What is your approach to signing players?

[Nebularlagoon]

Hi,

I have being playing FM for many years and go about playing it in my own way and style but I am always interested hear other people's style and how they go about playing it. 

 

How do you approach the following with signings?

. Scouting Network

. Player Search Feature

. How you approach signings when starting a new save and your different approach when you are multiple seasons in

. Interpreting the statistics about the player to inform your decision 

. Deciding between multiple players of the same position

. Deciding how much you are willing to pay - transfer and wage

. Clubs releasing players 

. Signing players for the future

 

Thanks

[s0ni42]

Scouting Network

Try to have one scout operate each country that has high likelihood of producing talent. I’m in England with current save so can only pick up English U-18s. I have four scouts in England. Two serve as regular scouts, one is chief scout to follow up and/or confirm reports other scouts bring about if there is serious interest, and one scout responsible for loan network reports. Worth noting that my ‘area scouts’ carry burden of match reports for players on loan in their respective countries of responsibility.

Player Search:

use a lot depending on the need. Briefly eye over search results and assign scout for full detail on interested players.

Signings for new save:

too complex to answer. Very dependent on situation. Usually try to lottery a few U-18s, establish better personalities within veteran ranks, and offload players that don’t fit system.

statistics:

enjoy looking but not overly impactful on final decisions. Too complex for me to understand how their situation may have inflated/deflated their statistical output. For example, we just spent $50m on a 22 year old Right Back. He checks all boxes from scouting department but played more as a defensive-oriented tactic on his position. His situation will be much more catered to his abilities with our club.

deciding between multiple players:

really depends on need. If it’s a guy slotted for first team, we will try and remove expense from equation. If role player / tutor personify and acceptance of proposed role may trump. If youngster, we may rely on cheaper buy if all things are equal to minimize risk.

 

deciding on proper wage and transfer:

each situation different of course. I try to stay below $10m for prospects, and under $50m for first framers. Try and target bargains for anything else. Lots of variables.

 

[jaysdailydose]

This will be a long post -- so I'll break up your questions into sub-headings!

How do you approach the following with signings?

· Scouting Network

The largest thing to me is getting as many quality scouts in as you can.  If you are starting a Dafuge Challenge, let's say, where you start at the very bottom, getting scouts in should be your top priority along with getting in quality coaches.  Make sure at least one of your opening scouts has high JPA and high tactical knowledge -- he will be your "Next Opposition" Scout.  MAKE SURE he has tactical knowledge, or he is essentially worthless to you.  

I want scouts with Determination and Adaptability along with their JCA and JPA.  Adaptability isn't as important if you plan to keep him in your home nation, but Determination is always huge with me.  You want guys who are determined to get the job done at all times.

· Player Search Feature

I really don't use it.  I started my current save as a 20-year-old with no badges and a Sunday League reputation.  I was hired at Tamworth.  I signed free players where in the Scouting Centre you see "Player Approaching Club" -- right-click on the player themselves, and use Offer Trial for 4 weeks.  I did well at Tamworth, and took the same principles with me when I was hired at Stevenage -- and I won League Two at the first time of asking.  I have spent a grand total of £25K on players in my third season, and most of that is to bring in players my scouts have presented that had great personalities for tutoring purposes.  This is the first season I've even purchased a scouting package, and it is essentially wasted money as I don't really use the search at all.  I come from the old LLM school where you weren't ALLOWED to use it at all, so I use it sparingly and usually only years into a save where our club has knowledge of everyone and I am looking for a tutor.

· How you approach signings when starting a new save and your different approach when you are multiple seasons in

I pretty much already answered this in the question above, but I can expand a bit more.  I usually get a Senior Affiliate as soon as possible, and I'll get a Team Report from my scouts of their senior side and their youth sides, and I will take players in on loan.  However, I usually only will take a loanee if I don't have a player that is at least capable at the position, and able to develop.  I dislike developing players for other sides, but I will "plug a hole" or get a really talented player to try to win the league.  At Stevenage, I started with a Senior Affiliate of Leeds, but I was able to switch very quickly and I am now an affiliate of Manchester City.  Especially if you are able to get a big club like this, you can usually always find a player to plug a hole -- but again, try to only use them to plug those holes, you want to be giving games to YOUR players.  Nothing is bigger for a senior player than games.  

As I said above, pretty much all of my signings are free transfers.  I spent that £25K this season to bring in a 29-year-old goalkeeper named Joe Day.  He actually is solid for my team (2.5 stars) -- but he has a Determination of 17 and a Personality of "Professional" -- he is my tutor for my young keeper, Junior Moreland, who I got in my last intake and was previously an "Unambitious" player.  That £25K may produce me an absolute star goalkeeper, so it was money very well spent, IMHO.  I've actually given him a few Cup games.  

