HighFlyingDwarf

The best way to get recruitment optimised is eluding me so far with the Recruitment focuses. Just can't seem to really get it. I miss just assigning people to regions.

I just played the Europa League League Phase for the first time. I have two main points. 1. The diversity of matchups does create a certain degree of excitement. 2. There will be major blowback from people who see the Champions League as turning into a Super League via the backdoor, just owned by UEFA.

It may be 25 years into the future but United defenders are still making their fans suffer.

Lewes F.C. - Season 2025/26 Time to push on and make progress in getting out of this division? National League Table Transfers A stinker of a finish was the reverse of our good run at the end of last season. Need to get those dynamics under control in "Morale Manager"! FA Cup We went one step further than last season and reached the Third Round! The highlight of the run was a win against MK Dons in the First Round before a generous draw against Daggenham and Redbridge (albeit away) saw us ride a good streak into January. Unfortunately however, that's where our involvement ended. FA Trophy We also had a good go of it in the FA Trophy reaching the Quarter Finals, but high flying Notts County eliminated us with a penalty at the end of stoppage time in a 3-2 win at the Dripping Pan. Transfer of the Season Morgan Williams - A really decent acquisition at right back from Yeovil with an average of 7.02. Also chipped in with 4 goals. Player of the Season Hamzad Kargbo - The big man just keeps going. 19 goals this season. Season League Finish Notes 2023/24 National League South 1st Champions, Manager of the Year 2024/25 National League 14th 2025/26 National League 13th FA Cup Third Round Proper

Max only ever does excellent work. The positional and heat maps are a bit of a smoking gun here on this. The same as when he highlighted issues with marking in FM22.

I had NO idea this was a thing. Thank you for sharing this.

I see the same behaviour with stuttering in the 3D ME and high usage, so probably a more widespread issue. I just didn't think to mention it because I was so annoyed with the squad planner and its minor in comparison

They do appear to my recollection on the old squad depth page but can be filtered out. I'm away from FM for a few days but can confirm once I get back

Repeated from my comment in the early access feedback Yes it really is this bad.

Lewes F.C. - Season 2024/25 National League here we come. Objectives? Get our feet wet in this division and get the temperature of the division without becoming too hot under the collar at the bottom of the table. National League Table Transfers An up and down campaign until the last couple of months where we went on a lengthy unbeaten streak from January until the end of the season. Promising stuff, and it landed us in mid table well outside of any danger. FA Cup A big cup run. A win against fellow non league Oldham in the first round set up a tasty tie at home on TV with Charlton Athletic in the Second Round. We led the Addicks from the 18th minute onwards through a Kargbo penalty, but an equalizer in the 80th minute forced a replay. The replay was an ill tempered affair. Kieron Freeman was sent off for Charlton at 1-1 on the 37th minute and we took the lead on the 57th minute, only to be dragged back ten minutes later. Ultimately, it went to penalties and our CM Harrison Dudziak missed the decider, a disappointing end to our time in the competition, but a profitable journey. FA Trophy Reeling from the loss to Charlton, we were dumped out with a whimper 1-2 to Ebbsfleet at home in the Third Round in the first game after the FA Cup Replay. Transfer of the Season Liam Cross - Can play literally anywhere across the front of the pitch and usually did, although he didn't make tons of appearances he filled in where he needed to well. Probably not good enough to really cut it at this level though. Player of the Season Hamzad Kargbo - His Avg. Rating dipped to 7.17 against tougher competition but he improved his goal tally to 16 on 6 fewer appearances. Another great season for him. Season League Finish Notes 2023/24 National League South 1st Champions, Manager of the Year 2024/25 National League 14th

Surely if it affects the price of development it's a SI decision based on their assessment of the cost/gain implications? edit: (same as any other feature??) I have no idea, I'm not going to debate the ins and outs of that, but one of the trending items on the FM subreddit is "Editor being £7 is a p******e" and it's once again mostly negative reviews for the in game editor on steam. I don't think this is justified or fair based on the development time going into it, but still, come on?

As someone who very rarely manages big clubs from the off, this one honestly has me speechless, and it's very very alarming to see the response in the bug tracker.

I have to say, even as someone who doesn't generally buy the in game editor, the decision to increase the price is flat out absurd. How much extra revenue is that really going to bring in. I mean, really?

I've played way ahead meaning to come back and give an update. Do not fear! One is coming soon!

I've written my piece on the squad planner here:

