Here's my guide to Villa
The Aston Villa Paul Lambert challenge.
As a massive Villa fan (& know it all) here's my take on how to manage Villa on FM.
Firstly, make sure the challenge is correctly setup.
I've set Villas repuation lower, so they expect to be in a relegation battle.
Also, pre-season budget needs to be set at about £5m transfer kitty and about -£50k a week wage budget.
What I do firstly is sell the following players (Here's who they usually go to).
Shay Given £100k Fulham
Stephen Ireland £1m QPR or Crystle Palace (with £30k a week contributed by Villa for a the last year of his Villa contract).
Richard Dunne £500k Wigan.
Darren Bent £10m QPR or Chelsea.
Straight away that's given you some transfer cash and the wage bill is way better off.
Then I sign Rob Elliot from Newcastle for ~£230k as a good backup keeper. Craig Gordon is another good backup, but you'll have to sack off a coach, as he wants a part time coaching role and the club is already maxed out on 6.
I then try and keep the Lambert method by signing younger, hungry players that will have a decent PA by the time they've settled in and found form.
I usually sign Nathan Redmond from Birmingham City or Matt Phillips from Blackpool to play wide right.
I play a 4-1-2-2-1 (or 4-5-1/4-3-3) as it's known in the real world.
Guzan
Lowton Vlaar Clark Bennett
Sylla
Westwood Gardner
Agbonlahor ......................... NZogbia
Benteke
Some of you will look at that line up and say Who?
Here's the basics of what I do with my tactics and players.
Guzan - Standard Keeper Defend
Lowton - Wing Back (Automatic) - Cross mixed, aim for target man.
Vlaar - Limited Defender (Defend) - Press all over pitch and keep passing mixed
Clark - Ball Playing Defender (Defend) - Passing short and press own area. Let Vlaar go to the ball
Bennett - Wing Back (Automatic) - Cross mixed, aim for target man.
Sylla - Defensive Midfielder (Defend) - Very limited player. Press, win the ball and give it.
Westwood - Deep Lying Playmaker (Defend) - Shorter passing, hold up ball.
Gardner - Centre Midfield (Attack) - Long shots, through balls.
NZogbia - Winger (Support) - Cross from mixed to target man. Hug touchline. Run with ball.
Agbonlahor - Winger (Support) - Cross from mixed to target man. Move into channels. Run with ball.
Benteke - Target Man (Attack) - Hold up ball, long shots.
I don't tinker with the team tactics too much. I play slightly higher up, wide and counter attack (yes).
I switch between 2 approaches. Attack and Counter, depending on the opposition.
Playmaker - Gardner
Target Man - Benteke
Style - Mixed
Villa have some useful squad players on the bench that can cover an array of positions.
Weimann
KEA
Holman
Herd
Baker
Lichaj
Bannan
Delph
Even with the avoid relegation season expectations, you can easily get a top 10 finish with Villa and expect a bigger job offer mid way through season 2.Season 2 I was 2nd after 20 games and got Man Utd job offer.
That's a very simple guide, but that's how I set my stall out and I've always done pretty well.