[GK average rating looks broken]

I've noticed that passing percentage seems to be a big factor.  When I tell my keepers to launch the ball long and they have about a fifty-percent passing success, they seem to get lower ratings than when I tell them to pass it short to the fullbacks.  In that case, they  might get a seventy-percent pass rate and that seems to help their overall rating for the game.

[How do you choose between players?]

Without knowing all the details of the situation, I'd probably do a couple of things.  I'd keep him for maybe one more year.  During that year, I'd renegotiate his contract to pay him more money (as necessary) but drop his squad status a notch (or two if possible).  Many players late in their careers are amenable to such a reduction.  That would lessen the fan reaction when you sell him.  If you dropped him all the way to fringe player over a year (not that you could do that), the fans wouldn't much care what you do with him.  Meanwhile, if your budget is flush, hire the new guy and start giving him and your other young striker some increased play time to make sure they are both ready to step up to key player status.

As a general philosophy, I use the ladder approach.  I try to bring in young, talented players and move them up as they mature.  Then I sell them a year or two past their peak.  This gets me eight to ten years out of them, minimizes turnover and makes a reasonable profit over the purchase price when i send them on their way.  I try not to keep a player until the end of his career unless I can identify good staff attributes.

[How Football Manager get player's attribute value?]

If you mean each player's set of initial attributes, SI has a large number of researchers in many different countries who provide a draft set of data for all the known players.  SI staffers then adjust all those numbers to fit into the appropriate ranges for that particular club and league.  Perhaps one of the moderators or developers can fill in a little more detail.

[Do takeover attempts fail five times?]

I would say that five failed takeovers in a row is certainly unusual but not necessarily bug-worthy.  Different types of owners have different priorities.  Some will stay loyal to the club and hang on forever.  Others are more investment-oriented and will sell much more quickly.  Look at the owner's profile.  Does it say something like "lives and dies with the club and will never leave"?  That should provide you with a clue as to his priorities.

[Cant "approach to sign" player that is already available on a free transfer]

Just an outside shot but...have you tried exiting the game and coming back in?  I've noticed that some complex games such as FM and EU4 get confused on rare occasions and require a restart to get sorted out.  They will do weird things such as prohibiting actions that ordinarily are allowed.  Just a thought.

[Random Wage Increase Amateur Contracts]

A general observation, not a definitive answer:  I've noticed that occasionally the salaries of some of my players change without any action on my part.  This is usually due either to the players crossing a birthday threshold out of youth status or because I've given the staff responsibility for renegotiating certain player contracts to somebody else in the organization (AM or whomever).  Also, although I don't think it's your problem here, salaries can change with promotion/relegation or the automatic end-of-season wage increases.

[How to solve bad morale?]

Another tip:  if you can fit them in, schedule one or two friendlies against absolute potato teams.  Winning a couple of these games 4-0 can sometimes work wonders.

[Four Players "Starting to consider wether he should be looking to move to a bigger club" be]

Anything you can do to boost both your reputation and that of the club should help.  Boosting the morale of those specific players may help as well.  Talking to them about their concerns -- promising extra playing time or winning trophies or gaining promotion -- may satisfy them. Even dumping some player they don't like could fix the problem.  Finally, as a last resort, offering a better contract might wprk.

[Non - Contracts]

Non-contracts are based on match appearances and players are paid on that basis (plus bonus fees).  But each player's "salary" on a non-contract gets factored into the wage budget based on expected number of matches played.  So more of a key player's appearance fees will be added into the wage estimates than for a backup player.  Therefore, you are being judged on what the club is expecting to spend based on your actions:  the appearance fees you've agreed AND the squad statuses you've assigned.  The board is expecting that your key players will play more than the scrubs.

[What age do legendary players fade?]

It also varies by position.  Keepers tend to continue performing into their mid-thirties, strikers fade much earlier.

[Why do you buy this game]

The survey could use one more option:  the management aspect.  That is, building a team, developing players, evaluating scout reports and working contracts

[Opponents down to 10 men]

All good advice from the Demented One but the best is this:

The first thing I'd suggest is, the next time this happens, change your key highlights to extended, or even full match for a bit

I never cease to be amazed by how different the match looks and feels when I drop back and watch a portion of the full game.  As a general rule, if my team is struggling through a season, I will start watching the first ten minutes or so of each match.  I invariably notice some change that needs to be made for something I wouldn't even see if I breezed through the early match at Extended or even Comprehensive level.  Very often, I'll adjust the level of my defensive line based on seeing (or not seeing) a couple of longball plays from the bad guys.

