dthocs

I've had a look I'm forunate enough to have a very decent sized scouting budget and after checking i don't think this is what has impacted my save tbh, thanks for that suggestion though, I didn't even think that might something I'd need to keep an eye on at other clubs... which I will now! Yeah, I initially started thinking this might be the problem, but since that post i have reduced the ratings, now half start current and 1 and a half potential just to try and narrow down the issue and still the same consulting our own staff message appears, and still it's only the China and African counties affected, I think it's a bug tbh, cheers for your suggestions though! After the last week or two I've changed my scouting parameters and cancelled and set up new parameters with the most suitable staff but still no joy, so I definitely believe there is a bug. To be fair I've been ruining this game since FM23 came out and grew massively attached to my team so down want to down sticks. I will maybe run another game but and see if the issues occur there too. I agree with your opinion on the scouting not being too awful, I feel it just needs a bit of adjusting. I feel we should be able to give at least the head scout some more specifics which could act as a further filter with regards to issues like injury proness or not being able to cope with big matches etc Also to be fair when I set up my focus roughly 6 or 7 times out of 10 the recommended player is one I genuinely consider signing. However, my biggest gripe is that some scouts do recommended players from my rivals Rangers which just does not happen, and on occasion they recommend a player completely out my transfer/wage bracket too. but they tend to be few and far between. Just this consulting own staff issue that is the one thing something feels completely off with countries from Africa or China. Thanks for the suggestions but!

Hi man, I'm currently 6 years into a Celtic save. My team are pretty decent, regularly getting to knockout/ quarters of the Champions League. Since I posted there have been no further changes and still getting the same ''We are consulting our own staff for initial recommendations'' message. I've had other assigments say to adjust parameters to improve the searches but just finding it a bit weird it's only China and the African countries that appear impacted. Just to test things out I'll reduce these parameters further and increase the age gap to see if anything does change.

I'm not too sure if there are limits on affiliates, I imagine there probably is but i'm afraid I can't help you there mate.

Hi don't know if this is an in-game issue or just down to my game set up etc I've scouts able to find and promote players from most countries I send them too. But I have sent scouts with high adaptability stat to the likes of Ghana, South Africa and China plus a few other African countries and for almost a full season it just says ''We are consulting our own staff for initial recommendations'' and hasn't changed since with zero recommendations. The scouts I sent have a mixture of coverage ratings from very good to extensive for most of these countries but still the scout assignment status doesn't change. Only one of them have their knowledge at nominal so I understand that they will take their time to build up knowledge before being able to make any scout recommendations. Lastly, when I sent scouts out I usually search for any position, min current ability 2 stars and min potential ability 4 stars and ages between 15 - 19. However, due to these scout assignments so far not bring anyone forward I've changed these basic settings to min current ability 1 stars and min potential ability 3 stars and ages between 15 - 24 but still to no avail. This is where I feel I might be stupid but I do have the South Africa & Chinese leagues loaded to view only whilst non of the others are loaded as playable or view only... Would this be one of the reasons for the poor scouting in these countries or could it be a bug? My scouting staff stats for adapability, potential and current abilities are all pretty much 17 and above. If anyone has any advice / suggestions it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks for the insight. Yeh, the board have been very reluctant to offer up much despite success and decent money coming in. Was trying to increase number of coaches too but that is still not for happening. At least them accepting the affiliation request is some progress. Will try again later in the season, hopefully it won't be 6 or 7 seasons for that ha!

Hi all, I've been given the opportunity to pick an affiliate club to start a commercial link with in FM23. Does the fee paid to the affiliate have any reflection on how successful the commercial opportunities will be or is this just a random fee? I have 3 Japanese players in my ranks so because of this I picked one of those Japanese clubs to start up with, but I had the option to select an Australian club for a much higher fee instead and I could also have picked a Chinese club however for a lower fee. FM23 is the first FM I've properly played through and had time to play so I am not 100% certain if the fee is actually an indicator of how successful this will be for my side. I've learned quite a bit using trial and error but the board have only finally ok'd this request so don't think I'll be able to request another affiliate for quite a while so just wanted to gain some insight for future reference on picking the best club from the list, in future. Any insight gained from picking affiliates over the course of the FM games would be appreciated! Thanks! Some screenshots:

I have the same issue, only with Albion Rovers. Only two loans at the club nothing else and rejects other loans due to the domestic 4 loan limit. Glad to see it's a known issue and getting looked into.

I have found this same issue in Scotland. Advises there is 4 domestic loans per season, there were two existing loanees and no more allowed.