An ode to simpler times - Sponsored by blue and white hoops

[Jambo98]

First of all, this isnt really an "ode" since poetry is not my strong point....just seemed a good title at the time...

Now thats out the way

The background

In recent times, and probably building up over a few years, there have been a number of people around these parts bemoaning the complexity which FM has developed. I should make it clear at this point, that i do not mean the "plug and play" brigade - They are as entitled to the game as anyone, but should use the forum designed for them (downloads). No, I mean those who enjoy FM more as a "game" than a "simulation".

The irony is, I am not really one of those people. I love the complexity. I don't always agree with how its implemented, and I am not a master of all aspects of the game at all (or really any aspect for that matter!) , but I am an avid reader about football management, history and tactics. I try to immerse myself in the depths of the game to recreate it and i enjoy that a lot

But there are those who would prefer to have almost "FM lite" - Note i am not talking about FMC, its is there, you can use it (i detest what it stands for ). My read of what people are saying is not that they want rid of press conferences and tactical familiarity etc. No, this is more about the TC and ME complexity. The perception that to be a success you need to be prepared to put in hours of work on your tactic, maintain and manage it on a game by game basis, and tweak non stop during and between games if you want to have any level of success.

Its a perception that is probably somewhat true, and many of the great tactical threads in here involve a fair element of that (including my own). Indeed some of you might have seen me reply to a few threads to that end - saying that football isnt that simple, so why should Football Manager be.

It did get me to thinking though. Can you achieve a reasonably level of success without playing the game in great depth? Now, we all know i do like a good experiment.......

The premise

Take an average side, not top, not bottom, and play through a few seasons without going in depth into tactical management. I will need to set some paramaters to define what "in depth" means, so it is transparent how I approach it and what level of time/effort I put into the tactical and game elements, that comes later though.

The goal

Is not to try and massively overachieve. I dont expect to take a team with a prediction of 18th into the top 4. I dont expect to win the league with a team predicted to finish 8th even. I wont win the league with Hull, or take Bristol Rovers to the champions league. My aim would be some level of over achievement against expectations each season, hopefully showing year on year progression over a period of time.

The parameters

So i need to lay down a few guidelines to define how i will do this, and hopefully people will agree this does represent a simpler and less time intensive approach to management of tactics and games. Here they are:

• Upon starting the save, and before completing "day 1", i will spend as long as i need deriving my tactical approach/formation/formations. A base tactic, or set of tactics will be properly built and considered. This is not about proving a default tactic, or a tactic with zero TI, can succeed. That is not what I see people craving or asking about.
  
• During pre-season and for the first 5 competitive matches of the season, i will use "comprehensive" and "extended" highlights as needed, and will tweak and adjust as much as i need to - All tweaks and changes will be recorded.
  
• From game 5 onwards, I will not make any "major" changes to the tactic, or tactics. I might change one role every 10 games or so, or change a TI now and then, but it will be rare. I might well have a set of 2 or 3 different tactics to choose from going into each game, but those will be set and maintained at a minimal level
  
• From game 5 onwards, i will tweak ingame a maximum of 2 times per game. I fully expect to tweak in less than 25% of games overall
  
• From game 5 onwards, i will watch only "key" highlights
  
• My post match/between game analysis will be limited to 5mins worth of analysis per game month - So less than an hour a season of time dedicated to analysing and reviewing tactics
  
• I will not use OI's
  
• My approach to training will be simplistic
  
• I will play the transfer/squad management side of the game in full, as i would any other save. This is in line with what i see people saying - They still enjoy the depth of those parts of the game, its about the ME/Tactical maintenance side of things.
  
• I will write up short match by match reports - a few lines but just showing what my 2 tweaks were, if any.
  
• I cant put a time on how long a season will take (I realise part of the reason people object to the depth is time related) as it is too hard to do. I play at random intervals and my attention span is awful, so most of the time the game is open i might not be "playing".
  
• Between seasons i will take up to 30mins to analyse and change tactics as appropriate, based on various factors. Then i will revert to the full guidelines for the next season.
  

The club(s)

So i actually have in mind to run 2 very different saves with this method. This is where the second part of the thread title comes in.

First up, the mighty Greenock Morton. A club which infact harks back to simpler times A town which does the same (if we ignore the huge modern bank office...). An area built around ship building, an industry which has faded, as have the football team. A sort of sleeping giant (although it's not so much sleeping, as in a long coma....).

Morton might not seem to fit the bill of "middle" team - they are expected to win the Scottish League 1 after being recently relegated, but it feels a good place to try this out. See if we can match expectations in season 1 with this approach, and then exceed them in future seasons!

With Morton I intend to employ only one tactic, possible with 2 mentality approaches to flip between.

I have a second save in mind, with a different blue and white club, where i want to use the approach of 3 different tactics which are just chosen based on the match. Will post about that later (or after i fail with Morton!)

The disclaimer

This is not a thread to "prove" that we can have success with more passive management. I am not out to say "see, told you that you could" - Mainly because i dont know that it is possible. It is entirely possible i will fail and be sacked by mid season, or have a mediocre year and end up falling below expectations because I didn't manage the tactics. It's a "let's see" type of thread. It might be that no one cares, but i had seen quite a few post around this lately.

Have a go?

If anyone else wants to "join in" - why not start a save and use the same or very similar parameters. Choose any club i guess, although doing this as Man City isnt really the point...... Then let us know how you do it and how it works out?

[johnnyyakuza78]

I decided to unlurk and actually create a proper profile, simply to say thank you for this thread!

I've been playing this game since CM2 and every year I feel like the game becomes more of a slog and a headache and less 'fun'. I don't mind that really, and I love the threads by Cleon and others where they go into intense detail about tactics. But part of me feel like I should be able to get by without watching the matches on full, and reacting to every little stat change that happens in the game... like in the good old days!

My main joy in the game is often trying to set up a club philosophy and role playing the club, but often this never happens because I get so bogged down in examining every last detail of a match to try and figure out where its going wrong. It means I dont think I've got past 3 seasons since FM10.

So I really look forward to your future posts!

[the_gaffa]

I've been playing this game since CM2 and every year I feel like the game becomes more of a slog and a headache and less 'fun'. I don't mind that really, and I love the threads by Cleon and others where they go into intense detail about tactics. But part of me feel like I should be able to get by without watching the matches on full, and reacting to every little stat change that happens in the game... like in the good old days!

I fully concur with this and I shall be following this thread with interest.

[LeedsUnitedForLife]

likewise

[MattSpurs94]

Gonna give this a go on FMC. I'll try and update as and when.

[Dr. Hook]

I decided to unlurk and actually create a proper profile, simply to say thank you for this thread!

Not to mention your forum name is a nice tribute to one of the forum's all time bizarro classics

[Jambo98]

Glad a few are interested I better get started i supposed.

Setting up the game

The basics

Loading up a new game from scratch of course, full fat FM. 15.3 update/database with no add-ons or additional files.

Leagues loaded - Scotland (Down to League 2), England (Down to League 2), France (Down to National), Holland (Down to Jupiler), Portugal (Down to Segunda)

Manager added - Set the coaching badges and experience to suggested for this club, and left the slider in the middle.

Next up, the day 1 tasks of course

[Jambo98]

Day 1 in Greenock

So there are a set of tasks to do anytime you take over a new club, and this save is no different. The focus is minimal tactical maintenance, but that doesn't mean we ignore any other aspects of the game.

Board/Assistant tasks

The usual day 1 interviews, a few basic choices

Expectations - No choice here, we have to win the league. We have a small transfer budget (£20K) and a modest wage budget which we are under by around £1K per week, so that is not so bad.

Philosophies - None set down by the board, and on this occasion i have not asked for any. I will focus to some extent on youth, as i always do, but not in enough detail to make it worth adding the philosophy.

Assistant tasks - I ask my assistant to take care of all press conferences (i cant stand the repetitive nature - an area which really needs updated for FM16!). Everything else i keep to myself

Pre-season training and friendlies

I set general training to "Fitness" and "high", move the slider to max "Match training". Match prep is of course set to "Match Tactics". This will stay the same until the full season starts. I accept the pre-season friendlies which are pre-arranged and added in 2 more against small sides for morale. There is a good mix of sides, the likes of Aberdeen, Alloa, Livingston and Lothian Thistle. I add in heriot-watt uni.

