[Too many penalties?]

Just finished a season and, over 38 league games, I was awarded 27(!) penalties. We were the best team in the division, so I’d probably have expected us to have the most, but to have 27 in 38 games??? 
 

The four teams below me in the ‘penalties taken’ table won 18, 12, 12 and 11 respectively. This also seems a bit high, though nowhere near my level.

Anyone else noticed an excessive number of pens being awarded on FM21? 

[Your largest profit from a single player?]

What’s the largest profit you’ve made from one player? I bought an 18 y.o. regen from a South American team for £8.75m, 3 years later Man City put in a £60m bid. In response I suggested £120m and they’ve actually accepted, for a player only valued at £27m. 
 

Part of me wants to keep him as he’s my striker and best player, but I’m struggling to keep up with Bayern’s spending in the Bundesliga. This sort of money could allow me to upgrade half of my squad. 
 

So back to my original question, what’s the largest profit you’ve made from a single player? 

[Budget for new season]

When is the latest the point the board will usually reset the budget for a new season? 
 

On 20th May I asked the board for a transfer budget increase and was told no because they were “due to re-evaluate the club’s budgets shortly”. It is now 19th June and the budget has remained the same. I’ve had no message about a re-evaluation of the budget. 
 

I currently have a budget that is half of the one I had last season. This makes little sense, as in the season just completed we finished second, qualifying for the champions league for the first time ever. 

Do I just need to wait a little longer or is this a bug? Makes it difficult to do transfer dealings when I’m unsure if the budget I have at the moment will be increased or if it is the maximum amount I’ll have to spend this season. 
 

 

[Unrealistic expectations]

Thought it probably was. Will do. I finished the season and the vision has reset and I’m back up to a C now, so looks like I’ve avoided the sack thankfully 

[Unrealistic expectations]

My manager performance is currently at ‘E’ due to some questionable board expectations. 

11 games into the season, I took over St Pauli in the German second tier. They were rock bottom, with 6 points and 1 win to their name. Despite this, the board’s expectations were to reach the playoffs (3rd place). At the time I did think those expectations could cause me problems at the end of the season, but I had no option to lower them - only to raise them to gaining promotion or winning the title. 
 

Currently, having played 32 games of 34, I’m sitting in 4th. My record since joining is W13-D6-L2. Due to the club’s form before my arrival, though, I’m too far from 3rd to catch up. However, there’s no recognition of this from the board. 
 

Surely, either A) The board should never have given me those expectations in the first place, given we were 18th when I arrived. B) The board should recognise that it’s hardly my fault we’ve not made the playoffs. 
 

Anyone had similar experiences? It’ll be pretty annoying if I get sacked, given I’m confident of getting promoted over a full season. 

[Does context have an impact?]

Took over Lincoln Utd mid-way through the season in the Championship. I’ve got the final day still to play and I’m 3 points above the relegation zone. 

My opponents are Sheffield Utd. They mathematically secured promotion in their previous match and also can’t catch up with the team in first. Is it possible for this to have any bearing on my match? In real life, the Sheff Utd players would obviously want to win but it’s unlikely that they’d put their usual effort levels into the match. Does Football Manager reflect this? My guess would be probably not but I’m curious to know.  

[Vanarama loan rules]

Do you know if there are any rules about what divisions you can loan players from? Despite all my loanees being u-21 I can’t submit more loan offers for any players in League Two or above, yet I can for Vanarama players. It’s the 30th of August in my game, so I’m still within the transfer window of the Football League. 

[Vanarama loan rules]

All of them are u-21 actually, so that makes sense then. Cheers 

[Vanarama loan rules]

Unsure if I’ve come across a bug or not, but I seem to have gone over the maximum amount of long-term loans (6) that is permitted in the Vanarama leagues in England.
 

Initially brought 6 players in on full-season loans and one other player on a short-term (1 month) loan. Just before my short-term loanee was due to leave, I extended his stay to a full season. The club accepted and, surprisingly for me, I was able to confirm the extension without the game telling me I’d maxed out my long-term loan slots. 
 

Is this a bug or have I misunderstood something about Vanarama loaning rules? 

[Weak centre back]

Anyone had any experience using a centre back with poor strength?

I’m managing in the Vanarama North and I’ve come across a centre back with great stats (for this level) in heading, marking, tackling, positioning, jumping reach and pace. Some of his mental stats aside from positioning aren’t amazing but they’re passable. His wage demands are also pretty reasonable. The only problem is his poor strength rating of 7. For comparison, his positioning is 14. 

Has anyone had any (ideally successful) experience using a fairly weak centre back?

[Wage demands]

Are player wage demands influenced by the wages of their teammates (or in this instance teammate)? 
 

I’m managing Celtic, just finished my first season, and I have a weirdly big transfer and wage budget for what you would expect Celtic to have. This has given me the opportunity to sign David Silva one a free (I’m quite keen to see just how much he tears the Scottish Premiership apart). He wants £110k a week and my board are fine with that, but my highest earner below that is on around £35-40k. Will signing Silva cause other players to demand drastic wage increases? 

[Injuring the opposition]

Hahahah. Unfortunately my plan didn’t work, despite very aggressive team, opposition and individual instructions. No injuries and not even any red cards. 

[Injuring the opposition]

Anyone had any luck with purposely trying to injure opposition players?

I’m in a direct battle with Lyon for the final Champions League spot in Ligue 1. I’m 1 point ahead with four games to go but have a harder run-in. Having been drawn against them in the semi-final of the cup, which is to be played just before the final 3 games of the season, I’ve been considering doing the unsporting thing of trying to injure as many of their players as I can in that game. 
 

I know mostly what I should do in terms of team and opposition instructions (get stuck in, tackle harder, mark tighter etc) but I’m interested to know if anyone has tried a similar tactic and had positive results. I know there’s a possibility of getting multiple red cards and inflicting no injuries but it’s worth the risk as I won the cup last season and would quite like to get CL football for next season.