Decent Small English Team to Learn the game with?

[Hootieleece]

I am looking for a SkyBet1,SkyBet2, or Skrill Premier Team to learn and grow with. I am new to the game and a neophyte about Football/Soccer in general. I have played with Fleetwood(sacked after year), AFC Wimbledon(sacked after 2 years), and York(sacked after 5 years and tried Scottish league2 afterwards, ALLOA) in SkyBet2 league with varying success, but never promoted. I bought the game to understand the World Cup Better. I've played about 140hrs. and have read the stickies in the tactics sub forum.

I tend to be a tactical tinkerer, I like 3 formations but don't truly understand tactics yet. 4-3-3, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. I think that I would want a 4-3-3 as primary and have the others to change against specific opponents.

Any suggestions and advice would be appreciated. Also looking for a team with "decent" finances for the level.

The reason I chose a lower level league to start out with is that I wouldn't do justice to a Premier League Team.........and wouldn't have a chance to learn from my mistakes.

I tend to play Grand Strategy games and consider this one also to a point, but I am interested in actually understanding football/soccer. So I can enjoy the world cup more.

[johnhughthom]

You could try Wolves, big side in League One, though you may not get much patience if you have a slow start.

[Matthew Le God]

Wolverhampton Wanderers might be worth a try as they meet a few of your criteria...

- in League One

- recently in Premier League so have huge parachute payments making them extremely rich at that level

- a strong squad who are favourites for promotion

- large stadium

- large fanbase

- good training and youth facilities

I think that all makes them a good team to learn how to play FM14 with for someone new to FM and/or football.

[Hootieleece]

You could try Wolves, big side in League One, though you may not get much patience if you have a slow start.

What town is that team in? I don't know all the nicknames and clubs yet.

[borobadger]

What town is that team in? I don't know all the nicknames and clubs yet.

They're from the city of Wolverhampton

[Hootieleece]

They're from the city of Wolverhampton

Then Why did another reply call them the Wanderers?

[johnhughthom]

Their name is Wolverhampton Wanderers, most fans call them Wolves for short.

[Mailman44]

Grimsby Town in the Skrill Premier. One of the last "proper" clubs left in England.

[borobadger]

Grimsby Town in the Skrill Premier. One of the last "proper" clubs left in England.

Plenty of proper clubs left in England, just have to look outside the top flight to find most of them

[Hootieleece]

Another Dumb question or two: What is meant by "proper" club? And What is the difference between Semi-professional and Professional in game? And if I start Semi-Pro, How hard is it to become Pro?

The reason I ask is that I have checked out both teams listed and a few others.

[drewgriffiths]

The difference between semi pro and pro is exactly that. Semi pro is part time, the players train less, typically twice a week, they are paid much less and don't develop as much. On FM, you can't change the slider effecting the balance between general training and match training. Pro is full time, they can train every day and straight away command much higher wages than semi pro's... like 3 times as much and they develop much more. For a semi pro club to become pro, it'd need the financial clout and be in a good position to attract and pay players on full time contracts so typically being promoted to the Football League. Dropping back out the Football League doesn't mean you'd lose your pro operating status as Luton Town were in the Skrill Premier this season and still operate as a full time professional club (and I'd say a "proper" club is what they're describing a full time pro club). My personal recommendation is to start with Stockport County in the Skrill North. They're a sleeping giant down there. They had some glory days in the late 90s in whats now called the Championship once finishing something like 8th and even getting to the 1997 League Cup semis. Things have slid since and find themselves in a division they dont deserve to be in. You should be able to take them up 1st season like I did as champions.

[gavo01]

Ok, not English or technically decent either, but for a learning curve why not try Queens Park of Scotland.

I've finished my fourth season and have just missed out on the promotion playoffs in SPFL1 by two points and on the last day of the season.

It's a fully amateur club so there is no transfer fees to speak of and your half decent players tend to join a better club eventually, but it's a decent challenge all the same.

