[Negotiate What Skills/Attributes Will be Worked on as an Additional Focus During a Loan Spell]

I have always wanted the option to negotiate what additional focus skill/attribute a player would work on during a loan spell. I am torn at times about when to send a promising youngster off to get more playing time when I also feel like they may need to focus on/shore up a specific attribute if they are to maximize their potential or even fit our style of play. I pay close attention to the quality of training facilities of the teams that make a loan offer, and it would be really cool to at least suggest/ask/negotiate an additional focus for the player's training while on loan.

[International Team Scouting Reports Not Showing Up/Knowledge % Not Progressing]

Thanks, @Julius Flusfeder!

[International Team Scouting Reports Not Showing Up/Knowledge % Not Progressing]

Hi team,

Managing USA national team in the year 2034. Despite numerous scouting reports showing up in my inbox, many of the scouted players have no national report saved on file, or they will have an initial national report filed but the knowledge % does not increase with additional reports/games scouted.

Including screenshots for some examples. I initially asked for Wilson and Carrillo to be scouted for four matches each, however both continue to get reports well beyond the first 4 matches. Despite the excess scouting, Wilson still has no national report filed, and our knowledge % on Carrillo remains at 12%. Additionally, the number of assignments "on hold" in the scouting priorities screen continue to pile up, so I don't think scouts are actually finishing assignments.

Of additional interest, most of the scouts who submit reports are not actually scouts with USA national team appointments.  The General Manager providing reports on Carrillo in the screenshot is just one example; he is not on staff. The coach providing reports on WIlson is on staff, yet his reports aren't being filed whatsoever. 

As a fun side note, I also seem to be able to hire as many fitness coaches as I want. No country in the world has as many fitness coaches as team USA in 2034, Lord knows we need it. Thanks guys.

Save uploaded as Brian Donahue - International Scouting.fm.

Best,

BD

[Failed to Make Club Most Reputable Team in Country - First Day on the Job]

@Tony Garvey @Kyle Brown Ah guys, my apologies - just ran through my saves and unfortunately I don't have a save from right before joining. I am making a concerted effort now to make saves before any registrations, team changes, new contracts, etc., but I wish I could have been of more help here.

Some additional info: I did agree to the "Become the most Reputable" objective, recognizing it was unlikely I would pass it. I haven't had a ton of luck yet negotiating club vision items, so I figured I'd ask for forgiveness later. Perhaps, despite the timeline, it immediately recognized there was no mathematical possibility of surpassing the most reputable team that year, the same as it would recognize when it was no longer mathematically possible to win the league. 

It did not seem to have a major effect however; even despite a pretty major late season slide my job was never threatened. I posted earlier about a similar issue I faced after joining Toronto FC, and I (along with a few contemporaneous late-season hires by other MLS teams) was (were) quickly on the chopping block with little chance of surviving the season. In contrast, the Videoton board never made a fuss about the failed objective again. Eventually they offered me a new contract and the "Most Reputable" objective was never on the table. 

Thanks for your work guys, appreciate it.

[Genuinely Unsure if Press is Glitchy or Mean]

hey @Tony Garvey, weird! Tried again just now, same name. Let me know if it still isn't showing up!

 

[Failed to Make Club Most Reputable Team in Country - First Day on the Job]

Have just been hired at Videoton (20 Jun 2030), the President communicated that the Board is very disappointed that I failed at the goal of becoming the most reputable team in Hungary. I have not yet had my intro press conference and the goal's deadline is supposed to be the end of next season (currently in offseason). Haven't played forward enough yet to know if this will affect my standing with the team beyond marking that goal as Failed, but at the very least the communication is worth a look. 

Screenshots attached, also have uploaded save as "Brian Donahue - Videoton Board.fm". Thanks, guys, appreciate y'all!

[Genuinely Unsure if Press is Glitchy or Mean]

Oh no worries at all, very much appreciate the follow-up, @Tony Garvey. I did keep a save from around then, just went ahead and uploaded it as "Brian Donahue - 0 to 0 error.fm". Hope it can prove helpful!

