Complete noob, after some basic advice

[chucklehead]

Hello folks

I've been playing FM14 for about a week now. This is the first time I've ever played a football manager game. I decided on going for the 'Classic' mode, as the full game seems way too in depth for me.

I don't want to manage a top club. I feel that if I start as Barcelona/Bayern/Whoever, then all I can do with the team is stay at the top. I like the idea of progressing through the ranks, building up a club. I've chosen Barnet (Skrill Prem) as my team of choice.

My first season goal was to get promoted. I finished 2nd but lost in the playoffs. Second season had the same goal, but got lots of help through an affiliate club (Colchester) that loaned me a few really good players for free. Won the league by a country mile as well as the FA Trophy. Good season.

Third season is where it goes downhill! I re-negotiated a load of contracts that were due to expire, right before the end of the 2nd season. Then their new big bonuses for promotion kicked in a few days later! Criminal! Managed to pick up some really decent players for free on low salaries too.

Then I got my season expectations. I thought they would be simply to survive relegation. My 3 options were: Finish top half, playoffs, promotion. This seems ridiculous to me.

Now into the season, I am simply getting destroyed by everyone. My players stand around, don't tackle and give the ball away constantly. Meanwhile, the opposition all seem like they're Man City in disguise.

So some questions:

1. Is it actually possible to take a lower division team and make them succesful? I'm not talking about winning the Champions League overnight, but over time, can you take a lower league team into the Prem and challenge for it?

2. Contract renewals. Is it best to leave them until they are about to expire? I really got caught out by this.

3. Am I alone in thinking my expectations for this third season are really unrealistic? Surely I should just be looking at survival.

Any other general hints and tips would be appreciated. I don't want to use databases of all the hidden superstars that I'd never normally find, just find players naturally through scouting.

Thanks for reading!

[chucklehead]

One more thing! I've been careful to keep well within my wage badget allowance, but still the club is losing money constantly. Am I right in thinking that other than selling players, the only thing you can really do is start winning games, which leads to bigger crowds?

[Tactically_inept]

1. It is possible to do but more difficult than it was on older versions of FM.

- FFP

- Board much more restrictive with transfer or wage budgets (unless u lucky enough to have a sugar daddy)

- AI generally better tactically than older versions

2. Your timing can help here i usually offer renewals when a player is out of form or injured or I leave it quite late getting them resigned (but i only tend to do that with the players where there is not a lot of interest shown by other clubs).

3. Probably would depend on your budget and quality of squad compared to the other teams in the division.

One more thing! I've been careful to keep well within my wage badget allowance, but still the club is losing money constantly. Am I right in thinking that other than selling players, the only thing you can really do is start winning games, which leads to bigger crowds?

if you are Barnet you would be expected to sell your best player(s) to balance the books that is how small clubs survive. Or at least players with any market value to them.

[chucklehead]

Thanks for the reply mate, good to know that it is possible

[Tactically_inept]

yep it is but it's difficult :-)

well done for getting promoted on your first proper save as well !

[chucklehead]

Another question folks

I keep getting caught out by simple balls over the top. Someone punts it long, but it very often goes to an opposition player who is running through and buries it. Aside from constantly leaving someone at the back, what can I do to defend against this? It is now happening constantly, once a game or more.

If it helps, I'm using 451, with 1 dm, 2 'normal' midfielders and 2 wide players. I generally set them for attack.

Thanks again for looking folks

[HUNT3R]

For tactical advice, you're better off asking in here: http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/18-Tactics-amp-Training-Discussion

More specifically:

Either create a thread using these guidelines: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/327822-Asking-For-Help-PLEASE-READ-THIS

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, just ask in the Stupid Questions thread. It's more geared toward quick questions and anwers: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/32160-Stupid-Questions-Thread-(Tactic-and-Training-Questions-Only)

[BonScott]

chucklehead i used the same tactics as you in my Serie C2 Monza game. The wide players are AML and AMR. Hopefully your wide players can cross a ball. To avoid the long ball plays, make sure your best players are the D C's and DM. Set tactics to rigid, so they dont go walkabout. Dont bother too much with contracts, you can get freebies if you get promoted. Dont ever buy strikers or you will have a lot of unhappy guys, just get new defenders and midfielders, preferably young ones that will improve as you progress through the ranks. I made it to Serie A and now a tycoon came along and bought the club, throwing me 400 million to use. Time for consolidation

[chucklehead]

Hi BonScott, cheers for the advice. Should I set just the DC's and DM as rigid (is that even possible?), or the whole team?

