Football Manager 2011 general questions

[Brian Shanahan]

A player's PPMs or lack thereof are listed in the positions screen (where you get the positions rating).

I'm not sure what all of them do, but most are self explanatory, like "dives into tackles", or "avoids using weaker foot".

There are two ways of getting a player to learn a PPM, either to assign training time to learning it or by a tutor, or both together. The first way only allows you to learn one at a time and is what the staff are suggesting you do. The second along with shaping mental and hidden stats also gives a chance of the tutee learning one, some or all (or even none) of the PPMs of the tutor, so is another area you have to look at when assigning tutors.


As regards articles I don't know any off-hand, but there are at least a few in the forums at community.sigames.com.

[yuris125]

Well, I'm looking through the SI Tactics & Training forum, and there's a ton of great info, but I didn't find any PPM article so far. Although I'm not looking for it specifically, I'm just looking around so far

Speaking of tutoring, since you mention it. I have a young squad, don't think there's anyone older than 22. So no one can be a tutor. Is it worth signing older players who're not necessarily better than the youngsters I have, but can act as tutors? And which attributes should I pay attention to; I believe Determination is the key, is there anything else? I have to say, tutoring is another grey area for me, I didn't even start trying to understand it yet

[Brian Shanahan]

Well, I'm looking through the SI Tactics & Training forum, and there's a ton of great info, but I didn't find any PPM article so far. Although I'm not looking for it specifically, I'm just looking around so far

Speaking of tutoring, since you mention it. I have a young squad, don't think there's anyone older than 22. So no one can be a tutor. Is it worth signing older players who're not necessarily better than the youngsters I have, but can act as tutors? And which attributes should I pay attention to; I believe Determination is the key, is there anything else? I have to say, tutoring is another grey area for me, I didn't even start trying to understand it yet

Tutoring depends more on the squad status of the players involved than their age. If a player has good enough mental stats and experience then it does not matter how good he is, but on the other hand no matter how good a player's stats are he cannot tutor a player who has a higher squad status than he does (so a "backup" player can't tutor an "important first team" one). I believe there is also a problem if the young player is regularly getting first team games too.

As regards signing players for tutoring purposes, only sign them if a) they have a good chance of playing regular football, b) their mental stats are stronger than what you have (especially un-trainable ones like determination or influence), c) the players you want tutored are not already considered important players and d) you can afford to pay their wages.

[yuris125]

Change of subject

I have a 38yo striker, who's visibly declining. His contract expires at the end of this season, and I'm not going to extend it. However, he's considering becoming a scout when he retires. Frankly, I would hire him as a scout even without looking at his attributes. He helped me immensely as a backup striker, 7 goals + 7 assists in 25 appearances (some of them as a substitute), and I'd like to help him kickstart his career. Also, he won't be completely useless in any case, because he is a Nigerian with Austrian passport, so even if he is a crappy scout, his presence in the backroom will increase our scouting knowledge (is it right?)

When can I start discussing a scout's contract with him? Can I do anything to speed things up? I found the future development option in the private chat, and told him I think he will be a great scout. He was happy to hear it, but for now I can only offer him a player's contract

[Adlain]

I think I may have too meny Central Midfielder's in my squad:



although my squad isnt doing too bad for a first forry into the BSP



and my squad in 2 parts (definatly too meny)

[yuris125]

I need your advice

After repeatedly saying that I didn't want a promotion from BSP right away, I finished the season 3rd, then went ahead and won the playoff. Well, the idea of deliberately losing it didn't appeal, and I have confidence even my current squad will be good enough to avoid relegation. So League 2, here we come

Now my main problem is my striker Warren McBean. I already posted his stats, but here they are again



Mr. McBean is a total selfish bastard. With Teamwork 1, Dribbling 11 and Finishing 12, his preferred play is to get the ball, run towards the goal, outplay 2 or 3 opponent defenders if needed, shoot, hopefully score. The idea of passing the ball doesn't cross his mind, and if it does, you wish that it didn't, because with Decisions 3 and Passing 6, he invariably fails to pass accurately

This style of play worked brilliantly in BSS. In 40 appearances, he scored 32 goals, and somehow even made 3 assists. 9 MoM awards, average rating 7.36, the fans idolised him

