Everyone went mad with wages request, need help to save my save

[Scarecroww]

Hey everyone, I'll try to make it as short as possible. 
I took English side BRNESC from Tier 11 to League 1, and I was doing fine there. Getting released youngsters for free on less than 300p/w contracts and they were already good enough to be in my first team and then I could sell them on and get new ones next year. That was the only way I could retain net positive because very insignificant income. Despite having wages of only 20k p/w I was still losing money every month. 

Now last season I managed to get promotion to Championship and all of a sudden everyone wants literally 7-8 times larger wages. Including youngsters that I would want to sign and that aren't even good enough to keep me in championship anyway. 

Here are just few comparisons of old contracts vs demands. Keep in mind these are not bigger demands based on squad status changes. It's purely based on me entering championship.
Old: 
New: 
Old: 
New: 
Old: 
New: 
Those players are not worth anywhere near those wages, they are not Championship quality, they are not even League 1 quality, we got promoted by miracle. Got predicted to finish dead last even in league 2.

My current highest earner is on 1.9k pounds. I got 5M pounds total in the bank, and if I was to give in to their demands I'd be at -5M in just few months... I am wondering if anyone has an idea how to deal with this, and if getting relegated back to league 1 will revert this nonsense?

[cris182]

I have had a similar issue, Players on 50kpw asking for 200k plus at the negotiating stage, They have 3 years on their contract in some cases

I can negotiate some down to more reasonable requests but others will not budge and the whole squad goes mad when i refuse to budge

[zindrinho]

Just say no, as some horrible human being said some odd years ago.

If you keep saying yes to everyone who asks for a new contract, are you surprised they all come asking for contracts when they know you will agree? Lay down the law on them.

[Phillybear]

If they're not even League 1 quality, why would you hand them 3 years contract? Keep them if they perform. If not, let them go and sign replacements.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Phillybear

[Scarecroww]

I am saying no, It's just upsetting everyone tho. Everyone wants a new deal and too much money. The problem is even if I get rid of them, as I said, the players that I want to sign also want wages that are way above what I can afford... I really can't see a way out of this unless it will get reverted once I am back in league 1... Otherwise there goes my 12 years save just like that...

[MrPompey]

Success breeds happiness. If they want a deal they have to earn it, postpone until end of season. Go ask your real life boss for a mega pay rise and see what he says, bet your workmates will be upset since if you get one they'll want one

[Scarecroww]

Guys you are missing the point... They can't earn it, nobody can't earn it, my club doesn't have the income to cover any players at this rank. As I said, in League 1 I used to sign released youngsters on less than 300P/w. Those same players now want thousands of of pounds per week. I am already losing money every month

[MrPompey]

3 minutes ago, Scarecroww said:

Guys you are missing the point... They can't earn it, nobody can't earn it, my club doesn't have the income to cover any players at this rank. As I said, in League 1 I used to sign released youngsters on less than 300P/w. Those same players now want thousands of of pounds per week. I am already losing money every month

Then dont pay it - simples. The bad FM bit is they'll get a transfer and take a tiny increase on what they are on

 

[Scarecroww]

So what, just abandon my save, that's what you're saying? Like who's gonna play for me?

[MrPompey]

1 minute ago, Scarecroww said:

So what, just abandon my save, that's what you're saying? Like who's gonna play for me?

Dont abandon the save, quell the rebellion. If they want to go, take big money transfers. As i said before win games, no one wants to leave a winning side, if they do, take the cash. A big issue in FM is club reputation not changing with success as FM Managers progress a club to I suppose ridiculous heights. Part of your FM job is managing the finances with wages. Small clubs sell players to survive.

Start a new save, do the same and you'll have the same issue. Might be painful but a successful manager often needs to change jobs to get further success

[Scarecroww]

You're not listening to me at all...

[zindrinho]

Use the players you already have, dont give them new contracts, if they still wanna leave, let them leave. If they are unhappy, keep playing (and winning) and it will go away and they will be happy again.

[MrPompey]

10 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

Hey everyone, I'll try to make it as short as possible. 
I took English side BRNESC from Tier 11 to League 1, and I was doing fine there. Getting released youngsters for free on less than 300p/w contracts and they were already good enough to be in my first team and then I could sell them on and get new ones next year. That was the only way I could retain net positive because very insignificant income. Despite having wages of only 20k p/w I was still losing money every month. 