[pete62]

Rigid is a team instruction,other ways of limiting balls over the top include setting one CB to cover, dropping the defence deeper and getting CB with better acceleration and pace could also try playing with a sweeper.

Contracts read the small print is very easy to just look at the 'per week' and miss some of the bonuses.

[pete62]

Oh also check what your FBs and MCs are doing one of their jobs is to stop the ball over the top before it happens or slow it down so your CB can get into position.

[DaBossa]

Hay mate, try reading this link about Finances it helped me allot in FM12. (which im going back too - just cant find the love for FM14 match engine). Basically you need to work out your own wage budget, based on your projected income (prize money etc..), because the board is a little free with their projections.

http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/squad/player-wages#setting-a-wage-structure

[chucklehead]

Guys, thanks so much for looking at this and offering advice, it's really helping to make the game more enjoyable.

Another quick question, this time about youth players coming through. Most of my players in my youth setup are predicted to be 'decent League 2 player' in the future. A few are valued at around £25-28k. These are the best players in my youth/reserve team. Is it worth hanging on to these guys to try to develop or sell them? I'm now in League 1, so they are unlikely to be first teamers for me. If I could sell them, even for as little as £10-15k each, that would be helpful to my finances. Would anyone be likely to pay that though? Surely the vast majority of transfers at that level are freebies.

Thanks again guys

[DaBossa]

Your thinking is sound, all i would add is do they have any skills - if a player has good base skills, he may still be worth keeping.

Ive won the premiership with players rated as average (130-140 PA), so dont sell just because the "game" tells you they're not good enough.

I still remember when i was told a player was no good (2 star/championship quality) and sold, then became the top scorer in the premiership 6 years running, and another i was told not to buy for free as a 20yo, became captain of Germany 7 years later.

[chucklehead]

Wow, that's a significant couple of players to miss out on! I keep seeing this PA mentioned, but can't see it anywhere. How do I check it on a player?

[DaBossa]

PA is a Hidden Attribute, there are two ways to see it that i know - but i would advise some thought before doing either. What you need to think about is this... do you really, really want to know? Once you open Pandoras box theres no unseeing it... (some consider it cheating)

If the answer is yes, i again advise making some rules for yourself so as not to completely ruin your experience..

My rules, no scouting using it, its only to look at my own squad/Staff, and to try and track training progress (something which is still poor in FM14)

Ok first method is the editor you can get via downloads - this only works in normal mode not Classic.

The second is http://www.fmscout.com/a-fm-genie-scout-14.html

[chucklehead]

Ah, I see. Almost like a player's 'fate'. I would indeed consider that cheating, so I'll give it a miss. That said, I'm grateful for you explaining it.

Yet another question. No one wants to buy any players for anything less than 1 or 2k. Is this normal? With that in mind, is it ever worth me trying to develop a player at my level, if I'm not going to be able to sell him on?

[BonScott]

Hey chucklehead,

Here are my tactics. Notice how I've mellowed as I made it to Serie A, and changed the 'rigid' to 'balanced'. But in the first season, rigid was important. I just wanted the team to do their job. Also notice the trick on the left hand side, if you want your team to learn the tactics faster (maybe it works, maybe not, but I never change my formation).

So why 4-5-1 ? My philosophy is that with a strong defence, you have a strong team. Also it is biased because in previous versions of CM or FM, the computer loves to attack down the middle. So the idea is to stack the central corridors. But for attacking, the option of crossing into the box should catch the AI out . Call me crazy but then count how many goals the D Cs get per season. I sold one to Bayern Munich that scored more than 10 goals in one season from corners and crosses.

