Unremarkable players who just work.

I'm interested- sometimes it seems that players you sign to bulk out the squad, or maybe to provide cover, end up being in your squad much longer than you'd anticipated, even becoming central parts of the team. I'm sure it happens to all of us from time to time, so I'd be interested to see who's performing above the standard you'd expect at the moment, especially given their attributes.

The example that's prompted this post is a chap named David Gormley. We (Berwick Rangers) had finished rock bottom of the Scottish 2nd Division, and most of the squad's contracts had run out. As the new season approached, I was frankly just trying to put a squad together within the wage budget. Usually I set "Pace 10" as a bare minimum for any player, and "Finishing 10" as the bare minimum for a striker. But as the season drew near, I was really struggling to find a striker.

In came David Gormley, with attributes that'd usually make me not take a second glance. He got a couple in pre-season against non-league opposition, so I let him start the season, assuming he'd be dropped behind someone once I managed to get a replacement. But somehow, despite now having attributes that have DECREASED since signing him, over two seasons later he's still a fixture in my first team, a division higher, and still doing it, as a Target Man.

His current attributes, as a 27-year-old:

And those career stats:

For whatever reason, as a Target Man alongside an Advanced Forward, he's just thriving. Never did I expect him to be a 20-goal striker, even in the Scottish League Two, and yet he's just carried on chugging along, putting the ball in the net despite everyone else on the pitch- and many more in the squad- being better than him. My Ass Man gives him 2*, and rates him as the fourth-best striker at the club- and yet, I can't bring myself to drop him.

So, I want to know- who's overperforming, overachieving for you? Is it a second-string keeper who's somehow forced their way ahead of a favourite? A past-it defender who has turned themselves into a wall? Or perhaps a winger who apparently can't pass for toffee, but has assists out the wazoo? Share your surprise success stories- I'd love to hear them.

At a higher level, but Matthew Kilgallon was a God in my Blackburn Rovers team. And his attributes really weren't all that. Ditto Lewis Alessandra in my Plymouth save.

Had a youth player when managing in Wales who i almost released as he was only rated 2 stars and 'good' for the division (At this stage we were group stage CL team). Kept him on as a backup and developed his stats to make the most of what he had (pace) as a RM/RB, he ended up staying at the club until he reached his early thirties and put in some incredible performances despite not being all that great, got a fair few caps for Wales too once i became manager.

A player for my Parma side on my current save is rated as my 4th best AMC with potential to be a good Serie B AMC but is the actually best performing player in the league. Top goal scorer, highest avg rating & most assists in Serie A.

He is proof that attributes in the right area count more than CA/PA.

Had many over the years.

One that springs to mind was a DC from a Welsh save on FM11 or FM12.

I took over the club and he was a 1* CA/2.5* PA 22yo sitting in the reserves. He was on non-contract terms so the following season I kept him around to provide emergency cover and he got a chance when injuries hit.

Long story short he ended up as club captain for the next 10 seasons drifted between 1.5* & 2* CA and averaged between 7.2 & 7.5 every season.

A few years back I had Rob Kozluk in my team at right back. I didn't even realise how rubbish his stats were until my friend pointed it out - he was sitting comfortably in the team as my best right back, but should've really been a division or two below.

In my current save, I have a regen called Goran Vidic who I just got in to cover the #10 role.. Young, cheap but nothing great. He ended up being my second top scorer having joined in January, and has just been voted Player of the Season the following year. He is now developing nicely, but to start with his stats were pretty average.

I took over a League 2/1 yo-yo club and eventually replaced the whole squad. For League 2 I signed players who just had one impressive skill (like my striker who had 19 Dribbling and **** all else) or who could physically beat players (high enough on Jumping and/or Strength and/or Pace & Acceleration).

But some of these players I kept all the way to the Premier League. My right midfielder, for example, was a right wingback with all technical attributes below 10, a couple of good physical attributes, and he was getting over 7 average rating in League One and the Championship as a friggin' winger.

Adam Vass, for my Norwich side, began rated at 3.5*, but once my team grew, he was 2.5* and my staff repeatedly told me to ditch him. Another case of all the key stats were great though, and he was a linchpin in a midfield that dominated England and Europe. Best moment was scoring his only goal of the season in the 90th minute of the CL final to get us into extra time. Went to penos and he missed his, but can't complain wouldn't have been there, and eventually champions of Europe, without him.

Lawlore -

To be honest, I have not seen much of a difference in attribute needs between the lower 3 Scottish leagues, and that anyone who has some of the general 8-10 ratings like Gormley will do the job all the way up. I had a save that took Berwick up to the SPL in 3 seasons with those types of players. Then they were all played off the pitch and I couldn't afford better...

In that save I had Devon Jacobs fit the bill of this thread (original FM14 DB) in that he performed more consistently and generally well at RB even over better rated players. I have now figured out that is because he has very good ratings for big matches.

That 18 in determination also means that he keeps on trying... even if the last 20 shots went into the cheap seats. Which is perfect in the lower Scottish leagues!

I had a winger Danny Luke who was 1.5 star CA and was a good player for Skrill Premier.

I kept bringing in better rated wingers who underperformed for most of the season.

When it came to crunch time Danny Luke kept scoring clutch goals and playing well near the end of the season until I got promoted to Skybet Championship when I finally let him go.

I had a lad I signed from from Croatia andrej kramaric was his name. Signed for 425k for Watford in my current longstanding save. Took me up as champions with 35 goals in the champ after been signed as a backup CF. Then went on to be the runner up and twice top scorer in the prem playing alone up top. Came 5 shy of beating all time goal scoring record set by Luther blissett (149)only because I had advanced on so much and was challenging and winning the prem and the champions league we had signed a different level of striker. Was a great player and will bring him back to the club once he retires. His stats however were only very average, was just both footed and had 19 composure and high concentration. In the box, he just scored.