Okay. I get to finally get to vent on this because I really am not happy about it at all. (There's going to be a lot of bold text for emphasis here) Here's the squad depth screen from FM22: I have two ultrawide monitors, so the wasted space at the side of the pitch is a bit of a burden, but it's one of the few detrimental things about the FM22 Squad Depth page. (Just add a toggle to switch the way the pitch is facing. Problem solved) From a single screen I have access to the following: 1. A toggle allowing me to display: My team by perceived current ability My team by perceived potential ability My player role suitability based on my current formation and roles Matches played in a position during the current season A position overview based on current ability giving a more generalised opinion on depth in the squad (this is flipped so the pitch is left to right as well. A position overview based on potential ability My overall best XI 2. Individual position depth, which is persistent and can change based on my removals and additions, including developmental players, in addition to some relevant, salient information regarding player age and performance. 3. The abililty to initiate a scouting mission as neccessary if I feel like I want to look for a specific position, and then tailor that to my specific need. 4. The abillity to use different staff members to source opinion rather than purely my assistant manager (although few could hold better opinions than the great Miroslav Klose, I will admit). 5. The ability to change the formation being assessed via a toggle. --- Okay, now let's look at the squad planner. (Full disclosure, I'm aware I'm using the Work The Space skin but these are all applicable to the base skin having used them both). From a single screen I have access to the following: 1. A single position, in addition to only allowing me to see players which my assistant has predesignated that I'm allowed to see, rather than giving my full team to allow me to properly assess everybody across the entire breadth of the squad, whether it be in my first team, academy or players on loan. What are the filters even intended for when my entire team is not present in this section as a matter of course? If the aim is to reduce clicking, why do I have to click to add MY OWN PLAYERS into this screen. 2. The only way of me seeing the entirety of my squad, but only those within the squad planner, is by pressing the "Show Full Squad View button", which gives me this: All of those lovely drop downs I mentioned from FM22? All gone. Excised to only the ability to change my tactic, which is shorn of much of its import or relevance due to the fact that said drop downs have been removed. Even worse. The modal screens are now gone! Pressing the positions now sends me back to the initial screen, which feels like an entirely separate entity rather than something which is supposed to be a natural extension. Bonus point! Just look how far that "Hide Full Squad View" button is from where it was originally placed!! 4. Adding recruitment focuses onto this area is an interesting touch, except for when you try to create them and it doesn't actually even add the focus to the page that you're already looking at. This is maybe the exemplification of just how poorly thought through and implemented this entire thing is. 5. Changing formation via a toggle survives! Of dubious usage I think given all the things I've highlighted, but there you go. --- So how about the new elements that have been added on the other pages? Squad Matrix: A fair idea, but I feel this advances the cause of spoon feeding information that SI seems to be advocating for of late. It also pulls from the players in the squad planner and not the entire team, so you end up with situations like this. Yuck. Reports: Best XI is moved here and adds a best youth XI. Not a bad change if it were in squad depth last year but within the new format it's almost irrelevant. Somewhat ironically, this is the only place you can get another staff members opinion obviously within the screen and not via a hidden dropdown. See my prior quote: The Assistant Report is also here and includes the analyst reports facts from last year in addition to the pros/cons of the team. Stats is unchanged. There may be more to view. I don't think this page changes lives. --- In conclusion. Atrocious. Atrocious. Atrocious. In a screenshot, here's how it should have been done (adding the fact that all current squad players should be included by default unless I have explicitly removed them).

Maybe the most insulting feature released this year. I'm reinstalling FM22 to do a comparison of why the squad planner doesn't work to share here once I get a moment. edit: rings and watches may be up there but I don't really care about those.

I'm not sure on what basis this comment is made? The value proposition given by this years game is arguably as much or less than the transition between CM4 to 03-04 and CM3 thru 01-02, and none of those games had any issues with any sales based on the information on public record. It's a different era I know, but still. Is there any evidence to suggest that not changing tack on approach to the release schedule would be financially detrimental to SI? I would argue that given the player base, it's far more viable for hardcore FM fans to buy the game every single year, even when knowing dramatic updates may not happen until a new numbered release. (This has been cited by both mere plebians such as I and influencers such as the roundtable of FM creators) In any case, I don't expect any commentary from the community is really going to change things radically regardless.

My original commentary from the early access is here: Additional comment. Convincing people that the early access beta is somehow detached from the full release of the game is some impressive sleight of hand. FM seems to be the only place where people is convinced that the official release makes an actual difference to the game. Maybe a few bug fixes at most, but it's why I'm a cynic when anybody says "but it's the Beta!" And the reason I actually came here to comment. Woe be unto those in the nosebleeds! Another retained "feature" from FM 22. I'm not entirely sure if this is a bug or intentional.

I think it's worth mentioning that Shakhtar move back to the Donbas-Arena in 2024, which would seem to at least imply something has happened. I enjoyed the Brexit gameplay largely because alternate future/history and dynamic gameplay is of great interest to me, but let's not act like it was the most popular thing on the planet. That would be dishonest.

Surely there's a fundamental flaw here. When the board tell you they want you to play a specific style of football, it's a small group of people who have overarching responsibility over how the team is run. Supporters are far bigger in population and aren't a hive mind. They don't have a collective wisdom in terms of how a team should play. Some fans might feel that a long ball game is a good thing, but just as many probably don't. How then is it realistic for something which has been so well received to suddenly be flipped right on its head. Take Bournemouth for example. When they first came up, there was a lot of talk about how they continued to play an expansive game even after promotion. The supporter base didn't decide they wanted to start hoofing it just because they wanted survival https://tbrfootball.com/is-bournemouths-expansive-style-of-football-going-to-cost-them-their-premier-league-place/

Every time I play the game and try to squad build I become increasingly angry at the squad planner. It is such a downgrade from squad depth that it may legitimately be the reason why I go back to FM22.

Stating the obvious but Sweeper Keepers seem way too aggressive at the moment in coming out then changing their minds.

Lewes F.C. - Season 2023/2024 First season of the challenge. Everything is overhauled as we look to keep our heads above water in the National League South. I play an aggressive 4-2-3-1, it could be considered a form of Gegenpressing but it's not based off the in game style. National League South What was looking like a good campaign with an outside shot at the playoffs kicked into overdrive come February as we didn't lose a single game from then on. A late wobble saw us draw our last three games, finishing up tied with Maidstone and Dorking, our huge goal differential advantage secured the title with a game to spare. FA Cup We nearly managed to squeak into the First Round Proper but were beaten by Maidenhead 1-3 at home. after a couple of late goals. FA Trophy A decent run to the Third Round before we were beaten by Torquay 4-3 after another late goal. Transfers Too many to name or screenshot! Will hopefully be a little less cluttered next season. Player of the Season Hamzad Kargbo - A utility forward and central defender combo. Managed to score 12 goals and was named POTM 10 times with a big average rating of 7.53 Season League Finish Notes 2023/24 National League South 1st Champions, Manager of the Year