Now last season I managed to get promotion to Championship and all of a sudden everyone wants literally 7-8 times larger wages. Including youngsters that I would want to sign and that aren't even good enough to keep me in championship anyway. 

My current highest earner is on 1.9k pounds. I got 5M pounds total in the bank, and if I was to give in to their demands I'd be at -5M in just few months... I am wondering if anyone has an idea how to deal with this, and if getting relegated back to league 1 will revert this nonsense?

You are being listened to, the suggestion is dont pay it. You are being suggested exactly the same response. Run the club within the club's financial guidelines else you will financially cripple the club and likely go into administration.

The choice is yours, listen to the suggestions or make your own. That's football management for you

[Scarecroww]

DON'T PAY WHAT?? I literally said I can't pay them wages. I know very well how to manage my finances. Keep winning when in Championship when I literally said that my players are not even League 1 quality... Even if I was to just keep winning their contracts will run out very quickly and then what? This is not simple question of giving or not giving them wages they want. The situation is far more complex and that's why I came here for help

[MrPompey]

2 minutes ago, Scarecroww said:

DON'T PAY WHAT?? I literally said I can't pay them wages. I know very well how to manage my finances. Keep winning when in Championship when I literally said that my players are not even League 1 quality... Even if I was to just keep winning their contracts will run out very quickly and then what? This is not simple question of giving or not giving them wages they want. The situation is far more complex and that's why I came here for help

Oh dear. You know the answer to the question but still ask it

[Scarecroww]

Except I never even asked the question you are giving me answer for. To me it looks like a dead end, but I was hoping someone with more knowledge and maybe experience with similar situation could see the way out of it

[MrPompey]

11 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

My current highest earner is on 1.9k pounds. I got 5M pounds total in the bank, and if I was to give in to their demands I'd be at -5M in just few months... I am wondering if anyone has an idea how to deal with this, and if getting relegated back to league 1 will revert this nonsense?

I don't agree. That's your question above. Its quite binary. You are being given the same answer every time because its answering what you are asking. The advice has been not to pay it or you will bankrupt the club. You know the answer as you have stated it. Players wanting more money will be less happy in a league they have been relegated into. If they are already contracted then what's the rush to give new contracts. You'll have to invest in developing players who are less money hungry. If you lose players then consider loaning players in for free, should be many U23 players wanting first team football.

Many clubs IRL have over achieved and paid wages they cant afford. 

[Scarecroww]

It's literally not what I am asking, It's baffling that you are actually telling me what my question is. My question is how to get out of that situation and what you are saying is no solution at all. 5-6 important players have their contracts expiring at the end of the season, others will follow in next 1 or 2 years. I have no u23 and u18 because I can't really afford to pay the wages for them, especially not for the ones that would be of any use. It's literally matter of losing all the players because I can't afford their wages and not being able to sign anyone because of high wages demands. Only players I could afford to sign now are the ones that would surely get me relegated back to League 2 and maybe even National league, basically just get me sacked. Only way I see out is if getting relegated back to League 1 would lower wage demands of all players back to where they were. But if demands stay the same and revenue being much lower in L1, that would be devastating and end the save for sure...

[turnip]

Your question was "how to deal with this" and people are responding "just make your players play for the wages they're already getting".

A team full of League 1 quality players can - if managed well, with a suitable tactic - do reasonably well in the Championship. You've been promoted, what, 8 times so far? I assume you've got some idea of how to put a tactic together.

If you can stay ahead of expectations, the players you have will be less annoyed with you. You might still struggle to sign 'Championship-level players' (i.e. overpaid wasters), but you could probably find a few hungry youngsters to do a job until your team's reputation catches up to where the team is and you make a bit of money.

[MrPompey]

You typed the question, I've posted it above .  I'm not telling you what your question is, I've posted exactly what you asked "if getting relegated back to league 1 will revert this nonsense?" If you don't like the answers you been given then that's OK. The solution is black and white. Pay them want they want and bankrupt the club, don't pay and risk losing the players. Have you not considered selling them, bringing in players on free loans. This is what football management is all about, its not supposed to be easy

Why is it the end of your save? I've suggested you loan in players, get a senior affiliate and loan in players. You've over achieved with a club that the finances can't keep up with it. Small clubs cant generate the revenue to sustain them beyond their means It happens IRL. If you get sacked for whatever reason then that's football my friend, management is fickle. Your issue is your association with the club and refusal to accept facts. Take on another club, accept you have taken one as far is is possible

If you get relegated players will still ask for increased wages or a better club. If you get sacked thats life, happens all the time in the football world.

