ScotchWhisky

I am on around my 20th season in FM '22. 14th or so with Flekkerøy football. I am have worked them into the premier league and been steady there the past 5-6 seasons. I've always in theory had a 2nd team that just plays a few friendlies, but never more than a few players on the team. Well, now that I am a 3* reputation, I am having no issue signing cheap young prospects. Combined with my youth intake, I now have enough players to actually fully stock a 2nd team. Here is the issue. If I go to squad registration, it always gives deadlines for the Norwegian 4th division. Of course, there is no Norwegian 4th division in the game. Only a 3rd division. Therefore, even when meeting the deadlines with a fully registered squad, there are no matches listed. Is it possible this second team will ever make the 3rd division and I will have a legitimate 2nd team? I always felt that would be better than using junior affiliates for development. I've never quite understood how the game chooses which teams to promote from divisions that don't exist... such as when my first team, Göttne got demoted (after I left) to the Swedish 3rd division, then magically came back to the second a couple years later. Is it random? I guess if I can never have a true, competitive 2nd team, then I need to be loaning out all these players... to my affiliates or otherwise. Or selling them for a profit.

Haha, that's awesome! I think I did that once when I knew I was going to be fired, although I think I just loaded the earlier save and saved my job. Either way, there is some satisfaction in believing the board, which really only exists in our minds, is furious and has complete egg on their face. My biggest issue is that both of the players my board sold from underneath me were homegrown stars. The Norwegian Premier division only allows 9 non-homegrown players and it's not easy to find these diamonds in the rough. So yeah, I can usually find an adequate replacement if I don't worry about homegrown status, but my roster is full of non-homegrown players now.

Ok, I know everyone runs into an occasion where the board sells your player against your wishes, but it's suddenly become ridiculous. I've worked a bottom feeder team into the Premier division and have had them stably there for about five seasons now. I finally... finally get a young dream striker. Very fast with decent finishing. Only 19. What does the board do? They sell him for under $2 million. He'd have been worth 4-5 in a couple years. Generally speaking, my team wobbled between $1 million in the black and $1 million in debt. Hell, my transfer budgets was $1.5 million, my wage $80k per week (and I'm spending less than $45k per week), so finances are fine. I'd have paid all that for this player! First time I successfully protested, but the second time, with a slightly better offer, there was no option. I was able to get them to add a loan-back clause at least to finish out the season. Wound up 5th, which qualifies for ECCII or whatever it is (sorry, I don't know European cup names exactly). But that too should be a financial windfall based on the collective bonuses option. My young (24) Central defender won player of the year. I kept refusing offer after offer and finally, the board accepted a $2.3 million offer for him. This time, because two offers came at once, I couldn't find an option to protest their accepting the offer. $2.3 million sounds like a lot, except apparently there was a 40% sale clause. Which is odd, because I swore I stopped making any offers or accepting any negotiations with a sell-on clause. Anyways, I had just signed another start central defender. However, I was retraining him to DR and making my DR a solid backup. Well, that plans gone to hell and now I still have a good defense, except there is no longer any real depth. To make matters worse, the Norwegian premier transfer window closed the day prior and it was a Swedish team that got him, so I couldn't even look for another star player. I hope FM '25 adds more logical arguments in cases like this. It's like, the entire point of a football team is to win matches, titles, and cups. How am I supposed to do that when my best players keep getting taken by a moronic board? I'm sure this happens at times in real life, but I can only imagine managers can say "hey... wait a minute... do you really want to sell a future star that will pack butts in the seats?" Part of me wonders if ChatGPT or something similar will eventually expand interactions in ways we cannot imagine...

I want to comment about real life, because I recall the World Cup match where, I believe it was South Korea, had a ball nearly out, that was originally called out, but wound up being a goal because a fraction of the ball remained on the line. And everyone was like "well, that's the rule..." Yes, it was a rule designed in an era without video rule to where it's likely intent was that any time the ball was touching the line was never called out. It gave referees an extra couple inches not to make the mistake of calling an actual in ball out. It's like offside by half a toe... These rules were not made for video review. Sorry, don't have VRA in my league in the game, so can't comment to your request.

