoning for this is they offer little threat going forward from the centre so by going narrow I keep the advantage and by pushing higher up the pitch, I should put pressure on the lone central midfielder. That should stifle his game and make him less effective.

Exploit The Flanks – It gives the fullback/wing backs and wingers more attacking and focuses the play down both flanks. It also tells them to run from deep and cross the ball more often. If you use central midfielders then it’ll tell them to hold up the ball. You should use this if you find the middle over crowded or if you have good wide players who can cross.

Away 2-1 loss

I didn't do anything for this game as I felt I had enough to win the game. It turns out I didn’t though and lost the game. I just didn't take my changes and on another day the result could have been different.

We’ll take a look at this game in a little more depth later on in this series and see what we can learn from this defeat.

Hurry up! This is teasing us...

Hurry up! This is teasing us...

It'll be worth the wait I promise

It'll be worth the wait I promise

Cruel, cruel mod :o