Every signing must have a purpose.  When I finalize a signing, I already have a full plan for that player -- usually right down to what he will train on.  Will he be a backup/hot prospect, or will he feature immediately?  Know these things before you hit that button.  And there is NOTHING wrong with signing a player to be a tutor -- but make damned sure that he can at least retain "Backup" status -- they will no longer let you tutor if you have zero importance to the squad, regardless of the player's reputation.

· Interpreting the statistics about the player to inform your decision 

I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but if you meant attributes, I'll just say that Decisions, Stamina, Pace, Technique, Work Rate, Positioning, Teamwork, and Concentration are huge looks for me with almost all players.  I also look for ATHLETES and BIG guys.  Obviously not "fat" guys, but I try to make sure they have a physique that says "Professional footballer" and not "Professional pie eater" or "Tiny man preparing for circus appearances."  If a CB or GK is under 6', they hit my discard pile, for the most part.  If a guy has low Work Rate, that's usually a turnoff.  Decisions is like the "ultimate attribute" for me, though.  You can have a great athlete, but if he's got a Decisions of 3, he's going to use that athleticism to give up the ball in a bad spot, because he doesn't know what the hell to do with it.

I'll take a more mentally sound player over the better athlete -- but he's still got to be a good athlete!  Definitely don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, but make sure they are an intelligent footballer along with a beastly athlete!

· Deciding between multiple players of the same position

I'll almost always go for the more mentally sound player.  It also depends on what role it is for... for instance, my MCL is a Mezzala/AT -- I'm going to look and see who is better equipped to play that exact role.  If it is almost exact after that, I'll go with the more mentally sound player -- or the one who is larger or better athlete if mentals are close.  A lot of players say "roles don't matter" and I tend to "agree to disagree" in that regard.

· Deciding how much you are willing to pay - transfer and wage

Drive a hard bargain.  Always negotiate the wages.  I almost NEVER offer appearance/goal/clean sheet bonuses -- get rid of all that stuff and pay them an extra £100 or £200 per week.  You'll thank yourself once you've gotten through your entire club.  You'll know exactly what you're spending -- and exactly how much you have to spend.

It goes into what I said above -- make sure EXACTLY why you are signing a player, and EXACTLY your plan for that player before making a transfer purchase or free transfer signing.  When you are purchasing players, especially at the higher levels of the market, only you will know if the money is right for you and your club.  Every decision should be made with the future and the ultimate destination of your club in mind.

· Clubs releasing players 

If they are from higher leagues, try to trial all of them.  If you can't trial them, think of scouting them.  They might have failed at Man United -- but they might be just fine at Stevenage.  I didn't sign any this season, but I was *VERY* close on signing two released players this offseason.

· Signing players for the future

Every signing should have the future in mind -- and as I said above, just make sure you know your ultimate plan for that player before you hit "Accept."  Don't be silly signing players just to sign them.  Make absolutely sure they can get games somewhere.

-----

Sorry for the long post, but I had just taken my pain medication and had to wait for it to kick in before playing any more of my save today.  I hope this is what you were looking for, and I hope it can be of benefit to you -- and the entire community!  Have a great one, my friend!  

[..Valhalla..]

Much like @jaysdailydose I will reply to each part of your question as best I can...

 

How do you approach the following with signings?

. Scouting Network

I almost invariably manage Liverpool or Dortmund, occasionally dabbling with other clubs in the major Leagues, so I'm usually able to afford the best scouts with a wide network. Having said that, I'm very home-grown orientated so will mainly concentrate on England (Liverpool) and Germany (BvB) first and foremost, but with Liverpool I will send many scouts to UK & Ireland as well since those players aren't *technically* foreign.  

 

. Player Search Feature

I do use it, but only for transfer listed players or towards the end of the season to check for any potential bargains about to become free agents.

 

. How you approach signings when starting a new save and your different approach when you are multiple seasons in

I kinda cheat at game start by signing one or two well-known wonderkids as soon as possible with the express intention of having them qualify as "home grown at club" after 3 seasons. Since I know my usual clubs inside-out, I know exactly what kind of players I need to sign so there's no real mystery to it, nor do I send scouts out on short-term assignments since I already know exactly who I want them to report back on anyway. After several seasons I will have nagged my board endlessly to improve our youth development to it's maximum and from then on I will focus almost entirely on developing my own players. I rarely, if ever, sign established star players - they want a fortune, their agent(s) wants a fortune, and they are too old and set in their ways for me to be able to mould to my liking. I'd sooner play a raw 18yr old regularly in the Premier League than sign a full international on £250k a week, perish the thought.

 

. Interpreting the statistics about the player to inform your decision 

The main attribute I look for is determination, I don't mind if it's fairly low - since I can tutor - but abysmal will never pique my interest. After determination comes injury proneness, and if it's even mentioned by my scouts/analysts I will never sign the player in question, especially since injury proneness cannot be improved and long-term they aren't worth the hassle in my opinion. If a player has a positive personality I'll always be interested since determined and professional players are easy to improve; they WANT to improve. My squad personality is always highly determined or highly professional. I don't sign older players (unless they are home grown and I desperately need them), so I have to trust my judgement that a player I'm looking at can become as good as I need him to.