You are asking for a magic wand, there isn't one

 

[Scarecroww]

16 minutes ago, turnip said:

Your question was "how to deal with this" and people are responding "just make your players play for the wages they're already getting".

A team full of League 1 quality players can - if managed well, with a suitable tactic - do reasonably well in the Championship. You've been promoted, what, 8 times so far? I assume you've got some idea of how to put a tactic together.

If you can stay ahead of expectations, the players you have will be less annoyed with you. You might still struggle to sign 'Championship-level players' (i.e. overpaid wasters), but you could probably find a few hungry youngsters to do a job until your team's reputation catches up to where the team is and you make a bit of money.

I achieve nothing by doing reasonably in Championship, which I somehow am btw. I can't replace them with youngsters because they also want wages that I can't afford to pay. I am using current players on old wages but I'll run out of them very quickly. With low reputation and stadium with 5250 capacity( expanstion to 6500 will start at the end of the season and take a while) it is gonna take a decade before I reach financial strength to be able to afford to pay what players want in championship. 
Loaning players would work short term but would still end up with same problem. I guess I am looking for a magic wand, to me it does look like impossible situation to sort 
 

[majesticeternity]

1 hour ago, Scarecroww said:

I achieve nothing by doing reasonably in Championship, which I somehow am btw. I can't replace them with youngsters because they also want wages that I can't afford to pay. I am using current players on old wages but I'll run out of them very quickly. With low reputation and stadium with 5250 capacity( expanstion to 6500 will start at the end of the season and take a while) it is gonna take a decade before I reach financial strength to be able to afford to pay what players want in championship. 
Loaning players would work short term but would still end up with same problem. I guess I am looking for a magic wand, to me it does look like impossible situation to sort 
 

To be fair, that is realistic. If getting to the top of the Championship was so easy from the lower leagues, or to go from League 1 to Prem in a few seasons, we’d see it much more often then we do IRL.

it takes time to build a club, increase reputation, fans, ticket prices, stadiums, players and such. 
 

[AurioDK]

4 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

Except I never even asked the question you are giving me answer for. To me it looks like a dead end, but I was hoping someone with more knowledge and maybe experience with similar situation could see the way out of it

 

I have been in your situation and I know how hard it becomes, some on this board believe FM simulates real life, it doesn´t, it´s actually far from realistic and you just have to look at it as a "game challenge".

 

After winning the PL for 8 seasons straight and the CL 5 times I still get lots of players drooling when Barcelona comes knocking, Barca who havn´t won anything for the past 8 seasons, they have been basically reduced to a memory in the past. This is due to Barca actually being able to pay them 400K a week where my limit is 325k, the same goes for PSG. Last season for the first time ever my players started to reject the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool, it took a while.

Money drives FM players to insanity and they come knocking for new contracts far more often than they should, they just signed a 5 year deal and 6 months later they want to be sold to X club or have a new deal, I always say "no" and bite the dust if there are consequences, I deal with contracts at the end of a season like normal clubs do with the very rare exceptions. This is where it helps a lot to have a good "leader" in FM, preferably an older guy with leadership qualities, he can usually keep the contracts at bay til April/May.

The only realistic part in FM is wage expectation relative to club performance which you do have to consider, a player doing well in the Championship will look at his performance and demand wages accordingly, he doesn´t care about his numbers nor stars. I have a backup keeper who never plays and he is not that good but he wants 250K a week, why? He is looking at my economy, it´s healthy, we are winning everything and he just thinks he can get away with it, I told him to get lost and he is now getting 90k a week at Brentford. Players don´t take their real skill into account and consider what they would be earning elsewhere. My backup keeper was at 140K a week, wanted 250k for a new contract ... but is now at 90k at Brentford and not even their first keeper.

What can you do? Nothing really except keep going and think longterm, that means 5-6 seasons where you have to build up your economy buy signing 15-18 year olds, plenty of them, anything that looks promissing. Your economy will be dependent on selling those players, that´s how I did it at Wrexham and I was in the Championship for 5 seasons basically being a midtable club but getting a very very healthy economy. That means spending 3-4 hours scouring national youth teams for anyone willing to join your club right at the end of their contract, I spent a lot of time doing this.

Get a senior affiliate and loan for free, max players, you need fillers.

