phnompenhandy

I think you need 50+ for the rivalry to show up. At least that's the figure for favourite people/teams. Down there in Mid Sux you've got your Fields of Ucks, Cucks, F.... airwarp ..... By the way, in my Fairwarp save I noticed Uckfield (III) used to get all the best intakes. I drove my Ford fiesta up the road and filled the back seat with 2 or 3 each year!

You'd think Hassocks (sans Keymer) would be a local rival. You could add them with the IGE. I have my version of C&M. Promoted behind me every season and we meet in every cup competition.

Herne, could you say more about this? Whilst I use it a lot - often for 5-6 months, I don't really know what I'm doing. Presumably the effects are meant to be long-lasting, and presumably it degrades when new players are brought in. But what about when you play your U23s and U18s who have been training in the same tactics? Does it speed up tactical familiarity? What about Match Cohesion in Dynamics - is it the same thing or not quite?

No, by 'forward planning' I mean I need to know how many competitive league and cup games I have left from Intake Day until the end of the season. I need to blood the best academy kids to see if I can release those youngsters who aren't developing well.

That's why we love the editor. Nice one!! I don't know why my "stadium" had a capacity of 50 - I didn't touch that part. Still, I dare say the board will find me another piece of waste-ground to play on over the next 2 years. Then, a 5000 capacity stadium should take me to League Two and an increase to 7400 up to the Championship, maybe. Update: over the close season a smattering of my squad have chosen to move onto pastures new, leaving me a little threadbare in a couple of positions. If I lose any more I might have to reduce training to minimise the risk of injuries. Really bummed to lose my top striker, but that's why I have heavy cover up top. All my 'senior' players have moved on - presumably they need to start earning money to support families; now my oldest players are currently 18 years old!

Oh you beautiful taxpayers! This should see me sweet for about 15 seasons

Second season finally done and dusted after delays due to the World Cup in the real world. With a settled squad and tactic that is overwhelmingly dominant at this level, I’m a bit miffed not to finish with a perfect record. My one draw and cupset loss was to the same team who happen to be our closest rivals, who got promoted with us last season and have again this season after hassling us for 5 competitive matches, so they’ll continue to follow us around like a bad smell. I do need to work out a solution to a repeated problem. When bad weather wipes out all the February fixtures, even though I arrange friendlies to keep the boys fit, they’re always rusty on their return and we crash out of cup semi-finals. Hmm, what’s the answer? Only a couple of my academy kids were worth retaining, and I’m still looking for decent centre-backs and full-backs (they have pace but nothing else), but I can afford to wait 2 or 3 – or even 6 or 7 years without my current ones’ limitations affecting us. The reason is my one simplistic tactic is just too ridiculously good. I now have 8 strikers in my 31-man squad all with pace/acceleration of 11+. They are all short, weak, cowardly and a dim, but none of that matters when 3 of them are charging down a through ball past a pair of lumbering centre backs. There’s always a short pass and shot into an empty net on. Managers at this level don’t think to press or drop deep. I wonder how long I’ll get away with it.

If that's the reason, couldn't something be 'switched off' when firing up an online game? It shouldn't be a disadvantage if everyone knows anyway. I like Harper's suggestion.

I just want to know the rationale behind making the date a secret. Wouldn't a real-life manager simply tap his Head of Youth Development chap on the shoulder and ask him when he's bringing his new lads along for an introduction? It would really help my forward planning if I knew when to expect the kids.

Bloody hell

Yes, that's the dilemma. You want to tie your best players down, but you'll inevitably give out more and more contracts to keep your best players, causing your balance to go chronically into the red. First time you have to make tough decisions in your career! Remember of course, the increased training will make a salient difference to your more professional players, including youths.

The stars do not show PA as that is unknown to all 'people' in your savegame world. The stars represent your staff's perception of the players. I happen to use ScoutGenie to peek and I have one player given 1.5 stars by my staff who actually has the highest PA in my squad. He's 17, so he hides his qualities well! Perceptions will get more accurate over time; also, as noted above, stars are relative to your squad, so as you bring in better players, the stars will decrease.

Yup, remember my experience. At this level, as soon as you start forking out for wages, there will be a significant shortfall between income and expenditure. You be wholly reliant on the board bailing you out monthly and there'll be no money for upgrades. It'll be a challenging transition to manage after years of coasting through the seasons.

The 'rest' they need is to avoid getting jaded, rather than physically exhausted. It's common re the opening fixtures of the Premier League after a World Cup or European Championships.

Never been interested myself. For one thing, being in Cambodia there is the time zone problem. Secondly, with non-FM real life, I fire up the game as and when - I can't commit to regular hours. The main point is my FM satisfaction stems from customising the game with specific challenges and populating leagues with teams I personally relate to. That might be deemed 'cheating' if i played online.