New to the world of Football Manager

[Splat86]

Hello everyone.

Football Manager 2023 was the first game of the series to me, I already pre-ordered FM24 as soon as it was available and I'm guessing that, as many of you here, I'm anxious for the Beta to be available.
In FM23 i started with Benfica a team from my country and it is considered as a top tier team over here, i stayed there for a few seasons, i achieved national glory and also have won the Champions League until i was recruited by Real Madrid and i stayed there because i love that club.

For FM24 i am looking for something different, a challenge of some sort, my objective as of now is to start on a first division team that has little to no glory on a national level and the same in Europe or a second division team that can aspire to be promoted to the main division and from there be motivated for the big prize in the main league and to aspire to Europe, either Champions or Europa League.
I am asking you, to the people that have much more knowledge than me about this, for your suggestions as to where i could start this challenge, i am open to any country honestly, from the USA, to Croatia, somewhere in Asia...after all football is universal right? I also noticed that the new FM will feature the entire Japanese leagues and that seems an interesting place to start but my issue in all this is my lack of knowledge, it's easy to understand more about the big leagues or the ones that have a big media projection like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A etc, on the other hand i don't know much about the ones that don't have the same projection.
I know clubs like Ajax, Psv from the Dutch league but about the rest of the teams and that league i don't know much but i have people always telling me that the Dutch leagues and football are super interesting, that the league in Croatia can also be fun, Serbia as well, Belgium, Austria, picking up a club like Hamburger SV, for example, at take it to the top Bundesliga division again and so on.

I apologize if this topic is getting big, i could talk about football for hours, i would love to get much more into those less known or mediatized teams and divisions, i honestly think that the Japanese league can be so much fun but i can also be wrong.

I wish to read about your suggestions from your past experiences and challenges that you decided to take on and loved, maybe that will help me decide about where i will start in FM24, i just don't want to start with Benfica again and i wish to manage a team outside Portugal 

[bigmattb28]

Hello and welcome. Also say goodbye to your social life.

[XaW]

1 hour ago, Splat86 said:

Hello everyone.

Football Manager 2023 was the first game of the series to me, I already pre-ordered FM24 as soon as it was available and I'm guessing that, as many of you here, I'm anxious for the Beta to be available.
In FM23 i started with Benfica a team from my country and it is considered as a top tier team over here, i stayed there for a few seasons, i achieved national glory and also have won the Champions League until i was recruited by Real Madrid and i stayed there because i love that club.

For FM24 i am looking for something different, a challenge of some sort, my objective as of now is to start on a first division team that has little to no glory on a national level and the same in Europe or a second division team that can aspire to be promoted to the main division and from there be motivated for the big prize in the main league and to aspire to Europe, either Champions or Europa League.
I am asking you, to the people that have much more knowledge than me about this, for your suggestions as to where i could start this challenge, i am open to any country honestly, from the USA, to Croatia, somewhere in Asia...after all football is universal right? I also noticed that the new FM will feature the entire Japanese leagues and that seems an interesting place to start but my issue in all this is my lack of knowledge, it's easy to understand more about the big leagues or the ones that have a big media projection like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A etc, on the other hand i don't know much about the ones that don't have the same projection.
I know clubs like Ajax, Psv from the Dutch league but about the rest of the teams and that league i don't know much but i have people always telling me that the Dutch leagues and football are super interesting, that the league in Croatia can also be fun, Serbia as well, Belgium, Austria, picking up a club like Hamburger SV, for example, at take it to the top Bundesliga division again and so on.

I apologize if this topic is getting big, i could talk about football for hours, i would love to get much more into those less known or mediatized teams and divisions, i honestly think that the Japanese league can be so much fun but i can also be wrong.

I wish to read about your suggestions from your past experiences and challenges that you decided to take on and loved, maybe that will help me decide about where i will start in FM24, i just don't want to start with Benfica again and i wish to manage a team outside Portugal 

Welcome to the addiction!

Well, choosing where to manage is always something people wonder about, and I usually don't recommend any specific club, but rather try to gauge what you are looking for in the save. Do you want it to be a challenge? Are you looking for a journeyman-save, or a one-club one? Are you looking to build a nation? Will you self-impose any rules to make it more interesting?

There are countless ways of playing the game, and every type has it charms and drawbacks. If you are looking for inspiration or indeed to join, we have a challenge sub section where people set up different types of challenges here:

https://community.sigames.com/forums/forum/29-challenges-sign-ups-experiments/

Personally, I mostly play youth-only saves, where I never sign or loan players while trying to build up a club from the bottom to CL glory. Only finished it once, back in FM19, but I've still spent 1000s of hours trying without luck. Others try to build up a nation like San Marino to win the World Cup, or get a player to score 1000 career goals. Have a look, perhaps you want to join one, or just see one and figure you like the general idea, but want to do your own spin on it.