[Need some help with lower division team]

First off, I'd suggest posting in the Tactics thread.  You can get a lot of useful tips there.  Just be prepared to fully describe your tactics/formation setup.  On a more general level, for any given match, try to keep your starting players as close to 100% condition and sharpness as you can.  This should help a bit with those late-game collapses.  Second, make sure your instructions don't conflict.  For example, don't set up a defensive tactic with a defensive mentality and then give your boys aggressive pressing and tackling instructions.  You will have your players running out of position constantly, opening up holes in your defense.  Finally, use your shouts judiciously.  Try to arrange an appropriate one for the last ten to twelve minutes of the match.  Obviously a successful shout will boost your players at the very end of the game when apparently it's most needed.

[Leadership Courses]

Yes, I've had players benefit from leadership courses.  I only send potential captains and usually only send "professional" or "balanced" players.  A leadership course may well work with other personality types but I'm only interested in boosting players likely to become team captains.

[Tactical Mentatlity vs Formation]

I'm inclined to think that training multiple formations works best.  While one can certainly switch mentalities on the same formation to suit different match situations, changing to an entirely different formation can bring added benefits.  For example, if we're using a 4-3-3 attacking tactic and we go ahead by two goals on 70 minutes, I'd rather change to a 5-3-2 and substitute in a defensive center-back than keep the 4-3-3 and merely change the mentality to defensive.  Obviously, more defensive-minded players should play defense better than attack-minded players.

 

[Mark Specific Player at ALL COSTS?]

If you put him on easy tackling, low press and no tight marking, does that help?

[Board blocking transfer - please help]

Does the 20 million payable in six monthly installments take you over some limit?  That's in addition to the 6.5 million direct fee.

[Who should I manage]

As an aside to my above comment, if you manage to claw your way up to the top division -- I've just now done it after eight grueling seasons -- the DBP is a halfway-decent league (two stars reputation) and a good springboard to the big time if that's your ultimate goal.  Did I mention the Advil?

[Who should I manage]

My standard reply for people looking for a challenge is to consider the sub-basement of Northern Ireland division 2.  It's the worst division in the game.  Run the game for one season and then add yourself in as manager of the ninth or tenth place team in the PIL.  Then try to survive and, maybe, prosper.  You'll inherit a team of has-beens, never-was's, castoffs and children.  You'll have no money, poopy facilities, a terrible pitch and no staff worthy of the name.  Even worse, you can only offer non-contracts so you'll lose any good players you manage to find or develop.  Make sure you're well-stocked with Advil.

[C drive nearly full]

Yes.  I always install all my games (and indeed all apps where possible) anywhere but the C drive.  If you downloaded FM from Steam, you can re-install the Steam library (and then the game) on some other drive.  You can also direct FM to save your game files in any folder on any drive you like.  You can do that through the Save Game As option anytime you save.

 

[GREAT SUCCESS I did it ! finally after playing since 2007]

Yeah, I think I've had two overturned over the years -- almost twenty years at that since CM 2003.

Speaking of which, I've always marveled at the bonehead play Eidos made in keeping the brand name but letting SI have the code.  Look how that turned out.

[Why do my saves always follow the same script?]

OP --  It's well-established that the AI adjusts to your tactics.  From your post, it sounds like the classic beginner problem:  you develop a winning tactic, start out well, the AI adapts, you lose a couple of games and start to (no offense) flail around making a large number of changes.  This usually does not solve the problem and may well compound it.  Best advice:  look at the analysis reports on your first two losses and determine where your team fell short.  Correct one problem.  If that doesn't work, look for one more problem.  In short, make one change at a time.  Unless you just happen to randomly stumble on the magic tactic, making wholesale changes will likely not solve your problem.

[Do you have an impossible board? Mine is ridiculous.]

<pat on the head>

"good boy, good boy"

 

Now, seriously, there are plenty of good senior management teams in the game.  I have one at Dollingstown in the Northern Ireland top division.  No money, but a good board.  But there are also plenty of bad boards -- quick to sack, impossible demands, inflexible.  Bottom line:  FM does pretty good at modeling real life.  Some people (and some football players) are impossible to deal with, so are some boards.  If you're interested, use the editor to check out the characteristics of your board.  That might help you understand where they're coming from.

[How much to start at the bottom of the English pryamid?]

I think you've covered it.  Just remember, you'll need enough of a bankroll to cover your operating losses for many years.  Clubs in the sub-basement of world football invariably lose money -- on the order of 50-100K per year.  Fortunately, you should be able to stock your club with non-contract players exclusively for a while and just pay them lunch money.  But staff expenses alone will eat maybe 15-20K per year.  Note:  for reference, I'm using my many game-years of experience in the dumpster fire that is NI2, the Northern Ireland bottom division, which is invariably the worst division in the career games I set up.

[How much to start at the bottom of the English pryamid?]

I'd say search the web for a small farm for sale on the outskirts of Portsmouth.  There are real estate listings that will give you that.  Then add 100K for the facilities around the field including a 200-seat stand.  That should be close.