The Chappers

[Chappers72]

Right was doing okay with Blyth and came 8th, 12th, 9th and 10th and then moved onto Grimsby into L2 and have just come bottom of the league, so have decided that I was going to come up with a new 4-4-2 tactic and then see how it comes and of course hopefully get some hints and tips on the way.

Now of course I've started with reading of the excellent thread Tactical Theorems and Frameworks '09 and came to the conclusion that I’m going to take on the Martin O'Neill way of things. Now I don’t expect to be at Grimsby much longer so this tactic will no doubt me going to another club soon enough.

So I've started off with 4-4-2 and set the team as Normal across the board for the time being with the individual players at:

GK - 7

CH - 8

FB -9

Md - 10

W - 11

Ma -12

Fd - 12

Fa - 13

Also will look for the following in a player and will start at 10 (as I’m lower league and drop down 1 notch each time till I get the player I want)

GK - Aerial, Command of Area, Handling, Reflexes and One and One (Also must be 6 foot or more)

CH - Jumping, Marking, Tackling, Positioning and Strength (Also must be 6 foot or more)

FB - Pace, Tackling, Positioning, Work Rate and Stamina

Md - Marking, Positioning, Passing, Teamwork and Stamina

W - Passing, Crossing, Positioning, Teamwork and Work Rate

Ma - Passing, Technique, Long Shots, Teamwork and Stamina

Fd - Technique, Creativity, Long Shots, Strength, First Touch (set to no forward runs)

Fa - Acceleration, First Touch, Off the Ball, Finishing and Composure (set to forward runs)

So will update but any advice will be helpful

[Chappers72]

Well havent been sacked yet but need to get promotion so a bad start and i'll be looking for a new job.

Have checked the squad over and as things stand this is what I have to work with. The number is from above that they have (IE the goal keeper has all five with the min being 12.

GK - 12

RB - 10

LB - 11

CH - 11

CH - 11

RM - 9

LM - 8

Md - 10

Ma - 10

Fd - 9

Fa - 9

So defence seems okay as does the central midfield but really could do with better on the wings and forwards, so will work on it, but with no money and a massive wage bill this could be it

[Chappers72]

Okay this is the part where I need feedback how to improve this tactic. I'm going to do this on a five game basis, however I do think i'll be sacked before the first five are up but not to worry

Game 1- Home (Heavy home favs)

Score 1-1

Shots 7

On Target 3

Pos 47%

Clear Cut Chances 4

Overall this game should have been one with all of the clear cut chances coming in the 1st half. Opp had 6 shots and 1 on target and their goal was a long ball and he outran the defence and scored.

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Game 2 - Away (Even odds)

Score 2-1

Shots 4

On Target 2

Pos 46%

Clear Cut Chances 1

One way traffic in this game and they had 13 shots with 3 on target so if they had been better, i should have lost this by more. The first goal was a awful clearance by the keeper which led to a one on one. Second goal they passed the ball all around the midfield and then buried it.

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Game 3 - Home (Heavy favs)

Score 1-0

Shots 9

On Target 2

Pos 56%

Clear Cut Chances 1

Not the best of games and my goal was a pen and again had plenty of chances but nothing really that should have put the game to bed. But the first win of the season is very welcome they had 4 shots with only 1 on target.

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Game 4 - Away (even odds)

Score 1-0

Shots 6

On Target 1

Pos 46%

Clear Cut Chances 2

Preety even game and I did hit the bar, and a couple of times they should have scored so guess if i was being honest they should have won the game. Thier goal was a ball that split my two centre halfs and one and one he burried it.

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Game 5 - Home (slight favs)

Score 0-1

Shots 4

Target 1

Pos 44%

Worst game so far and we did not do a thing to be honest but to be fair they only had the one shot on target also which was their goal which was a ball lost in the midfield and then a long ball over the top and their forward stuck it home.

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Overall not the best of starts with only 4 points from a possible 15 so this tactic does need some work on it. So any feedback on how to improve it are very welcome.

[Chappers72]

first tweak thanks to reading some comments by OS. I have slowed the temp down to 6 and also adjusted the creative freedom so that the wingers and Fd have full creative freedom and all the other players have in on 6.

Thats it at the moment so on to the next few games

So now we have version 1.1

[Chappers72]

Well we had 4 points from the first 15 and with the tweak i've manged 4 from the next 15 so not much has changed but I do wonder if its down to the fact the players are rubbish as much as the tactic.

1-1

0-0

0-2

1-1

0-0

So this season we have 8 points but I guess one good thing is that in 10 games we have only let in 9 goals but only scored 5 so while we are in the bottom four If I could only score goals we might pull away.

So keeping it the same for the next five games but to be honest if i dont start picking up some points I cannot see me keeping this job.