[DarJ]

For me I think the league I’m playing in is more important than the team I’m managing because some leagues have interesting rules you have to think about. Two leagues I really like are the Danish and Polish league. You also have the extra challenge of building the league up to the point where you can win the champions league 

[bruntonpasty]

Welcome! Are you married? Kids? Secure employment? Homeowner? Say goodbye to them all. You only have one religion now.

[Domoboy23]

Have you done a press conference in your head whilst sitting on the toilet yet?

[phnompenhandy]

Sooooo many choices. 25 years in and I'm still finding new challenges. I've recently stumbled across the Legends of the Beautiful Game mod where stars of yesteryear like Stanley Matthews, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Pele are added to the database. I've changed their ages to 15, given them a super-low CA (but keeping their potential the same) and made a squad of them for my Vanarama National League North club (tier 6 in England). So far we've lost every game - this is a proper challenge!

 

I've done a journeyman save around Pacific Islands, I've started with an amateur village side in tier 15 of the Highlands of Scotland and the same in Ireland and Wales - and that's just in FM23.

Expert tip: remember to open the curtains at least once before FM25 rolls around. 

 

[Splat86]

3 hours ago, XaW said:

Welcome to the addiction!

Well, choosing where to manage is always something people wonder about, and I usually don't recommend any specific club, but rather try to gauge what you are looking for in the save. Do you want it to be a challenge? Are you looking for a journeyman-save, or a one-club one? Are you looking to build a nation? Will you self-impose any rules to make it more interesting?

There are countless ways of playing the game, and every type has it charms and drawbacks. If you are looking for inspiration or indeed to join, we have a challenge sub section where people set up different types of challenges here:

https://community.sigames.com/forums/forum/29-challenges-sign-ups-experiments/

Personally, I mostly play youth-only saves, where I never sign or loan players while trying to build up a club from the bottom to CL glory. Only finished it once, back in FM19, but I've still spent 1000s of hours trying without luck. Others try to build up a nation like San Marino to win the World Cup, or get a player to score 1000 career goals. Have a look, perhaps you want to join one, or just see one and figure you like the general idea, but want to do your own spin on it.

Hello XaW, i always loved football and always watched it, well in these days to be honest i barely watch any games, mainly i watch Real Madrid because i love that club and my Portugal national team, outside of that i'm not updated about many of the players around, mainly talents or potential talents or superstars. I used to watch a lot of football in the Arsenal years when they had Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, United when it had Giggs , Rooney, Roanldo, Stam, AC Milan...oh man i loved that Milan with Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Shevchenko, Maldini, I'm from those times, i was in the stadium when Zidane scored 2 goals in the final of the World Cup against Brazil, a maestro of football, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo the Brazilian striker...it felt like a golden age of football.

Sorry i got out of topic.

About what i wish in FM24 is indeed a challenge, for example, to me managing a team in Japan would be it's own challenge because i don't know much at all about the football in that country, in terms of rules i would prefer to be in a league where i can recruit players from other countries and nationalities.
I apologize for this question but what's a journeyman-save??

[Splat86]

4 hours ago, bigmattb28 said:

Hello and welcome. Also say goodbye to your social life.

Exactly what my girlfriend told me xD but yeah I'm aware of that.

[Splat86]

2 hours ago, DarJ said:

For me I think the league I’m playing in is more important than the team I’m managing because some leagues have interesting rules you have to think about. Two leagues I really like are the Danish and Polish league. You also have the extra challenge of building the league up to the point where you can win the champions league 

Hello @DarJ in those 2 countries is there any teams i should consider?

[Splat86]

1 hour ago, bruntonpasty said:

Welcome! Are you married? Kids? Secure employment? Homeowner? Say goodbye to them all. You only have one religion now.

It's ok i know when to stop, i force myself to

[Splat86]

1 hour ago, Domoboy23 said:

Have you done a press conference in your head whilst sitting on the toilet yet?

In FM23 more than once xD

[Splat86]

32 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Sooooo many choices. 25 years in and I'm still finding new challenges. I've recently stumbled across the Legends of the Beautiful Game mod where stars of yesteryear like Stanley Matthews, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Pele are added to the database. I've changed their ages to 15, given them a super-low CA (but keeping their potential the same) and made a squad of them for my Vanarama National League North club (tier 6 in England). So far we've lost every game - this is a proper challenge!

 

I've done a journeyman save around Pacific Islands, I've started with an amateur village side in tier 15 of the Highlands of Scotland and the same in Ireland and Wales - and that's just in FM23.

Expert tip: remember to open the curtains at least once before FM25 rolls around. 

 

I would love to play a proper FM with the likes of Pele, Cruyff and all those legends but given that i wasn't even born in that age i prefer to stick around current football  So the journeyman is that? Where you manage different clubs around the world? 

