[Problem with contract negotiations]

Hello. This is a question to the game developers, I hope they read this post. Why is it so, that when I offer a player a contract, it's either I meet their minimum requirements there and then or the negotiations end whereas my DoF can drop any offer, typically much lower than what I can offer them, and most often it is accepted in the end. Also, often when trying to outbid an AI manager for a player, I find he chooses the other club even though their offer was worse and they supposedly preferred my club. I can't find a logical explanation for that. It's like AI staff gets a handicap when it comes to negotiations. Things like this makes me feel not like being one of the managers but like the odd one out, to whom special rules apply. I feel level playing field is what the game badly needs. I sense you are trying to compensate for inherent AI dumbness by giving it extra points, instead of trying to make it smarter. In chess, this would amount to allowing the AI side two moves at a time rather than improving its skill.

[Some Persistent Problematic Areas]

Hi. I feel there are some things the FM series that haven't been addressed virtually throughout its history. 1st off all - getting a player sent off. In many cases it's an actual advantage. Let me get this straight - there is no wonder tactics in the world to compensate for a lack of a player, let alone two. And yet playing with incomplete  squad I recorded some of my most spectacular wins (notably 8-0 vs Barcelona having 2 players sent off early on in FM2005). In CM9798 red card often helped me win, especially GK, where DL took over and played better than the original GK, somehow at the same time still fulfilling his DL duties to good effect. The same goes for AI teams, they only become stronger. In FM20 it's never a good news when an opposition player gets sent off - this is usually when the trouble begins. I feel this is totally unrealistic. Next - conceding straight after scoring. Sure, it happens in real life too, but nowhere near with such regularity. Third - home advantage. There are teams that I regularly destroy at home 8-0, 9-1 but can't for the life of me beat away, and I've tried various approaches. Typically, it's a draw. 4th - regularily struggling against teams at or near the bottom of the table. I understand their having an extra motivation, but IRL - if I crush Barcelona, I will crush them too. There are other problematic areas, but these 4, I feel, are most important and most detrimental to the enjoyment of the game.

[FM20 Trait training options missing]

Hello. Maybe the problem was there before the hotpatches but I haven't noticed it. Now the available player traits to train vary between players in a way that doesn't seem to make sense. For example, "try first time shots" option is available for Modric (defensive midfielder) but not for Benzema (striker). Has this bug somehow been introduced by recent patches or was it there before? And are you planning to fix it or are you wholly concentrated on FM21?

[Tips to avoid so many injuries?]

One way to limit number of injuries is to give the whole squad, bar GK, a 1 day rest after matches, but that has a detrimental effect on their performance, so it's best to simply have deep squad and rotate regularly. Always rest players with very high injury risk though.

[What year is the best version of football manager?]

Depends what you look for in the game. If it's total domination - go for FM2005. In that edition you could realistically expect to win all the games in the season with minimal mental input required. I remember beating Barcelona 5-0 away and 8-0 at home, Valencia 9-0 in Spanish Cup and some other equally ridiculous results. You could win champions league 20 times in a row. However you need an older version of Windows for that game - won't run in 10.

[Youth Staff Wage Budget]

I know it's an old topic but I have the same problem in FM20. What the heck!?

[Need For Advanced Filters]

Say, if I want to make a search like:

((job: coach or manager) and (determination+motivating+discipline>=48) and (fitness>18)) OR ((job: coach or manager) and (determination+motivating+discipline>=55) and (fitness>16))

...then the filters in the game won't allow me. How about you introducing parentheses?

[Staff Improvements Needed]

Hi. I feel that staff in FM2020 is grossly inadequate. Say, for example, Real Madrid. I become the manager and what I see? Staff quality is below mediocre. Would they have won CL 3 times in row with such pitiful backroom staff? What I, as the new manager, feel obliged to do is to sack everyone on the spot (actually agree mutual termination, which they feel they have no option but to agree to, is that realistic?). Then within about a week I sign a brand new set of staff that provide the best training among Spanish clubs. In real life I would expect pretty good staff already present and the club not to be in a state of overall disarray. Now, technical director is beyond useless. Say, I hire one of the best and task him with signing some coaches. He will invariably do a terrible job. Two issues: 1) I'm unable to require him to ask my opinion before actual signing, when I've found out, the damage is done 2) I cannot specify the minimum requirements, for example what sort of coach I need, what minimum attributes he must have in what areas, that would be very helpful, but just sending him to find me 3.5 star coaches in not an option. Director of Football is also of no use. What he does is offer nominal value fee for a transfer target player and gets back to me saying he couldn't sign him. Why would I pay him money? Now, job market. Yes, you can place adverts but you cannot specify requirements which results in you getting a lot of trash. I expect to be able to specify the minimum parameter values.