But there could be something more important than tactics in FMC, and I believe it is staff members. Remember you only really have 1 coach - your assistant. So get someone awesome if you can. Sacrifice your wage budget for it. And then your kiddies coming through will at least have a sound grounding in the game.

Note that to sign these type of guys, a good trick is to look for retiring players when you do a player search, and nab them for your staff positions by offering them a high wage. £10000 made 39 year old Ronaldinho see stars, he had to take it . I left my director of football as the original one, to save on wages (I get him to do nothing anyways, but didn't want to risk sacking him and having nobody in his place - the game might not like that). The only weak link is the Head of Youth Development, who was an original player in the first season, but I can always sack him later should I need to. The chairman is that crazy tycoon that bought the club.

As for wage structure, no mf in my team is going to be on a higher wage than myself, so I set some limits (which can be revised, depending on financial changes). My current Serie A structure is:

Jizzlers/Jackers and kiddies in the reserves : £0-15000 pw

2 to 3 stars, depending on form/value/caps : £15000-40000 pw

4 to 5 stars, depending on form/value/caps : £40000-60000 pw

Gods (5 stars, best player in team) : £60000-80000 pw

I don't have any Gods yet, but one youngster is a wonderkid who could turn into one. Sticking to this avoids teammates demanding higher wages etc. Lets see this in practice:

Notice how the number 10 (Campana) is listed as a key player, but is only being paid £32000. He's actually not so great (rated 3 stars by Litmanen, got him in season two as a youngster), but in the 4-5-1 he is the most prolific goalscorer, so I let him think he is good, it seems to improve his perfomance . He will be first on the scrap heap if he underperforms because there are too many strikers coming through for this formation in reserve grade.

On the other hand, the number 7 (Verdini) is rated "as the next Paolo Rossi" but can play on the right wing, so that's his spot. And he rotates with Cerci, but every game he plays at least as a substitute to keep him happy. I signed him on a long contract to shut up his unfriendly agent, but Cerci should retire within the next year or so, and then he will be permanent, so should be happy for a contract extension and be in the £80000 bracket.

Puccio, Marcandalli and Campinoti are the only survivors from the 2012-3 starting team, but they are on "backup to the team" wage rate because they are not so good (Puccio is only 1 star and the other two 2 stars). However Campinoti has been the regular left back in the starting lineup, purely because we lack numbers in that position. In the 4-5-1 formation, I find that D L and D R score high ratings in the match reports, so that's fine. I keep Puccio, because DM is a sensitive position if we get injuries. In fact you cannot see the rest of the contracts so I will scroll down:

As you can see, Puccio is unhappy that he has not been starting. I prefer my young promising Brazilian defensive midfielder to him . But I will give him some game time soon and then he will be happy, and I will nail him to a five year contract so that he shuts up for a while.

So treat your youngsters like gold, and rotate them to give them a chance, some might end up becoming gems. In season two I did not get many good youngsters, but sell the useless ones if you can (put release values in their loan deals at half price, it can work - see Nicola Meli above in the transfers).

I believe every player can be good, even if they have low stars, some have amazing characteristics. For example, Campana is a brilliant poacher. As soon as a ball is loose in the area, he will snap it into the back of the onion bag. It will be interesting to see if Campana ever makes the Italian team. I've got Verdini and Garavaglia in that squad so far. Spinetta is turning out to be a master of headers, and Campinoti is a reasonable crosser for a 2 star player. Only if you have some guy performing for two seasons at the 6-6.5 level on average in games, he needs to be offloaded/loaned out. Sometimes you cannot sell a player, so just let his contract run out and then he can choose to stay or leave by themselves, haha.

At the start of each season, make sure you know which players will need their contracts renewed, so look to play those guys a lot. And if you put in a contract extension offer, make sure it is at least 2 months before the end of the season. That way, if something goes wrong (or you have a ******* of an agent to deal with), you will get a second crack at it before the season is over and the player leaves on a free transfer. For good players, renew at the start of the season to avoid surprises.

Hope that helps.