I will be using my ongoing Belgium save as an example but believe this is a general issue for B teams in leagues that don't exist in game. There are a multitude of failing processes in regards these teams that make player development a disaster. My save is with Seraing, originally in the 2nd division (Challenger) and after season 1 the top division (Jupiler). The B team (RFC Seraing II) IRL plays in the Amateur 3rd division (5th tier?).
Firstly, no matches are played by the B team after August each season unless the player manually arranges friendly matches (see screenshots), B team players either have to play in U18 matches, or sit inactive all season playing no games, and stalling their development. The responsibility for arranging B team matches doesn't work if you delegate it. The options for friendlies are pretty awful, meaning the level of competition is not great and the value of games is pretty minimal to development.
Secondly, B team staff are incredibly difficult to sign. Perhaps due to the lack of actual fixtures, staff scouted using the B team staff filter will refuse to accept a contract to work for the B team, instead demanding U18 roles in preference (a lesser team but actual fixtures). The only workaround for this is to offer far more money than they are originally wanting, and bribe them to take the role. This also breaks the B team staff signing responsibility delegation as a side affect.
Thirdly, due to this lack of desire on the side of prospective staff, the number of staff willing to consider a B team role is far lower than the U18 team, and the potential quality of staff willing to even consider taking the role is far lower than the lesser U18 team. This means that players graduate the U18s, and if not quite ready for a stronger first team, sit in the B team, and their development deteriorates rapidly unless an emergency loan can be found. Even with a full friendly schedule, it's very hard to continue development. This is not an issue if you immediately graduate U18 players to the full squad, but as soon as you attempt to build a strong youth system this is a nightmare.
Finally, because the players are not playing, and their development stalls out or regresses, it becomes very difficult to arrange loans for B team squad players. The AI appears to devalue players in the B team, making it very difficult to loan out players other than those you've just signed. I am currently trying workarounds for this issue, including moving the players to the main squad before offering them out.
I'll also throw in that there are some occassional graphics glitches on the B team training development centre page (see screenshot).
Can something please be done to at least make these teams fit for purpose.
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