Still biggest bug bear

I've just quit my latest game as I'm really struggling to see the realism in the AI squad building programming of this game. This has long been the main issue with the series as far as I'm concerned, and this latest transfer window (summer '16) has finally tipped me over the edge. Here are some examples of ridiculous AI transfers:

PSG - In Jan they bought David Lopez and Bazoer in for a combined £40m - both DM's. Bazoer played 4 times from Jan - May and Lopez played twice.

Now in August '16 they've bought Imbula, William Carvalho and Weigl for a combined £100m. This means they've spent £140M in 6 months on 5 DM's. They already have Verratti, Motta, Rabiot and Matuidi that play here. Straight away all players signed are down as rotation or backup squad status apart from Carvalho who is a first teamer.

Real Madrid - Signed Inigo Martinez and Fontas for a combined £40m in Jan - Both CB's. This meant they had 5 first team CB's which I would say is perhaps 1 more than ideal. However now in August, they have spent £150M on Stones, Matip and Hummels. Taking them to 8 first team CB's. Straight away Fontas and Martinez are transfer listed after playing a combined 6 games for the club.

These are just 2 examples, but I've also just had Norwich spend £40M on 5 new strikers, 4 of which now are seen as rotation or backup straight after being signed.

AI transfer logic is the second most complex area of FM after the match engine & has the added requirement consequence based decision so it's no surprise that it throws up some odd decisions, I agree that there are still inconsistencies in the decision making however the AI is constantly updated by SI & what we have today is far superior to the AI of even a couple of versions ago.

I'd also say that even a perfect AI will make poor decisions because that's what happens irl, both the clubs you've mentioned have wasted a lot of money on players they should never have bought, Real Madrid spent £60m on James Rodriquez & if that happened in FM there would probably be questions about why they signed another AM for a massive fee when they were already pretty well stocked in that department.

AI transfer logic is the second most complex area of FM after the match engine & has the added requirement consequence based decision so it's no surprise that it throws up some odd decisions, I agree that there are still inconsistencies in the decision making however the AI is constantly updated by SI & what we have today is far superior to the AI of even a couple of versions ago.

I'd also say that even a perfect AI will make poor decisions because that's what happens irl, both the clubs you've mentioned have wasted a lot of money on players they should never have bought, Real Madrid spent £60m on James Rodriquez & if that happened in FM there would probably be questions about why they signed another AM for a massive fee when they were already pretty well stocked in that department.

Agree that they may have at times 'wasted money' but when was the last time Real and PSG spent a fortune on a player but didn't play him? James Rodriguez still plays 25-40 games a season so it isn't really wasted as such. Only player I can think of in recent times was Illaramendi, but even he played 25 odd times. We see it far too many times in FM where AI clubs spend a fortune on players and just don't play them due to them overloading in those positions.

I play FM15 almost exclusively, but I do notice a reluctance of AI managers to rotate their squad. This contributes to the rotation/backup players on a team playing so few matches in FM in comparison to what they would play in real life. I think it makes sense that big clubs overstock their squads, but they would still distribute the playing time a little more equally across their various competitions.

Poor squad rotation is an issue, unfortunately that does make some transfer decisions look bad when in reality the manager would make better use of their squad. Although the two are linked in terms of player unhappiness driving transfers the core issue is with the team selector AI rather than the transfer AI.

When the former is addressed the latter should be much improved without actually having to make any changes.

On the bright side, you can often pick some of these guys up for far cheaper after they get upset and the lack of play has their value drop.

That isn't a bright side for me, because it dilutes the realism significantly. I've noticed several big money signings never even make their debuts for their side before being sold for half price a year later. I hope this can be improved, however slightly, for later editions.

On the bright side, you can often pick some of these guys up for far cheaper after they get upset and the lack of play has their value drop.

Unfortunately though their wages will be so high that they will end up turning you down because they will want stupid money to move and you will end up paying far too much in wages

For me, this is a huge issue. I do agree that irl, managers make poor decisions (transfers) all the time, but in FM, the AI simply has zero idea on how to build a team. Like zero. No identity. No culture. No ambition is shown by the AI and that, ladies and gentleman, is the bottom line

Sure we can argue that irl managers do in fact make poor decisions generally, but in FM, the AI only knows of poor decisions and nothing else.

Cheers

Unfortunately though their wages will be so high that they will end up turning you down because they will want stupid money to move and you will end up paying far too much in wages

This is true, but as a wealthier team with a need you can often pick up an upgrade for less than what they should go for in transfer funds, and still be able to afford the wages. I still find that this often works with middle of the pack teams if you do it for one or two guys. I agree that it isn't realistic at all though.

That isn't a bright side for me, because it dilutes the realism significantly. I've noticed several big money signings never even make their debuts for their side before being sold for half price a year later. I hope this can be improved, however slightly, for later editions.

I have seen this happen far too often too.

As just one example, after promotion in my 1st season with Cardiff I brought in Mexican striker Carlos Fierro on a free who was brilliant for us in that 1st year in the EPL. Man City made bid(s) for him in the summer which I initially turned down but then negotiated it up to £35.5m plus Fernandinho which was an amazing deal for us.

Anyway, the point is that 6 months later he hadn't featured at all for them (no injuries, just not being picked) and I managed to buy him back for £17m in January. He stayed with us for a very successful 18 months before we made another big profit.

Big clubs with too much money to spend, like Man City and PSG, buy all these players they don't need and can't even register because they buy too many to fit into their 25-man squads. It's stupid really.

I can't even get my DoF to sign a back-up left fullback (even when I'm actively asking for one), but he'll try to sign 8 center backs. Fortunately, I have final approval on contracts, so I end up repeatedly cancelling the contract offers he makes (which mostly would put us over the wage budget by several $Ks a week.)

I assume none of them could play at DL? If not the he probably thinks your current centre backs aren't good enough & he thinks he's found better options.

btw Is that FM16?