Unless it's changed, this isn't true. In FM '22, I left a Swedish team after about six years for a Norwegian 2nd division team that was mathematically already slated for relegation. The board, therefore, was not judging me on that season. I beat the best team in the league and drew in the two matches I had. The team got relegated and I got automatically fired once the new season began and had to load a save I made before I took the job. Interestingly, I then took a job for a team on the cusp and saved them from relegation. I was surprised that about half the teams were non-promotable B/2nd teams. I figured that's just how the Norwegian Second Division is. After nearly a decade managing Flekkerøy, I looked them up in real life. Only two B/2 teams in the entire league. Apparently, SIs top teams dominate so much that their B teams become superhuman too after a few years. Again, at least in FM '22.

During a mid-season slump, I sought better strikers and I found a perfect 18 year old. Ok, maybe he wouldn't be perfect for this season, but the deal was too good to pass up. After I gave a hefty contract and decent fee, I noticed before accepting he was ineligible this season due to the only two teams in a season rule. Now, I completed this deal after saving and going to bed one night, so I didn't remember all the details. Regardless, turns out I promised him to start as a pressing forward. He is ineligible though, so I couldn't play him a single game and he got upset. Hey, that's on me. This type of thing would not happen in real life. But wouldn't a player also know he is ineligible? Anyways, I got him to agree to give me another chance so it should be fine. Just another one of those annoying player interaction things in the FM world.

I am continuing my game as the manager of Flekkeroy. The Czech Republic offered me the job as manager of their international team. I wasn't sure I really wanted to add this, but the salary was too much... about a million a year compared to my $200k I am making with Flekkeroy. I'm not going to put a lot of time into it and plan to delegate out everything except actual matches. However, I run into the issue where I want to hire a B team manager, an U20s manager, and an U21s manager. I go to place an advertisement and nothing happens. How do I go about this without randomly offering the job to dozens of people hoping one will take it? *edit* This is for FM22 *second edit* I don't have the Czech Republic in the game. Would it be wise to add at least a view only version?

I've been managing a Norwegian team for around 10 seasons now. Initially in D2, but mostly in D1. In D2, there were almost no TV games. In D1, there were always televised matches that paid $57k per match. The total varied from about 1/3 to 1/2 of my matches in a season. I got promoted to the Premier league this season and thus was turned professional. I signed new full time staff and upgraded a few players to full time contracts. I'm still not sure how the finances will shake out, but I have good enough players I can sell if needed. As I was going through this preseason, I kept waiting for the televised matches notification thinking I'd need a similar number of matches at around 3x the pay ~$150k per match to remain liquid. The season came and no matches have been selected as being televised. HOWEVER, before every match is the tunnel broadcast interview, which suggests in it being televised. Yet no $$$ have arrived yet. Is this a bug, or is it some difference in the division where maybe I get all TV revenue at the end? Without any broadcast revenue, I am going broke.

I think the fact that women's ratings pale in every single sport, including tennis: https://awfulannouncing.com/tennis/wimbledon-finale-multi-year-viewership-high.html Tennis is definitely one of the closer sports, yet the men's event still gets double the audience. That's not misogyny. That's just accepting the fact that men and women are wired differently and athletics is something men tend to care about far more than women. And even though women enjoy watching sports too, they tend to prefer watching men's sports over women's sports. That translates to games too. If you want evidence on games, here ya go: https://www.thegamer.com/fifa-22-women-achievement/ These statistics are especially putrid considering many people are achievement seekers who would do something thing simple just to unlock the achievement. Hell, if I still bought FIFA games on my XBox, I would have played a match just to unlock it. Do you believe Football Manager is going to be any different? I am sure SI will include an achievement for managing a women's team. I bet the stats won't be much different. Maybe 10% to get a whiff of the "new football smell" before it wears off.

