Lower League Success - Scouting

[ashlfcowen]

I have started a new career down in the depths of the English Leagues for the first time since the Championship Manager days.

It's really murky waters for me and I have no idea what I'm doing when scouting for players...

Absolutely 0 players in the English Leagues have their attributes to see, so knowing who to loan is impossible.

My scouts take WEEKS sometimes MONTHS to come back with full knowledge of a player (I only have 3 and they're not very good...)

I'm not able to search for anyone outside of the Conference North / South

Seriously...how do you do it? Any useful tips you can share for me?

Thank you! 

Edited November 24, 2019 by ashlfcowen

[CityAndColour]

Trials are your friend.

[RioImmagina]

21 ore fa, CityAndColour ha scritto:

Trials are your friend.

Agree. Sign on trial the players you think will be useful for your team, then move them in reserves team and arrange a lot of friendlies. After 2 weeks you will have a good knowledge of them.

If you have a big database, open every national team formation and offer a trial to any free player

[isignedupfornorealreason]

Having the same problem in Scotland. As Motherwell the players are crap, the budget is £0 and scouting takes far too long to get anything done.

[SpikeHughes]

On 25/11/2019 at 12:22, isignedupfornorealreason said:

Having the same problem in Scotland. As Motherwell the players are crap, the budget is £0 and scouting takes far too long to get anything done.

Am doing the same thing mate but at Kilmarnock. Some players you might not know about who are cheap or free. Jordan Mutch, Darren Flechter, Miles Jedinak all free the later two are in the 30’s but will last a season. Mutch is very good. Jack Byrne at shamrock is free in December and Lawrence Shankland (think that’s right) at Dundee Utd free end of the first season.

As for your scouting the above is best go for trials, the three players on the above list (free players) ask for less money if you get them on trial first. As I said I’m having the same problem my staff are part time and I have no budget so it’s free agents for me. Hope this helps a little. 

[Welshace]

Trials, manual searching etc are the way forward.. there isn't a shortcut unless you want to cut corners and essentially go against realism...

 

Think of it like real life.. where would you start to try and find players if you took over a club at that level?  would it take weeks to find players?

[RyanBrown]

I've always found trials to be the biggest asset lower down. It reduces scouting costs, and just means the player will be at the club on a trial contract.

 

[Mr U Rosler]

Another fan of trials. A week seems to be enough to get much of the attribute detail.

Sometimes i had 10 in at once, i left them in the first team, i noticed some very inconsistent 1st team performances during this time. I wonder if having this many trials in at once has a negative effect on team cohesion in the same way that signing 10 new players would?

Think i'll stick to doing this in the off season or in smaller numbers, perhaps moving them all to u18's. 

[Harrymcintyre]

I have just started as Torquay and player recruitment is very difficult. I tend to say I need a right back so grab the first 30 players I see as a free agent on trial, so if none of them are good enough then I go get another 30 on trial and rinse and repeat until I find something half decent for my right back position, But yeah it’s real tough in the lower leagues. 
what I did find is the board didn’t want more than 30 players on trial at any one time. That feels like a new thing in the game, I wonder why they would say that? 

[Grifty]

I enjoy the gamble. I’m in National south with Hemel and if I see a player in a position I need, I’ll look at what teams he’s played for/which academy he came through, personality and just sign him for 6 months. It’s quite rewarding to see my fans vote it as a B+ signing, then you nervously check his attributes and he’s alright!

[joehelsing1]

Lower League Management this year is pretty tough!

Make sure you get an AM and scout ASAP if you don't already have them. 

TRIALS

- Set up 2 or 3 friendlies per week for your U23s.

- Offer loads of players 4 week trials and put them in your U23s. Get the initial scout ratings and immediately end the trials of those with current abilities of 2.5 stars and under. I tend to have 20-30 players on trial at any one time.

- Star ratings aren't everything so monitor performance in friendlies. I tend to pick teams with larger reputation to ensure they are being somewhat challenged.

- After 2 or 3 weeks of being at your club you should have a good idea who may fit in and who won't.

LOANS

- Try to get a senior affiliate

OTHER 

- First few months are the hardest as you will probably know very little about players outside the club at this point so pick a formation which suits your current players. It is best to check out your wingers and strikers to see if anything stands out. Maybe you have a very pacey winger, you should perhaps focus play down his flank. Maybe you have a very tall striker. Utilise him as a target man. Then also pick a tactic to have in reserve which reflects how you would eventually like to play. 

- Just try to survive your first season and use the time to scout as many players as possible in preparation for your second season.