Individual training - I am taking a very simplistic approach in this save. Every player will be trained in the role i have in mind for them in my tactic, including youths originally.

Staff Assessment

This is a quicker process at a small club, since we are not allowed many staff. However i still take the time to analyse each and replace a few. My Ass Man seems pretty ok for now, so he stays. My HOYD however, is rubbish. He is fired and i seek out another. I also add U20 coaches, since we have none. I replace my scouts, as they are important. GK coach stays, and my player coach also does. Physio is also fine. I manage to get the board to allow me one more coach, and hire one.

That is the staff sorted

Tactical Selection

So of course i could write all day about this section.........but that isnt the point of the thread! However of course, its important to select a tactic which is at least someway suited to your squad, particularly at this level and when i dont want to have to manage around massive gelling issues if i bring in a load of new players to make a shape work.

I want something reasonably neutral, and nothing to "fancy". It is a tactic which i want to not overly maintain, so it needs to be versatile.....hmmm, versatile shape needed.......

So it has to be 451 It is my shape. It is so versatile. Now, everyone will be bored of me talking about that tactic, and its main version is covered in 2 different threads of mine already, so i will make this one somewhat different, but that is the formation i want to base it on.

The base shape with roles and duties are below:

We have only 4 "base" TI's:

Pass into space - I think with tactics which rely on runners from deep this is useful and will also influence how we feed our single striker. At this level, although he is set as DLF(s), he wont always play with back to goal - This TI will encourage some through balls for him to run onto

Higher Tempo/Higher Line/Press more - These 3 together reflect that we are one of the best teams in the division, and also reflect my preferred type of football overall. They are not extreme, particularly set against the base mentality of "Standard", but they encourage a slightly higher more energetic game. That is what i like to see from my teams.

The only PI i have set is for keeper distribution - Again keep it fairly minimal and simple.

Overall the tactic is built to be reasonably solid through the middle, aided by 3 bodies in there. Not easy to expose down the flanks either with the wide men being in the M strata. Going forward, we have varied types of attack on each wing, and look for a couple of supporting runners to play off the DLF. At this level, i prefer DLF over F9.

I see this as being something i can maintain with the minimal tweaks that i mentioned in the parameters post.

Squad analysis and transfers

So whilst i had a look through the squad before selecting my tactic, i now need to look pretty detailed position by position to understand where i need to strengthen, so i can approach my transfer strategy. Scouts are dispatched around the UK and Ireland, and also because of the DB i loaded, a few foreigners come up on my player search which is nice.

Initially i am fairly happy with the squad in terms of coverage and depth, but a couple of quality additions would not go amiss. Initially i identify the following needs:

• A starting/rotation RB
  
• Depth in CM, across all 3 roles
  
• A starting LM
  
• Depth at LB
  

In addition, when playing in Scotland i always raid Queens park for their 2 or 3 best prospects, since i know i can get them for free

The right back situation is resolved by a loan. Former Hibs RB Kevin McCann has randomly been playing in Sinagpore, and is available to loan back to the UK. He is a natural RB with some good attributes and can also play CB or MC if needed.

In CM, we manage to get 2 additions. Firstly, a loan from Crewe. James Jones comes in, and could cover 2 of the CM roles or even WM in a pinch. Then on my player list a portugese journeyman named Fillipe Pastel appears. A good passer who can play across the midfield, he looks like a good depth option, even if at 32 he isnt going to get any better.

For the starting LM, we hit the loan market again. Alisdair Sutherland of ICT is a natural striker, but is capable of playing LM and has good winger type attributes, so he joins up.

Finally left back, a young spaniard named Antonio Luque, who has been at Lazio and Sevilla no less, is interested and i immediately snap him up. Later a scout recommends former Ipswich man David October as a reasonable LB prospect and i snap him up as well.

Those, plus my 3 poached prospects from QUeens, make up my transfer activity and give me a squad i am reasonably happy with. I might add another wide man if i can find one suitable, but i also need to be conscious of squad gelling of course.

Pre-Season

Of course those signings take place throughout pre-season, and I manage all the friendlies myself. I make minimal changes (the tactic above is the final one to go into the regular season with) and we are reasonably happy with how it goes.

And so now i am all set to start my season and see if i can play it through whilst keeping things simple. I have given myself that leeway of the first 5 games where i can be more in depth, but at the moment i probably wont feel i need it. Some transfer work might still go on, but in the main we can now play our way through the early months, with no more than 2 tweaks in any given game, and always on only "key" highlights, and see what happens

[Jambo98]

Ok so i said i would put together a couple of lines on each match, and show how i used the two tweaks, or whether i used none. I will update this monthly and hopefully it can stimulate some discussion

August

Challenge Cup - Morton 1 v 0 QOS - Opening game, a nice win. Added "retain possession" shout at 50mins when we were one up and wanted to play keep ball. Then moved from Standard to Defensive at 75mins to see it out. Caldwell with the goal

League Cup - Morton 4 v 0 Stirling Albion - 2 nil up within 5mins, no tactical changes all game. 2 for loanee Sutherland, and Caldwell again, plus an OG

League 1 - Ayr 1 v 3 Morton - 2 nil up by half time, no tactical changes again, even when they got one back i felt comfortable with how we seemed to be playing. 2 for Forbes, and CB Crichton gets a set piece goal

Challenge cup - Falkirk 3 v 1 Morton (AET) - 1 nil up in 92mins, and i made no changes through the game - This time it was an error, i should have gone defensive. They scored in 92mins and we were burst. No energy for ET, so they cruised it in the end

League 1 - Morton 1 v 0 Stranraer - Caldwell with another important goal. Added retain possession with 20mins to go was the only tweak. Again we looked in control but they were a bit of a threat so holding the ball and slowing down was a good idea

League 1 - Peterhead 0 v 1 Morton - They were a bit defensive so we had to many long shots in the key highlights, so i added "work into box" at half time. An OG gives us the win, no other tweaks

League cup - Morton 2 v 0 Hearts - A surprise this. I actually rested/rotated 4 players for htis game but we went ahead early. 15 to go i moved to "defensive" and added "waste time". Caldwell late penalty added to MacDonald's early goal give us a cup shock

League 1 - Forfar 0 v 2 Morton - Another goal from Caldwell, and a nice finish from Forbes. No tweaks at all today.

Summary

4 wins from 4 have us top of the league and through to league cup round 3 where we hit the jackpot - Celtic at Parkhead. That should sort us out financially for a while. As you can see, i am tweaking very little. The odd change to mentality, and a couple of times added a TI. Nothing changes between games, same tactic to start every game.

Im sure we will hit a patch of worse form, because its football. Really this season i can only meet expectations, not exceed the, but to even do that with this "minimalist" approach would be nice - i think a few believe even that isnt possible.

[Jambo98]

September

League 1 - Morton 1 v 0 Airdrie - That man Caldwell again, work the ball into box shout added with 30mins to go was the only tweak

League 1 - Morton 3 v 2 Dunfermline - A great game, we were one nil up, 2 v 1 down, then come back to win. Forbes, McDonald and Pepper on the scoresheet. Again added work ball into box at half time and went defensive with 10 to go when we took the lead

League Cup - Celtic 4 v 2 Morton - Strange one. We were 3 nil down inside 5 mins (!!), i was fearing an absolute chasing. We settled, and suddenly after 49mins its 3 v 2.....15 to go i make my only change- Mentality up to attacking. 30secs later its 4 v 2 and game over. Still, no disgrace

League One - Stenhousemuir 0 v 1 Morton - Another 1 v 0. Another game with no tweaks. Pepper with the goal and we looked in enough control that i didnt feel the need to change anything

Summary

7 out of 7 league ones, settling into a pattern of match management which is very minimal. Switching to defensive with a lead and sometimes using work into box against defensive teams are all i really have done this month

[Torskus77]

I love these threads, so interesting. I also love a big cup draw away from home when I am a small team :-)

That is remarkably similar to what I came up with originally when I took inspiration from your 4-5-1 thread. I do believe you can succeed with a minimalistic approach, because I almost always play that way, never really gone in to the depths that you and others have. Nice and simple does the trick once I have a good solid framework. Will follow this thread with interest, and hopefully be able to contribute at some point.