Thanks! Ya know, I've never dug into the personality traits and now that you mention it and I finally looked them up, you are right. That looks like the second best personality trait a player can have. Since he is slow, I will only play him as a keeper and not a sweeper keeper. It would make sense in that case to sell Dønnum then. Cash out on that massive (for my team) player value before his contract runs out. Then use the 16 year old should an emergency injury occur. So, would you renegotiate Drage's contract to full time? I don't know how much full time matters for development compared to part time. Honesty, if I get relegated, my team is going broke as I've been spending like a fish on new staff and what not since becoming professional. I don't even know how finances are going to shake out yet as I have no idea what TV contracts will be, and won't for another couple months.

After 10 years with Flekkerøy Fotball, I finally achieved promotion to the Premier division. I've had a rock solid keeper, Richard Dønnum, for the past five years who has a year left on his contract. He is now 29. However, in the prior season, I was able to sign another top keeper, Kristoffer Drage, as his contract was expiring, so he joined after the season ended. They both have pros and cons, but before I say much more, here is their individual profiles, as while as direct attribute comparison: I wouldn't worry too much about Dønnum's injury. It's the only one he's ever had with me and it's a fractured finger, which is only a few weeks before returning to full health. When it comes to Drage, I really like the handling, reflexes, and lack of punching, while being more likely to rush out. However, his positioning and teamwork isn't great. And while he is willing to rush out, he is pretty slow. His kicking also stinks. Since I have him locked in for five years, one thought is to send him out on loan for a season... I have a Norwegian third division team as a junior affiliate, although it's probably be much wiser to send him to a much higher level team. The other option is to simply start him and bench Dønnum. He may get upset and is a team leader, though I've never had a major mutiny yet. One other point is that both of these players are on part-time contracts and I was just made professional. Would it be wise to renegotiate Drage's contract immediately as I believe that would impact training and development, no? Oh, and yet one other point is that I also have a very good prospect and supposedly my youth intake is bringing in another A keeper, though trials haven't occurred yet, so not sure who he is. I'll probably send this prospect to my junior affiliate... or is it better to leave him in my U19 team? What would you all do? Thanks in advance!

I'm amazed that after years of incremental changes, FM '24 actually sounds like it's implementing a lot of useful changes. Is this just part of the transition to whatever FM '25 is supposed to become? It feels like it's a way to gin up support for the changes that are coming next year. Either way, I welcome these changes. Though I still hope too much isn't dedicated to women's football in '25. Beyond the initial "let's check this out!", we all know it's barely going to be used.

I just had a streak of 11 matches without a loss snapped. Started the next match against a generally superior rival and quickly went down 1-0. Team came back and by about the 65th minute, was up 2-1. Dude gets a second yellow card. I go very defensive and use defensive tactics hoping to at least salvage a draw. Things are going well for about 10 minutes then I get a straight up red card. Now it's 11-9 and still up 2-1. I pull my forwards (I am not sure this is wise) and sure enough, I wind up losing 3-2 with a goal in the 91st minute. I get into the tunnel and first thing the reporter asks is "what happened?" Once again, no option to say "I was leading then got two red cards." Instead I have to say something about preparation. Another similar question before they finally addressed one of two red cards. Now, you may find this to be something about a lame interview. But, if the interviewers think this, then player morale is probably factored in the same way. And since morale is the most important thing in this game it seems, that IS important. I just held a team meeting and said don't worry about the last result. I'll give an example. The season is over and a player has a month left in his contract. No new contract has been offered. He then threatens to leave the team if his demands are not meant. So, I have the option to try and sell the player... ok, I am going to "sell" a player with a month left, sure. Or, he/I can threaten to run down his contract. Hey, you moron! You have one left then you are free of all obligations. Take your $500 per week and enjoy the time off!

