warlock

Well, I have good news, and bad news . The good news is that there will definitely be an FM19 version of this thread; the bad news is that Jogo, after doing it for many years, has signalled to the bench for a substitution and wondered if I'd do it. So I'm honoured - and somewhat daunted - to pick up the baton. They're big shoes to fill but I'll do my best; this was by a long distance my favourite thread of the last year. So now that the question has been broached, I was planning on waiting until the full release, just in case anything of substance changes between now and then (there are often some changes re: player ratings, transfer values, etc after beta). But if there's a clamour for the new thread immediately, I'm happy to get to it in the next few days.

File formats have long been different in beta and full game, so it isn't surprising that they're not recognised. Plus, given the changes in this year's tactics creator, I'd be frankly astonished if they were compatible.

My first thought, but 2028 is mentioned in the second image. So ten or 11 years after. And I'd also guess exploit tactic. The scoreline is surprising, but nothing else is particularly notable especially when you look at the stats: Gloucester were lethal, Barca were rubbish (and their keeper had a mare!)

Well it doesn't mean much, but in my current Darlington save Pep won the Prem at Man City with Jose forced to settle for a poor second place. All of the top managers are still in place except Klopp, who was fired after the last game of the season that saw Liverpool lose to Southampton and therefore miss out on European football. It's just a pixel in the big picture, but after about 12 seasons with Man Utd - across four or five saves - the team that has pushed me hardest has been Pep's City, followed - randomly - by Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal. Oh, and Burnley.

See Westy's 442 thread here: Probably not identical to the type of football you're looking for, but it should get you in the ballpark.

Truly, a wise decision! Looks like a really good start - difficult to spot a pattern in those results: some great wins away, some disappointing results at home. As for the teams below you, from my experience only Cardiff and Boro usually do better than that. Under AI management Villa and Hull often finish in the bottom six, and Burton, Bolton and Sheff Utd are usually nailed on for a relegation battle. And a quick thought: how are you setting up your widemen in the 41221? I've found this year that having an asymmetrical setup (winger one side, IF the other) works much better than having the same role on both sides, even if one of them doesn't look comfortable in the role. Best of luck - if you can repeat that form for the rest of the season you shouldn't have any relegation worries.

Which counts as a great achievement, I think. Don't think you'll need much reinforcement to improve next year, and I'd think keeping your star players is much more important. Good luck!

A job well done, I'd say! And I'll also look forward to your next challenge .

I can't remember the differences in FM17, but I have no problem in FM18. Here's team cohesion in my current Darlington (VNN) save. What works for me is using matchday training set to 'tactical familiarity' until it gets to fluid (usually around October) and then switch to 'teamwork' and leave it there for the rest of the season (unless I make radical changes to tactics, in which case rinse and repeat).

Grew up in Darlington and went to Feethams for most home games in 1969-72. Too true. A terribly sad episode in the club's history. They've done well to come back as far as they have, but I think we all know what a mammoth task it is get back to League Two (in real life if not in FM). I've been exiled down south for more than 40 years but still follow from afar. Was appalled a couple of years ago when they were denied a playoff place because of yet more ground issues.

Afraid not - had to settle for runners-up as we failed to win any of our last three games! I'm afraid it's on the backburner. First thing that happened after the end of the season was board announcing they were building a new stadium - giving up the 33,000 capacity Portman Road for a 28,000 capacity white elephant named after our great and glorious chairman. Saddling the club with hundreds of millions of debt in the process. I requested an upgrade to the youth setup - sorry, no money because of the stadium. I requested an upgrade to training facilities - sorry, no money because of the stadium. So for the remaining time in FM18 I've gone back to my Darlington save and my annual attempt to get them back to the heady heights of League Two. I'll be checking here to see how you're all doing, and I'll definitely be back in the EFL in FM19. Looking forward to it!

The oft-quoted answer is that fitness training improves attributes, not actual fitness. Playing matches improves fitness.

Or someone else! The game already gives you the option to run training for everyone from the first team to the U18s (including position, role, additional focus and PPMs), sign everyone, renew contracts for everyone, direct scouting, handle the media and teamtalks... or pass on those responsibilities to another member of staff. I don't know how much more flexibility we could want. And for everyone of the minority who wants to control training drills on the pitch during the week, I'd wager there's a majority who would find that rather boring and just skip it. SI need to make tough decisions about where they allocate resources, and I'd guess that more detailed training regimes is a losing proposition. And, with regard to the OP, I'd go further: in terms of a 'game' there are - and have been - several alternatives (FIFA, PES to name just the first that come to mind); in terms of a football 'simulator', there's never been anything that came close to CM/FM, and they're further away than ever.

In addition to the above responses, you can advertise for every coaching/scouting/medical role on your staff. I'd agree that it can sometimes be difficult to find the staff who want non-senior roles, but the fact that you can advertise those jobs makes it moot.

Not certain but I'm pretty sure that's right - ie, attribute masking is on by default; you just unlocked the ability to disable it.