[madmike]

Great thread, shows just how much we all over complicate the game from time to time. Will follow this with interest

[Jambo98]

Glad a few people are following and hopefully it is showing a few things. There is still the irony that its not the way i would advocate playing myself, but it is interesting to see whether it can work. You can exploit the AI if you take the time and win everything (note - exploit the AI, not the ME), but if you dont want to spend time, maybe you can just build something solid, take a bit of the rough with the smooth and still come out ahead of expectations by doing lots of the basics right.

October

League One - Brechin 0 v 2 Morton - Ah Glebe park. What a place to be. They held us until 78mins goal less. At 75 we went to "attacking" and back to "defend" at 85. A second goal from a corner in 87mins made it look more comfortble

League One - Morton 1 v 1 Stirling Albion - The perfect league record had to go sometime, and it would be at home to the team at the bottom of course! We used "work into box" at half time and went attacking at 60mins but couldnt get a winner

League One - Morton 0 v 2 Ayr - So we lost a game, that happens. We were awful. I actually changed to 4411 at half time because we were so woefull. With 20mins to go i went to "attacking". Didnt help. We got what we deserved.

League One - Dunfermline 0 v 1 Morton - No changes in this game, which got us back on track. We were slow starting, but i let it turn. Just after half time, Caldwell puts us in the lead. We are starting to take control so i just let it ebb and flow. We held on nicely for a win to break the slump.

Summary

So we lost a game and drew a game against the team bottom of the league. But you know what? Thats foootball We are still top of the league by 8 pts so its going well. I have not even been using my 5mins per game month for analysis. Mid season, i might add "work ball into box" as a perm TI, as i seem to go to it often.

I also need to make sure i consider my transfer strategy and youth strategy ahead of the next window

[Jambo98]

November

Scottish Cup - Morton 1 v 1 Cove Rangers - Gambled by rotating heavily, as most of our squad players were low on match fitness. It didnt pay off and we were poor. With 15 to go i went attacking, but still couldnt win the game.

Scottish Cup - Cove Rangers 0 v 0 Morton (Cove win 4 v 2 on pens) - Ouch...kept the back up team in place for the replay and we were awful. Didnt tweak in normal time, but in ET i had "work into box" and "attacking" added. Didnt help and pens cost us

League One - Morton 3 v 1 Forfar - No tweaks, and back on track. Easy win for us. Caldwell back on the goal trail and McCann and Sutherland also in the goals.

League One - Airdrie 0 v 1 Morton - Again no tweaks, and we were always in control despite the scoreline being a little close

League One - Morton 1 v 1 Stenhousemuir - Not a great performance. We went 1 down in the second half, so i tweaked to "attacking" for the last 15mins and a goal from a corner in the 93rd minute saved us.

Summary

A mixed month, and the value of properly setting up set pieces really being shown once or twice. We are not in brilliant form, but a few bits of squad rotation keeping us well clear at the top of the league. The Scottish Cup exit was poor, and shows that we dont have good depth in the squad.

Overall, 4 months in and the simple approach is going ok i would say.

[Jambo98]

December

League One - Stranrear 1 v 6 Morton - No need for any changes here, we absolutely smashed them. Another 2 set piece goals as well.

League One - Morton 2 v 0 Brechin - We were always in control. At 2 nil up, we moved to "retain possession" at 65mins. Never in doubt

League One - Morton 3 v 0 Peterhead - We took control early, 2 goals in the first 10mins. No need for any changes.

League One - Stirling 0 v 0 Morton - Dull as can be. We did tweak to "work into box" at 60mins but it didnt help.

Summary

Well we reach the turn of the year, and we are miles clear in the table. We are managing to generally win without needing to tweak, or with very minimal tweak and analysis. Hopefully that comes through in the updates?

Since its turn of the year i will post up a bit more about how i set up set pieces, and look at my squad since its transfer window time. I will spend some time on contract renewal and transfer targets.

[Jambo98]

Getting the basics right - Set pieces

When you are not wanting to invest lots of time in things like opposition scouting and reacting to different systems, then it becomes even more important than ever to have the basics of your tactic setup properly. I have long been a preacher of setting up set pieces - they can make a massive difference. In real life, Athletico Madrid score almost 50% of their goals from set pieces. That is the team who won La liga last year. Imagine where they would be if that number was reduced by even 15%. Set Pieces can make a huge difference to your points total at the end of the season.

I did spend time getting this right at Morton, and as we hit mid-season lets look at a few stats around this:

Defending

Attacking

So as you can see we seem to have this basic part of the game pretty well covered. There is nothing revolutionary in it. We pick our best set piece takers to take things, making sure we have a couple of options for each. We get our best aerial threats into the area where we want to send the set pieces, and we compliment it with common sense positions for other types (long shots lurking, striker in position for box scrambles). Defensively again, we mix zonal and man, and we avoid men on the posts to give us more bodies to defend properly. We also set up to give a counter attack threat to make the opposition think about this.

[Deego619]

I think most people's struggles when it comes to plug and play tactics these days is that we're all too focused on getting the results now (i.e, playing as West Ham and wanting to win the league right away). I still mostly play plug and play, it's all I have time for. In the community experiment thread I finished 3rd with Villarreal using a 4-1-3-2 narrow with little changes over the season and on key highlights. I mainly focus on just bringing in better players than my opponents, which is a club building strategy rather than a tactical one, thus it's a long term project. Obviously the tactic must be balanced and what not (1-1-2-5 will still get smashed), but I find even using the default set ups and changing very little helps.

Saying this, I look forward to seeing how this thread develops Jambo, always a pleasure to read your posts.

[Jambo98]

January

League One - Morton 3 v 1 Airdrie - No changes in this match, and we were comfortable. Set pieces, topically, were behind all 3 goals (1 corner, one IFK and one Pen).

League One - Stenhousemuir 0 v 1 Morton - A struggle in horrid conditions. We finally broke through in 77mins and went defensive mentality for the last 13mins to make sure no slip up

League One - Ayr 0 v 3 Morton - Another comfortable win, the system really works well. No changes needed today, and a bit of squad rotation as we try to keep match fitness up

League One - Forfar 0 v 1 Morton - More horrid conditions. We went "work into box" at 60mins as we struggled to break through. After our sub striker scored on 80mins we flicked to defensive to hold out

Summary

Transfer window time, and we were not overly active considering how well the season is going. We brought in a french ML who was offered by an agent on a free, and looked to have some good potential and ability to start at either LB or LM right away. To make way, one of our backup wingers was released.

We had trials for a few "big" names - Jack Collison, Johnathan Woodgate and Nicky Kuipers but all wanted just a little to much in the way of wages to drop down to our level sadly.

Also did the basics in terms of renewing contracts of those i want to keep, and reviewing my U20s for anyone who looks ready to step up to first team squad.

Then had to deal with a bit of squad mutiny over lack of first team footy for my backup keeper. A couple of other backups also moaning about no first team footy, just gotta treat em mean. They are not long term players for me so i dont care if i lose them

On the pitch, we keep cruising. League will be wrapped up early i think. Even though we were expected to win the league, i think we have exceeded expectations still by being just so far clear.

[Jambo98]

February

League One - Morton 1 v 0 Stirling Albion - No changes as we get another "boring" one nil. Caldwell still banging in vital goals

League One - Morton 3 v 1 Dunfermline - Another game with no tweaks, we dominated and only a last minute mistake cost us a clean sheet.

League One - Brechin 0 v 1 Morton - The narrow wins continue. This time we went defensive at 75mins as we were not in full control at all.

League One - Morton 2 v 3 Stranraer - A poor game. We twice had the lead but through it away with some awful defending and keeping mistakes. Went attacking with 20mins to go and paid the price as they scored from another terrible bit of goalkeeping

League One - Peterhead 3 v 2 Morton - Oh dear. 2 nil down in this one at HT. We added "work into box" and "exploit flanks" at HT. At 60mins we went "overload" in desperation. Got it back to 2 all, only to throw it all way in the 93rd min when we ignored a throw in from the opposition and let them walk in on goal

Summary

Our first wobble? Losing 2 in a row for the first time all season, and some woeful defending contributing. Might use some player rotation to try and kick start things and make sure we dont collapse with the finish line in site.

Overall, not sure the thread is catching the imagination in the way i hoped. It probably has to show longer term that it can work to be of any value. I might start the second save, which is probably a bit more relevant to people and wont be a title favourite.