I've attended every interview, but I don't know why. I should just send my assistant. Though the interviews can impact player morale. And you are right. If they use some AI bot, we probably will get better conversation. But then, you get an AI like snapchats AI that will (or at least used to) argue with you that Boris Johnson is the present PM of the UK. And I also don't get the point of gestures. Throw water bottle sounds pretty weak for a manager. At least they have "kick chair" in team meetings. I want "expletive filled rant." More importantly, I want a board that can assess the realistic future situation!

Thanks everyone for your detailed responses! I have read them all and it clarifies a lot. I really wish they would change the whole star system in the future to compare your player to the league. That is the only thing that matters/makes sense. One thing sticks out to me though and it's similar to what others of you have said: One question I had not asked is what importance does a role player have? When I moved from Göttne to Flekkerøy, there was one player I sniped from Göttne. A right winger with a relatively high corner attribute of 12 and he also had very good speed (Acc 13 and Pace 14) and good (11) crossing ability. Mediocre otherwise: He was listed as 2* with a potential for something like 4.5 or 5*. He never improved beyond 2.5* and regressed to 2* when I let him go, though he always seemed to play well. I finally "upgraded" his position, but based on scouted players, there are only six others I would be able to grab that potentially have a corner taking ability that high. And I wonder... how important is having a "specialist" that may not be the best, but can boost set pieces? My best corners guys now have a rating of 9.

It's not so much that I got fired. It's more the idea that they gave me a month to improve my results, were ecstatic after my win, then fired me because another team won as well. Granted, I am the dummy who made the promise without knowing the schedule (which would not happen IRL). But I'm far more likely to ask for three or four matches rather than a month. A month doesn't make sense when the first two matches occur within the two weeks then there is no fixture after that. I think the most frustrating thing is how so many of these things haven't changed in the past decade+. I mean, read their Future of Football Manager post. All they do is talk about Unity with enhanced graphics and animations. Those are great... FM has never been about graphics, but hey, a graphics upgrade is great. I remember when Tiger Woods (Rory McIlroy) golf went to the Unity engine. It made a huge difference graphically. Then they talk about the UI navigation. Sure, if there are improvements that can be made there, that is great too. Then they go on about adding Women's Football. Great, that shouldn't be that hard to add for those that want it. Just another set of leagues and players. But how about the meat and potatoes of the game? You know, the managerial aspect? *addition* Or the fact that the game doesn't distinguish the difference of getting a red card at 5' vs 85'. I just got one at 55'. I was already down 3-1, but the team was getting some chances (key plays). I get to the tunnel after a 4-1 loss. "What happened out there?" Gee... I don't know. I had a player sent off with a red card? "how come you didn't sub so and so?" Ummm... because I had a red card and it really didn't matter?

As a follow-up, I did have a save right before the 16th place team played their match. They won again. I reloaded again. They lost. Funny how my job status goes from stable to very insecure if they win. If they lose, it's stable. Gee, like the board couldn't see I won one, lost one, and probably should give me a couple more matches by realizing "give me one month" wasn't to be taken 100% literal.

How do you get those three tactic slots to have high familiarity values with a semi-pro outfit?

