Is going on holiday for a day cheating?

[Andy1938UK]

I'm finding that, when the AM is in charge, the results are usually to form. We usually win when we are favourites and lose when the odds are heavily against us. When I play as manager the results are far more random. I can beat the big clubs one week and then lose at home to a lower placed club I should be hammering.

So if I play the difficult matches and go on holiday for the easy matches - is this cheating ?

I would feel it was less like cheating if there was an option to let the AM run the match (as you can for friendlies).

I know this is not in the spirit of the game but when you change tactics, use shouts and replace underperforming players and still lose and the AM wins the same match 3-0 then it is a bit depressing.

Is the problem that the AM is a better manager than me or the match engine has more randomness when the the human is playing the match ?

[Puni]

That means your changes are not the right ones, and are probably making things worse. There is no difference in approach from opponents against a human manager.

[tajj 7]

Maybe have a look at what the AM is doing, who he's playing where etc. The match engine will play the same either way.

I wouldn't say it's cheating but I'm not sure if you are actually playing.

[marioni211]

It's not cheating. It's just not bothering with tactical aspect of the game.

FM really should have Director of Football mode where you dont have to bother with tactics or training.

[tinkerer]

I did it sometimes, about 2 or 3 times a season, i think is not cheating, but i prefer much if i'm managing my own

and if i beat someone with holidaying, i feel guilty and think i shouldn't do it :/

yep actually i'm agree with tajj 7, just make sure when you are holidaying you don't tick 'use your tactic' or something like that, so we can see what our asman doing, who's his ideal XI

[Andy1938UK]

That means your changes are not the right ones, and are probably making things worse. There is no difference in approach from opponents against a human manager.

Does this mean that AM makes tactical changes and substitutions that are not forced by circumstances ?

This would not explain why my results are better than the AM against the bigger teams but not so good against weaker teams.

When playing games myself I play the team suggested by the AM, with only the odd change, as I find we are usually on the same wavelength. I do change the substitutes as the AM seldom gets a balanced bench.

I'm experimenting at the moment with two games played by me and two by the AM. The AM is winning at present but we have only played one of the top teams so far (Arsenal away). I won 1-0 and 2-1, AM lost 0-3 and 0-5. I am lying 9th and 12th in the league at the moment and the AM is 4th in both games. It is far too early to draw conclusions until we have all played some more of the top teams.

[rich_barnes]

It's because when you holiday over a game the games do not simulate as they would in a full controlled match. When the matches simulate like this, team rep makes a huge difference to the results, which means that the bigger teams are going to win more often than not. It works like this so you don't end up with teams like Man Utd getting the random results that the user controlled teams get and it keeps the league tables realistic.

Source: SI

Well it used to work like that a few years back anyway.

[DrizzitD]

You might also want to be aware that you probably wont be getting any manager of the month awards as you are not actually playing half the games. Not sure it it affect anything else like this but means you will build your own reputation slower then you would if winning all the games yourself.

[MichaelBrown]

It's not cheating. It's just not bothering with tactical aspect of the game.

FM really should have Director of Football mode where you dont have to bother with tactics or training.

Training is simple, I don't understand what's hard about that? Balanced < low, and then set the positional/attribute training how you see fit. That's all I do and I have no issues.

I don't think FM should encourage people to skip the tactical side of the game, it's very rewarding when you succeed. Plus, what happens if you are in the Blue Square North? Will people complain if they lose? Of course they would. Unless we're expecting this mode to be unbeatable? Likewise, imagine the complaints about FM ''cheating'' people when this mode doesn't provide them with a amazingly good record.

[Andy1938UK]

The tactical side is not really being skipped as the AM is playing with my tactics, with a squad I have assembled and with players trained by me.

My problem is that the results are far more likely to be to form when the AM is playing than when I am playing.

It is very frustrating when you have 65% of possession, 3-0 clear cut chances and 10-1 shots on target ratio and still lose when the opposition score in their one and only trip into my half. When the AM plays the same game they win 3-0.

I think my original question is probably answered as going on holiday when you are hot favourites probably exploits a weakness in the ME so I won't be doing it. It has been an interesting discussion anyway. Thanks for all your replies.

[Dayle Wood]

Ive had games where most of my team were on international duties and I had to play some fixture with mostly reserve players. In protest i went on holiday for a day to let my ass man play the game. results of course were mixed but i distanced myself from them.

[furiousuk]

I suspect you would still get manager of the month awards.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the game still runs a stripped-down simulation in holiday mode, much as it does for other games (i.e. those not in your league) to speed things up. The results from the AM are not 100% representative of if he was *actually* playing your game. The simulated games go more to the odds (there will still be surprises), if you played a really *neutral* scheme with *neutral* selections you'd get the same results. It's not really an ME exploit and things don't happen drastically differently. If your AM on holiday is vastly more successful than you are then it's more likely you're doing something "wrong" than it is the AM is doing something amazing. Motivation is difficult to get right but I suspect that your AM gets a moderate motivation level as standard (based on his attributes though) most of the time.

It's not cheating, you've paid for the game, play how you want. You want to use the editor to give yourself a trillion quid, its your game, its your cash and its your time. Up to you whether you want to play that way. I'd encourage you to embrace the tactical side but it's entirely up to you, no problem with me if you choose to ignore me.