[forameuss]

Ok, not English or technically decent either, but for a learning curve why not try Queens Park of Scotland.

I've finished my fourth season and have just missed out on the promotion playoffs in SPFL1 by two points and on the last day of the season.

It's a fully amateur club so there is no transfer fees to speak of and your half decent players tend to join a better club eventually, but it's a decent challenge all the same.

I wouldn't say that's a starting or learners team though - imagine a new user would end up getting pretty frustrated starting at an amateur club. There's certainly a learning curve, like you say.

[jcoll]

you should probably start at a big club with lots of resources, this would probably be more beneficial to you for getting grips with the game.

[MeesterCat]

I don't know if you've looked through it, but the Football League thread in the Good Player & Team Guide forum might be a good source of info and inspiration: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/365102-FM14-The-Sky-Bet-Football-League-Thread-Sponsored-by-William-Hill

[9sublime]

Fleetwood? Big budget.

[Hootieleece]

Fleetwood didn't have that big a budget, but expectations are high. I tried them once already.

[Negatrev]

What's Crawley like for expectations? They should have pretty good funds for their level.

I found Swindon was quite an easy start this season (my local-ist default game team) as the youth are pretty good, Spurs are a useful parent club and they didn't expect too much from me (mid table I think), it turned out to be less of a challenge than I hoped, so I created my home-town team on the bottom rung of the ladder instead!

[Kenco]

If you don't really understand tactics then it doesn't matter which team you choose, you will find it hard.

My best advice is to visit the tactics forum and have a look at some of the threads there to help you understand the basics.

[MichaelBrown]

Ok, not English or technically decent either, but for a learning curve why not try Queens Park of Scotland.

I've finished my fourth season and have just missed out on the promotion playoffs in SPFL1 by two points and on the last day of the season.

It's a fully amateur club so there is no transfer fees to speak of and your half decent players tend to join a better club eventually, but it's a decent challenge all the same.

Disagree. That's a challenge for somebody who understands the game.

To the OP, you're better starting at somebody like Sheffield United, or if you fancy a slightly better game, Brentford.

[gavo01]

That's a challenge for somebody who understands the game.

Would you care to elaborate on your quote please.

Basically managing Queens Park is like managing any other team, bar the lack of involved transfer fees. I've also found the Chairman to be very patient and therefore won't throw his dummy out the pram should you not win your first 10 games.

[scott MUFC]

East Stirlingshire was fun on FM12, won the Scottish league cup with them, beating almost the entire scottish championship (as it is now known) to get there

only problem is now you can get relegated from the scottish leagues so losing isn't advisable.

[MichaelBrown]

Would you care to elaborate on your quote please.

Basically managing Queens Park is like managing any other team, bar the lack of involved transfer fees. I've also found the Chairman to be very patient and therefore won't throw his dummy out the pram should you not win your first 10 games.

That's the point though, as you can't actively sign players (I realise you can on amateur contracts), he will have to ''make do'' with the players that they have got. I reckon that a 'better' challenge in that case would be to start with Bilbao. At least then you have the scope to improve, if you wish to.

[Stfc mason]

Roterham in league 1 are good to start off with , the loan players are very good and like with Swindon expectations are not too high one thing i would suggest is to sign a new goalie.

[scooterSB]

As we are towards the end of the RL season, pick a team that has done well in real life, and is either getting promoted or in play-offs

ie

Championship: Leicester, Burnley, Derby

League One: Wolves, Brentford, Preston

League two: Scunthorp, Chesterfield, Rochdale.

[Possums]

My suggestion would be to try out Classic mode. I was in your position last year and Classic was great at teaching me the game. It's more streamlined.

[Mailman44]

Give Gosport Borough a punt in the always difficult Skrill South. Low expectations and a patient board. You can get some good loans in from the nearby League and Prem sides to bolster the side.

[Jimbokav1971]

Luton or Barnet in Conference.