[XaW]

1 minute ago, Splat86 said:

Hello XaW, i always loved football and always watched it, well in these days to be honest i barely watch any games, mainly i watch Real Madrid because i love that club and my Portugal national team, outside of that i'm not updated about many of the players around, mainly talents or potential talents or superstars. I used to watch a lot of football in the Arsenal years when they had Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, United when it had Giggs , Rooney, Roanldo, Stam, AC Milan...oh man i loved that Milan with Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Shevchenko, Maldini, I'm from those times, i was in the stadium when Zidane scored 2 goals in the final of the World Cup against Brazil, a maestro of football, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo the Brazilian striker...it felt like a golden age of football.

Sorry i got out of topic.

About what i wish in FM24 is indeed a challenge, for example, to me managing a team in Japan would be it's own challenge because i don't know much at all about the football in that country, in terms of rules i would prefer to be in a league where i can recruit players from other countries and nationalities.
I apologize for this question but what's a journeyman-save??

Most in here are indeed manic about football, so you are in the right place. This part is for FM, but we have areas here, in the off topic part, where people discuss football and everything else.

In the sub forum I linked to above, you can see countless various challenges, and most are welcome to newcomers and will most likely be helpful if you are wondering about stuff.

A journeyman save is a type of save where you often start unemployed and apply for jobs in any place you can, to take badges and build up a reputation and move clubs. Just bouncing around trying to win as much as possible, but at different clubs. An example is the challenge where you start unemployed with the lowest reputation and no badges and the ultimate goal is to win the Champion League in all continents. So Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North American, and South America. Of course that is a tough one, but it is possible! Some even combine it with winning the World Cup and all continental championships for national teams too!

[Splat86]

17 minutes ago, XaW said:

Most in here are indeed manic about football, so you are in the right place. This part is for FM, but we have areas here, in the off topic part, where people discuss football and everything else.

In the sub forum I linked to above, you can see countless various challenges, and most are welcome to newcomers and will most likely be helpful if you are wondering about stuff.

A journeyman save is a type of save where you often start unemployed and apply for jobs in any place you can, to take badges and build up a reputation and move clubs. Just bouncing around trying to win as much as possible, but at different clubs. An example is the challenge where you start unemployed with the lowest reputation and no badges and the ultimate goal is to win the Champion League in all continents. So Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North American, and South America. Of course that is a tough one, but it is possible! Some even combine it with winning the World Cup and all continental championships for national teams too!

I thank you for the link that you provided i already got it with me, i will take a look later on and in the days until we get early access.

By the way, is there a section on these forums where you guys talk about players from the game both already mature players or seasoned players and possible young talents?

[phnompenhandy]

25 minutes ago, Splat86 said:

I would love to play a proper FM with the likes of Pele, Cruyff and all those legends but given that i wasn't even born in that age i prefer to stick around current football  So the journeyman is that? Where you manage different clubs around the world? 

I'm actually managing 2 teams. Blyth Spartans has the old legends (now young!) and Kirkwall Thorfinn in Orkney has current players with their CAs reduced to 1 (ie the worst possible current ability) and aged 13-15. So there I have De Bruyne, Salah, Mbappe, Kane and so on.

You can do pretty much anything football-wise in this game. It's the variety that keeps it interesting over the years and decades.

[Freakiie]

25 minutes ago, Splat86 said:

I thank you for the link that you provided i already got it with me, i will take a look later on and in the days until we get early access.

By the way, is there a section on these forums where you guys talk about players from the game both already mature players or seasoned players and possible young talents?

https://community.sigames.com/forums/forum/22-good-player-team-guide/

Personally I never look in that section, to me it's a lot more fun to find exciting prospects and bargains I didn't know about yet myself, rather than being told about them. Especially considering that with some general football knowledge a lot of them aren't really new names anyway.

As for the journeyman, it can be whatever you want it to be, the only core principle is to not stick with a single club too long. Whether you do that by aggressively approaching any potentially better vacancy (and get fired for expressing interest ), by simply resigning once you meet an arbitrary goal you set, by signing a single contract and letting it run out, or any other way you can think of to switch clubs doesn't matter. Same goes for the scale, you could theoretically do a journeyman in a single country, constantly switching between clubs in the same nation and becoming that guy clubs go to when they need to be saved from relegation danger. Or you could set the grandiose challenge XaW pointed out of winning every intercontinental competition. Or you could do anything in between like loading a lot of leagues in one continent and slowly working your way up until you're one of the great managers within that continent and whether you want to start with no badges, no experience and get approached by some amateur club in the 5th tier or set some basic badges/experience and start somewhere on the 2nd or 3rd tier where you at least have a professional squad is all up to you in the end.

[bigmattb28]

4 hours ago, Domoboy23 said:

Have you done a press conference in your head whilst sitting on the toilet yet?

Or interviewed yourself whilst walking the dog?

[santy001]

You may, or may not, need to play through all previous instalments of the game first in order to catch up on the story.