[Jambo98]

March

League One - Morton 1 v 0 Forfar - No changes, despite being in bad form, i let us ride out this result to build some confidence. Pre-game i used a team meeting, some changes in match prep and general training to try and break the slump, as well as some squad management.

League One - Airdrie 1 v 0 Morton - Ok, slump perhaps not broken then. We didnt play well, went attacking on 60mins but Caldwell is out of form which impacts our ability to score.

League One - Morton 1 v 0 Ayr - Not a fluent perfrmance, but better defensively. We added "work into box" at HT, then "defensive" at 81mins just after we scored to take the lead. We needed to hold on for this win and we did. Title almost won.

League One - Dunfermline 1 v 1 Morton - Only needed a draw to be crowned champions, and we did that. We went defensive with 15mins to go at 1 v 0 up, but still gave away a silly goal (keeping at this level is awful i must say). Not to worry, the title is sealed with 5 games to spare.

Summary

So we won the league One of the things i had to do here was to take a slump, and address it without panicking and assuming that my tactic was all wrong and needed changed. We didnt change. We used other tools like the squad, training and team meeting to improve things, as well as appropriate team talks. We are still not bang in form, but we are over the mini slump i think.

5 games to go and would like to push on and win the title by a big margin to show i over achieved with this approach this season.

[mibsweden]

This has been a very interesting read. I play very much like you do, or maybe even less involved in tactic tweaking. I really like the youth development side of the game so that is what I focus on.

[Jambo98]

April/May

League One - Morton 0 v 1 Brechin - Awful. Morale is going south in a hurray. We went attacking with 15mins to go, but didnt matter. We are so short of confidence despite being champions. For me this isnt tactical, its the crazy over sensitive morale system

League One - Morton 0 v 0 Stenhousemuir - Still lacking on confidence, and players having nothing to play for cant help. A bore draw, we didnt tweak at all in this game

League One - Stirling Albion 0 v 0 Morton - And still we cant buy a goal or some morale. Went to attacking from 60mins and added work into box at the same time

League One - Stranraer 3 v 2 Morton - We fought back twice from a goal down, only to throw it away again. For the 3rd time in 3 games, we were the better team but didnt pick up 3pts. I went defensive at 2 all because we were so lacking in confidence

League One - Morton 1 v 1 Peterhead - We took the lead, went defensive but then gave away an equaliser. What a damb squib of an end to the season

Summary

So an awful last month really, but we still won the league by some 14pts.

Interestingly the one limitation with this approach that i did hit was the inability to break the slump and the nose dive in morale which came with it. Overall though, i would have to say that i over-achieved. This was using minimal tactical tweaking through the matches, and no changes in the core tactic. We just focused on transfers, scouting, squad management, youth development. Even training was fairly simple and if i had wanted to, it could have been a very quick season.

I can post up some screenies of the outcome, but i think where this would really get interesting is when season 2 comes along. See if we can continue over achievement with this type of approach.

I might however pause this save, and do season 1 in the second team that i want to try this out with - QPR

[Torskus77]

Although the nose dive in form is frustrating, and the morale system in the game is a little harsh at times, it's not unusual for a team in real life to dip in form once they have things wrapped up, happens all the time. It's hard to motivate players when there is nothing to play for. Not sure but it could be, it's happened to me before.

The thread is an awesome one, I think just because people aren't posting that much, it's not because they aren't interested, but you cover so much in your threads, there isn't always a lot left to say

I am just starting a save up with Sunderland. Got a little bored of my Walsall and Liverpool saves now, I'll definitely return to the Walsall one at some point, probably not the Liverpool one. I can't really be bothered with working my way through the leagues again, so wanted a Premier League team that I could start with that weren't great from the off, but had some future potential. Narrowed it down to 4 teams, and went for Sunderland based on the fact they had a good ground and fanbase already intact. I would imagine they are similar strength sqaud to Q.P.R, maybe a bit stronger, but Sunderland have zero funds available and a ton of debt. So looking forward to your Q.P.R piece.

I have a few ideas in mind for tactics, taking the same kind of simplistic approach, I had the 4-5-1 in mind looking at the squad, but I totally forgot they had signed Defoe, so may look in to something different to accommodate him. Not sure he'd do so well as a F9, with his likes to beat offside trap ppm.

Again, great thread, looking forward to the rest of it.

[fanir]

Brilliant thread Jambo98, helping me very much having KISS approach towards the game,

What are your thoughts though for the relationship between closing down/defensive line. I've read increasing defensive line as a shout also increases the closing down instruction. Also, when there were times where you had to go attacking, wouldn't that count as an overkill, when combined with higher tempo/line/closing down instructions?

Thanks!

[Bruce Drundrige]

No Declan McManus on loan from Aberdeen in the updated squad? He was on loan with us (GMFC) at the start of the season before returning to Aberdeen when it ran out and has subsequently rejoined. Must have been at the end of the window after changes had been locked in?

I think Kevin McCann played for us a couple of seasons ago already - he was mince I believe!

[Jambo98]

Although the nose dive in form is frustrating, and the morale system in the game is a little harsh at times, it's not unusual for a team in real life to dip in form once they have things wrapped up, happens all the time. It's hard to motivate players when there is nothing to play for. Not sure but it could be, it's happened to me before.

The thread is an awesome one, I think just because people aren't posting that much, it's not because they aren't interested, but you cover so much in your threads, there isn't always a lot left to say

I am just starting a save up with Sunderland. Got a little bored of my Walsall and Liverpool saves now, I'll definitely return to the Walsall one at some point, probably not the Liverpool one. I can't really be bothered with working my way through the leagues again, so wanted a Premier League team that I could start with that weren't great from the off, but had some future potential. Narrowed it down to 4 teams, and went for Sunderland based on the fact they had a good ground and fanbase already intact. I would imagine they are similar strength sqaud to Q.P.R, maybe a bit stronger, but Sunderland have zero funds available and a ton of debt. So looking forward to your Q.P.R piece.

I have a few ideas in mind for tactics, taking the same kind of simplistic approach, I had the 4-5-1 in mind looking at the squad, but I totally forgot they had signed Defoe, so may look in to something different to accommodate him. Not sure he'd do so well as a F9, with his likes to beat offside trap ppm.

Again, great thread, looking forward to the rest of it.

Yup i think teams easing off after the title is won is not uncommon, but what is unrealistic is that this would cause a drastic drop in morale. I had all kinds of down arrows throughout the last few games, even before the title was sealed. Its been fed back a few times to SI, but the morale system really needs to be made more realistic.

Sunderland sounds good. I am going with Q.P.R as they are tipped to finish 17th, so escaping relegation would be just meeting expectations and to excceed we would have to move up the table a bit. They also have an absolutely terrible squad, courtesy of Harry and his woeful squad management skills. Thrown the blue and white hoops which match Morton and had to pick them for this exercise.

I will likely set up 3 tactics - 4141, 4411 and perhaps 451. I dont find F9 works as well since 15.3 - A knock on from the fix around support strikers coming too deep when defending, is that F9 no longer comes deep enough in attacking transition. I will experiment with DLF types for Charlie Austin/Bobby Zamora i think.

Brilliant thread Jambo98, helping me very much having KISS approach towards the game,

What are your thoughts though for the relationship between closing down/defensive line. I've read increasing defensive line as a shout also increases the closing down instruction. Also, when there were times where you had to go attacking, wouldn't that count as an overkill, when combined with higher tempo/line/closing down instructions?

Thanks!

I didnt think that the Dline shout on its own would impact closing down, but then again now that you mention it, it is ringing a bell from reading it somewhere. As always though, its p*ssing in the wind trying to understand exactly what knock on's each shout/TI has now days.....

In terms of the other bit, well that is where KISS comes in - Yes, by moving from "Standard" to "Attacking" i increase tempo/dline/pressing and they were already higher than standard. However that is starting to get quite indepth - if i end up changing a mentality and also tweaking 3 or 4 TI's, its no longer KISS. They way i viewed it here is that they way i am setup in minute 1 is my "base" - From there, "attacking" just does that - makes me more attacking in various ways. It has worked ok at this level (Morton). Whether it will at EPL level we shall see.

It is not actually my approach to the game at all, but I am interested to see how it works over a longer period and those who bemoaned that it no longer worked, didnt seem willing to give it a proper change so i decided i would......