[Hootieleece]

I ended up choosing Accrington Stanley. I chose them because they had no debt and poor expectations. (24th out of 24 teams, 33-1) and George Bowerman has killed me in my past games.

I'm playing possession soccer but not scoring. My finishing sucks compared to my York team. Using same tactics and shouts. My possession and passing is much better(high 50's% and usually more shots) but I can't find the net except for Bowerman. I watched another Striker miss the net 4X exactly the same way in a match.

How do I fix that problem?

[kris0710]

Cambridge.

I was pretty terrible for most of the first five or six seasons yet the board stuck with me. My intended journeyman save has turned into my first ever single club save and I am sat in the PL in 2050 still at Cambridge.

[mark1985]

I ended up choosing Accrington Stanley. I chose them because they had no debt and poor expectations. (24th out of 24 teams, 33-1) and George Bowerman has killed me in my past games.

I'm playing possession soccer but not scoring. My finishing sucks compared to my York team. Using same tactics and shouts. My possession and passing is much better(high 50's% and usually more shots) but I can't find the net except for Bowerman. I watched another Striker miss the net 4X exactly the same way in a match.

How do I fix that problem?

Better strikers Maybe play more attacking or get your strikers to work on finishing/composure.

[johnhughthom]

I ended up choosing Accrington Stanley. I chose them because they had no debt and poor expectations. (24th out of 24 teams, 33-1) and George Bowerman has killed me in my past games.

I'm playing possession soccer but not scoring. My finishing sucks compared to my York team. Using same tactics and shouts. My possession and passing is much better(high 50's% and usually more shots) but I can't find the net except for Bowerman. I watched another Striker miss the net 4X exactly the same way in a match.

How do I fix that problem?

Well, if the other striker missed the same chance 4 times, try tweaking things to stop creating the same types of chances. Are you playing with two strikers? If so, try switching Bowerman and the other striker around.

[Hootieleece]

I am mostly playing with 3 Strikers.(4-3-3) Now my team has gone on a slump. No one can find the net. I keep losing 0-1, 0-2. While having more shots and better chances. It is annoying. I only seem to get hosed by set pieces and penalties. The AI keeps getting penalty shots.....same thing happens to my players nada.

I have slumped from 8th to 15th and I am now "Underachieving" with a team thought to come in 24th with 33 to 1 odds.

[iiMStevo]

I'm pretty new to FM. I dabbled in FM11, but didn't really get into it that much.

I initially started as York City (as I'm from a town nearby) and I didn't do too badly, but it seems to take forever to accomplish anything with York.

I started a new career as Pro Vercelli (Italian C1/A league) and they're spot on. They're Okay financially, but they have a squad size of about 45 or something initially. So you can offload a lot of unnecessary players as well as send plenty of your promising players out on loan to keep the wage bill down. You need some success in the first three seasons otherwise you'll bankrupt yourself. It's definitely worth focusing on the Italian cup, as each round (post-qualifiers) gets you about £500k which is a massive financial boost at the C1 level.

------

For your last post, it tends to be your tactics that cause the strikers to miss constantly (and I'll bet your opposition has around 4 shots and gets 2 goals, right?). You need to find a playing style that matches your coaches preferences, as well as your players. 4-1-2-1-2 tends to be an effective playing style for most clubs I've been with as long as your DR + DL are set to Complete Wing Back allowing them the full length of the pitch to overlap down both flanks.

[1984mattyd]

make sure your tactics are fluid as well, only use 2 tacticts that suit the players you have, if your losing games and not scoring, maybe its worth playing with a defensive midfielder or sit in front of your defence and then play a 4-1-4-1 formation of play what I use a 4-1-2-2-1 formation.

[Hootieleece]

I have tended to ignore coaches favored formation just going with best stats. Accrington has to affiliated clubs Burnley and Liverpool. Should I try to copy their tactics? Also can't get the board to relay the pitch. Everyone is commenting on it. The team is making a small profit every month.

