Football Manager 2010 SG talk

[Ichabod]

Hey guys,

I started a game with Boreham Wood (expected to place 21st on the Blue Square South... maybe North, can't remember now ). I want to get them all the way up to the Premier League. But I really don't know much about LLM in FM, so if you guys have some advices, that'd be helpful (just basic/useful stuff... I know I could go to the SI forums, but that forum is awful and I don't want to...).

I already started using some things I learned here, like arranging friendlies on the pre-season to get a good money influx.

And here's a quick question: is it worth to release players on a fee/do mutual termination? There are some dead wood on my team with high salaries and I can't sell them even for the price of zero. So, should I keep insisting and try to see if there's anyone interested or is it better to send them away right now?

[Brian Shanahan]

As regards the selling/releasing of players, I think if they are agreeable to mutual termination then get rid of them, it's the best way.

In the Blue Square divisions your best bet is probably to get as many young players in on loan from big clubs as possible, even going as far as selling some of your better players to make room (your best players will go in 2-3 seasons unless you're lucky).
I would also say (especially after our troubles with Wimbledon) that you should take your time a lot more with this save, and consolidate at each level somewhat before going up if you can. Playing at a level which you can't financially support will kill your finances.

And finally give a trawl through the Lower League Management fora at SI Games for a few more tips.

Edit: Break a leg!

[Mist]

(just basic/useful stuff... I know I could go to the SI forums, but that forum is awful and I don't want to...).

They also happen to be down at the moment. Someone hacked Sega over a month ago and they still did not pick up the pieces after that.

And here's a quick question: is it worth to release players on a fee/do mutual termination? There are some dead wood on my team with high salaries and I can't sell them even for the price of zero. So, should I keep insisting and try to see if there's anyone interested or is it better to send them away right now?

Cut them off now. You'll be loosing money by bucketloads anyway, it's better to loose them off main club balance sheet than already stretched wage budget that can be better utilised for other things. Other advice I can think about...

1) Play counter attacking football, your team reputation will suck in comparison to everyone else which means other team will go all out on you in first season after each promotion. Easy to sucker punch them.

2) Sign short deals, cut people away at first sign they stop being usable, spend your wage budget. Generally don't care about money, it's hard to be sustainable in England without big fan base, an these take years of playing at high level to build.

3) Scour the list of available players early and often. Don't depend on scouts, they are usually to slow to come up with goods.

4) Get a good parent club, these free loans can be mightly useful.

5) Forget about raising homegrown players, your training facilities will suck till well after you reach your goal.

6) Foreign players are cheaper than English ones. Look for transfer targets in Europe and Scotland.

And that's all I can think off now that's LLM specific for now.

[Brian Shanahan]

Mist SI are back up for the last week. The final solution was to cut the fora off from the Sega Pass system (which I believe is still down).

[Mist]

Mist SI are back up for the last week. The final solution was to cut the fora off from the Sega Pass system (which I believe is still down).

I think they were supposed to send people an email when the board gets back up. I stopped checking some time ago and just waited for the news to arrive in the inbox.

Anyhow, I disagree about stopping at each level to consolidate after promotions. At Championship level and below you can reasonably expect to fire your squad each year and hire a better one from free agents / loans. The money below Championship is poor without exception. And finally you can reasonably expect a takeover following a string of back to back promotions. The bottom line is that it's easier and faster to make a sustainable jump if you push to Championship fast and build from there.

[Ichabod]

What would be the definition of "consolidate"?

Get a better stadium? Better training facilities? Where do I get the money to fund that? Sorry for being annoying, but I really want to be sucessful in one of this saves.

I'm actually doing pretty well in the BSS. I managed to sign three very good players for this level (I'm playing without real players, so maybe that helped), 2 DMCs/MCs and a DC, so I haven't been conciding much. I'm using a 4-1-4-1 tactic with the counter mentality (thanks Mist!) and it's working nicely.

I'm planning on letting almost all my squad go if I get the promotion. Most of them are very, very bad. It's funny to see the games... the players do some very bizarre stuff - stupid passes, stupid own goals, etc.

Ah, my team is semi-professional right now. Is there a way for me to change that?

[Mist]

What would be the definition of "consolidate"?

Replace playing squad slowly enough not to destroy squad cohesion and blow your teams whole budget in the process. Usually it's get promoted, try to stay up with largely unchanged squad, sign a few better guys and play a easier season. Repeat until promoted and start again.

Get a better stadium? Better training facilities? Where do I get the money to fund that?

That's exactly the problem, without a lucky tycoon takeover you will not get cash to do any of this. You might convince club to take a loan, but it will only constrain your finances more in the medium term.

I'm actually doing pretty well in the BSS. I managed to sign three very good players for this level (I'm playing without real players, so maybe that helped), 2 DMCs/MCs and a DC, so I haven't been conciding much. I'm using a 4-1-4-1 tactic with the counter mentality (thanks Mist!) and it's working nicely.

If you don't get promoted this season you'll need to move to something more attacking / balanced. As your team reputation goes up in the league teams start to play more carefully against you. Also, don't do any fancy tactics ( fluid 4-2-3-1 "German World Cup" or somesuch ) or difficult positional instructions ( Teraquista ) in lower leagues. Players don't usually cope well with them in lower leagues.

I'm planning on letting almost all my squad go if I get the promotion. Most of them are very, very bad. It's funny to see the games...

Yup, that's the drill. Promote, let them all go, hire better. Just remember to do a lot of friendlies in the summer to let them get some playing time together.

Ah, my team is semi-professional right now? Is there a way for me to change that?

Getting promoted to League 2 will force going full professional. Before then it's all revenue and board dependent.

[Brian Shanahan]

Well my view of consolidate would be to remain a few seasons at each level to be able to build up a strong team more slowly and more affordably. While Mist does have a point about getting up to the Championship quickly, I think that is more appropriate if you are going for the journeyman approach, where you take a club up then jump to a bigger one (like with the SG), but for getting a small club up all the way and keeping them there, long-term finances are important, as you'll just hit a ceiling where you have not got the resources to keep going.

Semi-pro status is in keeping with the contracts given to the players and staff. If you start giving full time contracts to your coaches and players, it should change when most of them are full time, though it may take a while (and a club reputation boost) to effect this. And remember that some clubs (e.g. Queens Park in Scotland will always retain their current status in the game).

[Ichabod]

Thanks for all the advices, Brian and Mist!

And remember that some clubs (e.g. Queens Park in Scotland will always retain their current status in the game).

I can't understand this. You mean these clubs will never get a bigger reputation/change from semi-professional to professional? Why is that and how do I know if my team is not one of these?

[Brian Shanahan]

Thanks for all the advices, Brian and Mist!



I can't understand this. You mean these clubs will never get a bigger reputation/change from semi-professional to professional? Why is that and how do I know if my team is not one of these?

Queens Park are historically an amateur team (and also one of the founding members of the FA Cup and Scottish FA Cup. They also founded international football. You should read up on them), and have gone on record as saying that they'll never give up Amateur Status. The SFA had to work in special rules for them as regards the league. There are a few other clubs dotted around the place, most famously Corinthian-Casuals (successor to the original Corinthians and another early amateur club The Casuals), and a few playing in Belgium. Any club that is amateur in ethos will be coded to never turn professional in the game. It does not affect reputation gains, but does affect the level of players you can attract (due to not paying them).

Boreham are semi-pro only due to the financial circumstances of their league position, i.e. they can't afford to pay more to go full-time. They will change their status as their position and players improve.