What do you do when you regress on a save?

[vvv4231]

I'm doing a save with Utrecht where I finished 4th in the Eredivisie after being predicted to finish 9th in the first season, then disappointingly finished 4th again after spending most of the season in 2nd place, and now came a 10th-place finish in the third year in spite of improving the squad and not losing anyone important.

In another save with Energie Cottbus, I climbed to the apex of the game after a Bundesliga three-peat and triumphs in the Champions League and the Club World Cup, but since then it's been two seasons finishing 2nd in the league and unable to reach the CL final again, although I did have success in the DFB-Pokal.

I'm still invested in the stories being written and the players being developed and thus I keep playing in both saves, but I'm curious: how common is it for you to stagnate or even regress on a save? And what do you do then?

[phnompenhandy]

Funnily enough, I've just pressed send on a post addressing a friend in that very situation.

Many years ago, I got bored with either winning everything too easily with a "Big" club, or getting into such a rut as you describe with a "Medium" club. The solution for me was and is Lower League Management. Start so low down (at semi-pro or even amateur level) that you can't fail to succeed, and patiently build up your squad and club until you reach the professional sides. There are many superbly-created very lower league mods going down to the amateur game - see the Editors' Hideaway for German and Dutch lower league mods if you want to stay around there; I'm using a Level 10 England add-on right now.

[NineCloudNine]

I simulate what happens in real life. Shake up your staff, change tactics, refresh the squad.

Or accept that the previous success was an over-performance and you have regressed to the mean, in which case look at what you need to change to take a step up. You may well be holding on to players who aren’t quite good enough, or have become too comfortable with a tactic.

[Brother Ben]

It's all part of the story of your managerial career.  Without some lows how can you possibly enjoy the highs?  Overcoming adversity is what makes the game worthwhile.

I'm so glad that i'm not an expert at the game, my worst nightmare would be to just steamroll through it and win everything. 

Like myself, it seems like you find the game challenging.  There are many on this forum who would give anything for that to be their experience.

[vvv4231]

15 hours ago, NineCloudNine said:

I simulate what happens in real life. Shake up your staff, change tactics, refresh the squad.

Or accept that the previous success was an over-performance and you have regressed to the mean, in which case look at what you need to change to take a step up. You may well be holding on to players who aren’t quite good enough, or have become too comfortable with a tactic.

Funnily enough, I think I caused this drop-off in the third season with my tactical tinkering. I tried to make a Trequartista work as a false 9 in FM12, first in a 4-2-3-1 with a central IF (At) and then an AM (At), then in a 4-3-3 with an IF (At) and a CM (At) behind him.

I spent a good part of the season trying to make it work and it never quite did, so in the end I had to switch back to my old tactics.

[MichaelNevo]

On 20/08/2024 at 04:07, vvv4231 said:

I'm doing a save with Utrecht where I finished 4th in the Eredivisie after being predicted to finish 9th in the first season, then disappointingly finished 4th again after spending most of the season in 2nd place, and now came a 10th-place finish in the third year in spite of improving the squad and not losing anyone important.

In another save with Energie Cottbus, I climbed to the apex of the game after a Bundesliga three-peat and triumphs in the Champions League and the Club World Cup, but since then it's been two seasons finishing 2nd in the league and unable to reach the CL final again, although I did have success in the DFB-Pokal.

I'm still invested in the stories being written and the players being developed and thus I keep playing in both saves, but I'm curious: how common is it for you to stagnate or even regress on a save? And what do you do then?

I have games where I like to gain success with a club and then move on before the regress happens, building a reputation as someone who builds clubs up for success