I tried playing him in BSP, but once he met defenders he couldn't outplay, he became a burden to the team. He was consistently getting rating below 6, and finding himself substituted at halftime. Still, he was capable of scoring when he was in a good mood, and I could play him in cup matches. So, he made 10 appearances, and scored 6 goals, 1 assist, 2 MoM, average rating 7.19

Now here is my problem. My backroom staff keep telling me he's no good enough, and I agree with them. In League 2, he won't be able to do anything. But after his BSS performance, he's listed as a favourite by the board, the fans adore him, and his last season's stats are still solid, no apparent reason to get him out of the club. At the same time, he gets higher salary than my new, much better strikers, which really is not justified

So, the question is - do I get rid of him and take all the negative which will come from the board and the fans, or do I keep him? After all, his salary is just 5% of my wage budget for this season, a hit I can take

[Mist]

There's a third option - use him as a super-sub. Bring him in around 70-ish minute of the game when the opposition is tired and doesn't run as much. That should level the skill gap somewhat.

Getting rid of him is an option, fans and the board have pretty short memories if you keep winning, but before you start check how many other players like him/list him as a favourite personel. If he's popular in your changing room, forcing him out is a bad idea, just wait out his contract and don't extend it.

[Brian Shanahan]

@ Yuris your 38 y.o. needs to be chatted with before he will be eligible for a scout contract. Go to Private Chat>Player development and say to him that he would make a good scout when he hangs up his boots. Do this once a month until he says "I can kick it off right now" and accept that. Now he'll have a staff attributes page as well as player attributes and can be offered a staff, player or both type contract.

@ Adlain not bad H&W are a hard team to work with early on.

[yuris125]

@ Yuris your 38 y.o. needs to be chatted with before he will be eligible for a scout contract. Go to Private Chat>Player development and say to him that he would make a good scout when he hangs up his boots. Do this once a month until he says "I can kick it off right now" and accept that. Now he'll have a staff attributes page as well as player attributes and can be offered a staff, player or both type contract.

Aha, thanks! Didn't realise I could do it monthly, thought he would get tired of me repeating the same thing all the time

Is he worth hiring just for his knowledge of Nigeria? He now retired on his own, and his staff attributes are unspectacular, something like 5 JPA 4 JPP. And with the board only allowing 5 scouts to cover the whole Europe, every spot is precious

Mist - thanks for the advice! I don't think anyone lists him as a favourite player, but will check once I'm home

The main question of relations with the board and fans is - will I keep winning? The first 2 pre-season friendlies against much weaker teams went 1:1 and 0:0 - and I mostly played the same players as at the end of the last season, when almost all their shots were on target, and they rarely scored less than 3! I just hope it's because they lost their form over the holiday, and not because I got lucky last season

Board's initial expectations this season were "fight bravely to avoid relegation", by the way. I upped it to "avoid relegation" for extra £50k of wage budget. Don't think I will be anywhere near the promotion zone this time

[Brian Shanahan]

Aha, thanks! Didn't realise I could do it monthly, thought he would get tired of me repeating the same thing all the time

Is he worth hiring just for his knowledge of Nigeria? He now retired on his own, and his staff attributes are unspectacular, something like 5 JPA 4 JPP. And with the board only allowing 5 scouts to cover the whole Europe, every spot is precious

Mist - thanks for the advice! I don't think anyone lists him as a favourite player, but will check once I'm home

The main question of relations with the board and fans is - will I keep winning? The first 2 pre-season friendlies against much weaker teams went 1:1 and 0:0 - and I mostly played the same players as at the end of the last season, when almost all their shots were on target, and they rarely scored less than 3! I just hope it's because they lost their form over the holiday, and not because I got lucky last season

Board's initial expectations this season were "fight bravely to avoid relegation", by the way. I upped it to "avoid relegation" for extra £50k of wage budget. Don't think I will be anywhere near the promotion zone this time

As regards the scout I wouldn't bother, a) as you said every spot is precious and 4/5 is just horrible stats for a scout, b) Nigeria will not produce a big enough number of players to worry about, plus the problems with work permits won't work in your favour. As regards the board, if they are expecting relegation (or as you picked, just above) then not winning will not be a problem as long as you pick up enough points to stay up.