[Chappers72]

Well the sack came after just three more games which i won two of them but it was not enough after a heavy away defeat.

1-0

2-1

0-4

So off looking for a new team and will look at the defensive line before starting.

[Chappers72]

Have moved to Cambridge who are also in the BSP and were 3rd bottom when I took over and its started well enough with the following

1-1

2-0

2-3

3-0 (cup)

4-0

Also i've changed the way I look at players and now using the five attbuties from above i'm adding them together rather than the way i was doing it before so my first team squad comes in like this with 100 being the max

GK: 58 (New signing)

RB: 58 (new signing)

LB: 63

CH: 57

CH: 53

RM: 53

LM: 55

Md: 48

Ma: 50

Fd: 55

Fa: 64

So thats a total of 614 from 1100 which is a team rating 56% so i will see how that looks as the season goes on

[Chappers72]

Still on V1.1 and did not bother with the line just yet but doing okay with the last set of results being:

2-0

2-0

2-5

3-2

2-1

So other than the 5-2 defeat its been okay and slowly moving up the table. So since i've took over at cambridge the record with V1.1 is

Played 10

Won 7

Draw 1

Lost 2

Scored 23

Against 12

However knowing this game the way I do, it will all go pear shapped soon enough

[Chappers72]

1-0

2-3 (2-0 up and threw it away)

2-2

1-1

So still okay but not happy with the midfield the Ma is getting rubbish ratings despite him having 58 rating, now he is only 19 and new to the team so that could be it but the other lad that plays there is 27 and a rating of 50, but he isnt doing well either. Now i've just looked and my Md had his forward runs set to normal so i've knocked that back to rare so he will not only help out the defence but it might mean that the Ma gets into the game more and as such might effect thier ratings.

So now this is version 1.3, and this is the only tweak.

[Chappers72]

well V1.3 starts very well if a 5-0 home win and the Ma got a rating of 7.7 the highest rating he has ever got

[Chappers72]

1.3 might have started well but its gone pear shapped since with

1-1

1-2

1-3

So after looking into it a bit more i've set the team to man mark rather than zonal and also asked both of the centre halfs and the Md to close down more on the first notch of often and also set the Dline on the first notch of deep.

The logic of this it to try and stop the forwards and the midfield getting on top of us just outside the box by closing them down and also with the Dline being a bit deeper we should have more joy in cutting out the long ball over the top

So Version 1.4 it is (noticed also i missed of v1.2 oops)

[Chappers72]

well v1.4 has had a decent little run out and doing okay, not great but okay

0-2 (fa cup v prem team)

1-1 (last min goal from them)

2-1

2-1

2-1

1-3

3-2 (two down)

Still cannot get my Ma to do much during the games. Just purchased two new wingers who can both play up front, ratings wise they are the same the current wingers so havent improved the team as such but have improved the squad.

[Chappers72]

Well it looks like after 15 odd years this game has finally worn me down. I have done all I can but cannot buy a win and have been relegated for the second season.

It just is not enjoyable anymore, in the past you could at least wheel and deal and find some could players out there but this one just seems that unless you have the tactic that is graced from god you have no chance. I've guess i've had enough and maybe dig out the 2006 or 2007 version or just give up on this game forever which breaks my heart as I love this game.

I'm not the kind of person to go for someone elses tactic so i dont know what to do. I have no player that is rated less than 5 by my ass manager and they all have great ratings when you look at things you need to look at, yet still we cannot win anymore.

I have done everything I can think off but still the defeats come one by one and nothing works.

[Adriano007]

Good read, shame about the results. Tbh, there is definately something strange about the tactical aspect of this game. It seems that there is a lack of consistency in tactics to me. You might have a set of 3 tactics that work for a few games, and think you are great, then it all comes crashing down when you are beaten 6-0 by a mid-table team.

[Chappers72]

Thing is i've just told the wife that i've had enough and that the way I feel at the moment i will never play football manager again and I she doesnt believe me as since i've known her (96) i've played it all the time. In fact since 1992 i've played nothing else in the world of football sims and I guess if i dont play this game then there is nothing else out there.

Over the years the game has been hard and even more so when you always start at the bottom but this just seems impossible. Now I may feel different in the morning but at the moment i just cannot take it anymore.

You used to be able to get a tactic that worked no matter what but you still had to bring in the right players but at the moment i dont know if its my players that are rubbish or the tactic.

I might spend tomorrow playing with the tactic with Man U or something to see if it works then I guess i would then know if it was the tactic or the players but like i've said my players are all 5 or more stars and have good ratings so i'm lost.

And its not like i've not tried to come up with something, and while it may seem daft but i'd rather never play this game again than use someones tactic.