DO NOT think about promotion, you are solidifying and will have a very hard time doing so, even bargain youngsters may still demand wages beyond your reach. You will have to however set a new wage limit for yourself, that means gambling on that you can get players sold to maintain the economy, spectators and sponsors are not going to be your bread and butter, if you bet on that you lose. If you get promoted to the PL your wage problem will renew itself and the extra income might not be enough to maintain a happy club, a happy club in FM is better than a rich one in many ways. Money has a very short legs in FM unless you are sure you can keep out of relegation in the PL dont go there, less stressful to be happy in the Championship.

1. Set your wage budget and be realistic, this is called gambling. Realism means you will have to make a profit selling players, don´t get attached to anyone. Everyone is for sale, don´t expect team cohesion to reach high levels, traffic will be busy.

2. Sign free, young and dirt cheap, this will require tons of digging through various youth national teams. Hoping you don´t have attribute masking on and don´t scout the players you want to sign, the AI is likely to offer them a contract if you do.

3. Don´t panic, you are extremely restricted. If players want to leave and your leader can´t sway them, let them go but do try to use the leaders to speak to them every time it´s possible.

4. After your first big sale don´t spend it on players, get your stadium and facilities done. I survived in the PL with 15k seats for the first 3 seasons, now I have a 57k all sitter.

5. If the board refuses to expand after your first big sale gamble on better youth for later sells purpose, this means scouring national youth teams again, don´t add them to your shortlist <--- you don´t want clubs to know you are interested. Pen and paper method.

6. Use your youth players in the first team, those you mean to sell, they need exposure to be sellable. My team survived in the PL with an average age of 18.5 if I deduct my leader who was 30-33 in the first 3 seasons, had to sell most of the youngsters to bigger clubs.

7. Save wages by sending players out on loan, those you can´t sell and don´t plan to use, offer them for free loans ..... wait for the loan bids ...reject them ... offer them again for loan with full wages paid, works for me.

8. Patience young Padawan ... and again ... don´t panic .... but you do need to start gambling a bit with wages and set a new max hoping future sales will mend the issue.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by AurioDK

[Sharkn20]

4 hours ago, AurioDK said:

 

I have been in your situation and I know how hard it becomes, some on this board believe FM simulates real life, it doesn´t, it´s actually far from realistic and you just have to look at it as a "game challenge".

 

After winning the PL for 8 seasons straight and the CL 5 times I still get lots of players drooling when Barcelona comes knocking, Barca who havn´t won anything for the past 8 seasons, they have been basically reduced to a memory in the past. This is due to Barca actually being able to pay them 400K a week where my limit is 325k, the same goes for PSG. Last season for the first time ever my players started to reject the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool, it took a while.

Money drives FM players to insanity and they come knocking for new contracts far more often than they should, they just signed a 5 year deal and 6 months later they want to be sold to X club or have a new deal, I always say "no" and bite the dust if there are consequences, I deal with contracts at the end of a season like normal clubs do with the very rare exceptions. This is where it helps a lot to have a good "leader" in FM, preferably an older guy with leadership qualities, he can usually keep the contracts at bay til April/May.

The only realistic part in FM is wage expectation relative to club performance which you do have to consider, a player doing well in the Championship will look at his performance and demand wages accordingly, he doesn´t care about his numbers nor stars. I have a backup keeper who never plays and he is not that good but he wants 250K a week, why? He is looking at my economy, it´s healthy, we are winning everything and he just thinks he can get away with it, I told him to get lost and he is now getting 90k a week at Brentford. Players don´t take their real skill into account and consider what they would be earning elsewhere. My backup keeper was at 140K a week, wanted 250k for a new contract ... but is now at 90k at Brentford and not even their first keeper.

What can you do? Nothing really except keep going and think longterm, that means 5-6 seasons where you have to build up your economy buy signing 15-18 year olds, plenty of them, anything that looks promissing. Your economy will be dependent on selling those players, that´s how I did it at Wrexham and I was in the Championship for 5 seasons basically being a midtable club but getting a very very healthy economy. That means spending 3-4 hours scouring national youth teams for anyone willing to join your club right at the end of their contract, I spent a lot of time doing this.

Get a senior affiliate and loan for free, max players, you need fillers.