I use 3 tactics a 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 Control and Fluid

A. 4-4-2 standard and rigid when I feel I am playing bigger clubs.

My favorite traits for players are work rate, teamwork, stamina, and finishing. None of my players in starting 11 are single digit in any of these traits.

[johnhughthom]

I wouldn't try to copy your affiliated clubs tactics, it might be worthwhile having a look and seeing if you can pick up some decent loan signing from them though.

[Evilyoshi]

Gunna go out on a limb and say that starting at a much bigger club is easier then starting lower down: Much better players, much better back room staff for more accurate advice, allot easier to attract the players you want, the list goes on.

And has been said, classic mode is a must, great mode

[Garethjohn79]

With your criteria I would have gone for:-

League One:Wolves: Massive budget and a few Prem standard players in squad although time for you too learn the game while there may not be that generous.

Coventry: Initial low expectations on league placing means you will not be under pressure while you are getting used too the game,they are certain to be taken over pretty quickly,if you can wait a few seasons you will move back to a big stadium that will get good crowds as you progress and they have good quality young players while you bide your time that you can develop or sell.They might be under a transfer embargo First season though so no hassle with pondering who to sign and freeing up time to concentrate on Tactics and Training.

Sheff United and Bristol City:-A couple of big club's but the squads maybe to weak to get close to the boards expectations,although the two have players that are far too good for L1 in Jay Emanuel Thomas and Harry Maguire and fending off and playing the big clubs in transfer games could be fun.

League Two:Plymouth Argyle:-Low expectations,big potential and a decent youth structure.

Bristol Rovers:- Should have a good budget and from a large city,that should benefit youth and potential future growth.Also if FM has it in game a new stadium soon

Portsmouth:- Have the crowds,AI's do well in the game on my saves.But how close does FM's final update replicate the current RL Seasons i'm not sure?and with this in mind an expected promotion maybe tough and they have been pretty impatient with managers this season.

Skrill Prem:

Lincoln City: Good size and Professional without a too high an expectation for league placing considering the budget and squad you have available.

Wrexham : Have a good profile and reputation in the game and should produce good youth players.

Luton : Biggest budget,attendances and good squad but they are similar to Wolves and Pompey in that you must start off well to keep your job.

On the tactical advice

I initially set up two tactics,and once honed I use the third space for an unorthodox third that will be used every now and then.

Use a Home Tactic and against lesser teams(Although I don't know who are lower than Accy in L2:))away.And a defensive Away tactic also for use at home against big teams.Then train on Tactics in the match training screen.If you are happy with these then instead of setting a third,tweak the two you have settled on by eg moving Wingers forward and back and DM's to Am's,by doing this your teams fluidity and understanding of them will not change s much as creating the whole tactic separately.

[Hootieleece]

I was able to get 11th place in league. But was considered underachieving by players and fans alike. I sold players and everything and ended up 250k in debt. The board reduced salaries from 30k to 20k. And I have brought in younger/cheaper players. Only bright hope is Bowerman who scored 26 goals for me. (23 in league) I replaced all the coaches with 4-3-3 specialists. Hopefully I will have at least as good a campaign only 25-1 odds of winning league.

Anyway thanks for all the answers. I will keep them in mind going forward.

If you want to keep this thread alive with other decent small starts go ahead.

[Santa Claus]

Hereford are a good shout imo, 19th media prediction in skrill premier yet they are pro club, recently relegated from league football.

[Nobby_McDonald]

I ended up choosing Accrington Stanley. I chose them because they had no debt and poor expectations. (24th out of 24 teams, 33-1) and George Bowerman has killed me in my past games.

I'm playing possession soccer but not scoring. My finishing sucks compared to my York team. Using same tactics and shouts. My possession and passing is much better(high 50's% and usually more shots) but I can't find the net except for Bowerman. I watched another Striker miss the net 4X exactly the same way in a match.

How do I fix that problem?

If he can't shoot straight, shoot him.