The Fulcrum - Silk & Steel. A complete Tactical System for 14.1.4 and beyond......

[Aleynasdad]

Agreed. That's the best part of the game. That's why I quit on my Liverpool save and got back to my hometown club Paderborn. I live 2 miles from their stadium, they've never played in the 1.Bundesliga before.

I remember back in FM 10 I set up a fictional club in London (via Editor) and started in League 2. Nothing better than building your own little club and conquering Europe with a real-world nobody. I also remember saves on past versions where I took HJK Helsinki to winning UEFA Cup (CM 01/02) or making Inverness Caledonian Thistle (2nd Div. at that time) the biggest club in Scotland in FM 06.

Thats why I was so excited by Whitehawk this year. This save its just luck as I was doing career and the job came up by chance but if you google image the Enclosed ground (Whitehawks ground), the parkland just to the left is where I learnt to play rugby. In fact East Brighton Park is pretty much where I spent my whole miscreant childhood and at the time I didnt know the team existed.

Uwe gives us the chance to dream...

[Mr U Rosler]

That's the Conference won with 1 game to spare.

Back to Back promotions. Media prediction was dead last.

Now for the world of League 2. 3 automatic promotion places and 7 substitutes.

I got stuck here for 3 season last time so hope to do better this time

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Night all

[Powello]

Well done

my turn now

[Paggioram]

Well done Uwe. I think if you have built it right you should be able to challenge League 2 straight off.

[Mr U Rosler]

Well done Uwe. I think if you have built it right you should be able to challenge League 2 straight off.

Unable to attract any League 2 rated players. Even released ones.

Gonna have to do it the hard way again with Skrill Players!

[manuol86]

with this tactic I played seven years:

16 personal rewards

18 competitions won

I play offensive at home and outside control

reliable tactical

last season (3.5 goals on average) for (0.2 goals cashed)

[Azza2306]

How did you come up with the Key attributes? I am using the tactic and it is working well I am just curios as I have some players which the game says can play in the positions but dont have the Key attributes that you have suggested.

[Mr U Rosler]

How did you come up with the Key attributes? I am using the tactic and it is working well I am just curios as I have some players which the game says can play in the positions but dont have the Key attributes that you have suggested.

The key attributes are designed to complement the tactic and bring the best out in it. If you have players for roles but dont fit the attribute requirements the tactic will still work but not as well.

[jayahr]

Have started a save last night with Wolves to try the tactic at last.

Don't get to play that much, so don't expect updates in the frequency of what others post in here...

Impression from the first friendlies: Playing the minnows out of the park.

1-2 to Basel (H), but even match

6-1 Northampton (A)

8-1 Airbus UK (H)

7-0 some other non-league (H)

Lots of shots, but only few long shots

Looking very good so far

[Mr U Rosler]

OK,

Following promotion the Reputation 'jump' occurs in the last week of June.

By holding off on my recruitment until 1st July i've been able to recruit quite well. Obviously a lot of the best free transfers are gone by then but i've been able to pick up an outstanding Compete Forward and a good False 9 and a couple of better fullbacks.

Won first game of season 4 - 0 away at Carlisle with my new complete forward bagging a hat-rick inside 30 minutes on his debut which bodes well.

now feeling confident for the League 2 campaign.

[Mr U Rosler]

Have started a save last night with Wolves to try the tactic at last.

Don't get to play that much, so don't expect updates in the frequency of what others post in here...

Impression from the first friendlies: Playing the minnows out of the park.

1-2 to Basel (H), but even match

6-1 Northampton (A)

8-1 Airbus UK (H)

7-0 some other non-league (H)

Lots of shots, but only few long shots

Looking very good so far

I would expect nothing less than winning the League 1 with Wolves..... keep us posted

[Powello]

I am dominating the skrill prem this season. 8 points clear after 17 games, on a 9 game winning streak. Only lost one so far. My left sided bbm has 19 assists in 17 games. I picked up some amazing players by turning off the ass mans advice in the player search.

uwe, do you find that the right sided bbm does poorly overall? No matter who I put there they hardly do anything. It's the one position I am having trouble with. I am going to work on his instructions and see if I can get him into the games more

[Mr U Rosler]

I am dominating the skrill prem this season. 8 points clear after 17 games, on a 9 game winning streak. Only lost one so far. My left sided bbm has 19 assists in 17 games. I picked up some amazing players by turning off the ass mans advice in the player search.

uwe, do you find that the right sided bbm does poorly overall? No matter who I put there they hardly do anything. It's the one position I am having trouble with. I am going to work on his instructions and see if I can get him into the games more

They are both pretty consistant, you might just have a player with great hidden attributes in your left sided BBM role. I wouldnt mess with the player instructions, you're walking the League right?

