"There isn't a suitable reason to hold a team meeting."

Ok, I've settled on it- this message is the most frustrating individual part of FM. I'm the manager- if I want to hold a team meeting, we hold a team meeting.

Right now, I've just taken over a new club in the summer, and after a decent pre-season, we've lost the first three games of the season. I want to hold a team meeting and tell them to sort it out sooner rather than later. Surely I should be able to, rather than having to go individually player-by-player and tell them all to buck their ideas up? Even if the reaction is "Great, another team meeting?", that's better than not letting me call it in the first place. I'm the manager- whether it's a good idea or a bad idea, whether it's overkill or overreaction- that's my prerogative.

I'm guessing here, but I would think that you haven't played enough games yet. You're only 3 games in. Try after 5 games and see if there's a reason then?

I'm guessing here, but I would think that you haven't played enough games yet. You're only 3 games in. Try after 5 games and see if there's a reason then?

I don't think that's the point he is making. You should be able to have a team meeting whether there is a "reason" or not

I don't think that's the point he is making. You should be able to have a team meeting whether there is a "reason" or not

I know what the point is that he's making, but I don't agree that it should be possible to call one this early.

Team meetings are there to talk about form. There's no recent form when only 3 games have been played. If this was deeper into the season, I could understand the point.

You can't do it on a matchday, or if players on holiday or something like that either. Try again and eventually you should be able to.

I know what the point is that he's making, but I don't agree that it should be possible to call one this early.

Team meetings are there to talk about form. There's no recent form when only 3 games have been played. If this was deeper into the season, I could understand the point.

If my team lost 3 straight friendlies, playing poorly, I might want to have a team meeting before the season even starts. I'm inclined to agree with the OP here. Even if it turns out to be a bad idea and ruins team morale, that should be his choice. (Of course, the forums would then be inundated with threads ranting about how unrealistic the affects of team meetings are )

You can't do it on a matchday

False, I've done team meetings on matchdays before.

Whilst a match is in progress I mean but that should be obvious

Whilst a match is in progress I mean but that should be obvious

What about half-time?

But of course I'm just being facetious. I guess it's done this way so you don't just grind up meetings, since they can boost your squads morale. But then they could develop it so that meetings are always possible, but the more you have, the less effect they have, with too many alienating the squad and pushing down morale. Something for the wishlist thread maybe?

Agree with the OP. The "Another team meeting? Great." comment is also not very realistic, but at the same time I understand they have to have this so team meetings arent overpowered, cause its quite easy to pump your players' morale up by quite some way with this function.

So if it is not up to the manager when to have a team meeting, who is it up to? It shouldn't matter if it is one game or 100 games, this is the managers job!

I know what the point is that he's making, but I don't agree that it should be possible to call one this early.

Team meetings are there to talk about form. There's no recent form when only 3 games have been played. If this was deeper into the season, I could understand the point.

What if you lose the first three games of the season 0-5?

What if you lose the first three games of the season 0-5?

Then you need to change tactics, not organise team meetings!

Then you need to change tactics, not organise team meetings!

Sounds like that falls under the prerogative of the manager in question, would it not?

Sounds like that falls under the prerogative of the manager in question, would it not?

I do agree somewhat and it seems I'm in the minority here, but I prefer the system the way it is. Maybe the message could be expanded a little to say "We're only 3 games into the season, there isn't a suitable reason to have a meeting so soon." or something to that effect.

The alternative (which you guys are suggesting) is that you're able to call the meeting anyway. I can just imagine the outcry on the forums though. "I lost my first 3 games and called a team meeting. I told them our form has been poor and they need to work harder, but everyone was confused and morale dropped even more now! WTH?" Looking at the quoted part, it seems a bug or illogical but, as I said, I don't think 3 games is enough for it to be counted as "recent form".

After say five games when "recent form" as been established, I can agree that you should be able to call a meeting whenever you want. Players can then decide if you're calling too many meetings and switch off to what you say or maybe even have a drop in morale.

While any isolated three games is maybe not enough to be considered 'form', three lost games on the bounce most certainly is. The game just needs to be more intelligent in making the distinction. It certainly does not make the slightest bit of sense for a manager to be told that there is no reason for a team meeting. Says who exactly? If I as a manager want to get all the players in a room to have a chat then who's supposed to be the higher power who determines whether it's reasonable or not?

Agree that there should be an open any time arrangement in holding meetings with the squad!

Maybe an option in FM15?

