How relevent are the stars on the players after scouting?

Just how relevant?

Top scorer in my league, however his stats dont really portray a top player - i know the leagues not the best but it does have better sides and better players...

His Potential Ability stars after scouting is what he'd be like if he was at your club in the first team matched up against your current players. So anything 4+ stars and he's worth it.

I scout players and check their PA stars then their attributes

His Potential Ability stars after scouting is what he'd be like if he was at your club in the first team matched up against your current players. So anything 4+ stars and he's worth it.

I scout players and check their PA stars then their attributes

I do the same, anything 3.5 stars or less I don't bother checking. If my scout recommends 4+ PA, I'll check his attributes, personality and determine if he'll fit well in my squad and in which areas I can train him to suit my tactic.

Any 5 star player I'll try to get, even if he doesn't fit my tactic. But I'll use him to sell for profit once he's developed.

What skin are you using iamneallyons? Looks pretty good!

I dunno, I dont 100% trust the star ratings. I had a beastly american defender for my Man U side that the assman kept rating 2.5-3 stars. But the guy was 201cm tall, 20 for jumping reach, 20 for heading, 20 for strength and in ~30 games his average rating was sky high at around 7.70, unheard of for the rest of my DC players. There have been other guys too that have performed real well for me without getting the assman's approval.

More often than not though it will be a good indication of how good the player is/will become, but I dont trust it 100%.

depends on the team with the player a lesser club could still only show 2-3 stars despite having world class potential.

I dunno, I dont 100% trust the star ratings. I had a beastly american defender for my Man U side that the assman kept rating 2.5-3 stars. But the guy was 201cm tall, 20 for jumping reach, 20 for heading, 20 for strength and in ~30 games his average rating was sky high at around 7.70, unheard of for the rest of my DC players. There have been other guys too that have performed real well for me without getting the assman's approval.

More often than not though it will be a good indication of how good the player is/will become, but I dont trust it 100%.

The starts represent the total CA/PA the player has. It's completely possibly to have a player with a comparatively low CA, but with it "spent" on exactly the right attributes for a role. Sounds like that's whats happened with your defender there.

So yeah, the stars are a decent guide, but they're not everything

Always go for potential of 4-4.5 stars, also all depends on how good your scouts are, better scouts better reports.

depends on the team with the player a lesser club could still only show 2-3 stars despite having world class potential.

Completely right. If you have a team packed with world class talent then I find you never see anything over 4 stars eventually, a player with 3 stars upwards is strong first team material (world class by most standards) and 2.5 stars is my starting point for consideration (even 2 stars if their attributes are in the right place - they will likely be top players for most competing teams)

Remember the stars are relevant to the scouts JP/JA attribute. So always bear that in mind

His Potential Ability stars after scouting is what he'd be like if he was at your club in the first team matched up against your current players. So anything 4+ stars and he's worth it.

I scout players and check their PA stars then their attributes

Honestly saying anything 4*+ is worth it is not good advice.

Whilst stars can give you an overview and perhaps a good starting point they are far from the only thing you should consider. Your scouts could easily be wrong, especially when it comes to PA which means they often under or overestimate a player to some degree.

Then you need to look at the attributes, is he lacking in a key area for the role you want him to play? Are attribute points being somewhat wasted in areas that aren't as useful?

What about his hidden attributes? Is he injury prone? consistent?

His personality which points to other hidden attributes, does he fit in with your squad?

There is so much more to buying the right player than just looking at the stars.

When I scout, I generally only ask for recommendations of 3 stars or higher (I only scout for young players). I think looking only at 4 stars or more is going to be too restricting. I always assume scouts can be off by half a star or more, plus sometimes there are players that just have the right attributes to suit what you need, even though they are overall not highly regarded.

I've also found many a player, looking through the player search list, with only 2 or 2.5 stars who fit nicely into my squads and I frankly don't understand why they don't have 3-3.5 stars.

In other words, I take the stars with a grain of salt.

Star ratings certainly don't tell the whole story, as they just tell the CA/PA. The distribution of that ability can make a big difference though, especially if it has good synergy with some PPM's. Hidden attributes like consistency and important matches can make a huge difference in the performances which is not reflected in the star rating.

I had a 2,5 star player I picked up as a free transfer from a Portuguese 2nd division side, I liked his attributes, nothing spectacular but no real weakness either, he was extremely versatile, which made him an ideal back up for my small squad. When my star player picked up a 9 month injury in the 3rd game of the season, just after the transfer market closed, he became a regular starter after some shuffling around and was an absolute revelation, scoring 15 goals and creating 11. Not too shabby for 2,5 stars.

I agree with various people here for different bits

I'll tell my scouts to only recommend over 3* as I can't gauge potential myself. But I'll sign starters/backup regardless of star ratings. If they have the right attributes (based on using suitably complex search filters) then it doesn't matter what the scout says.

In 2010, I had a tall Swedish striker who was great in the air/finisher/movement/acceleration, crappy passing and pace was below 10. He was always rated as crap by my coach and scouts and nobody was EVER interested in him and his value couldn't seem to climb about £20m and his wages were half that of most of my players. But he kept getting top scorer and top player awards and was the first name on my team sheet. I believe it was a case of perfect balance of the available stat points combined with a good team system. So the top clubs who could afford him (price and wages) and were on my rep level were not interested as he looked rubbish to them (despite his performances), the clubs who he met there 'skill' requirements couldn't afford him. He was the perfect player

this is how I have seen it, because random world class players sometimes pop up in odd places.

for example, I found a fantastic newgen that came through at Wrexham (wtf...) scout him, he is only 2-3 stars, sign him (80k \o/) he is 5 stars.

stars don't matter, Llorente has always been one of the top FM strikers, scoring nearly 1 goal a game average, yet he is 3-4 stars only.

Also take into consideration his form, at the start of the season the Scandinavian leagues are well under way, so a good place to pick up a few bargains but certain players with 4+ stars are averaging 6.5 ish which in all honesty is crap, so yes as has been said, the star sometimes mean little.

I do the same, anything 3.5 stars or less I don't bother checking. If my scout recommends 4+ PA, I'll check his attributes, personality and determine if he'll fit well in my squad and in which areas I can train him to suit my tactic.

Any 5 star player I'll try to get, even if he doesn't fit my tactic. But I'll use him to sell for profit once he's developed.

What skin are you using iamneallyons? Looks pretty good!

sorry for late reply, its alavanja skin

this is how I have seen it, because random world class players sometimes pop up in odd places.

for example, I found a fantastic newgen that came through at Wrexham (wtf...) scout him, he is only 2-3 stars, sign him (80k \o/) he is 5 stars.

stars don't matter, Llorente has always been one of the top FM strikers, scoring nearly 1 goal a game average, yet he is 3-4 stars only.

Finding future stars at small club is always interesting. My former captain was from a Serie C1 club and one of my latest youths came from a Spanish Divison 2B team and he is my only 5 star.

i only look the potential ability stars, the current ability ones dont really say much about the player, he can have great attributes for his position but have low star rating because of low reputation or something

i have five 4-4.5 players, which make the ratings of other players be really low (2.5-3 stars) but even these low rated ones have great stats for their position and play well, so i suggest you look more at the attributes and personality than the stars