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Hey everybody It is every year the same. I wish the official winter database update would be a real life update, that means transfers which happen during the January transfer window would be implemented in the database as future transfers. For example let's assume player xx plays at AC Milan and is transferred on 15th of January to Juventus. When I start with AC Milan a new save in June 2019 the player would be marked as a future transfer to Juventus on the 15th of January. I think it is a big lost of reality if players are immediately transferred (as it happens on the winter database update). In addition to a real life update there should be added an option 'don't allow transfers in summer and winter', so I could play the first season exactly as it was (will be). It should not be a big deal for the researchers > it would just mean that for example every transfer happend after a pre-defined date (let's say 1st of october) is a future transfer in the database. For the lovers of immediately transfers: SI could provide two databases, through mass mutation it should be possible to change in the Master DB all future transfers to immediately transfers. I think a game which claims to be the most real life football manager simulation should also consider to simulate the database the same way. Every year SI is working on bringing trainings, transfer negotiations, personalities etc. closer to real life, it should be time to implement a small feature to the database, as it defenitely isn't the biggest feature request. Additionally it would allow to enjoy also people like me the winter transfer update, all the new added talents and players during this update including future transfers. Because somebody who likes real life databases, for them the winter update isn't that cool ...

At the moment when you play in a continental competition against a team from a league which is not loaded the players´physical condition would be 100% or thereabouts for practically everyone despite it being a continental mid-week game. This is neither realistic nor fair as it would be impossible for your players (or those from loaded leagues) to have the same physical condition before such games. I think this should be "calculated" in the same way that these players would show the number of games played and goals scored even though these games were "played" in a league which is not loaded in the save.

Last year on MeisterTrainerForum, I came across Swedish_Lenny's excellent work, added a few things, and loved it! Unfortunately, this year, he has retired from editing: So I'm continuing the work, but also modified it quite a bit. Realistic Injuries for FM18 Original Injury Count: 114 New Injuries(Lenny's + Mine): +86 Total: 200 Common Injuries: Career Threatening, Serious Injuries: Likely Goalkeeper Injuries: Contagious Injuries TESTERS NEEDED: The goal behind this is to make things more difficult, and realistic for the user. And primarily, create more day-to-day decisions. 1. It's no longer easy to get by with one keeper, you must have a backup, if not more than one. 2. Reducing national team time for a player is more necessary. 3. Adding injury clauses in contracts is more necessary. 4. Obviously, medical center, good physios, training balance, rest, and recovery management are all more important. 5. Minor, short injuries are more common, with the ability to play with protective equipment if appropriate. So now on a game-to-game basis, you will have to decide: Do you play your star this game, and let him recover/sit out the next game? Do you play him for only the first half? Or do you sit him out now, and save him for the big game? 6. Managing older players, who are more prone due to age, wear and tear, and injury history. Now, testing is needed, to see if the balance is right. For those who can manage injury prevention well: Are there too many/few injuries? Is one injury too common/rare? Please send your feedback, thoughts, and test results! But most of all, enjoy the file! File: Realistic Injuries.fmf

I never realised that to become a jockey you needed to be a horse first! A quote from the legendary Arrigo Sacchi no less, a hero of mine. It stems from him being questioned about whether he could manage a professional side having never played the game above amateur level. Something that myself and Sacchi have in common; you can add Carlos Alberto Parreira (World Cup winning manager), Bill Struth (Scotland's first treble winner), Avram Grant (Champions League finalist) and Andre Vilas-Boas to that list too. Playing local youth football and Sunday League football counts as amateur, right? This career aims to emulate a realistic pathway within my real life experience and abilities. I do have a head-start in the fact that I actually have real life coaching experience and qualifications. My playing ability may be a hindrance when starting a career in English Men's football, so I am aiming to start abroad in unfamiliar footballing territories to build a reputation in the hope that my CV will win over those in my home country. Armed with a sought after English Teaching qualification, I will be able to gain a VISA as a teacher and coach amateur and semi-pro sides abroad. Well, that's the plan. Experience 2006-2009 Junior Coach for Tier 9 Club 2009-2012 U18 and Junior Coach for Tier 5 Club 2011-2013 Junior Coach for Tier 2 Club 2013-2015 Junior Coach for Tier 4 Club 2016 Assistant Manager / First Team Coach for Tier 10 Club Qualifications UEFA B Coaching Licence Sports Coaching Degree CELTA (English Teaching) Manager Profile So here I am, in all my glory. as realistic as I feel I could set myself within the parameters. The attributes you can't see are Technical (3), Mental (7) and Working with Youngsters (16). Loaded Nations A long list of nations, complete with the majority of South-East Asia and a host of English Speaking countries such as New Zealand, USA, Australia where football isn't the number one sport. Here we go!

An idea for a new feature could be to use real transfer dates. For example, if a player moved clubs on deadline day of August in real life then in the game they wouldn't move clubs until deadline day of August. This could work as an optional feature at the start of the game (similar to attribute masking, use real fixtures, etc.). If used then the players would be placed with a transfer pending situation until their transfer goes through.