No Declan McManus on loan from Aberdeen in the updated squad? He was on loan with us (GMFC) at the start of the season before returning to Aberdeen when it ran out and has subsequently rejoined. Must have been at the end of the window after changes had been locked in?

I think Kevin McCann played for us a couple of seasons ago already - he was mince I believe!

McManus is on loan at Morton in the latest patch yes - I sent him packing before the season though. I am playing a single striker and Caldwell and MacDonald are already there, plus a couple of semi decent youths. Since my wide mean are MR and ML, McManus wasnt suited to that either so just terminated the loan.

McCann did a good job for me at right back getting forward a fair bit. Forbes in midfield was probably one of my best players over the season, and Joe McKee was pretty decent. Also Sean Crighton is great and has "model pro" personality. Both the keepers were awful though (Adam and Gaston).

[Bruce Drundrige]

McCann did a good job for me at right back getting forward a fair bit. Forbes in midfield was probably one of my best players over the season, and Joe McKee was pretty decent. Also Sean Crighton is great and has "model pro" personality. Both the keepers were awful though (Adam and Gaston).

You obviously weren't at Cappielow on Saturday then... :/

[Ceching You Out]

Another thing that may have contributed to your late season slump: did teams begin to play more defensively against you? I've noticed that after a string of wins in the first half of my current season, my opponents start sitting back more. The change is also reflected in the match odds -- first half I'm winning games where I'm a nominal underdog, second half I'm struggling a little more as a slight favorite.

Forces a slight tactical rethink, although that's at odds with you goal here.

[Jambo98]

You obviously weren't at Cappielow on Saturday then... :/

Was anyone?

Another thing that may have contributed to your late season slump: did teams begin to play more defensively against you? I've noticed that after a string of wins in the first half of my current season, my opponents start sitting back more. The change is also reflected in the match odds -- first half I'm winning games where I'm a nominal underdog, second half I'm struggling a little more as a slight favorite.

Forces a slight tactical rethink, although that's at odds with you goal here.

Indeed that can happen, but remember i was strong favorite from the start of the season so teams adjusting is less of an issue. I dont think i was under dog for a single league game all season. Also my tactic is reasonably neutral and not focussed on high possession and lots of players in the final 3rd (those type are more likely to be nullified by hitting defensive teams).

I think it was 80% down to the morale. It really was a huge drop off in morale. The other 20% is just that you will lose some games. With this approach, you have to accept that sometimes you will lose as you dont focus on or react to the opposition strength or weakness.

[Jambo98]

I decided to continue the Morton save at least one more year before starting the QPR one. Single seasons using this approach dont mean a huge amount, its whether it can be sustained which interests me.

Second year will be different - we will no longer start as favourites which will impact how teams play against us, and also leave us open to the old "re-ranking" later in the season if we do over achieve early. That could be more difficult to counter without tactical tweaks. As i said in my guidelines at the start, I am open to tweaking tactics between the 2 seasons so will look at that.

Board just allowed me to scout all of Europe, so its time to cast a net and bring some european flair to Greenock........im sure they cant wait to join us

[Jambo98]

Ok so before i start season 2, i thought it was worth a post around key tasks for "the off season"

I played the off season "in full" - doing what i would do with any other save. Although i am trying to take a simple approach to tactics and match management, i still enjoy (as everyone does from what i can tell) the off season processes. So here is some of how i approach it :-)

Contract Expiry Dates - My team and others

So of course one of the big things to deal with at the end of a season are contracts which are due to expire. At higher levels of football you might always avoid this with early renewals, but in the Scottish Lower leagues we cant afford that luxury. First up, i need to understand what the contract expiry dates are in the league i play in - This impacts my squad and also my recruitment of other out of contract players.

In Scotland, youth contracts seem to expire at the end of May, most first team contracts at the end of June (although some in the championship also appear to be end of may - it varies).

As we hit the end of May, I have only 2 youth prospects out of contract and both are rubbish so i release them. I scout around for other decent prospects released in Scotland, but nothing doing really. No one of enough quality is interested.

Then we hit the end of June and i have a few first team players out of contract, and decisions need to be made. I opt to release 4, whilst a 5th had signed a pre-contact else where but would have been released:

Grant Adam - Rotated with Gaston in goal, both were poor and Adam moaned a lot. Glad to be shot of him

Ricki Lamie - Younish DLC who never looked like he could make the grade and also moaned a lot, no place for him in a squad which wants to progress

Filipe Pastel - Experienced Portugese who i signed, but he never made an impression and was restricted to bench duty, at 32 he was declining quickly so sent him back to Portugal

Jamie McCluskey - Backup wide man, never consistent and also unhappy. He had versatility on his side but that wasnt enough to make me want to keep him

Thomas O'Ware - Another DLC who wasnt really good enough, signed a pre-contract with QOS so will be in the same league as us next year

They key was understanding my squad depth, and understanding/looking ahead to the areas i wanted to strengthen following promotion. At this stage recruitment has not started, but I have an eye towards it and i know that i want to strengthen the squad overall as well as a couple of starting positions, which meant the above were all expendable.

Tactical Evolution

Even when keeping tactical management simple during the season, you still need to take the time to assess and review between seasons. Particularly important after a promotion - In my case i will go from being favorites most games to being underdogs most times.

In someways, this is often tied into recruitment - If you have a particular setup in mind, you need to be sure you can get in the players to make it work. At this juncture, finding players who are pretty decent for this level is not that difficult a job. I am reasonably confident to take the approach of tweaking my tactic first and then finding the players to suit. I would not always take that approach - Its a team by team or save by save thing.

In terms of my tactic, i was very happy with the overall balance last season. Since i was never set up to be either over attacking, or over counter reliant, i am reasonably comfortable to keep the core system in place. Our 5 man midfield should help against better teams.

I will make 2 small tweaks

Add "Work ball into box" TI - I added it so often last year, and with a sole striker i need to have this on i think, particularly if we are pushed a bit deeper this season

Change CM(d) to DLP(d) - I was not overly happy with this position last year, partly as my players were so poor, but overall i want to bring him even deeper at times, and make him contribute a bit more to the build up. I will try to find more of a playmaker type rather than a pure destroyer.

The rest of the system stays the same, no new PI (may review that after my recruitment is complete - Specific players might need a PI) and we remain at "standard" mentality. I also have not developed a second tactic yet, that might be needed in future seasons, but for now i am content to just try and use mentality to alter things when we need to.

Recruitment - The fun part

This is the part of the close season that most FM'ers love. Player recruitment. Its also the part where so many (including me on occasion!) go crazy and turn over entire squads, which is not sensible.

However after a promotion, its clear i do need to upgrade the squad in a number of areas. Having settled on my tactic, i can look at it position by position, and decide where i need to strengthen the first 11, and where i need to add depth.

To do this, there are some key "enablers":

• Scouting - I am allowed to scout all of Europe, and i know with France, Portugal and Holland loaded in full detail, there will be gems to be found. Set guys out scouting there and also Scandanavia
  
• Manual Searching - The good old player search, when some filters are applied, can still find a few good players
  
• Manager Knowledge - Players i know from previous job/saves. This is always valuable and fair knowledge. I looked at a few lower league types that i know about from previous lower league adventures
  
• Released players - Its always worth, when managing at this level, scouring some of the bigger/medium clubs across Europe to see who they released. Players who might not have cut it in a top 6 Eredivisie club for example, might be tempted to the Scottish Championship
  
• Amatuer Clubs - Again this is where some knowledge comes in. I already hit Queens Park, but i also know that both France and Holland have amatuer clubs where players can be stolen for free. Its worth routing through these and sending a few scouts to see if a free Gem can be found.
  
• Loan Market - An absolute key in LLM. A few loans can really push your club on to the next level, and we will seek to add 3 or so loanees to our squad over the course of the window.
  