Also, Goalkeeper seems to distribute to the Left back a lot more than the right back for some reason. More attacks go up the Left side of the pitch.

[Powello]

you might just have a player with great hidden attributes in your left sided BBM role

I thought that aswell but I have tried a few others there and they all do well there, much more so than the right.

Hmm weirdly my RB gets much higher ratings than my LB haha.

I am walking the league at the moment yes, but isn't it always better to walk it in style? haha. To be fair our record in the league is P17 W13 D3 L1 F49 A13 so maybe we are doing it in style already lol

[Powello]

Oh and I am trying out using def set pieces all season.after the tactic is fluid. So far we have conceded just 1 goal from corners and none from in direct free kicks. But I also do have many players with very good jumping reach

[burnum]

uwe, do you find that the right sided bbm does poorly overall? No matter who I put there they hardly do anything. It's the one position I am having trouble with. I am going to work on his instructions and see if I can get him into the games more

During my Liverpool save it was the exact opposite - my right BBM was usually better than my left BBM. I thought it could have something to do with both players being right-footed.

[Powello]

my left sided bbm is a right footer

Oh and I got it wrong, I thought I had set it to def set pieces but it's actually on teamwork still, so I guess its the fact I have a lot of good jumping reach players in the side

[Mr U Rosler]

Good start to League 2 campaign. Blending in a lot of new players.

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[jayahr]

I would expect nothing less than winning the League 1 with Wolves..... keep us posted

Nor does the board...

Will do

[Aleynasdad]

OK,

Following promotion the Reputation 'jump' occurs in the last week of June.

By holding off on my recruitment until 1st July i've been able to recruit quite well. Obviously a lot of the best free transfers are gone by then but i've been able to pick up an outstanding Compete Forward and a good False 9 and a couple of better fullbacks.

Won first game of season 4 - 0 away at Carlisle with my new complete forward bagging a hat-rick inside 30 minutes on his debut which bodes well.

now feeling confident for the League 2 campaign.

Thats always been the case Uwe..... I know Im not going to get any good players following promotion unti after June 24th. And in my present state probably not until JUly 1st (relying on free transfers)

[Powello]

just had an FA Trophy first round match. I was 2-0 down at half time to harrogate who are a league below me and struggling. I went all aggresive on them in the team talk and changed to overload for the whole half. Ended up winning 5-2 Keeps ours 15 game winning streak going

[burnum]

Had a shaky start to my season with Paderborn (expected 6th). Won 2 early games, then lost at Home to Hoffenheim. Since that I've had 5 draws in a row in the league. Seems I can only win in meaningless Euro-League games at the moment. Currently 9th in the league, we really need to start winning again to improve team morale.

[Praha06]

Having trained my best throw in taker to do flat bullet throws I am getting plenty in the oppositions 3rd but I don't think Im making the most of them cos they get cleared 95 per cent of the time and sometimes resulting in a dangerous counter by the opposition. Where should i be aiming the throws?

[burnum]

Uwe, do you have any recommendations for PPMs for the specific positions? And why do you consider GK to be the most important position on the team?

[Mr U Rosler]

Having trained my best throw in taker to do flat bullet throws I am getting plenty in the oppositions 3rd but I don't think Im making the most of them cos they get cleared 95 per cent of the time and sometimes resulting in a dangerous counter by the opposition. Where should i be aiming the throws?

Throw in's seemed to be linked to the corner routine in some way. I must admit i was getting more out of the long throw when i set corners to near post.

you can try that. If your DM is taking your long throws you could be exposed. Short throws can be pretty good too so as an alternative try that.

[jayahr]

Short further update: Another 3 trashings in the further pre-season friendlies of Wolves. 6-0, 5-1, 8-0 respectively.