DO NOT think about promotion, you are solidifying and will have a very hard time doing so, even bargain youngsters may still demand wages beyond your reach. You will have to however set a new wage limit for yourself, that means gambling on that you can get players sold to maintain the economy, spectators and sponsors are not going to be your bread and butter, if you bet on that you lose. If you get promoted to the PL your wage problem will renew itself and the extra income might not be enough to maintain a happy club, a happy club in FM is better than a rich one in many ways. Money has a very short legs in FM unless you are sure you can keep out of relegation in the PL dont go there, less stressful to be happy in the Championship.

1. Set your wage budget and be realistic, this is called gambling. Realism means you will have to make a profit selling players, don´t get attached to anyone. Everyone is for sale, don´t expect team cohesion to reach high levels, traffic will be busy.

2. Sign free, young and dirt cheap, this will require tons of digging through various youth national teams. Hoping you don´t have attribute masking on and don´t scout the players you want to sign, the AI is likely to offer them a contract if you do.

3. Don´t panic, you are extremely restricted. If players want to leave and your leader can´t sway them, let them go but do try to use the leaders to speak to them every time it´s possible.

4. After your first big sale don´t spend it on players, get your stadium and facilities done. I survived in the PL with 15k seats for the first 3 seasons, now I have a 57k all sitter.

5. If the board refuses to expand after your first big sale gamble on better youth for later sells purpose, this means scouring national youth teams again, don´t add them to your shortlist <--- you don´t want clubs to know you are interested. Pen and paper method.

6. Use your youth players in the first team, those you mean to sell, they need exposure to be sellable. My team survived in the PL with an average age of 18.5 if I deduct my leader who was 30-33 in the first 3 seasons, had to sell most of the youngsters to bigger clubs.

7. Save wages by sending players out on loan, those you can´t sell and don´t plan to use, offer them for free loans ..... wait for the loan bids ...reject them ... offer them again for loan with full wages paid, works for me.

8. Patience young Padawan ... and again ... don´t panic .... but you do need to start gambling a bit with wages and set a new max hoping future sales will mend the issue.

 

 

This is absolutely spot on.

Don't get attach to anyone, sell the ones that are asking for too much and bring loans of young players from the Premier until your Club wage matches with the Championship standards in few years.

You can't do anything else, is not all about winning and going up and up and up, that's too easy, now is when the challenge starts.

[MrPompey]

1 hour ago, Sharkn20 said:

This is absolutely spot on.

Don't get attach to anyone, sell the ones that are asking for too much and bring loans of young players from the Premier until your Club wage matches with the Championship standards in few years.

You can't do anything else, is not all about winning and going up and up and up, that's too easy, now is when the challenge starts.

As I confirmed earlier, the OP's club progression up the leagues is unrealistic and there is an inherent FM issue that club reputation and finances cannot keep up with it

[HampshireIan]

5 hours ago, AurioDK said:

 

I have been in your situation and I know how hard it becomes, some on this board believe FM simulates real life, it doesn´t, it´s actually far from realistic and you just have to look at it as a "game challenge".

 

After winning the PL for 8 seasons straight and the CL 5 times I still get lots of players drooling when Barcelona comes knocking, Barca who havn´t won anything for the past 8 seasons, they have been basically reduced to a memory in the past. This is due to Barca actually being able to pay them 400K a week where my limit is 325k, the same goes for PSG. Last season for the first time ever my players started to reject the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool, it took a while.

Money drives FM players to insanity and they come knocking for new contracts far more often than they should, they just signed a 5 year deal and 6 months later they want to be sold to X club or have a new deal, I always say "no" and bite the dust if there are consequences, I deal with contracts at the end of a season like normal clubs do with the very rare exceptions. This is where it helps a lot to have a good "leader" in FM, preferably an older guy with leadership qualities, he can usually keep the contracts at bay til April/May.

The only realistic part in FM is wage expectation relative to club performance which you do have to consider, a player doing well in the Championship will look at his performance and demand wages accordingly, he doesn´t care about his numbers nor stars. I have a backup keeper who never plays and he is not that good but he wants 250K a week, why? He is looking at my economy, it´s healthy, we are winning everything and he just thinks he can get away with it, I told him to get lost and he is now getting 90k a week at Brentford. Players don´t take their real skill into account and consider what they would be earning elsewhere. My backup keeper was at 140K a week, wanted 250k for a new contract ... but is now at 90k at Brentford and not even their first keeper.

