Knowing that feeling far too well. Had to restart as Bognor, so figured this time I'd take it slowly, watch every match on full and try to figure out the player interaction thing properly (eg teamtalks and media stuff).
This is brilliant when I do well, but just had a run of 3 matches when I got absolutely stuffed. Watching my team getting absolutely crushed despite dominating possession and creating more than enough chances to get at least a point, never mind three, is absolutely demoralising over the full match.
My young squad has the consistency of jelly which isn't being helped by Old Man Jupp the team captain obviously now being in serious decline and not even rating 6s in matches any more. The Gargan (as my missus now calls him from hours of listening to me swear and curse his misses and celebrate his goals and assists - that's Sam Gargan off the Brighton, gawd bless Parent clubs even if they shouldn't be allowed for English teams in quite this way!) was just coming back into form before pulling a thigh muscle, Awuah is already out with the same injury (not training related - match injuries) so I'm left with Jahson Downes and McEnery as my sole striking options. And it's only darned November! I'm still holding onto a decent mid-table position but those play-off places are getting further and futher away. Having no team gelling this season is crippling me on top of all these young players.
Sorry. /rant off
Anyways, conceding lots of scrappy goals and late ones too? How is the condition of the team holding up over 90 minutes? If you have too many players looking exhausted then you're looking at big errors possibly being made - consider pulling the tempo down a bit when your players are looking tired and easing off the pressing a click or two.
The other issue is that if you've brought in a load of new players, then squad harmony is going to be hit very hard which is really going to harm results. If you can keep that squad together without any major influxes of players in or out of the club then next season they'll start performing much better.
What is the skill of your assistant manager in judging potential and current ability? Always remember that what any coach tells you about a player's ability is only as good as those attributes
I'll upload the tactics I'm currently using for you to try out. The control one keeps possession really well and is good for closing matches out - you may want to slow the tempo down even more and increase time wasting though. They might be of use to you, although obviously you'll have to tamper with them to suit your own team. BTW just a note of caution about the standard one - the left fullback and left winger are actually more advanced. This is to try and give a bit more balance to the attack, but having a left full back who has decent positioning for the level and a bit of pace will be more solid defensively.