It's probably not so much that you can or can't hold a meeting as a manager. It's probably because the game can't quite figure out why you - a human with infinite number of reasons to want to do anything - are calling it in that instance, and wouldn't know how to measure players' reaction to whatever you say. It LOOKS like a modeling issue, in the sense that if the Team Meeting script doesn't know what situation it's supposed to be responding to, it can't model the dynamics of it. Hence, if the game can't place your reason for calling the meeting within a list of predetermined criteria, it doesn't know what math to apply and just tells you it can't.

It might look at form, morale, results, points, etc ... punch it into an algorithm, and if it doesnt fit any of the scenarios they've programmed you get: "There's no suitable reason to call a team meeting."

After say five games when "recent form" as been established, I can agree that you should be able to call a meeting whenever you want. Players can then decide if you're calling too many meetings and switch off to what you say or maybe even have a drop in morale.

I take the point you're making, but the game itself isn't so lenient- you can be sacked as early as six games into a season. If I've lost the first three and have identified that there's a serious problem that needs a team meeting, it doesn't seem right to have to wait for another two defeats for the game to let me tell my team to sort it out. We have 0 points from 9, when we should have at least 6, based purely on the Season Preview. It is a slow start.

You can't have it both ways- either you let a manager manage (or attempt to manage) and punish them harshly if they do fail, or you stick to the minimum of five games required to develop "form", and give them more breathing space- which then raises questions of realism etc. The first is, in my estimation, preferable to the second.

I take the point you're making, but the game itself isn't so lenient- you can be sacked as early as six games into a season.

Are you talking about specific leagues or in general? I had no idea clubs could be that harsh on FM!

You can't have it both ways- either you let a manager manage (or attempt to manage) and punish them harshly if they do fail, or you stick to the minimum of five games required to develop "form", and give them more breathing space- which then raises questions of realism etc. The first is, in my estimation, preferable to the second.

Although I see the point you're making, I wouldn't change things as drastically. What about the ability to call an (emergency) meeting after say, 3 losses, when your job is on the line? Job security should maybe be "very insecure" for this to be possible?

Are you talking about specific leagues or in general? I had no idea clubs could be that harsh on FM!

I can't speak for specific leagues, unfortunately; I play using a custom database, although the divisions are 20-team leagues working the same way as the Prem. As detailed in my story (cheap plug!) which has a lot of active leagues running, the first sackings- and there were a good few of them- occurred six games into the season. The very first was after just five games. Often this was five league games and a cup game- and in many cases, this wasn't even after six defeats.

Obviously, the custom database may have some influence there, so I'm wary of making too great a blanket statement about what can happen in real leagues- the scale of the sackings was almost certainly related to the database itself, with the new league structure affecting expectations. But it does demonstrate that after five or six games clubs do seem to have the capability of sacking their manager.

You could hold a team meeting after the preseason friendlies welcoming the new players to the group of players, you do this in press conferences with the press and fans, why not do it with the players. Yes I am aware that you can ask your captain to welcome them to the team, but I would think it would be prudnt to have a team meeting so the manager can introduce them to the squad. This could also be dynamic, if you have an unprofessional and controversial player you could see some voiced concerns infront of the squad about playing time, squad size etc etc.

Also you coudl organise the team meeting to discuss playing style and how you wish to have the players play. I find it unrealistic that you cant do this when you start a new season. I would bet by bottom dollar that this happens in real life. We did it with our collegiet team. Also this could be the way to add another managerial description, totalatarian, democratic etc etc

"We're only 3 games into the season, there isn't a suitable reason to have a meeting so soon." or something to that effect.

Who would be saying this? That's the point... is this not the game deciding for you? There is no one who outranks the manager on this sort of decision except the owner and why in the heck would an owner get involved on this? Who is this phantom person that is stopping you? It is the very hand holding that people dread.

Having said that, on a personal level I actually completely agree with you, it is silly to call a team meeting on a 3 game sample size.

It's not the game "deciding for you." It's the game being unable as of yet to model every conceivable reason for calling a meeting. So unless it can figure out why you're calling the meeting, it won't let you call one.

How should the AI react to a scenario which, while making perfect sense to you, is completely unknown to it? FM is a program and can only do things its coded to do. We're not dealing with sentient AI here that recognizes you're the manager and can process your comments and apply them to the situation organically. Team meetings seem like a pretty basic example of [sCENARIO] + [MANAGER ATTITUDE] applied to [PLAYER PERSONALITY] equals [CHANGE IN MORALE]. Without the game knowing just what the heck your [sCENARIO] is, its math wont add up and at best you'd just get different threads complaining about how the way players react to team meetings you call don't make any sense. Like I said above, I'd bet anything the game looks at a number of factors about your current save, and if it can't place your current situation in any of the scenarios it is programmed to recognize, you get a "There isn't a suitable reason to hold a team meeting" message.