 

. Deciding between multiple players of the same position

Again, it all comes down to the better personality, the injury proneness, and my own judgement. It'll almost always be a couple of young players I'm looking at anyway, so if I can't decide I'll likely sign them both. 

 

. Deciding how much you are willing to pay - transfer and wage

Depends how much I want the player really. If I uncover a true diamond kid I'll pay anything to get my hands on him but only if he is genuinely young and able to become home grown at my club. When it comes to negotiations, I have no issue walking away if I feel the agent is greedy/rude (rude for agents), and if the player's initial wage demands are far in excess of what I deem reasonable.

 

. Clubs releasing players 

I will only sign free agents if, you guessed it, they are home grown at least in nation. And even then it would need to be a player in a position where I am light and don't have any true potential coming through. 

 

. Signing players for the future

This is literally all I do  

[jaysdailydose]

Not going to quote to save thread space (since there's going to be some LONG responses if people are kind enough to get involved as we have, and share) but I agree with, or do myself several things that @..Valhalla.. does.  

Where he and I differ is that he normally starts with top flight clubs like Liverpool and Dortmund (great choices, my friend -- You'll Never Walk Alone) and I normally play challenges where I start in the lower league depths.  My save right now I started in the sixth tier, obviously there are going to be major differences!  

When I'm in control of a big club, you want to get the best scouts -- you can afford the compensation fees for those that will come to you.  One thing I forgot to mention, and will likely edit in to my post, is IF POSSIBLE, try to get scouts with your preferred formations.  It might just be me, but it seems to me that if your scout prefers your formations, he's more likely to be right on his reports.  I haven't done any tests to get specific data, that's just a feeling from a long damn time of playing these games.  

Let's say I'm at a big club and have twenty scouts, as a hypothetical.  I'll obviously have a "Next Opposition" scout, and I'd generally have my best four or so JCA/JPA scouts act as "Player Scouts".  Your remaining fifteen get sent out to regions or specific nations as "Roaming Scouts" trying to find players.   When they dig up those prospects, you send your Player Scouts to obtain full knowledge.  I rarely ever sign a player without 100% knowledge, and I like to have had multiple scouts look at the same player.  There's a really good article on this on The Set Pieces, involving Bristol City, Soccernomics, and Moneyball.  "The wisdom of crowds" is great when making signings.

I'm also just like Valhalla in that we are both so heavily youth and homegrown oriented.  I'm playing a challenge where I'm going to have to hop clubs many times to complete it, or it would be more of a focus in my save -- but even with my current save, I got my board to agree to THREE Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment upgrades in my last season.  I'm not sure how much of an impact it would have had on that specific intake, as it was the same season when I got the upgrades, but I *did* produce an intake that got the "Golden Generation" email and had multiple potential 5* prospects with me being a L2 team about to be a L1 team.  The one player is a striker and is already making a significant impact on my League One first team at 16 years old.  I would be more into the Youth Challenge, but it just feels a bit less realistic to me.  There isn't a manager alive that could walk into a team with zero central defenders and not try to bring a player in, that type of thing.   I still love them, and have played them before, just not as much as challenges where I can still sign players.  There's still just nothing like "birthing" a young player at your club and taking him as far as he can go.  My current kid is named Jordan Partridge and he already has 4 goals, 2 assists, and a Player of the Match, at a rating of 7.19 across eight League appearances.  My other strikers aren't garbage, and even though I play with two, he's playing on merit!

One last thing -- I wanted to help our friend Valhalla stress just how important Personality really is.  You want players who have winning personalities, it is that simple.  A group of professional, determined, and ambitious young athletes -- all pulling the same way -- is almost always likely to overachieve.  You want determined guys who don't FOLD the unfortunate times you concede in the first five minutes, or at the stroke of half-time.   Yes, attributes are important, but you can accomplish a lot with guys who don't appear on the "Season Preview" as most likely to be the best players or the top goalscorers.   

The biggest thing I can say about my playing style (and I think our friend @..Valhalla.. is the same way) is that I manage the team exactly the same way I'd manage that club in real life.  I actually have youth coaching experience, but it is in American football here in the States, but I wish I could manage a real club, and am actively looking to try to coach a "soccer" team over here right now.  I play this game exactly the same as I would do things in the real...When my striker has two goals and a 9.0 rating, I'm praising that man and telling him he's done a great job -- and to keep working hard so it keeps happening.  I pay a LOT of attention to what my coaches are telling me about training, and trying to get these players in their ideal training regimens.  I pay a LOT of attention to the great new information we've been provided by Sports Scientists this year, and I pay a LOT of attention to both condition and match fitness.  I'm not sure if it still holds today, but I believe it used to be that if a player had less than 83% Match Fitness, they would pretty much not develop at all for you, so I focus on rotation and making sure I have a streamlined squad to where I don't have players who are not going to play just lining my bench.