I don't know why your ass man rates him as only 2 stars. His stats seem pretty good for scottish league 2

On FM12, I signed Sebastian Mladen for a Serie C2 club when he was released from Roma. He then smashed the club appearances record as club captain & played in every league and cup available to my team, all the way up to Serie A & CL. Even got two Romaina caps

Pierre Emmanuel Bourtembourg. A prosaic workman like bloke from Belgium yet held together the left midfield forever and a day until the game crashed ten seasons in. Bought in CM00-01 and looks to be doing the business in Belgium L3 today.

I've noticed this as well. Sometimes attribute values appear to have no bearing on how well a player performs.

I'll give you an example. At the start of my save with Espinho I had a left winger in the squad called Ricardinho (check him out). His finishing is very poor - as are a few other stats that are related to goalscoring prowess - and yet in the early part of my career he has regularly contributed 15+ goals a season from AML and AMC. He actually appears to be a deadly finisher at times even though his stats say otherwise.

Also, I had a DC named Fabio in the initial squad. Decent enough attributes for the 3rd div, but should never be able to cope with Liga ZON SAGRES. And yet, 6 seasons on, he's still in the squad and often gets a game.

I play the game in an ultra-realistic manner (i.e. no player searches etc), so I don't pay THAT much attention to stats. If a player performs he stays in the team.

Lyle Dellaverde, He starts the game on a Trialist team and can be had for a free. Good Freekick and Corner Taker. Used him off the bench in League2 sides that would get promoted. Scored set piece goals almost upon command when needed. Never gave him more than rotational use off the bench, but his player rating was over 7. Yet I would be loathe to get rid of him.

Ryan Pore was like this in MLS in FM12 and 13 (despite having his stats reduced for 13). He always used to score against me with Portland (including 4 goals in a game once), so I started snapping him up whenever I could - works surprisingly well as an inside forward despite his meager stats. Think he's been removed from FM14 though, retired to sell insurance or something a few years ago.

A few versions back I had an attacking midfielder called Alessandro Cesarini who captained my Venezia team up through the divisions, and remained a useful, contributing player in Serie A even when his attributes looked inferior to everyone around him, and even other players in my team.

At Aberdeen I've grown consistently to the point where Fraser Fyvie, Ryan Jack and Cammy Smith are all only 2.5* players but are all still first teamers doing a job for me regularly keeping better players out of the team. Smith has scored 140 goals in 241 games for me since the start of the game, that's in the league only.

I think this is where hidden attributes come into play and have make a huge impact on the game. You could have someone with low stats but great hidden attributes(Consistency and Important Matches) that are better than players with high stats but terrible hidden attributes.

Half of my FC United team. I actually signed players who were half a star or more 'better', and ended up going back to the originals as they play much better.

This guy has been absolutely brilliant for me in the serie B this season. I know the serie B isnt the greatest of leagues but even there his stats seem quite mediocre, yet he got a 7.59 average league rating:

Mascara reminds me of Andre Boucaud, who was still doing the business for me in the Championship at the age of 33, despite having no physical attributes. He had outstanding mental attributes though and I surrounded him with players to do the hard work.

John Rooney is getting the job done for me in League 1 with Chester.

I'm interested- sometimes it seems that players you sign to bulk out the squad, or maybe to provide cover, end up being in your squad much longer than you'd anticipated, even becoming central parts of the team. I'm sure it happens to all of us from time to time, so I'd be interested to see who's performing above the standard you'd expect at the moment, especially given their attributes.

The example that's prompted this post is a chap named David Gormley. We (Berwick Rangers) had finished rock bottom of the Scottish 2nd Division, and most of the squad's contracts had run out. As the new season approached, I was frankly just trying to put a squad together within the wage budget. Usually I set "Pace 10" as a bare minimum for any player, and "Finishing 10" as the bare minimum for a striker. But as the season drew near, I was really struggling to find a striker.

In came David Gormley, with attributes that'd usually make me not take a second glance. He got a couple in pre-season against non-league opposition, so I let him start the season, assuming he'd be dropped behind someone once I managed to get a replacement. But somehow, despite now having attributes that have DECREASED since signing him, over two seasons later he's still a fixture in my first team, a division higher, and still doing it, as a Target Man.

His current attributes, as a 27-year-old:

And those career stats:

For whatever reason, as a Target Man alongside an Advanced Forward, he's just thriving. Never did I expect him to be a 20-goal striker, even in the Scottish League Two, and yet he's just carried on chugging along, putting the ball in the net despite everyone else on the pitch- and many more in the squad- being better than him. My Ass Man gives him 2*, and rates him as the fourth-best striker at the club- and yet, I can't bring myself to drop him.

So, I want to know- who's overperforming, overachieving for you? Is it a second-string keeper who's somehow forced their way ahead of a favourite? A past-it defender who has turned themselves into a wall? Or perhaps a winger who apparently can't pass for toffee, but has assists out the wazoo? Share your surprise success stories- I'd love to hear them.

Not really to do with the game, but randomly I know David Gormley. He's a nice guy so there's another reason to keep him in the team!

I always found Federico Macheda (Man Utd Under 21's) to work at a premership level despite his stats would only be good enough really for a championship striker, he is fast but his finishing stat isnt brilliant but yet he knocks em in for my norwich side on a regular basis and has become a fan favourite

If I remember, in early versions of Championship Manager (before the split), there were some hidden jems where there stats were poor but they always played well. One name that springs to mind was something like Tonto Zola Moukoko. There were a few swedish unknowns as well but cannot remember their names.

I suppose it will depend on your tactics as some players who do not look good on paper can slot in and do a good job.

It is always pleasing when this happens though.