[Genuinely Unsure if Press is Glitchy or Mean]

Update - the folks putting together Sligo's year end summary seems to have a similarly pessimistic view of the past season, after the team finished in 2nd. The Irish Soccer Post is more transparent with their reasoning than the Chronicle, but also make it clear their facts are a bit off: they stated that Sligo fell into "a tailspin that saw them drop from 0th to 0th by January." Outside of the 0th position issue, the league only plays from February to October. The Post also calls the year a "dismal campaign" and an "unforgettable season" in the same release. Screenshots attached, thanks!

[Context When Making Loan or Sale Promises]

Perhaps there is a way to do this and I haven't realized it, but I have often wished I was able to specify details when making a promise to a player and his agent that the player will be sold/loaned out. Specifically, it would be great to agree on how much of the transfer fee I am expecting to be guaranteed. There are have been numerous occasions when I agree a player will be sold for say, a very fair 5 million, and then I don't feel comfortable accepting an offer for say, 2 million immediate, 1 million over 2 years, and then 2 million being incentive based between games played, international appearances, etc. Rejecting this offer doesn't mean I won't still seek to make a deal or even that the player/agent couldn't come back and renegotiate the promise if the player isn't sold in X amount of time, but currently the player seems to always be angry about a broken promise, when I am just not comfortable knowing I may never see that incentive-based 2 million. It would also be fine if the player/agent felt my wanting 5 million guaranteed was too much even if they felt my wanting a 5 million incentive-based package is fair, I would just like to hash that out with them up front.

Regarding loans, I have noticed players are quick to get upset at any rejected loan if a loan has been previously promised, even if other loan offers were accepted. I would completely understand a player becoming upset at my rejecting a particularly preferred destination, but it seems to be any loan rejection at all. Further, there are times when I reject a loan offer because a team offered too little playing time or too low of the salary %, but I still fully intend to loan the player out. I might intend to adjust a specific component of the loan offer to yield better options, or perhaps I decided to loan the the player to an affiliate, given that I wasn't happy with the initial teams that responded. I wish the game would stick to the time expectation in terms of finding an appropriate loan, rather than have the player react to any rejected loan. To reiterate, if a player has a particular preferred destination I would be totally fine with them expressing that, but they seem to instead focus on what they felt were acceptable loan offers in general. I am able to express that I intend to continue seeking a loan in the follow-up meeting, but not without the player first becoming upset and his trust in me being questioned. 

Thanks!

[Genuinely Unsure if Press is Glitchy or Mean]

Managing Sligo Rovers, Irish Premier League, 2027. Just qualified for Europa Conference League and the report from the Irish Soccer Chronicle declaring this news also mentions Sligo is still in good position to qualify for the Champions League as well. They then about face and report Sligo has been having a disastrous season so far and is seeking to achieve at least a little respectability.

Sligo currently sits in 2nd, and though 7 points behind first-place Dundalk with 6 matches left, there is still an outside chance to qualify for Champions League. Sligo is en route to setting a league record for goals, has won 21 of 30 league matches, has already won one domestic cup and is currently in the semi-finals of Ireland's other domestic cup.

In all sincerity, given the change in tone in the report's conclusion, I am unsure if the Irish media's vitriol is intentional or unintentional. If it is just the Chronicle being tough on old Sligo, that's all good. But I wanted to bring it up because the change in tone felt jarring, and the reporting a bit hard to defend.

Screenshots attached, thanks!

A Manager in Pursuit of Respectability, BD

[Press Release Listing Gameday Opponent as Competition Winner]

Managing Sligo Rovers in Ireland in 2027. Following any Cup match, my save has begun to list the opponent I played during the match as the current year's competition winner in the "Past Winners" section of the press release. For example, after defeating Dundalk in the Semi Finals of the domestic EA Sports Cup, the Past Winners list included Dundalk as the 2027 EA Sports Cup winner - the very competition they were just eliminated from.

This issue extends to continental competitions as well. After defeating Sigma Olomouc in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round, Sigma Olomouc was listed as the 27/28 Europa Conference League Winners in the Past Winners list, despite us still being in July 2027 and Sigma Olomouc having been eliminated prior to Group Stage.

Screenshots are attached, thanks!

BD

[Passed Goal to Challenge for League Title, Failed Goal to Finish in Top Two Places After Finishing Second]

Finished 2nd in SSE Airtricity Premier League in the year 2026 with Sligo Rovers. Board stated in a Nov 1st message that I passed the 2027 goal "Challenge for the SSE Airtricity Premier League Title" a year early, but in a Nov 3rd message they informed that I failed the current season goal of "Finish in the Top Two Places." Screenshots included. 