Run things exactly how you would if you were really in charge of your club.  I know some people don't want to get that deep into it, or may not have the time, but there is so much data provided to you now, I'm thinking it is a pretty close simulation to how you would approach all of these problems in real life.  Obviously, there are some areas where game mechanics are still a bit limiting, such as press conferences.  But... I *do* my press conferences like these managers are required to (at least in the Premier League) and it UNDOUBTEDLY HELPS.  You do get positive reactions out of players when you say nice things about them.  You CAN unsettle other teams with your words.  I've seen FAR too many players say "Meh, I just let my assistant do that, it's the same year after year, blah blah blah blah" --  you can certainly have your assistant do it, but I *know* I get an advantage by doing the press conferences, so I do them every time.  I've actually moved to managing the preseason friendlies, too, just to manage match fitness more efficiently.                                

Dammit, I was trying NOT to write another book, so I definitely apologize for that.  But, I don't have my website anymore and I miss writing about this unbelievable sport and this unbelievable game series.  I hope some of this can help someone!

[isignedupfornorealreason]

Scouting Network:

I use it. At first I left it to the chief scout but he wasn't really using the full network for whatever reason. I manually assign scouts 'permanent' assignments in various nations. I cover the 'big' nations, England, Spain, Germany, Brazil and so on with a priority on EU nations because being part of the EU and freedom of movement is a wonderful thing. (I dread any save with a hard brexit... @_@) The rest of the scouts go to U18 leagues, where the constantly remind me that there's nothing there worth scouting and to assign them to something else - something I think needs fixing in the future tbh. 

Player Search;

I don't do this, or other gamey solutions like regen date farming. I do the 'scouted' search though, I pretend that I'm just going through the filing of that season's scouting reports, which it kind of is really.

Start of save and later:

I always start with transfer windows turned off, so activity is minimal anyway. Obviously later on I can chop and change. Really, I don't do many transfers initially as I'm waiting to see whether whatever stupid tactic I've made will work or not! ::P

Statistics/Attributes:

I don't pay attention to statistics but attributes are vital for me. I tend to be simple though, I like to highlight the key attribute for role and go by that. I pay heavy attention to mental attributes though even if the role doesn't require it. Decisions, composure, that sort of thing is all vital to the way I want to play. If a player is over 23 they have to be 15+ in nearly everything for me to consider them. A player under 23 I give more leeway as I know I can make them become a player I like.

Willing to pay:

I use the scout guide for transfer fees. I haggle, but will pay a straight lump sum in all cases. Wages I try and keep within the wage brackets set by the board. I abhor wage rise clauses and always exclude them. I will always push for lower wages if I can. If a player is on high wages and won't drop his demands, they can leave.

Releasing players:

I do this often if I can't shift them. Sometimes, top players decline over time but still hold crazy wage demands. In that case, most teams won't touch them, so they get released. I don't feel attached to them, if they're on the wane they get sold pronto. If a club comes in with silly money for a 29+ year old, I'll take it as a nudge to promote that youth lad I've been training.

Signing prospects:

Rare. I seldom do this anymore. I tend to generate the youth via my own academy. I don't hunt for youngsters anymore, I find most methods gamey. If a scout brings someone to my attention with a 4-5* potential and says the club is willing to sell them, I'll take a gander and see if I can mould him into the man I want him to be. 

 

To be honest, my focus is on my own academy youth initially. I usually am pretty good at predicting when they'll become first-teamers. If there's a gap in the academy production, then I go shopping and find a ready-made youth prospect ideally. A wonderkid perhaps. For example, on my current save, feeling I need to improve the defence I bought de Ligt and then sanctioned the sale of Marcos Rojo in return. de Ligt is 18 and a wonderkid, that gives me time to encourage his development and to slot him into the first team for accelerated development. I also get rid of an older player who isn't good mentally.

If I can't find someone like de Ligt, I'll sign a ready-made elite player. I'll pay attention to age. For example, say I might buy a right-back who is 27, that guarantees me three years of service, which should be enough time for me to train my current 17 year old into a first-teamer or backup so that when I sell the guy on at 30+ I won't suffer for it. I will plan around the age in that respect, like I won't go for the 25 year old because he might cause me a headache on deciding who to shift. It depends on how I feel whether the youngster will develop as I expect or not. Usually, I'm not wrong on the guys I take a punt on.

But of course, my academy dictates my transfer policy. No prospects and it's shopping time. Plenty of prospects? I'll play them and have a 'weak' area of the squad if I have to. It all depends on a number of factors.

[Butlee]

As with everyone else - long post to follow. 

And thanks to the chaps above (and that follow) as well - it's really interesting to get different ideas from folks.

 

Scouting Network

If we're talking specifically about Scouting Range or the Scouting package you use - I usually tend to drop some Transfer Budget into my Scouting Budget and go as high as I can. I don't focus specifically on youth or senior packages unless I the club feels like it needs a certain focus.