All against minnows, but I'm impressed with both the consistency of the performances as with the variety of chances and their creation. Beautiful football

[Mr U Rosler]

Uwe, do you have any recommendations for PPMs for the specific positions? And why do you consider GK to be the most important position on the team?

The more i think about PPM the more its strikes they are more of problem than a solution.

For example midfielders and strikers with 'shoot from distance' are hopeless. Ideal complete forwards with 'come short' or 'slows done play' cannot function in that role etc. DCs and DM's who 'dive' into tackles.

Need to do a piece on what to look out for when signing players.

The reasoning for considering Goalkeepers as so important is that if the other 10 players have awful games and your Goalkeeper plays a blinder you are still in with chance. If the other 10 players play well and your goalkeeper has a shocker you can still lose.

On my last save I spent all of my £20 million transfer budget on a keeper one season and did not regret it.

[Mr U Rosler]

Hi Uwe,

First of all, just wanted to say a massive thanks to you for creating these tactics, they've really made me enjoy FM again! I'm the type of player who prefers to focus on squad building and not spend too much time tweaking tactics, and your tactics, both Fearsome Engine in FM 2013 and Fulcrum in this year's version, have done just the job!

I've had very good success with Portsmouth using various incarnations of the Fulcrum. Three back-to-back promotions and finishing 4th in my first season back in the Premiership, beating Chelsea 2-0 away on the final day of the season to clinch that 4th spot

It's going even better in the 2nd PL season after some reinforcements arrived in the summer, sitting 1st in the league in February and in the playoffs of the Champions League, although I hope I'm not gonna jinx it by writing about it...

Also got a couple of tips and one question:

Tips:

- Defending set pieces has worked a treat for me as match preparation, otherwise I was conceding quite a bit from these.

- I'm using a slightly different corner set up which I found on some other forum (or somewhere else on this forum) and it's working rather nicely too. The near post center back is scoring plenty of goals from corners and long throws.

Question:

Do you have any tips on which type of center back should be cover and which should be on defend? Should I look for stronger mental attributes for the one on cover and more of a physical beast for the defensive one?

Cheers!

PS Hope the images work since it's my first time posting like this...

I'm gonna try this set up (thanks DKOUV)

[Mr U Rosler]

After 20 games i'm still top of the pile but as you can see i'm very inconsistent.

Considering Media prediction is again 24th I cant complain.

I'm have 1 fit striker left due to injuries (funny how injuries target the same position) including my star striker being out for 4 months which will have a major impact on me.

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[Aleynasdad]

After 20 games i'm still top of the pile but as you can see i'm very inconsistent.

Considering Media prediction is again 24th I cant complain.

I'm have 1 fit striker left due to injuries (funny how injuries target the same position) including my star striker being out for 4 months which will have a major impact on me.

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Lot of work this week so probably wont finish Skrill premier before Friday but found exactly the same problem this season. In January and have lost six games which is a lot but still five points clear. Also have had a massive injury crisis in midfield and have a huge gap at MC for a month at least. I think the case is teams are now parking the bus on us and sometimes the players are getting complacent.

[RMAMDF]

I´m having a great time with this tactic. Finished my last season having great bids for my wingers and since I had two MC kids arriving in the end of the season (I played in a 4-3-3 or 4-1-2-2-1 wide if you prefer) I changed to this tactic. Followed the guidelines for recruitment and to this moment I´m having a great time. I really like the way the team defend and how they quicky organize the attack! I´m just getting the MC advanced ratings per game a little bit low but even though he doesn´t get assists or score goals, you can see he participates well in the attack orgranization. This is a very good tactic Mr U Rosler. My congratulations!

Cheers

[gredawarha1979]

The more i think about PPM the more its strikes they are more of problem than a solution.

For example midfielders and strikers with 'shoot from distance' are hopeless. Ideal complete forwards with 'come short' or 'slows done play' cannot function in that role etc. DCs and DM's who 'dive' into tackles.

Need to do a piece on what to look out for when signing players.

The reasoning for considering Goalkeepers as so important is that if the other 10 players have awful games and your Goalkeeper plays a blinder you are still in with chance. If the other 10 players play well and your goalkeeper has a shocker you can still lose.