...And I don't mean for the match engine. I mean for the board and player personalities. Let's focus on the board. I leave my beloved football team for the greener pastures of Flekkerøy football. A team struggling to stave off relegation in the Norwegian Second Division with a few matches to play. I succeed and the next year I am promoted to the First Division. I am then relegated in a First Division where only two of 16 teams, including mine, were semi-pro. I come back for my third full season in the Second Division and am easily promoted again. A cinderella mid-table finish, one spot shy of a playoff for promotion, was my fourth season. Then a disappointing playoff victory to stave off relegation my fifth season. The sixth season, my goal was to stave off relegation. A good start that quickly turned poor. Finally, the board starts talking to me. "Improve or you're gone." I think they were more upset I lost to a lower league rival in the second round of the Norwegian Cup. The second time they talk to me, I tell them give me a month to improve. My next four matches contain two very winnable fixtures. Oh, but dummy me. I didn't look at the dates. After my second match, I go into a three week break! So, I lose my first match as expected then draw the second. Well shoot, the board is not happy. I get fired three days before the third match. I load the save before the second match. I'm trying not to cheat, but the open jobs I wanted stopped taking apps. So I replay the second match and this time I win! That puts me into a tie for 14th out of 16th. The board is so happy at the teams improvement, so I figure I will stick with it. What's a small bit of cheating after all? 10 days or so later, the 16th place team faces the 2nd place team and somehow wins (how come I never have any luck?). This drops me back into 15th. The board is suddenly mad again. "YOU DID NOT REALLY IMPROVE EVEN THOUGH WE INITIALLY BELIEVED YOU DID!" This time in a pre-emptive strike, I had applied for Tromsø and left three days before I was fired while taking every single coaching staff member with me, except one (I did save to ensure I would actually be fired. I was, again). Why does this bother me? Because I want to tell them: 1) We are one of five semi-pro teams in a league of 16. 2) Before me, you all had never been in the First Division. I've had you there four of six years and the first I couldn't control. 3) With me, you upgraded both the youth and main training facilities, and installed underground heating, while remaining cash positive. 4) You slashed my budget last year to $8k p/w because you were too stupid to realize the upcoming televised matches would make your "unstable" financial situation "okay". They weren't even cash flow negative. I could afford the players I had, but couldn't add anyone new of value. 5) You doubled my budget this year to $22k, with a record $150k transfer budget. Yet despite spending only $10k p/w, wouldn't let me sign the excellent striker who wanted $2500 p/w. For what it's worth, my budget with Tromsø is $53k per week with a $3.5 million transfer budget. And now I think I mistakenly saved over the autosave where I could go back and try again if I want. Now, it's either stick with Tromsø, or quit the game. I have vowed not to cheat, but it really pisses me off and makes me not want to play anymore. I get the whole "get better results, or you're fired." But I'd think at lower levels, loyalty is more important. Especially for a team never expected to do much. Hopefully when FM '25 comes out. Rather than worry about women's leagues (did anyone, as in a sizable number of people, really want this?) and newgen appearance, how about SI overhauls the AI that's been virtually the same since I first started playing in 2009? The match engine is vastly improved (no more alligator/roadrunner legs to ensure the proper player reaches the ball first), but all the backroom stuff is virtually the same and just as irritating as ever. Like I can't tell the media the reason I have so many center backs is because one is going to play left back and one is going to play right back? Instead I have to make some dumb comment about "depth."

As someone whose football experience is limited to watching the Men's World Cup and playing Football Manager since '09, it's obvious I don't understand what most of the tactics... hell, most of the game means. It's like reading about attributes nothing is as it seems. Finishing supposedly isn't how good a striker is at scoring goals. It's how good their accuracy is (which seems the same to me). Thus my tactics are always designed by taking educated guesses. For example, a cautious approach (remind me... why did SI change it from Counter to Cautious?) tactic tends to have counter options selected. An attacking approach, on the other hand, would be silly to have things like "play out of defense" and "work ball into box" selected. Then again, maybe I am wrong on that. Anyways, the main thing is it seems every time I get promoted from a lower league to a higher league, in this case, Norwegian Second to Norwegian First division, I have a flying start to the season. It then slows down to where I wind up with a mid-table finish. And finally, the next season I fight a closely fought battle for relegation. It seems once they learn my tactics, they beat my tactics. Fair enough, but what does it take to reconfuse the AI? Just changing a few settings or should the formation be completely overhauled? The difficult thing is that alternate tactics cannot save different players. Only different roles. So if I go with a classic 4-4-2 formation with a 3-1-3-1-2 formation, then it won't necessarily default to the right players in the right spot. As a result, I usually stick with one formation. I just change roles slightly or tactical options. But then I wonder. What does familiarity matter because it is very hard to be highly fluid with a semi-pro team on more than one tactic. TL;DR (actual questions): 1) When you make your tactics, do you use alternate formations or the same formation with altered sub-settings (Get stuck in, play out of defense, etc) 2) How important is familiarity? Does going from near 100% familiarity to 60% make a massive difference to where it's always a bad idea? 3) If a player is estimated to be 3.5* based on being a Box to Box Midfielder (support), but only had around 30% familiarity in that role, yet is 3* as a Ball Winning Midfielder (defend) with a near 100% familiarity, is it better to play them in the defend role even if you prefer more support? 4) I used to think a coaches estimated player ability was in relation to the league average. However, it seems it's actually in relation to the rest of your team. Does that mean it's impossible to have all 4*+ players? I had a player young player with a 4.5* potential. Got him as a 2*. Worked him up to a 3.5*. Always turning in 7.5+ performance ratings. Then despite continued good performances and little (if any) attribute decline, he suddenly worked down to a 3* and now a 2.5*. Is that just from signing better players in a similar position? 5) How do you make a player fully familiar in more than one role? it seems I can set their training for one role and they will become great at it, but they magically lose the rest. My goal is always to sign players who can play multiple positions (preferably all the midfield role, all the defense roles, or all the center roles), but if they can only be familiar in one at a time, maybe that's the wrong approach? 6) As a non-footballer, if you can have only one legitimate top player at any position, what would it be? I've always assumed striker. A great striker beats a great goalkeeper most times is what I've always thought, but maybe I am wrong? Maybe a star goalkeeper out positions the star striker? Or maybe a star center midfielder not only prevents plays from materializing, but also sets up goals.

