Hello, first post here.
I started a career with Crewe Alexandra, so 1st season in L2. The career is going so good, 17-18 i won promotion to L1 arriving 3rd, 18-19 I started not so well (6 points above relegation zone at the end of 1st half) then I managed a furious rally that finished losing at Bradford the next to last match of the season and I finished 7th. This season after 20 matches I'm fourth and I won the 2nd round of the League Cup vs Sheffield Wednesday (then losing 1-0 at Portman Road next round, with Ipswich now 11th in the Premiership). All these results with the fewest wage spending of the league (i keep my wage spending lower than wage budget to keep the overall balance afloat).
So I can't complain about results. I'm complaining about transfer system that, IMHO, ruins the game immersion and makes the game too easy.
In the 1st season I managed to borrow Kyle Scott, a 19 yo DM from Chelsea really strong for L2. No wage contribution required. I managed to keep him in the second season (still no wage contribution) and I borrowed Jason Eyenga (a 20 yo AMR from Palace) who won twice the Young Player of the Month in L1. No wage contribution for them. At about February I was able to extend the loan of Eyenga for 19-20 season, no wage. This season Eyenga won back-to-back (Sep and Oct) Young Player of the Month and I'm able to extend his loan til the end of the 20-21, as always for free.
I think it's not realistic to have a player of this caliber (it's 3.5 stars in my ability judgment, and his stats are so good) without spending any money for him and without his club trying to loan him to a Championship squad, even requiring for wage contribution.
Another problem: in the first two seasons the Football League Trophy was won by an U23s squad (Boro in 1st season, Arsenal in 2nd one). The U23s teams that pass the group stage are about 12/16 and in the last season 3 of the 4 semifinalists were U23s teams. I manage to see lots of good youngsters that stay in these clubs without being in the transfer lists or loaned to Football League clubs even for wage contributions. So it's too easy to borrow lots of good players, these teams are too strong and my league rivals are weakened by the AI logic.
I think it's a big issue to solve in FM19.
I did not play a long career yet in this edition. Is it still goin' on the massive overhaul of managers in lower English divisions in Nov/Dec with 8-10 sacks per season per league? Does AI still bring on a lot of managers directly from other clubs instead of replacing them with free agents?