FM18 kind of changed things up for me though. Previously I used to put far more effort into Scouting & Assignments than I probably needed to - ie, thinking about what my scouting priorities are at any given time and why. But I always focused on knowing my own area first, and then a fairly balanced approach of Scouting Youth and Regions nearby, and once we had access to the rest of the world I tend to float 1-2 wildcard scouts (ie, I live in Australia, so often send a random scout Down Under) in the hopes of one day finding that superstar from some obscure place.

So when it comes to finding/signing players, that's always given me a fairly broad selection pool. If anything I run the risk of not having enough local detail to make sure I have wide spanning knowledge.

Then you apply the FM18 changes, and I'm honestly unsure if I like still doing it manually my way, or leaving it to the Chief. The Chief seems to give us a pretty good selection of players, and personally I've found the Short Term assignments (so long as you're not too specific) to be really effective - especially in transfer windows. When I do it manually I probably don't get quite so many reports overall. Now I'm not sure if that's because doing it manually has gotten worse, or now that we have the "Chief" option it's actually just that much more efficient than the way we've always been doing it.

So I then to flip-flop a bit really. I kind of always liked the idea of assigning my own scouts from a 'fun' perspective. Trying to get your knowledge up - of the world or certain areas. Making the (big) decisions to scout in South America depending on how big your club was, or do you venture into the unknowns of Africa or the Middle East? Do you bother scouting Asia, or is it just not practical for your team to get a Japanese player acclimatised at this point? That kind of decision (and seeing if you get rewarded for making said decision or not) was always fun to me... but now you can just tell your Chief and he kind of removes all that fun and mystery and just tells you when players in those areas come up.

 

Player Search Feature

I probably don't use this a lot. If your scouting is wide enough you don't really need it, and if you don't really have that good a scouting range, it's probably just better to sign someone you 'know' rather than trying to trawl through a long list of potentials on that list. In both cases you may end up with a slightly lesser player, but I always figured by the time you're using Player Search instead of what you 'know' through your scouting, you're either extremely desperate or just looking for filler/fringe players - so having a slightly weaker option is acceptable in those cases.

 

Signings - New saves versus Multiple seasons

Maybe it's making me a weaker manager, but I tend not to make many transfers during that first window. I try not to trade off 'real world' knowledge and I don't want to take risks investing in players until I've had a chance to build up a bit of a scouting pool or a shortlist of options in that role. If I'm low enough that I can trade in and out with Free agents (say English Van Nats) then sure - Semi-pro clubs kind of need to stay proactive in those ways - but otherwise I'll tend to sit on the squad I have. Winter databases often overfill your squad anyway. 

But after that first year it's really Open Season in terms of what needs to happen. Sometimes you dump almost all your team for new ones - you've had a whole year to figure out your replacements. Sometimes what you have is great so you just trade in/out a couple. Sometimes it's middle ground compared to that. Again I'm heavily reliant on players and areas I know from my scouting. 

As a side-note, I often see managing a new club as a 3-season process. I've been meaning to write my ideas down somewhere, but I'm not good at explaining it.

Season One: To a degree you're "stuck" with certain players, and you need to really play certain strategies that fit them. You also don't have intricate knowledge of who you can bring in to replace said players, so it's hard to sell some lads and get new ones.
Season Two: It's a decent time to offload some players. Some will leave as contracts expire, your form last season may help you sell some guys. You've had a season to either get a broad sense of signing potentials or to really focus on certain types of players or positions etc.. If you're wiley you may even set up deals throughout the season for when players are off contract, so they might join you now. Season Two is where (imo) you really start playing your tactics and customising the squad.
Season Three: By this point (start of season 3) you've probably had the chance to get rid of every player that you started with - if you want to. You've probably had a season perfecting your tactics and you know exactly which areas need cover/work/new signings. You may have some younger players you've picked up the past couple of seasons coming through now. You're now exactly where you want to be in terms of squad. Season Three is when you really shine as a manager.

And afterwards the story varies far too much to keep going.

 

Interpreting Statistics

Mostly I'll base my decisions on skills & form. If he's a good match skills-wise, but he's out of form (say rated lower than 6.9 over a season), I try and rationalise his form compared to his teams form & performance. Basically just trying to understand if he was part of the problem, or if I can convince myself that he was like a shining light during their dark season. 
Lately I've tried looking in a bit more detail over a few areas - I like looking up key passes or 'chances created' in FM18. Defensively I might check interceptions or % of headers won as well. I still tend to go based mostly off skills and form, but if it's going to be an expensive purchase (say 50% of my transfer budget or more) then I definitely try and stack up reasons to buy a player by looking into the details. I'm too nervous to spend that sort of money so I need a lot of convincing haha.

 

Deciding Between Multiple Players In the Same Position

This is pretty much the bane of my managerial existence. If it's a significant signing, or even sometimes if the players are just too similar, I will literally sometimes stare at the screen for too long and have to walk away and come back to the decision. Actually, similarity isn't the problem. If I have the option of (say) signing a more attacking left back or a more defensively reliable one, I might still stress over the call. 