What can you do? Nothing really except keep going and think longterm, that means 5-6 seasons where you have to build up your economy buy signing 15-18 year olds, plenty of them, anything that looks promissing. Your economy will be dependent on selling those players, that´s how I did it at Wrexham and I was in the Championship for 5 seasons basically being a midtable club but getting a very very healthy economy. That means spending 3-4 hours scouring national youth teams for anyone willing to join your club right at the end of their contract, I spent a lot of time doing this.

Get a senior affiliate and loan for free, max players, you need fillers.

DO NOT think about promotion, you are solidifying and will have a very hard time doing so, even bargain youngsters may still demand wages beyond your reach. You will have to however set a new wage limit for yourself, that means gambling on that you can get players sold to maintain the economy, spectators and sponsors are not going to be your bread and butter, if you bet on that you lose. If you get promoted to the PL your wage problem will renew itself and the extra income might not be enough to maintain a happy club, a happy club in FM is better than a rich one in many ways. Money has a very short legs in FM unless you are sure you can keep out of relegation in the PL dont go there, less stressful to be happy in the Championship.

1. Set your wage budget and be realistic, this is called gambling. Realism means you will have to make a profit selling players, don´t get attached to anyone. Everyone is for sale, don´t expect team cohesion to reach high levels, traffic will be busy.

2. Sign free, young and dirt cheap, this will require tons of digging through various youth national teams. Hoping you don´t have attribute masking on and don´t scout the players you want to sign, the AI is likely to offer them a contract if you do.

3. Don´t panic, you are extremely restricted. If players want to leave and your leader can´t sway them, let them go but do try to use the leaders to speak to them every time it´s possible.

4. After your first big sale don´t spend it on players, get your stadium and facilities done. I survived in the PL with 15k seats for the first 3 seasons, now I have a 57k all sitter.

5. If the board refuses to expand after your first big sale gamble on better youth for later sells purpose, this means scouring national youth teams again, don´t add them to your shortlist <--- you don´t want clubs to know you are interested. Pen and paper method.

6. Use your youth players in the first team, those you mean to sell, they need exposure to be sellable. My team survived in the PL with an average age of 18.5 if I deduct my leader who was 30-33 in the first 3 seasons, had to sell most of the youngsters to bigger clubs.

7. Save wages by sending players out on loan, those you can´t sell and don´t plan to use, offer them for free loans ..... wait for the loan bids ...reject them ... offer them again for loan with full wages paid, works for me.

8. Patience young Padawan ... and again ... don´t panic .... but you do need to start gambling a bit with wages and set a new max hoping future sales will mend the issue.

 

 

Superb post.  Everything is through experience and runs right down to the depths of the very low leagues.

 

I'll be taking this on board myself, as I know i'm going to have plenty of the above issues

 

Love the bit about writing down the players instead of adding to a shortlist.  That is different level 

[kentonizking]

10 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

I achieve nothing by doing reasonably in Championship, which I somehow am btw. I can't replace them with youngsters because they also want wages that I can't afford to pay. I am using current players on old wages but I'll run out of them very quickly. With low reputation and stadium with 5250 capacity( expanstion to 6500 will start at the end of the season and take a while) it is gonna take a decade before I reach financial strength to be able to afford to pay what players want in championship. 
Loaning players would work short term but would still end up with same problem. I guess I am looking for a magic wand, to me it does look like impossible situation to sort 
 

Welcome to Football Manager. 

This what the game is about. If you spent 10 years in the Championship with that club, then it is an amazing achievement. Even if you get relegated and have to come back up - thats what happens. its part of the  journey. Hardest two leagues in England to get out of are the National league and the Championship. 

 

The loan market will be your friend. 

Also, have a look at this - 

 it might help you to focus on what attributes to look for when replacing your ungrateful, greedy team! 

 

Keep us posted. 

[Scarecroww]

@AurioDKThanks a lot for elaborate post. Most of the things said I am aware of and already doing and I guess that's weird because the answer was right in front of me... To survive in Vannarama National where I was burning trough club's money really quickly, I'd sell like 1 player for 500k and that would have me financially secured for another year... So the key point you mentioned and I think I'd have to work around is to take gamble with the wages. Those good youngsters that used to join me for 300P/W and now want 1500P/W, to give them those wages and hoping that selling some of them for decent money would keep the club running... It's exactly what I used to do it seems it's just all now on larger scale.. Yes higher wages, but also higher income and higher transfer fees for my players. I should probably give contracts to some of the less demanding ones to have some security and hope I can sell some for good money... I am managing for 12 years and didn't spend a single $ on transfer fees, and I don't get attached to them, in fact I purposely look to sell my best players to raise some funds, then I invest everything into Stadium and facilities, when it's financially safe because board is useless in managing finances. When I started we were playing on an 800 capacity stadium that we shared with like 5 other teams and their u23 and u18...