On my last save I spent all of my £20 million transfer budget on a keeper one season and did not regret it.

Mr Rosler

Big thank you for your tactic but even more so for the torough breakdown of how it works and what players to choose. Great Stuff.

I am currently playing as Spurs and despite a slow start I seem to be doing very well now in the top four as I head toward Christmas. I found your comments about PPM interesting as I have found that my strikers and midfileders will often shoot from distance and I don't recall ever scoring many. So far it has been the only frustrating element of my play.

Keep up the good work!

[Mr U Rosler]

There are certainly a lot of long shots under this match engine.

When midfielders choose to shoot from distance instead of playing someone in you could argue that this is due to low flair/creativity attributes even though the pass is obvious to us.

But when you constantly see players running in on goal, unopposed, take 30 yard pot shots instead of closing in on the keeper, committing him or 'rounding' him you know this is not a tactical or attribute issue.

I miss the old longshot slider!

[gredawarha1979]

There are certainly a lot of long shots under this match engine.

When midfielders choose to shoot from distance instead of playing someone in you could argue that this is due to low flair/creativity attributes even though the pass is obvious to us.

But when you constantly see players running in on goal, unopposed, take 30 yard pot shots instead of closing in on the keeper, committing him or 'rounding' him you know this is not a tactical or attribute issue.

I miss the old longshot slider!

Precisely. Too many times are players taking long shots when they should bare down on goal. I hadn't realised that the long shot slider had gone. But then I have only had FM14 since Friday night. Being 34 my days of playing FM constantly are sadly over.

[Mr U Rosler]

Precisely. Too many times are players taking long shots when they should bare down on goal. I hadn't realised that the long shot slider had gone. But then I have only had FM14 since Friday night. Being 34 my days of playing FM constantly are sadly over.

All sliders are gone!

I can't bare to read the 14.1.4 feedback thread as it's the same 5 blokes continually argueing about the same things but I think a fresh patch is due before xmas.

I'm not desperate for an update but I think one of the things they are working on is the variety in the finishing. Would be nice to see curled shots, keepers rounded etc.

[gredawarha1979]

All sliders are gone!

I can't bare to read the 14.1.4 feedback thread as it's the same 5 blokes continually argueing about the same things but I think a fresh patch is due before xmas.

I'm not desperate for an update but I think one of the things they are working on is the variety in the finishing. Would be nice to see curled shots, keepers rounded etc.

Wow no sliders! I should pay more attention. But then I have concentrated on playing and installing my custom images which i slightly more problematic then previous years but sorry I am drifting off topic.

The Missus is away for most of this week so once my son is in bed the laptop will come out and FM will be loaded!

[Pipoli]

Agreed. That's the best part of the game. That's why I quit on my Liverpool save and got back to my hometown club Paderborn. I live 2 miles from their stadium, they've never played in the 1.Bundesliga before.

Ha! I work for a company very close to the stadium as well (at least it was close to the new one that was being built in 2007). I work in the Brazilian branch, but I have been to Paderborn in 2007. Great place!

[shimceltic]

Hi, great tactic but my anchor man doesnt really get decent ratings. Not that bothered as im winning but seeing as his stats are excellent and i spent 70million on him id like to see him average alot higher, any ideas?

[Pipoli]

My feedback.

So, I used v2 in my first two seasons with Flamengo (Brazil), with great success. In my third season, I switched to S&S. My observations after 6 in-game months (I wish I played more frequently to give more regular and complete feedbacks):

- I seem to score a lot from corners. Both DCs score with frequency, there is no tendency to any of the two.

- My F9 scores more than the CF. Compared to v2, this is great, as in v2 the F9 was very weak on the scoring side.

- S&S is much more consistent defensively than v2 was. With v2, I used to win suffering goals and now I get more clean sheets.

- The new CM "appears" less than the Advanced Playmaker in v2. I would suggest using direct passing for this guy so that, as soon as he gets the ball, he tries to reach the forwards (more on this below).

- Opposite to Rosler's suggestion a few posts back, I have noticed that inverted feet for the strikers is better: My left-footed F9 performed much better on the right, while my right-footed CF performed much better on the left.