I just go into pros and cons. Skills, form, personality, leadership, price/expense... I'll look for anything that can convince me to split the two. Can't really give advice here other than eventually getting frustrated enough that you just guess.

 

Deciding How Much to Pay - Transfer & Wages

This one is admittedly pretty tough, but I tend to base everyone's value with respect to their peers and how I rate them compared to said peers. And I try my best not to compromise based on how desperate I am to keep or sign them (because of their potential importance in the team or a lack of replacements if they leave). 

Which certainly does lead to a lot of scenarios where I'm bewildered by the demands of players. Sometimes you have to meet them nearer their terms but a lot of the time I walk away from those kind of deals. Probably like everyone, I run a fairly fine line of overspending and being right on the limits of my budget(s), so by the time I'm bidding on significant players I've got an idea of how much we can afford. If the club or the player comes back with a completely different idea to what I've had in mind, I often can't  accommodate even if I wanted to. 

And it gets pretty frustrating with that mentality. I mean, I'm not the biggest hardline manage who won't compromise, but I only go so far. And I have to give up chasing quite a lot of players because of this. 
It's extra annoying when they turn around and sign for someone else with similar conditions to what you offered, despite them rejecting you. I think the AI players by different rules when it comes to signing players sometimes...

 

Clubs Releasing Players

If it's us releasing players, I'm actually really bad. I'm paranoid about losing money, so I have been known to keep good players longer than I actually need them, just because I value their 'asset' lol. Not always the most wise move.

In terms of other clubs releasing players - yeah I'm all over that. I keep a big shortlist and am forever prowling which players are coming off contract. Every January I'm trying to sign players who are Free in July. It sates my paranoia over making money from above (obviously anyone "Free" is a good deal if they can play your level of football) and naturally I'm more likely to give a player who played poorly at his last club a chance with us if he's a Free signing as opposed to having to pay for him. If I haven't made at least 1 Free signing that comes straight into my top 18 or so players (don't expect Free signings to be immediate starters or anything) I feel like I've done a poor job in scouting.

 

Signing Players For the Future

In the past I'd have been a pure hoarder. Grab any teenager that looks good. Try to find players from out-of-the-way places and sign them. Take chances on some guys that may not actually turn out good. If you're a bigger club, flat out bully smaller clubs into selling their youths. Basically just build yourself a mega assortment of young players and all it takes if for a few to sell and a few to stick with you until Seniors and it was worth any investment you made.

But these days (maybe just FM18 with it's changes to transfer prices and dynamics?) I tend to feel the pressure 3-ways;

(a) Having spare transfer funds to throw at young players (I tend to need to use most of it to go after First XI signings),
(b) Finding the right amount of game time to give players / generally blooding them for future First XI duties,
(c) Board not specifically wanting you to develop youths.

I just find that at any level now you have to pay a premium for big names. Similarly if you find a youth who's got a bigger potential than your club he demands big money to come. And if you're a bigger club than him, whoever is selling knows you can afford to pay a lot for him. So youths are expensive, big names are expensive and I tend not to have big wads of cash just lying around to go out and actively chase a bunch of youths.

Combine that with (b) where I feel you have to really consider how and when some of these younger guys are getting introduced to your main squad - if they really are the type of youngster that will eventually get into your First XI, by the time they hit 20 they tend to already want some match time and will seek a transfer if you can't give it to them. And if you're loaning players out at 22-24, are you really going to start incorporating them into your plans?

And then with (c) I find it hard to keep steadily improving your youth and/or teenage ranks if the Board doesn't agree to it as a philosophy. Without said philosophy it's hard (at all levels) to keep investing big on Youth Facilities, Recruitment and Junior Coaching, and to get the Board to agree to make more spots and wages available to sign Youth Coaches and/or a better HoYD. 

My point is that I've become really tentative in signing too many future potential players. If you have youths that came from your Youth Academy then so be it, but I don't expect to have a full team of potential future First XI players in my youth ranks these days. Typically just 2-3 big guns that I've spent money on 'for the future' and hopefully combined with some home-grown talent that helps supplement my Senior Squad.

 

 

[Neotropolis]

As with all posts above and likely below, this will probably be a long one!

Scouting Network:

I usually try to get a network of top scouts each with knowledge of different countries (broaden your horizons and all that jazz). Then I send scouts to all the top nations and the nations that are known to produce good talent (Brazil, Argentina, Belgium etc). I also like to have affiliates that help with this too.

Player Search Feature:

I only really use this to see potential bargains that have been transfer listed. I also look on this at the beginning of every season to see which players have a year left on their contract. Any that I'm interested in I shortlist for a year and review after 6-months once I can offer them pre-contract deals (I actually got Neymar this way from PSG but our relationship turned sour after he could never perform so I kept dropping him, I'm his number 1 most hated person now). I find this especially useful when looking for older players that would make good tutors.

