More realistic consequences for mistreating your players

[CFuller]

Some of these suggestions are a bit tongue-in-cheek , but there's some seriousness behind them.

We all have our own ways of managing our teams and players. Some of you might be easy going. Some of you might be more disciplinarian. If you're like me, you might just throw a load of water bottles when things go wrong. 

But from what I have read here and elsewhere, some FMers take an extreme disciplinarian approach that (realistically) won't be tolerated for long in modern professional football. I've tested this out on the last couple of FMs, and even if you turn the fines/water bottles/general player abuse up to 11, the worst that will happen is that team morale hits the floor. Extreme actions off the pitch don't really seem to have any consequences until results suffer on it - and even then, I've found it surprisingly easy to cling onto my job for longer than I perhaps should have.

So, my suggestion for future FMs is that players with certain personalities take more notice of your conduct around them, and react more negatively if you treat them (or their team-mates) too harshly. Likewise, certain chairpersons should be more prepared to call out your behaviour - or even sack you on the spot if you take it too far. For example...

 

Dropping/transfer-listing players for minor indiscretions

Let's say your player made a costly mistake in the match - like they've missed the penalty that knocked your team out of the Champions League Semi Final. My view is, anyone can miss a penalty... it happens.

But if your reaction to a player making one simple mistake is to drop to the reserves, put them on the transfer list and/or even try to release them... the player should at least want to know why you've acted that way. If you then tell them something like, "Because you missed a penalty," they might respond, "It's not as if I missed that penalty on purpose, is it?" They might go to their team-mates, who might then back them up and ask you to apologise.

If you do this too often to too many players, the team leaders might forward their complaints to the board, who then might call you in for an urgent meeting.

Of course, all this needs to be done within reason. Most of the time, dropping a player or putting them up for sale because you simply don't need them anymore is perfectly understandable. But if an important player suddenly gets discarded shortly after one mistake that was completely out of character, or because they didn't react particularly well to being praised about their training for the 5th week in a row, that should raise some alarm bells.

 

Throwing too many water bottles

This one's for nutters like me.  Many of us are tempted to 'Throw water bottle' after every heavy defeat, but not enough people really understand what throwing a bottle is actually meant to do.

As far as I can tell, this option is NOT for chastising your players when they lose - that's what 'Thrash arms' is for. 'Throw water bottle' is supposed to wake your players up if they're getting complacent or not working hard enough. Like when your team's on a winning streak, but your players are doing the bare minimum to lead 1-0 at half-time against a relegation team they should be beating much more convincingly.

Anyway, if you (mis)use the 'Throw water bottle' option (or 'Kick chair' in team meetings) too frequently, especially if you're a manager in a new job, you will see squad morale and managerial support plummet. Players will call you out on it. That already happens on FM23... but it could go further.

Too many actions like this could prompt some players to react in a blasé manner. You might see a player make a comment like, "Oh dear, Fuller's having a tantrum again," or "I think you're mad, too unstable, kicking in chairs and knocking down tables". When you next click on the 'Continue' button, the processing screen that usually gives you hints/tips might instead give you a semi-sarcastic comment, explaining what throwing a water bottle is actually supposed to do. 

 

Extreme high-intensity training during the season

It is generally a good idea to put your players through intense physical training in pre-season to build up their fitness and endurance. But IF this continues into the regular season and your players hardly get any time to rest or recover, your team leaders might request a team meeting asking you to tone it down. If the extreme training continues for too long, they might even go to the board calling for your head.

 

Giving your players inappropriate nicknames

Unfortunately, people have been known to use the nickname function to give their players inappropriate names (slurs, profanity, etc) for whatever reason.

If you try to give a player a nickname that includes an unsuitable word, there should be a pop-up warning you about it. If you choose to go ahead with the nickname change anyway, the player might complain and lose morale.

Obviously, the obscenity filter would need to programmed in such a way that it's effective but not too strict (like how some FMers can't even use their own names on Xbox Game Pass because of Microsoft's ridiculously strict profanity filter). For example, if you wanted to nickname your player "Scunthorpe" for whatever reason, that should not be a problem.

 

Repeat offences

If you mistreat your player(s) only occasionally, there shouldn't be any serious long-term repercussions. But if you go to the extreme and are found to be consistently bullying or abusing multiple players over a sustained period, the club's chairperson could take swift action and fire you.

In the worst case scenario, allegations about your behaviour might go to the press, and your managerial reputation might take a HUGE hit, meaning that you would have to find another job at a much lower level than you were previously at. Chairpersons with certain personalities might even refuse to interview you for a vacant manager's job if they believe you cannot build a healthy workplace environment at their club.

 

If I think of anything else, I'll put it here.

[Zachary Whyte]

Thank you for the multiple suggestions, we will put these under consideration.