Now, to the second part, which is a little bit of a repetition of what I reported in the previous thread: close to the end of the Semester, it seemed that the AI 'learned' how to counter my tactic and I started drawing/loosing in sequence, for no apparent reason. What saved me from a very bad run was the goals consistently scored by my DCs from corners.

So, I figured I should use the same strategy I used in previous FM incarnations: as soon as the AI "cracks" the tactic, I should switch my passing style to "confuse them". So, I created FulcrumSS_DEF (I will upload it later and post a link here for people suffering from sudden losing streaks). It is the exact tactic posted by MrU, with the following changes (if you want to try it by yourselves before my upload):

- More Direct Passing, Higher Tempo, Counter, Fluid. Maintain individual "short passing" only for DCs and DMC. All the other guys will follow the team instruction of Direct Passing.

The logic behind this is to adapt to the "new" AI behaviour when facing S&S. They start building up their play and pushing up their defensive line. By using counter/direct, we get them on the break very often, as the S&S basic defensive structure is kept and our midfield steals a lot of balls. In this case, the "Counter" mentality invites the opposition into our half, which is exactly what we want. They will not pass our BBM DM BMM blitz line anyway.

So, when the semester closed, SS_DEF was working so well that I got to the Libertadores final (South American Champions League) and I beat Santos 5-0 away and 5-0 home. 10-0 aggregate on a Continental Competition final is not something to ignore.

Of course, as soon as the AI push back their defensive line again to counter my direct passing, I will switch back to the default S&S. In my experience, it takes between 5-7 months for the AI to figure it out and forcing you to switch. My rule is: if you go 2 matches without winning, it's time to switch. Of course, I am now running the media favorite team to win the league after two successful years and good market choices. So, this "rule" should be adapted to the level you are playing and to the reality of your own team.

As burnum mentioned above, I might soon get bored with the full domination and will probably start soon a game in the Italian Serie C2 with Catanzaro (my favorite Lower League scenario) to replicate some of those experiences in LL environments.

As usual, congratulations and thanks a lot for your hard work and dedication, Mr U Rosler!

[Mr U Rosler]

Hi, great tactic but my anchor man doesnt really get decent ratings. Not that bothered as im winning but seeing as his stats are excellent and i spent 70million on him id like to see him average alot higher, any ideas?

the match ratings area weighted towards assists and goals..... and your anchor man isnt going to do much of that. I wouldn't worry about it as long as YOU are happy he is doing a good job.

[Mr U Rosler]

My feedback.

So, I used v2 in my first two seasons with Flamengo (Brazil), with great success. In my third season, I switched to S&S. My observations after 6 in-game months (I wish I played more frequently to give more regular and complete feedbacks):

- I seem to score a lot from corners. Both DCs score with frequency, there is no tendency to any of the two.

- My F9 scores more than the CF. Compared to v2, this is great, as in v2 the F9 was very weak on the scoring side.

- S&S is much more consistent defensively than v2 was. With v2, I used to win suffering goals and now I get more clean sheets.

- The new CM "appears" less than the Advanced Playmaker in v2. I would suggest using direct passing for this guy so that, as soon as he gets the ball, he tries to reach the forwards (more on this below).

- Opposite to Rosler's suggestion a few posts back, I have noticed that inverted feet for the strikers is better: My left-footed F9 performed much better on the right, while my right-footed CF performed much better on the left.

Now, to the second part, which is a little bit of a repetition of what I reported in the previous thread: close to the end of the Semester, it seemed that the AI 'learned' how to counter my tactic and I started drawing/loosing in sequence, for no apparent reason. What saved me from a very bad run was the goals consistently scored by my DCs from corners.

So, I figured I should use the same strategy I used in previous FM incarnations: as soon as the AI "cracks" the tactic, I should switch my passing style to "confuse them". So, I created FulcrumSS_DEF (I will upload it later and post a link here for people suffering from sudden losing streaks). It is the exact tactic posted by MrU, with the following changes (if you want to try it by yourselves before my upload):

- More Direct Passing, Higher Tempo, Counter, Fluid. Maintain individual "short passing" only for DCs and DMC. All the other guys will follow the team instruction of Direct Passing.