How you approach signings when starting a new save and your different approach when you are multiple seasons in:

At the beginning of the save (or when I take over a club), I always look at the players at my disposal and I instantly get rid of anyone who won't work for my intended philosophy or anyone who I won't really need but can make a quick buck from for me to get other players in. Then I replace players accordingly.

Interpreting the statistics about the player to inform your decision:

I must admit, I don't really pay as much attention as I should, but I always look at the players that can play the role I need them too (I'm not too fussed on a perfect green circle, yellow circles work for me).

Deciding between multiple players of the same position:

If they're players for the future, I will often buy both as I'm likely to make a profit on one or both if they don't become first teamers. If I'm looking for players that will be key players then I'll go for the one that has the better scout report (more likely to fit in, less injury prone etc.). If I'm looking for a back-up then often the cheapest player will be selected as they're only really likely to play if I get a spate of injuries.

Deciding how much you are willing to pay - transfer and wage:

The amount I will pay is very much on a case by case basis. I won't shy away from spending in excess of £100m but at the same time, if I can get a similar quality player for less then I will do so. I will quite happily walk away from a deal if they are asking for too much in wages and it doesn't follow my wage structure. I've lived to regret some of those decisions, as players have then signed for rivals and constantly scored against me, but I'd rather concede the goals than bring the club into financial ruin.

Clubs Releasing players:

As referenced above, I usually pick up good tutors if they've been released by another club if they can also double-up as a good back-up to what I've got (think Lee Grant signing for Man Utd this summer).

In terms of players I release, the only players I really end up releasing are youth players that I feel aren't going to make it and players that retire, but even then, I often offer my retiring players back room roles so I can keep them around if they've been at the club for a while.

Signing players for the future:

I'm always signing players for the future. Probably around 50-75% of the players I bring in any given season is players for the future. If I spot someone that I think will develop well or has good potential, then I'm getting them (unless they request to much as referenced above).

 

[Deisler26]

My approach is 'White Lines' (Don't do it)

[..Valhalla..]

Just to add more to what I said earlier about being home-grown oriented...
By the year 2022 when virtually all clubs are making the squad registration restrictions by leaving spaces (aside from Bilbao of course), my squad looks like this.

Of the remaining 9 foreigners, only one was signed by me (Alisson), and 5 were already at the club, plus Robertson who is British anyway. We just won the league with this squad - quite comfortably - and my new recruit is 25yr old English international Lewis Cook to replace an ageing Wijnaldum.

[Renskay]

Did those cocaine-fueled sessions get to you?

10 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

My approach is 'White Lines' (Don't do it)

 

[Deisler26]

27 minutes ago, Renskay said:

Did those cocaine-fueled sessions get to you?

 

Mainly as the scouting is almost unusable IMO

[Renskay]

Scouting Network

I try to get in scouts from a wide variety of countries or scouts who have a lot of nations to near enough full scouting knowledge in their wheelhouse (Scandinavian scouts always seem to know loads about Africa so that's handy) so it covers a lot of bases and helps to get closer to that illustrious position of 100% world scouting knowledge which I always set as a goal if I can manage.

Once you get somebody in with a decent enough knowledge of another country you'll notice pretty quickly how much more players that get brought to your attention who look fantastic from those nations.

Your strategy should really depend on your team though. I usually play with not a lot of money so I look specifically at nations that I know have a hard time making things stay afloat financially and will bite your arm off for any type of money you throw at them.

Colombia, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Peru, Uruguay, Ivory Coast, South Africa and USA (For those cheeky free agent regens) are always good bets.

I'm also a huge fan of Affiliate clubs who as well as giving your players a chance to get minutes will give you scouting knowledge of whatever nations they are familiar with.

 

Player Search Feature

I prioritize the key component stats when I'm signing players to make sure they'll have consistently good games and not play good once in 5 or so matches as well as fitting into the mentality and work ethic of the rest of the squad

Work Rate, Teamwork, Technique, Determination (with younger players it's less important because you can train that stat through tutoring), Natural Fitness, Stamina, First Touch and Decisions are all important to get out of the way as a base level of a good player before you get lost looking at other more standout stats. Essentially I want the players I bring in to be athletes first and foremost. 

Unique physical attributes like Strength, Jumping Reach, Heading, Pace and Acceleration always stand out to me because of the fact that they're rare and if you find somebody with those it puts you at an advantage since you can play in ways that other teams can't deal with or can't match.

Mental Attributes are usually the deciding factor on whether I sign the player or not because they're so hard to grow.

How you approach signings when starting a new save and your different approach when you are multiple seasons in

I'll assess the team report and see where we have a lack of playing positions and I'll have a look at all of the players individually to see how well they fill the role and whether or not I trust my assistant's rating of their ability. I need their mental stats to be decent enough or they're out the door.

Interpreting the statistics about the player to inform your decision 

I don't do much thorough research into their previous game stats other than the appearances to average rating ratio which can usually tell you a lot. 