Anyway, what I am looking at is increase the wages significantly but not too crazy, pay who I can keep and hope that I can stabilise, it's gonna be difficult with 6500 capacity stadium, but let's see what happens. Just hope I don't mess someone's wages up and end up inflating them even more, like when I ****ed up and signed Mbappe for Liverpool just because I could easily afford him. Ended up inflating everyone else's wages and ruined me. It's gonna be difficult to balance it all out but there's hope 

[AurioDK]

1 hour ago, Scarecroww said:

@AurioDKThanks a lot for elaborate post. Most of the things said I am aware of and already doing and I guess that's weird because the answer was right in front of me... To survive in Vannarama National where I was burning trough club's money really quickly, I'd sell like 1 player for 500k and that would have me financially secured for another year... So the key point you mentioned and I think I'd have to work around is to take gamble with the wages. Those good youngsters that used to join me for 300P/W and now want 1500P/W, to give them those wages and hoping that selling some of them for decent money would keep the club running... It's exactly what I used to do it seems it's just all now on larger scale.. Yes higher wages, but also higher income and higher transfer fees for my players. I should probably give contracts to some of the less demanding ones to have some security and hope I can sell some for good money... I am managing for 12 years and didn't spend a single $ on transfer fees, and I don't get attached to them, in fact I purposely look to sell my best players to raise some funds, then I invest everything into Stadium and facilities, when it's financially safe because board is useless in managing finances. When I started we were playing on an 800 capacity stadium that we shared with like 5 other teams and their u23 and u18...

Anyway, what I am looking at is increase the wages significantly but not too crazy, pay who I can keep and hope that I can stabilise, it's gonna be difficult with 6500 capacity stadium, but let's see what happens. Just hope I don't mess someone's wages up and end up inflating them even more, like when I ****ed up and signed Mbappe for Liverpool just because I could easily afford him. Ended up inflating everyone else's wages and ruined me. It's gonna be difficult to balance it all out but there's hope 

 

Another thing, players in FM 21 don´t look as much towards other players for wages. At least not in my Wrexham side, I have a squad player earning 325k and a star player earning 175k, this is actually normal in my club and I havn´t had the the previous problems of other FM iterations where everyone wants the same wage as someone else. Players tend to look more inwards than outwards when it comes to wages, I couldn´t figure out in the example I mentioned with my backup keeper .. why on earth was he demanding 250k? I have no idea as that would have surpassed my first choice keeper´s pay, he was at 225k. I don´t want to ruin your save, could be my save is just weird but players do not seem to reflect on what everyone else is getting, they seem to be more concerned with their own ability and want what they think they are worth. That means you should be able to safely gamble on wages and set your own max, I have the opposite problem, a luxury problem ... my board allows me to use 6.5 million on wages but I know that 5.5 million is the absolute max at the moment.

Boards suck at evaluating players as they don´t seem to estimate future value correctly, I bought a very good Chinese player for 30 million, he is now worth 60 million and the board is still furious, bad purchase they say ... I of course bought him for other economical reasons as well. My dream FM would have a tick box when starting a new safe: Do you wish to be the Chairman and manager? ... BIG YES.

[Scarecroww]

My save is on 2020, I bought 2021 last week but still didn't start a single save, I am invested in current one. I know boards do suck, mine especially. They are allowing me 6M transfer budget and 50K p/w, and I have 5m total in the bank and losing money monthly... Which if I all used I'd go into debt and board would then blame me and reduce wage budget to 5k p/w because "current financial situation", and then they'd hate on me for not working within a budget which is a club vision.. I learned that from experience long time ago so now I figure what I can afford to pay on my own. I'll try to not go above 3M a year for wages as I think I'd manage to move some players for that money. I am currently on 980K. 

[LeeWHU888]

Sounds like your club has hit a glass ceiling. You've flown up the leagues but the club hasn't been able to grow at the same time. It happens, your options are to keep plugging away in the hope of finding players who you can afford to sign, go for broke. Chuck money at it and run the risk of bankrupting the club or, possibly the most difficult option is to just throw away what, 10 years? and walk away and look for a job at a bigger club. 