So with that in mind, i used these methods and looked at it position by position:

GK - Both of last seasons were awful. We sold/released both. In place came an American/French Keeper wonderfully named Quentin Westberg. His story is interesting, in that he was part of the amazing Luzenac adventure - Well worth looking up if you dont already know that story. For backup we promoted from the U20 side. We actually promote the worst of our 2 young keepers, to allow the better prospect some U20 match time

LB - The tandem of last season, the spandiard Luque and the former Ipswich lad David October stay in place. They were both good enough and look like they can stand a step up

RB - McCann's loan ended, and i struggled to find a suitable replacement in this position. In the end i hit the loan market. I was amazed at some of the players on my player seach interested in loans. Kids from AC Milan, Fiorentina and Man City! Instead i found Damien Dussault from Standard Liege, an attacking 20yr old fullback who fits the mould i need. The RB is more attacking in my setup and i need players to fit that requirement

CB - Sean Crighton had a great season and stays in place. Lee Kilday wasnt good enough to step up so i punted him. I have looked long and hard for a suitable CB partner, and eventually found a released player from FC Midtjyland named Morten Koch. A big strong type who should fit the team, and at 23 can still grow. Backing up i have 2 youngsters, Willie McNamara, stolen last year from Queen's, and another youth signing Pedro Torrado from Portugal

DLP - The new position in the squad, and i had to recruit someone suitable. I wanted to try and get some more home grown players in, and former Motherwell man Paul Lawson was available on a free. Not a brilliant tackler, but good DLP type attributes and some nice PPMs mean he is the right choice. Michael Tisder was awful last season, but he stays as backup for now.

BBM - Joe McKee was great last season, and retains his place. Lewis Vaughan was surprisingly available on loan from Raith and i snapped him up to compete for this place. Vaughan is very vesatile, can play up to 4 roles for me

CM(a) - Again Ross Forbes was great last year. Our POTY, so he remains in situ. We hit the loan market again to bring in Spurs youngster Joshua Onomah who will rotate in here as required.

ML - Our winger. Backup from last year Florian Julien stays at the club but will again be second choice. Scouting in France found us a bit of a gem. Serge Nyuiadazi is a flying machine from France/Togo. Great physicals and can cross and dribble well for our level. I expect him to shine if he can settle.

MR - The WM position. In on loan here comes a man the media think is "the next David Beckham".... Josh Harrop from Man Utd. He can certainly cross and pass, has a good work ethic and is pretty quick. A nice fit for the WM(s) role in my side. Connor Pepper stays around as a backup

ST - Caldwell started last season on absolute fire, but he faded badly and my coaches didnt see him improving. So i shipped him to Stranraer. Instead i found Jordan Moore, a 21yr old former Dundee Utd prospect who can finish and has nice mental attributes. His physicals need work but scouts and coaches think he has room to grow. Unfortunately he picked up a 3 month injury just as the season started. THat prompted me to go back into the market, and after considering Ricardo Fuller, instead i found another Scot, and another ex Utd man, in Michael Gardyne. Experienced and hard working, as well as versatile, he will compete with Moore when fit. Peter MacDonald stays as 3rd choice and also a coach.

So with my first team recruitment all sorted, i move on to....

Youth Signings - Building for the future

This is a key part of building a squad. I always focus on youth development, and in Scotland our own intakes tend to be woeful, so i scout for youths a lot. I also check released players from other academies and look at amateur teams again. Its a constant process.

I wont list them all, its not that important for the relevance for the thread (signing first team types who fit the tactical template is, however). I signed 7 U19 players, covering varying positions, from varying nations. Hopefully in a year or 2 they will reduce my first team recruitment requirements

Staff - Reviewing and improving

This one is important, particularly so after a promotion. Firstly, its likely your board will allow you to have more staff and its important you take advantage of that. Secondly, of course, you might be able to attract better staff which can only be a good thing.

The first thing i looked at was Scouts - I was previously limited to 3, and it jumped to 7. I immediately hired them all so i could scout like crazy, which i always do in LLM. For scouts, I keep it simple - I look for the best JPA/JPP i can get and in LLM i also try to find scouts with knowledge of other nations to increase my player pool. This time i managed to get a croatian with most of Eastern Europe knowledge, a frenchy who also knows switzerland and a dutchie who knows Holland of course.

I also changed my Ass Man - I looked for a good personality type, and strong in Motivating and Man Management (i take advice on team talks, and find these are the important attributes). I also like "working with youngsters" since i focus so much on youth. Joe McLaughlin is Scottish (former Chelsea player in the 80s) and strong in the key areas, so he came in.

My HOYD i already managed to bring in Dario Simic, so he stays.

My coaching staff is next and i get a big uplift. From being limited to 4, i now can have 9 coaches/physios. I add a second Physio to help us with injuries, and then load up on the best coaches i can find at my level. Just a case of trawling for interest ones and using a few "known" coaches to me.

Finally my youth coaching gets a boost. We had 2 coaches, now allowed 4 so i hire them to see if we can start to develop our youth a bit. Looking out for good personality types as always

Training - Preseason Routine

From the moment the players come back, its important to get onto your pre-season setup in place. I go with "fitness" and "high" from day one. I increase match prep slightly, and dont allow any rest days before or after. In this situation, i set match prep to "Team work", since we have so many new players.

I also make sure that each new signing quickly gets his individual training setup - Set to his role only for this save as i attempt to keep it simple and quick.

Pre season games - Money, or Morale

I have to admit here, i find pre-season on FM15 to be utterly useless. I used to frequently set up a tactic for day 1, and win all kinds of games in pre-season only to start getting hammered from game one in the real season. For some reason pre-season is just never representative of anything.

Of course as LLM, you could go for money spinning. I avoid this, as the inevitable beatings bring a morale penalty. Instead i set up around 9 friendlies against cannon fodder teams for no other reason than to get morale up.

So thats the close season. You might be wondering why i bothered writing all that crap when it is a thread about simplicity! In essence, i wanted to show i am playing the save in full still, alongside trying this simple tactical approach. I also thought laying out some of my parts of close season might help others.

Now on to season 2!

[Jambo98]

So season 2 starts - Same parameters as last season. Media expectation is 6th actually, despite being newly promoted. I would be delighted with top half, in a first season up a level. That would be over achievement to me.

July/August

Challenge cup - Morton 2 v 1 Hibs - A nice start to the season, and we made no tweaks through the game as the small changes to last seasons tactic kick in. Came from behind as well

League Cup - Morton 0 v 0 Stirling Albion (albion win on pens) - Oh dear. Insane. We battered them. 34 shots, 15 on target, 3 woodwork, 64% possession. They had 1 shot on goal in 120mins then snatched it on pens! No tweaks despite the 120 mins

Championship - Alloa 1 v 4 Morton - That will do, nice start for us. 4 nil up by 31mins and didnt touch a thing in terms of tweaks

Challenge cup - Morton 1 v 3 Hearts - Tough fixture, Hearts lost in the playoff final last year but spent a few quid and are far better than us. We were never really in this and again i didnt tweak

Championship - Morton 1 v 3 Hearts - De Ja Vu all over again.....much better game from us, we tweaked to go attacking with 30mins to go at 2 v 1 down, but it was not to be as Sow was too good with a hatrick

Championship - Morton 2 v 0 Stranraer - Back to business, a good solid win with no tweaks. They were the rank outsiders in the league so we had to win this.

Championship - Raith 4 v 2 Morton - Sore one. We went 2 down early, battled back to 2 all then a rebound goal (how in the hell is that not fixed, in a FINAL patch!!!) put them back ahead, before a last minute 4th settled it

Summary

Solid enough start. The Stirling game was hilarious. Like the Alamo at times and we lost. Raith game i would have liked a point, but expected to Lose to Hearts and beat Stranraer. Alloa a team i expect to be around us, so good to give them an early hiding.

[Jambo98]

September

Championship - Morton 3 v 0 Hamilton - A cracking result against one of the league favourites. We were in control all through so no tweaks needed

Championship - Hibs 0 v 1 Morton - A big results against a much better squad. We scored on 41mins from a set piece, and at 70mins we switched to "defensive" and then at 80mins added "waste time" to hold on for a brilliant result

Championship - Morton 4 v 1 Falkirk - Now we are on a real roll and hit the top of the league. Cruised it with no tweaks. Goals coming from midfield often as well as Gardyne getting his share

Summary

A short month with only 3 games, but 3 big wins for us. Again as you can see, no heavy game management involved, only key highlights watched. I use 3 subs almost every game just because we struggle a bit for fitness as we press a bit. Can we keep it up?