Deciding between multiple players of the same position

Thre's key stats that are important for certain positions that are crucial to the way they play in the game so my deciding factor if they're pretty similar is if they have a certain attribute that will clearly make a difference in matches in their position. A WB with higher crossing, for example, is going to get the nod over a player who may be better in other areas because I know I can put that specific attribute to more use than other ones.

Deciding how much you are willing to pay - transfer and wage

I'm cheap so I'll try to pay the bare minimum and if they want more I make it up with bonuses that the player is unlikely to achieve.

Clubs releasing players

 I used to look for free agents a lot at the end of seasons when I was new to the game because I liked the idea of having big names entering the club to make the squad look pretty but now I really focus on it a whole lot less. I prioritize the player as a priority and not the price as much because the game is small margins and if you can get a great player over an average player it's always going to make a difference. That being said, if a player is available on a free and you see a definite place for them in your team you should make the move.

Signing players for the future

My scouting of youngsters usually involves me individually searching through a lot of different attributes one by one at a time at the excellent level (15+) to see if there are any players who stand out significantly in any of the specific areas because a lot of the time you can build around a certain stand out stat. 

 

[Neotropolis]

13 minutes ago, Renskay said:

I'm also a huge fan of Affiliate clubs who as well as giving your players a chance to get minutes will give you scouting knowledge of whatever nations they are familiar with.

I'm very much for this. I like to make a point of getting affiliates that share scouting knowledge.

[Renskay]

2 minutes ago, Neotropolis said:

I'm very much for this. I like to make a point of getting affiliates that share scouting knowledge.

I feel like they're such an underrated part of the game! I did an Atlanta united save earlier this year where I managed to achieve total knowledge of the South American and Central American market through a large number of affiliate clubs and I  could pick up perfect players for a pittance and sell them on at huge returns.

[Neotropolis]

1 minute ago, Renskay said:

I feel like they're such an underrated part of the game! I did an Atlanta united save earlier this year where I managed to achieve total knowledge of the South American and Central American market through a large number of affiliate clubs and I  could pick up perfect players for a pittance and sell them on at huge returns.

I share your thoughts. Not enough people use this part of the game. You can essentially broaden what you know effectively for free (seeing as most people get the affiliates for other reasons as well so this is a bonus on top).

[Renskay]

1 minute ago, Neotropolis said:

I share your thoughts. Not enough people use this part of the game. You can essentially broaden what you know effectively for free (seeing as most people get the affiliates for other reasons as well so this is a bonus on top).

I get confused sometimes at the right time to ask for an affiliate so I understand that aspect may be frustrating. Getting in as many as I can is always important to my scouting process so I would highly recommend it. Always try to renegotiate your affiliations as well to get youngsters to train at your club because it can return in some nice newgens with fancy names and second nationalities

[Neotropolis]

2 minutes ago, Renskay said:

I get confused sometimes at the right time to ask for an affiliate so I understand that aspect may be frustrating. Getting in as many as I can is always important to my scouting process so I would highly recommend it. Always try to renegotiate your affiliations as well to get youngsters to train at your club because it can return in some nice newgens with fancy names and second nationalities

Tbh, I ask for affiliates as often as I can. If they say no, then fine, but if they say yes, I run with it. Then I renegotiate as necessary and ask for the next one as soon as I can.

[Renskay]

30 minutes ago, Neotropolis said:

Tbh, I ask for affiliates as often as I can. If they say no, then fine, but if they say yes, I run with it. Then I renegotiate as necessary and ask for the next one as soon as I can.

They say no so often that it gets annoying. Also, do you know if there is a hardcoded limit to the number of affiliates you can get? sometimes it'll be impossible for me to get a new one until I cancel a link of an existing club.

[Neotropolis]

3 minutes ago, Renskay said:

They say no so often that it gets annoying. Also, do you know if there is a hardcoded limit to the number of affiliates you can get? sometimes it'll be impossible for me to get a new one until I cancel a link of an existing club.

I assumed there was a limit. Not sure what it is though, maybe you can shed some light on it? Or does it vary place to place?

[Renskay]

I actually have no idea. In some nations, I can easily reach 6 or 8 affiliates before they start rejecting my requests and in others, I can't get past 3. Maybe it's linked to the finances of the club? Maybe, I'm just speculating because there is a significant fee involved when you begin to get more and more affiliates. Although there's times where I have a lot of money but can't get any.

[Neotropolis]

1 minute ago, Renskay said:

I actually have no idea. In some nations, I can easily reach 6 or 8 affiliates before they start rejecting my requests and in others, I can't get past 3. Maybe it's linked to the finances of the club? Maybe, I'm just speculating because there is a significant fee involved when you begin to get more and more affiliates. Although there's times where I have a lot of money but can't get any.

I suppose it could vary from board to board then. Depending on what they're willing to spend. 

By that theory, a club like Man City could get as many as they want because their owners throw money at the club like it's nothing, whereas a club like Spurs wouldn't have many as Daniel Levy is known to be quite tight with the purse strings.