I am playing FM '22 and I just I transferred jobs to a Norwegian second division team last season and narrowly avoided relegation. This year, my team is on fire and presently in second. However, I am very confused about the league rules. Here are the standings: Here are the rules: Traditionally, I've always thought the green highlight indicates automatic promotion and the blue highlight indicates playoff for promotion. However, the rules clearly state 1st is promoted and 2nd goes to a playoff. It further states that the second tier teams are ineligible for promotion, which means my team should be on pace for automatic promotion. Yet, Molde 2 is highlighted in green and the board vision suggests they are pleased I am challenging for a playoff spot. Media interviews, as wonky as they are, hint at the same thing. Any ideas? Definitely a little different for me playing in a league with secondary teams involved.

After over a year hiatus, I returned to this game. Playing as Göttne, I got promoted to the Swedish First Division after my fourth season. I had a great campaign in the First Division and finished 9th. Not bad for the first season. Despite resigning almost all my players (young and improving) and supposedly making some upgrades, my second season was not as successful and was a battle against relegation all season. I almost left for a Norwegian Second division team that was pretty safe, but contract discussions broke down. No big deal... in the end, I barely got relegated. I wasn't fired immediately, but a good time to move on in my career. Since I wanted to try Norway, I applied for another division II team. This time, they were guaranteed relegation and I was hired. I had searched this thread and realized it would be ok. I joined them and in my only two games with them, I beat the top team and drew with another. Not bad! Something was weird though. All staff was listed as allowing zero members. When I convinced them to add more scouts, the number never increased. Yet as the season ended, I wasn't immediately sacked. I figured I just needed the season to reset. When I spent 45 minutes clicking continue, it finally advanced to the new season in mid-January and I got sacked. As it turns out, apparently you cannot play as the Norwegian Third Division afterall. By then, all the jobs I wanted were gone. The few other teams in leagues I was willing to try did not accept me. Pretty much, my game was entirely screwed. It would have been nice to know this as I possibly could have stayed with Göttne since my goal was to bravely battle against relegation. I vowed to never cheat this time, but something was fishy about this, so I had wisely saved my game before the transfer was completed. Due to that, a whole new set of autosaves was created. Bottom line is I have three saves before the transfer goes through. One the day before... useless. One a bit sooner and one three matches sooner. With the three matches sooner, I could theoretically avoid relegation (I would have in the first run had I beat Pitea). I feel it's cheating, but it's the only option or else the game is ruined. Bottom line... Getting relegated into the Norwegian Third Division did not work!