The logic behind this is to adapt to the "new" AI behaviour when facing S&S. They start building up their play and pushing up their defensive line. By using counter/direct, we get them on the break very often, as the S&S basic defensive structure is kept and our midfield steals a lot of balls. In this case, the "Counter" mentality invites the opposition into our half, which is exactly what we want. They will not pass our BBM DM BMM blitz line anyway.

So, when the semester closed, SS_DEF was working so well that I got to the Libertadores final (South American Champions League) and I beat Santos 5-0 away and 5-0 home. 10-0 aggregate on a Continental Competition final is not something to ignore.

Of course, as soon as the AI push back their defensive line again to counter my direct passing, I will switch back to the default S&S. In my experience, it takes between 5-7 months for the AI to figure it out and forcing you to switch. My rule is: if you go 2 matches without winning, it's time to switch. Of course, I am now running the media favorite team to win the league after two successful years and good market choices. So, this "rule" should be adapted to the level you are playing and to the reality of your own team.

As burnum mentioned above, I might soon get bored with the full domination and will probably start soon a game in the Italian Serie C2 with Catanzaro (my favorite Lower League scenario) to replicate some of those experiences in LL environments.

As usual, congratulations and thanks a lot for your hard work and dedication, Mr U Rosler!

Thanks for the feedback as ever.

Personally I dont think opponents 'learn' tactics to any great extent. I just think you go in and out of 'form' at certain points in a season, I have had good and bad runs at every part of the season. Its easy to see a pattern that isn't really there if you are looking for it.

But you have your system, it works for you so that's all that matters!

I haven't really been scoring that many from corners but i think both attacking and defending set pieces is heavily reliant on centre backs who are dominant in the air rather than the 'routine' itself, as I am still lower league i have good headers but not dominant headers.

Good luck with the ongoing save

[burnum]

Ha! I work for a company very close to the stadium as well (at least it was close to the new one that was being built in 2007). I work in the Brazilian branch, but I have been to Paderborn in 2007. Great place!

Sometimes the world seems quite small... What's the name of the company?

[Pipoli]

Sometimes the world seems quite small... What's the name of the company?

Orga Systems

[Pipoli]

For whoever is interested in the "Counter" version I mentioned in post #238, here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/87r6ihjq7yzynxy/FSS_Counter.tac

[Mr U Rosler]

Now that's what I call a mad season.

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There I was sitting pretty at the top of the Division.

Then 3 of my 4 strikers got injured.

Went on a nightmare run of 9 games, 6 defeats and 3 draws. Picking up 3 points from a possible 27! Free falling towards a relegation battle.

i was itching to tweak the tactic, perhaps Pipoli is right and it had been cracked.

Then I came up against a team whose strike force was Jermaine Beckford and Freddy Sears, both players who have played a Premier League level, and they were not past their prime either. I thought that was a pretty hardcore strike force for League 2.

i looked at my own strike force at that point which due to injury comprised of a central midfielder playing out of position and a 17 year old kid I was paying £5 per week. No joke.

i realised that the tactic was not the problem it had got me back to back promotions and to the top of league 2 with the weakest team in the division.

TRUST THE TACTIC!

Sure enough i then went on an 14 game unbeaten run storming up the division finish 2nd and secure my 3rd promotion in a row!

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Time for a breather before I take on League 1......

[Pipoli]

i was itching to tweak the tactic, perhaps Pipoli is right and it had been cracked.

Haha! You are the newest victim of the Pipoli Voodoo!! #pipoliwasright

Just kidding! Good to see it ended up recovering. Anyway, I keep on believing you should switch to counter/direct when things started going downhill. Just out of curiosity, in which month of the year did the losing start?

[burnum]

Orga Systems

Don't know the company but I'll look out for it when I'm at the stadium the next time...

[Mr U Rosler]

Haha! You are the newest victim of the Pipoli Voodoo!! #pipoliwasright

Just kidding! Good to see it ended up recovering. Anyway, I keep on believing you should switch to counter/direct when things started going downhill. Just out of curiosity, in which month of the year did the losing start?

Run was 26th November to 28th January.

[lee50_11]

Are you going to be adjusting this for the new update Mr U?

[Mr U Rosler]

Are you going to be adjusting this for the new update Mr U?

If it needs it but last time it was better after the update.

You heard when the update is due?