The trial system is broken within the game and needs a revamp! I have posted this within another topic so I will put it here as well in order to gain traction. The thing is - I believe that the current player trial system is very unrealistic and needs further tweaking in order to achieve the necessary level of realism and prevent cheating and exploits by human managers. My argumentation comes from the fact that I have been in contact with several professional clubs in my country through my work and was always interested in how they do certain things including trials. What I found out could not have been more different from its representation in the game - player trials. Currently, player trials are used as a cost-effective way of quick "scouting", especially if a human manager is not allowed to send scouts abroad. By inviting players from abroad on trials, and especially young regens from South America or Africa, the player can quickly obtain an edge over the AI by having access to players which would normally be out of reach for those clubs. If some nations are not active with their leagues (e.g. Brazil or Nigeria) they will produce some 20 to 30 newgens each season and the vast majority of those players would me more than capable of playing for a vast number of clubs in Europe. It is not a problem when a talented Brazillian ends up in a Portuguese or Dutch club - it is a problem if a human manager consistently selects wonderkid-level players from trialists to a Bulgarian 2nd division or Iceland's top division club when in real life that club would not even be able to afford a plane ticket for that player for that trial and would be wary of gambling on signing a player without any scouting knowledge about him. Not to mention lower-league management in the UK with EU players where postmen, students and lawyers can quickly be replaced by foreign prospects after having 50 EU foreigners on trial happily spending their own money to train behind a bike-shed in rural England. I believe it is highly unlikely to have 18-year-olds from Uganda on trial in the UK within 24h notice for a number of reasons. Costs of trials Travel, accommodation and visa procedures all incur costs. How can an average 18-year-old from Africa without a club afford a week-long trial in the UK, not to mention longer? It is a cost of at least 1000 GBP, something that would even put off some of the clubs willing to pay for players' costs. If the clubs do not pay for those costs, then the players' agents are the ones to do it or the players themselves - but only if the potential contract offer can justify the investment. There would hardly be an agent willing to fund a trial for a South American youngster going to a trial in the Slovakian 3rd division or English 6th division team offering him a side-job as a grocery store clerk. But if Juventus is calling him for a youth trial - that's another matter and well worth the investment. Therefore, trials should be paid for either by clubs (and reflected in their finances, perhaps even rejected by boards in clubs scrapped for money) for players without agents who are based in far-away locations or by their agents who either have a high profile or a potential contract offer would be high enough for them to invest their money into a player. I have met many agents who simply do not want to take their non-European players on dozens of trials in Germany as it would be too expensive for them - they either ask for those clubs to pay for that or they do pay if the potential offer is good enough. How can I get dozens of young Brazillian teenagers from favelas on trial if I am a semi-pro club from San Marino? Neither of us cannot afford that IRL. A Honduran player who had been playing US college football and is expecting to return to his home country and possibly find a club there would be far more available for a US/Canadian trial rather than for a trial in the suburbs of Katowice or Jakarta. If this were so easy - I am sure my local club would get 50 or so Africans and South Americans on trial and pick at least one who is good enough for their squad. I had asked them about that - the costs are the main problem even with the visa procedures taken care by the club. You can see attached official correspondence between Zenit St Petersburg and FK Sarajevo (it was published in the media so no worries there) where the inviting club (Zenit) states that they will pay for flights, accommodation, meals and insurance. Since it is a 4-week trial it is definitely not a small amount, even if they have their own accommodation available. Suggestion: Make trials incur travel and accommodation costs to the club if the player is based abroad and does not have an agent OR the potential contract value is too low to justify those costs (e.g. trial costs of 1000 GBP for inter-continental trials are unjustified for a player willing to sign a weekly contract of 100 GBP or an amateur/youth contract). Documentation issues When taking non-EU players on trial or when playing outside the EU, visa issues are something that should be taken into account. Even if the club pulls all the strings and pays for an urgent procedure, it is almost impossible to get a visa under 5 days. Now imagine getting a visa for places like the UK, USA or Saudi Arabia where the procedures are extremely strict. Suggestion: We can expect that all visa applications within the game itself will be granted but they should take time the same way you have to wait for work permits or transfer negotiations to go through their course therefore limiting human managers in bringing in loads and loads of trialists from abroad within the first few days in their new clubs. How to implement it? Researchers can very easily find out which nationalities need visas in order to visit their countries and add that to the database - obviously much easier within the EU/Schengen area. Time and logistics Travel and preparation take time as well - if not chartering a plane that only the top clubs would do for their SIGNINGS (e.g. Man Utd for Pogba or Cristiano Ronaldo - confirmed in Alex Ferguson's autobiography), it would take at least 48h from the moment you get a message: "Pack up your boots son and come to Nuneaton for a trial. We've heard that you're killing it in football on steppes of rural Mongolia." to actually getting where you're supposed to be. Suggestion: Create a gap of at least 12 to 48 h from the moment a player accepts a trial offer for him to actually reach your club if he does not need a visa rather than him appearing instantly. This will simulate him gathering his things, catching a car/train/plane ride to you. The closer he is based, the less time it would take him to reach you and vice versa. I hope that this will catch the attention of SI. If they need any more information about this or further help, I would be more than happy to provide it as an ex-researcher for FM and great enthusiast for the realism within the game.

Some players skip training or miss their countries and ask to leave. But how about players who get in car accidents, get arrested, say something wrong on TV and a big sponsor ask him to be removed, or the association fine him/club for some misbehavior?.... Isn't this a reality that FM could consider adding?...