[Jambo98]

October

Championship - Dumbarton 1 v 4 Morton - Another cruise with no changes, we are banging in the goals at the minute. Lots from wide and midfield

Championship - Morton 2 v 0 Alloa - A little closer, and we added "retain possession" at 65mins with us one nil up as we were giving the ball away a lot. A second goal late sealed it for us

Championship - Morton 0 v 1 QOS - It all comes to an end! We were the better side, went "attacking" at 80mins, then a punted clearance from their right back, our young CB jumps under it and lets the guy clean through. Annoying result

Scottish Cup - Clyde 0 v 2 Morton - Back in control, we were always in charge of this and even had a missed pen. No tweaks needed.

Summary

A blip in the league at home, but we remain top. Trying to rotate my squad a bit to keep people match fit and happy, feels like a much better squad than last year. We are a point clear of Hearts and Hibs at the top of the league as we enter November, way above where we expected.

The approach is still working so far

[Dave Vessey]

Interesting read this. Broadly mirrors the way I tend to play the game, albeit with three tactics that use the same shape with different TIs and roles.

Also liked the pre-season post. To my shame I tend to skirt through pre-season without rigorously combing through players etc.

EDIT: Just to add, do you have a list of amateur clubs or a link to one as I can't seem to find a filter in-game to search for one.

[felley]

Great thread, Jambo.

I've been toying with the idea of doing a similar thread/experiment for a while, but your output is just immense! You virtually have a new experiment up here every week

From a personal playing perspective (tongue twister alert), I reckon I definitely fall into the "would prefer to play simpler" category - mainly due to time constraints. But I also enjoy reading in-depth articles and discussions and dipping my toe in the deeper aspects too. I'm no longer afraid to assess things in detail as I feel I know plenty about the game from both playing and reading up.

You're right that this 'debate' has cropped up a fair few times recently and I think I remember already commenting that most of my FM playing mates IRL have a very basic playing style that probably works out in the way this current experiment is panning out... I know you despise FMC, but I used it for my stab at the Community Formation Experiment as I was pushed for time and I also played the game in a pretty 'simplistic' way. I rarely watched the games in too much detail and mainly adjusted based on what I saw in the highlights. As was evident from the season I had with Villareal, it worked a treat.

I think it's important to say to others that are learning that it genuinely does pay dividends to read up and learn to analyse tactical problems, but it isn't necessary to play like that to have success. I guess that's the point of this thread. Get together a system that works and doesn't have glaring problems and you can achieve above expectations, whilst still getting the squad building/development enjoyment.

[Jambo98]

Interesting read this. Broadly mirrors the way I tend to play the game, albeit with three tactics that use the same shape with different TIs and roles.

Also liked the pre-season post. To my shame I tend to skirt through pre-season without rigorously combing through players etc.

EDIT: Just to add, do you have a list of amateur clubs or a link to one as I can't seem to find a filter in-game to search for one.

Thanks. I think pre-season is really important. There are so many little aspects which can all make a big difference once the season starts. Well worth spending even 20mins or so on

I dont have a list, i just look through the low rated ones in the list of clubs from France and Holland, and in Holland i know of a few because i played in the bottom division as part of a challenge last year. Looking at the non league sides in those countries usually gets you some possible players. Also Differdange in Luxembourg are well known, and have at least one good player

Great thread, Jambo.

I've been toying with the idea of doing a similar thread/experiment for a while, but your output is just immense! You virtually have a new experiment up here every week

From a personal playing perspective (tongue twister alert), I reckon I definitely fall into the "would prefer to play simpler" category - mainly due to time constraints. But I also enjoy reading in-depth articles and discussions and dipping my toe in the deeper aspects too. I'm no longer afraid to assess things in detail as I feel I know plenty about the game from both playing and reading up.

You're right that this 'debate' has cropped up a fair few times recently and I think I remember already commenting that most of my FM playing mates IRL have a very basic playing style that probably works out in the way this current experiment is panning out... I know you despise FMC, but I used it for my stab at the Community Formation Experiment as I was pushed for time and I also played the game in a pretty 'simplistic' way. I rarely watched the games in too much detail and mainly adjusted based on what I saw in the highlights. As was evident from the season I had with Villareal, it worked a treat.

I think it's important to say to others that are learning that it genuinely does pay dividends to read up and learn to analyse tactical problems, but it isn't necessary to play like that to have success. I guess that's the point of this thread. Get together a system that works and doesn't have glaring problems and you can achieve above expectations, whilst still getting the squad building/development enjoyment.

Yeah i really need to cut back on the threads/experiments! Way too many ideas in my head, i have about 3 others which i held off on starting so as not to flood the forum with my crap!

I am much more of a detail player, and i wouldnt normally advocate this way of playing, but its interesting to see if it will work. The key is having reasonable expectations. You will NOT win the league with WBA in season one, or even season 2 with this approach. To do that, you need to effectively exploit the AI managers lack of ability, and win by being just a massively better tactical manager than the rather poor AI (rashidi has shown brilliantly how to do it in the back of the net thread).

What i hope is that by taking a proper approach to all other aspects of the game (recruitment, staff, squad management, training, set pieces), and importantly, having a fundamentally sound and solid tactic, you can achieve maybe 10 - 20% above what an "average" AI manager would deliver.

[Jambo98]

November

Championship - Hearts 2 v 0 Morton - No changes as Hearts were just too good for us again.

Championship - Stranraer 0 v 3 Morton - Back to winning ways, and no tweaks needed. We cruised it.

Championship - Hamilton 1 v 2 Hearts - - A very tricky away tie and a hard fought win. We added "retain possession" at 60mins when drawing 1 v 1, then went defensive at 78mins just after scoring a pen to go ahead. Held on nicely

Championship - Morton 1 v 0 Raith - - Another nice win, we went defensive at 70mins to protect and held out nicely.

Scottish Cup - Morton 2 v 0 Berwick - Heavily rotated the team and still got a nice win, no tweaks during the game

Summary

Still progressing nicely, equal top of the league. We lost our keeper for 4 months, so i had to go into the free agent market and sign ex QPR keeper Brian Murphy. We also have signed Cowdenbeath youngster Lewis Milne with the deal going through in January

[Jambo98]

December

Championship - Falkirk 0 v 1 Morton - Another away win at a hard ground. We went defensive at 65mins when leading, as they were a threat to us. But we keep rolling along

Championship - QOS 2 v 3 Morton - A ding dong game and despite the score, we didnt tweak. We led most of the game so we felt happy to leave it as it was.

Championship - Morton 1 v 1 Dumbarton - Defo 2pts dropped here. Home match, so not ideal. We scored early then missed a pen, and let them back in. It can happen i guess with this approach.

Championship - Morton 0 v 1 Hibs - painful defeat for me. Tried attacking for the last 20mins at one down, but didnt help us. We just couldnt quite click in the final third.

Championship - Alloa 1 v 2 Morton - A good bounce back. We had to go defensive at 75mins to hold on as this was an important game to buck the recent mini slump, and we did hold on nicely

Summary

So we hit the turn of the year, and massively ahead of expectations. We sit in second, 4pts behind Hearts but 8 clear of 3rd place Hibs. 11pts clear of 5th place means we really ought to make the playoffs from here.

Same approach as last year as you can see, and we are starting to see it over a period of time. I will do the Jan transfer window fully, and will keep the simple approach on the field

[felley]

Great results so far...

One quick point though. You're in the "Championship" this year. I've noticed you've been calling it "League One" again in your updates

[Jambo98]

Great results so far...

One quick point though. You're in the "Championship" this year. I've noticed you've been calling it "League One" again in your updates

Hah damn, yes thats a bit of an error! Gone back and fixed it now.

Transfer window time, so time to analyse the squad and ensure we maximise our recruitment potential. The tactic of course will not be tweaked, so we need to make sure we get the best out of what we have

[the_gaffa]

Great thread!

I'm tempted to give this way of thinking a go with my Spurs side. I'm doing okay but I'm currently getting a lot of draws lately and I'm pretty sure it's due to me overthinking things and making too many tweaks.

Given your successful start in the Championship, it will be interesting to see how teams play against you in the second half of the season.

[Jambo98]

January

Championship - Raith 1 v 2 Morton - A nice come from behind win, we added "exploit the flanks at 65mins as they were down to 10men and it worked as we got the winner shortly after

Championship - Morton 1 v 0 Stranraer - No tweaks, we dominated and created plenty chances but were poor in front of goal, but no harm done and we pick up another important 3pts

Championship - Morton 1 v 2 Hearts - Ouch, a vital game and despite more shots, more genuine chances and more possession, we lost. We went down to 10men at 49mins whilst one down, but battled on and got an equaliser. With 13mins to go yet another ruddy free kick rebound goal put us behind. We went overload for 10mins to try and snatch a draw but wasnt to be.