This thread, whether it knows it or not, is calling for FM15 to recognize more reasons to call a team meeting, or figure out a way to model players' reactions to completely arbitrary meetings within the existing framework of the game.

why can't you be asked by your assistant why you want to hold a meeting? that doesn't seem to be unrealistic and would get around the AI guessing why you want to hold a meeting. I think it's kind of stupid that you can't call team meetings whenever you want, but then there are areas in the Laws of the Game that aren't done correctly that are way easier than this, so I'm not terribly surprised

It's not the game "deciding for you." It's the game being unable as of yet to model every conceivable reason for calling a meeting. So unless it can figure out why you're calling the meeting, it won't let you call one.

How should the AI react to a scenario which, while making perfect sense to you, is completely unknown to it? FM is a program and can only do things its coded to do. We're not dealing with sentient AI here that recognizes you're the manager and can process your comments and apply them to the situation organically. Team meetings seem like a pretty basic example of [sCENARIO] + [MANAGER ATTITUDE] applied to [PLAYER PERSONALITY] equals [CHANGE IN MORALE]. Without the game knowing just what the heck your [sCENARIO] is, its math wont add up and at best you'd just get different threads complaining about how the way players react to team meetings you call don't make any sense. Like I said above, I'd bet anything the game looks at a number of factors about your current save, and if it can't place your current situation in any of the scenarios it is programmed to recognize, you get a "There isn't a suitable reason to hold a team meeting" message.

This thread, whether it knows it or not, is calling for FM15 to recognize more reasons to call a team meeting, or figure out a way to model players' reactions to completely arbitrary meetings within the existing framework of the game.

That IS the game deciding for you! It blocks you lol, that is my point exactly... where is this magical AI that blocks you from having a team meeting in real life? I don't need a reason, I am the manager and I am the boss of the team, there is your scenario.

Again... I reiterate, on a personal level I agree that it is unnecessary but I see where others are coming from in the limitation.

I wish I could be that bold to my Manager and say "Great ! Another team meeting"

My problem is that i'm having this issue on July 1st... i am playing this for the first time. Just started with my team. Set some transfer targets, set a line up and some strategy. I click to proceed forward and i get an urgent email saying i need to hold team meetings but i can't. Haven't even played a preseason game. Haven't even moved a day forward. I know the game is good, and i'm sure i can eventually solve this, but holy what a frustrating first experience this has been. 

8 hours ago, Kix said:

My problem is that i'm having this issue on July 1st... i am playing this for the first time. Just started with my team. Set some transfer targets, set a line up and some strategy. I click to proceed forward and i get an urgent email saying i need to hold team meetings but i can't. Haven't even played a preseason game. Haven't even moved a day forward. I know the game is good, and i'm sure i can eventually solve this, but holy what a frustrating first experience this has been. 

Seems strange. A quick workaround would be to holiday for a day.

I found team meatings like stepping on a mindfill.   Get it wrong and you loose a leg.   Players moral goes south and you have more work to do and hope you get a positive few results ahead.

I rarely use them.  If my teams moral is green then forget about using the nuclear codes.  If every is orange and going red then it's time to call trump and get him to press the nuke button.

I agree that team meetings still need a lot of work. They're so consistently baffling that they're the one thing I do always save before just in case something ridiculous happens so I can go back to the previous save and just not hold one at all (which I hate doing, but not as much as I hate a dressing room revolt because I said "You're doing well" after winning 5 games in a row or something). Everyone arguing for the current system are free to continue to manage in the limited way it facilitates but everyone else should have the ability to call a team meeting whenever they want, and there should be more options for doing so as well.

I think there is a good case to be able to have a team meeting after 3 games.  IRL if Man City's (say) first 3 games of the season were against Hull, Middlesbrough and Palace and they lost them all, then the media and certain groups of fans would be all over it.  For one of the top teams, 3 defeats at the start of the season is enough to put a huge dent in a title or even top 4 push, and you certainly wouldn't be able to afford another one.    We can say that 3 games is not enough to establish form, but if they are 3 unexpected losses in a row, then in today's day and age that is enough to be regarded a mini crisis and a team meeting would be a logical thing to do.  But this should only make sense if the 3 results were very bad.   The game needs to be sophisticated enough to model this.