[Majority of Team Concerned About New Signees' Unavoidable Exclusion from Europa League Squad]

Russell,

Thanks so much for the response. Unfortunately this is my first year posting on the forums and I had not been preparing saves for potential upload. I have since noticed how often the saves are utilized by the SI staff to investigate the problem, so I am now doing so. I apologize that I could not be of more help for this particular issue.

BD

[Board Disappointed at Performance in ECL Round the Team Did Not Play In]

Managing Sligo Rovers, we advanced to the second qualifying round of Champions League, then the qualifying playoff of the Europa League, before finally being placed into the Group Stage of the Europa Conference League. Despite starting in the Group Stage and the board being delighted with the team reaching the qualifying playoff of the Europa League, the board has assigned a "Disappointed" rating for the expectation of "Europa Conference League: Reach Second Qualifying Round (Minimum)". When hovering over the expectation, it states that "the board is content that the team has a chance to achieve their aim of reaching the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference League," even though the team actually did not need to play in any of the qualifying rounds. I thought perhaps this was an expectation for next year, but as Sligo has repeated as league champions they will once again begin in the Champions League qualifying rounds. Screenshots attached.

[Majority of Team Concerned About New Signees' Unavoidable Exclusion from Europa League Squad]

I signed a few unattached players on the day of the transfer deadline (July 28). About a week later was the Europa League registration deadline for the third qualifying phase. At this point, the vast majority of the squad is unchangeable, with only 1 replacement allowed. Despite the free agents having signed with us far beyond our ability to make multiple squad changes for Europa League, two of them become upset to the point of complaining to teammates, developed a poor morale, and now have a distant relationship with the manager. Both agreed upon "squad player" playing time and have little social standing within the team. Neither has played in a league match yet as one has not taken place since their signings. 

More surprisingly, two team meetings were requested (Aug 8) to discuss each of the upset new signing's exclusion from the Europa League squad, despite the 1 replacement player allowance being utilized on the only "regular starter" previously not in the Europa squad. 19 of the team's players attended the first team meeting, all unhappy at the "treatment" towards one of the new signings left out.

I imagine it is feasible, if unlikely, that one of the free agents might be irrationally upset that the one replacement player allowance was not used on them, although neither were signed to starting positions, both were without teams prior to signing, and our team was months into the continental league phases at the time of their signings. Of greater concern however is that the majority of the team seemingly lacks understanding of registration rules, disregards the timing of the new signings, and ultimately stand unified in support of the new signings' anger at not being the one replacement named to the Europa League squad.

[Board Upset At Progress Despite Promising No Judgment After Late-Season Hire]

I was hired by Toronto FC in the MLS with 9 matches remaining in the season. The team was 10th in the Eastern conference and 17th in the overall table. I was told by the board I would not be judged on my MLS or Supporters Shield (overall table) performance for the current season. Despite this, 3 league matches later (all draws), my club vision performance rating fell to a D (screenshot attached), with the main issue being my not competing for the Supporters Shield (screenshot attached). Prior to the next match, an Amway Canadian Championship match, I was asked in the press conference what my thoughts were given that one more loss might seal my fate as manager. I had not yet lost a match with Toronto FC. Following the Amway match, my Club Vision fell to an E and the board was then "very disappointed" with our failing to compete for the Supporters Shield, despite us actually having moved up a place in the Eastern Conference. Their judgment on the MLS performance remained at "Not Judging" as they indicated it would upon my hiring.

I ended up resigning because I found managing in the MLS in FM21 virtually unplayable, at least if you are hired midseason by a team with any expectations. Within 3 league matches my job security was "insecure", the board was considering my position, and nearly the entire team was upset due to a wealth of issues related to contract issues that couldn't be remedied so late in the season past the guaranteed contract date. Combine that with numerous quirks working with Toronto FC II, including difficulties differentiating first and second team staff (my player reports suddenly disappeared after the player reports advice responsibility was switched to the second team Asst. Man without my prompting), any possibility of gaining a handle on the situation seemed lost.

Appreciate y'all and your support, thanks.