[AurioDK]

22 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

My save is on 2020, I bought 2021 last week but still didn't start a single save, I am invested in current one. I know boards do suck, mine especially. They are allowing me 6M transfer budget and 50K p/w, and I have 5m total in the bank and losing money monthly... Which if I all used I'd go into debt and board would then blame me and reduce wage budget to 5k p/w because "current financial situation", and then they'd hate on me for not working within a budget which is a club vision.. I learned that from experience long time ago so now I figure what I can afford to pay on my own. I'll try to not go above 3M a year for wages as I think I'd manage to move some players for that money. I am currently on 980K. 

 

Aaah, boards are better at getting you stuff in FM 21 like facilities and other stuff, I couldn´t get anything done with my Gateshead side in FM 20, had to use the editor to cheat ... give myself what I felt was appropriate and deduct the amount of money that it would normally cost from my bank account. I still only ended up with a 30k sitter, couldn´t afford a new stadium and eventually quit the game. That has not been a problem in FM 21, with loads of cash in the bank my board has been far more responsive although still very slow to get things done.

[Scarecroww]

Yeah I was reluctant to buy 21 for long time but then I kept hearing about many minor improvements that overall make quite a difference... Wish I started this save in 2021 now. 

[Scarecroww]

To add on board competence and judgement
When I asked for upgraded training facilities










That is some serious underperforming  I guess we aren't brave enough in our fight against relegation

[Sharkn20]

16 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

To add on board competence and judgement
When I asked for upgraded training facilities










That is some serious underperforming  I guess we aren't brave enough in our fight against relegation

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[autohoratio]

18 hours ago, Scarecroww said:

To add on board competence and judgement
When I asked for upgraded training facilities










That is some serious underperforming  I guess we aren't brave enough in our fight against relegation

Report it as a bug and upload a savefile from before you make the board request

[bazhsw]

It seems evident to me, the game is actually being quite kind to you in terms of modelling Championship wages.

The cash the players have asked for are exceptionally low for both Championship and League One - they are not asking for too much.

You're problem is that you have massively overachieved, possibly at a ridiculous rate and your club is simply not big enough to support a Championship side.

You're also being either exceptionally harsh on yourself to an almost delusional level if you think taking a club from tier 11 to the championship using youth recruiting / cast offs is not achieving anything and you may as well ditch your save.

In real life there are few cases of a club going from that level to the league and those that have either threw lots of money at it when they were relatively rich to the division or had a phoenix level support.

Even former non League clubs with 20 years of league history find life in the championship hard due to a lack of a generations long support and income stream.

Your choices are quite simple, if you still have a league two or conference budget you have to pay that level of wages until your reputation improves to build your fanbase or hope that the chairman puts in the cash.  Alternatively you can go for broke and ignore that and hope reaching the pl happens before bankrupting the club.

Looking at it though and what the players are asking, if they are of a certain level they can earn that elsewhere.

[Scarecroww]

As Aurio said, people need to stop comparing FM to real life in sense what's realistic and what's not. The whole charm about FM is the unrealistic part of it where you are given the opportunity to create some "impossible" narratives. The idea was to get the team to win Premier League and Champions league. I didn't think I could get anywhere near it but I wanted to try, however anything else is a failure. 

I managed to overcome the crisis with significantly increasing the wages and just selling everyone whose wage demands are just too big, as I don't want to mess the whole structure where everyone will then ask for even higher pay. 

I made a sale of 30M (Player signed on a free, youngster released from the club), and many other sales of couple of millions, which of a Championship side is nothing, but for me current overall balance of 40M is crazy money. At the time of the post I had 5M and very scared since without player sales I only lose money monthly and can't gain anything.

So now the club is in great situation, I singed 2 youngsters for 1M both, which I think I will get at least 20M later. However, on a greater scale, it's going to be really difficult to build something because of stadium capacity limitations. So plan would be to stand still and just do business with players and hope to make the bank big enough to be able to build some big stadium. It's gonna be extremely difficult  and I can't see how it can happen

[Scarecroww]

Really wanted to share this with someone but don't feel like it's new topic worthy so I'll just drop it here.
Not even sure if it's a bug or what. This player had 17.25M Minimum fee release clause... Removed everything they offered, accidentally left Per League Appearance clause, set fee to 17M, added 50% percentage of next sale and suggested it. They accepted right away. Someone at Reading deserves to be sacked