Maximum staff numbers at start of game too low at some clubs (Have 22 scouts, max allowed is 16. Have 9 coaches, max allowed is 5)

Thank you for flagging. This is a known issue we're looking into.  

Hi @Zachary Whyte

I am doubting that this will change in time for full release (which is disappointing, but I still remain hopeful that I am wrong!)

I just wanted to add to this with a further example of the insanity of this.

So I started a Dorking Wanderers save in Vanarama National League.

They start off with 8 coaching staff, whilst only being allowed 2.

Doing a board request at this stage for more staff members is flat-out declined. Fair enough, 8 coaching staff is probably more than enough at that level.

As an experiment, I fired 6 of the coaching staff, so I had 2 remaining. I then asked the board for more coaches. They agreed and gave me 1 more. Gee, thanks.  

With the staff contracts expiring in 2023, basically I would be forced to cut my staff by 66-75% next year anyway even if I stayed in the same league, just because.

I did some more testing with some save-and-reload magic. So I start with 8/2 coaches. I fire 4 of them, and then ask the board for more coaches. They reject initially but I'm able to convince that the players will want to play here, and that we'll be left behind by rivals, and Marc White relents. I can now have 5 coaches ... so I was at 4/2 and now I'm at 4/5. That's not great - I appreciate the 3 extra coaches i'm being allowed suddenly, but why did I need to fire 4 coaches to get there??

Here are links to me talking about this issue (and reporting it) on two previous occasions, to no avail:

Please please tell me this will not be an issue come release day?

Edited October 31, 2022 by theinfamousmielie
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So I guess not worthy of getting fixed.

Giving the managers earrings, watches and rings is prime importance, but fixing a YEARS OLD ISSUE - naaah.

Seriously considering a refund at this point. 

I've attached my Liverpool staff numbers from a fresh save. And for the hell of it, here's my screenshots from FM20 and FM21 (forgot to save my one from FM22) saves with Dorking which exist as attachments in the forum because of how long ago i posted about this bug.

Edited November 8, 2022 by theinfamousmielie

Hello, we appreciate your feedback. However, it's not a simple adjustment, the whole system will need an entire rework which is something we are looking at but it will take a significant amount of time and resources, thank you.

@Zachary Whyteforgive me, I don't wish to be rude and this isn't directed at you ... but I call bullpoop. 

"The whole system will need an entire rework" 

I can't see how this can be true. Obviously I don't believe you can write 2 lines of code and fix this ... but it's not unreasonable of me to assume that there's a routine that runs periodically that ascertains whether the board is satisfied with the number of staff members for a given "slot" (i.e. coaches, scouts, performance analysts etc) and comes up with a number that it deems as "the maximum number". Yes, no doubt there are lots of factors that goes into what that maximum number ends up being, but I'm not suggesting that these factors be altered.

So when this routine is run for the first time in a save for the club (and AI clubs) simply check if the current number of staff is greater than the maximum number of staff. Yes, it is? Then set the maximum number of staff to that number. Not difficult.

And then, when this routine is run going forward, a club health check can be performed - is the club's finances spiralling out of control, or is the club stable or even rich? If it's insecure or worse, then by all means become a bit more tight with the staff numbers ... ("The board feel that the coaching staff is too large ...") although please don't just base it on reputation which is never and should never be an indication of a clubs ability to have and pay staff.

But you can largely use the same calculations that you're currently using, perhaps with a bit more leniency in terms of the numbers (i.e. don't expect me to have to fire 75% of my staff unless I've literally dragged the club practically into administration)

So to summarise:

* At game start, set the maximum staff numbers to the current staff numbers in all categories if the current staff numbers are already greater than the initial max.
* Tweak the existing logic to make sure that a board that wants you to trim the fat doesn't actually expect you to trim way too much

That's it.

I struggle to see why this needs "an entire rework" that takes a significant amount of time and resources. We're not asking for a staff system rewrite.

You can't seriously tell me that for 4 (or more) years nobody on the dev team has noticed this and thought "this isn't right, we should really fix this..."

So I'd like to know - whether it takes significant time and resources or not - is this issue going to be fixed this year, or should I pre-write my complaint post for in advance for FM 24?