New to FM, need help on scouting.

[CrusadersFan123]

Hi all,

This is my very first post on the FM forums and I've been playing FM for many years. The one thing I never understood was scouting. Especially with this year's game, I've run into a conundrum!

In my first save, I've been managing a small club in Northern Ireland called Crusaders FC. They have a special place in my heart. Although, I want to scout upcoming regens and I'm into the 2019/20 season with no joy. Since the start, I've been running into the problem of going to World > Transfers > Youth Intake and then clicking on a player and it says "Scout Summary - Outside Scouting Scope". I'm sure it has to do with being a small club but when I watch FM saves on Youtube e.g. lollujo with Nuneaton, Benjy with Thames, they all find great gems.

So I thought the problem was that I didn't have any youth or senior packages, so I bought a Senior package which is the Northern Ireland league, and for the youth package, I bought the Europe one. I went back on to the Youth Intake page and the message STILL OCCURS. What have I done wrong?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!

Cheers,

Jack

[Colonel Getafe]

I don't manage in the lower echelons and it may not entirely answer your question, but I found this guide very useful to understanding the scouting system:

https://theresonlyoneball.com/2017/12/16/my-approach-to-scouting-in-football-manager-2018/

https://community.sigames.com/faq/football-manager-2018/156_gameplay/scouting/

[Neotropolis]

You have to 'buy' the better scouting packages AND also request to your board that your scouting range is increased. The latter is rather hard to do if you're a small club though

[CrusadersFan123]

I bought the scouting packages that I can just about afford, but there's no option when I make a board request. The Northern Ireland league is very limited for good regens so this is my only option, I think!

[Neotropolis]

Check your club details or your scouting page to see what the club's current scouting range is. That should help

[CrusadersFan123]

I'm really sorry, where do you find this? I'll check all the info you guys sent me tomorrow, they're really helpful, thank you very much

[Snorks]

You need to expand scouting range at the end of the day. Your board just won;t pay the expenses for a scout to travel to other  regions its as simple as that. Even the packages you buy are limited to scouting range.

Your club wont have many scouts to spare either, if  you have one scouting next opposition (you should have - the one with best Tactical Knowledge) reduces it further.

Ways to do it on the cheap and with little investment? 

One way, the long way round, build the club up, improve facilities and staff and you will attract better newgens for yourself, be able to hire more staff and the board might expand your range.

Quicker way, prostitute your club. Market yourself as a nursery club for bigger clubs in other regions and offer yourself up as a 'feeder club'. You might get some revenue from friendlies, you might get some revenue in merchandising as well. BUT, you will have a presence in other regions and will inherit their scouting knowledge, have access to their youth recruitment as well - useful for grabbing quality loanees at no cost for your first team.

You get this through the Board Requests menu, ask if you can find a parent club or two. Build up over a year or two until you have four or five in other regions.