Championship - Morton 0 v 0 Falkirk - A frustrating stalemate. Horrible conditions with heavy rain meaning it was a mudbath, so at 60mins we added "be more direct" but couldnt break through despite total domination. Here we go with the morale slump again.....

Championship - Morton 4 v 0 Hamilton - A nice bounceback. We added "retain possession" at 65mins when 2 nil up as i wanted to kill this off, then went defensive at 75mins to really kill it. Ended up scoring 2 more in the last 10mins anyway!

Championship - Hibs 1 v 1 Morton - a huge game against our main rivals for second place (the title is gone after the Hearts defeat i fear). A wild game, we went one down in the second half, went attacking to chase it, and took us until the 91st minute to get a leveler. Only for hibs to go right back up the park and get a 94th min penalty! Luckily, Brian Murphy stood strong and saved it to give us an important point

Summary

A bit of an up and down month, the Hearts defeat probably means we wont catch them for the title and auto promotion, but we do look secure in a playoff position. The tactical approach is still allowing me to easily exceed expectations and although by micro managing, i probably might have been able to get better results against Hearts and Hibs, i cant complain at the level of over achievement by minimal management

Transfer Window

A quiet one for us. I did my due dilligence, lots of scouting throughout the year. Lewis Milne arrived for £30 from Cowdenbeath. At 21 he is a good young scottish talent who can still grow, but is also already more than good enough for my first team. Other than that, i struggled to find anyone who would be a genuine upgrade to my squad rather than just a replacement level signing. Right at the end of the window i decided my 2 strikers were not scoring enough, so scoured the loan market. A 23yr old from AC Milan was available to loan to us (From Milan to Morton.......maybe a touch unrealistic!!!) Giancomo Beretta joins us, and to balance it Peter McDonald gets released. He was retiring at the end of the season anyway.

We also continued relentless youth scouting, but only picked up one youth signing this window as we dont want to overload on prospects too much.

On to the second half of the season we go

[Jambo98]

February

Scottish Cup - Morton 0 v 1 Hibs - Frustrating result, we matched Hibs but they had more quality in front of goal and despite us switching to go attacking with 15mins to go, nothing doing.

Championship - Dumbarton 3 v 1 Morton - Wow, didnt see that coming. Awful performance and got what we deserved. Chased the game at 2 v 1 down by going attacking at 75mins but ended up conceding a third. Morale is getting lower

Championship - Morton 0 v 0 QOS - Ok we are officially in a slump. No wins in 4 games, we cant find our scoring touch. QOS had only one shot the entire game, but we couldnt break through. I didnt actually tweak anything in this game though

Championship - Morton 3 v 1 Alloa - Thats more like it. A quick team meeting to boost morale and a couple of bits of squad rotation and we get back to form. Comfortable win with no tweaks

Summary

Not a good month, hopefully we are breaking out of the slump though. It did appear to be morale related. Other teams might/should have changed how they view us slightly given our over achievement, but our tactic isnt really influenced by playing against either control or counter teams - its not how we are set up so changes like that from the AI shouldnt overly effect us. Obviously extreme attack or defence would, but i dont see anyone adapting to that level.

[Jambo98]

March

Championship - Stranraer 2 v 5 Morton - Free scoring game, no tweaks and we continue our recovery from the feb mini slump.

Championship - Hearts 2 v 2 Morton - What a great game. We went 2 nil down just after HT but undeservedly. At 70mins i went attacking and we roared back to 2 all by 80mins. We needed a win to stand any chance of catching Hearts so we left it on attacking and despite hitting the woodwork twice in the last 10, we couldnt get the win

Championship - Morton 1 v 1 Raith - Well last weeks draw was great, this week far less so. We had to come from behind and had the better of the game but held to a draw.

Summary

A short month with internationals going on. We held our own against the now champions elect at Tynecastle, but the Raith draw has Hibs breathing down our neck. We are guaranteed a playoff spot, but finishing second would give us one less round to play at least.

[Jambo98]

April

Championship - Hamilton 3 v 1 Morton - Did not see that coming again. We seem to have a habbit of pulling out random awful performances. We were 3 nil down by half time and i didnt even bother to tweak. Are we lacking in the ability to perform when the pressure is on?

Championship - Falkirk 2 v 1 Morton - FFS, we are absolutely bottling it here. Played poor, i dropped deeper with the Dline at half time as we were getting caught over the top and already a goal down, went more direct on passing at 60mins as we were 2 down. We got one back but still not good enough at all. We have allowed Hibs to go a point above us

Championship - Morton 2 v 0 Hibs - Huge game, and we came through. At 55mins i went "retain possession" as we led 1 nil, then scored a second and looked comfortable. Back into 2nd place and second is in our own hands now (although it doesnt make a massive difference really)

Championship - Morton 1 v 0 Dumbarton - A bit more cagey and we suffered a huge blow when we went down to 10men in only the 12th minute. We sacraficed our DLP and went 441. Even with 10 men we still more than matched them and scored a nice goal at 58mins. We went to "counter" after scoring and cruised to a win

Championship - QOS 2 v 2 Morton - Ooft, we dont do the easy way. A draw was all we needed to secure second. We were the better team as usual, but on 52 mins we went behind, so we changed to "attacking". We got level and had to decide whether to stick or twist. I left it on attacking as we really wanted to get another goal and felt we could, only for disaster to happen on 75mins. Were we bottling it again? NO, we scored a cracker with 5mins remaining to give us 2nd place ahead of hibs on goal difference.

Summary

So into the playoffs we will go. Likely to play Hibs again (if they beat Hamilton in the first round) and then one of us will play Kilmarnock for the right to be in the SPL next season. Can we do it? We punched massively above our weight all season, over achieving despite not really doing much tactical management. Back to back promotions would be a huge vindication for this approach

[Jambo98]

May

Championship Promotion Playoff - Hibs 1 v 3 Morton - Who said we cant handle the big occasion! Virtuoso performance, our best of the season. We hit the woodwork 3 times on top of the 3 goals and no threat. We did go to counter at 75mins just to make sure we didnt let them back into ahead of the second leg

Championship Promotion Playoff - Morton 4 v 0 Hibs - 4 nil before half time. Job done. No need for tweaks and we absolutely destroyed hibs over 2 legs. On to the final!

Championship Promotion Playoff - Kilmarnock 0 v 2 Morton - And the big game performances keep coming! We were easily the better team and i didnt even feel the need to protect so no tweaks at all

Championship Promotion Playoff - Morton 1 v 0 Kilmarnock - We were never going to throw away that first leg lead. A couple of injuries slowed us, but a nice set piece goal meant it was all over. Promotion it is!!!!

Summary

We saved the best till last. 4 of our best performances of the season this month and we absolutely cruised the playoffs in the end. No drama, nice and easy and we are up for the second season in a row. This is a much bigger over achievement than last year was, no doubt about it. Good player recruitment and use of the loan market helped, and the tactic is clearly a very sound base. More proof that you can exceed expectations without needing lots of tactics and lots of tweaks or lots of PI etc.

Can we sustain over achievement in the SPL? I suspect we will be favourites for the drop, so anything outside of that would be over achievement in season 1. We will need to strengthen. At times we were bad at the back and we didnt get enough goals from our strikers. I will post up some screenies showing our stats in a bit.

[felley]

Congratulations. Sinking Hibs so convincingly must've felt good for you personally too

[Jambo98]

Yup that felt rather sweet The fact that i cant seem to beat Hearts is a genuine co-incidence, not a lack of effort!

Season 3 is going to be interesting. Firstly the board slashed the wage budget by around 30%, despite being promoted, then we got a takeover which put us under transfer embargo for most of the summer anyway. The embargo has just been lifted with 2 weeks of the window remaining, and my only close season signing thus far was a bosman previously agreed for a young Italian Keeper from Juventus. We need to act quickly to bolster the squad now or we will be for the drop!

[Dave Vessey]

Really pleased to see this approach vindicated, although it will be interesting to see how the step up to the SPL goes, particularly now the takeover has screwed over your recruitment!