Crikey, think my mum'll be better at this than me

Still usin em - but only W6 D7 L20 - not through want of trying, haven't played too bad considering, and players are good enough to be in some L1 sides (according to my stroppy asst manager).
Just concede scrappy goals - any good tactic ideas for L2 v much appreciated!!
 
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.
 
Cheers - very helpful! Just played 3 games using Zebedee's attacking tactics, won 5-0, 4-0 then drew 1-1. Weird how form can change
I try to sub players under 75% around 60-65 min mark, unless they're playin dead well in which case I let em suffer!
Sometimes sub em earlier if got another game in 3 days time
Will try your tactix though mate, cheers!!
 
Glad to hear that the attacking variant has paid off so well for you :D How many points do you reckon you need to be safe for the season?

The tactics I attached above are just refinements on the ones you already use - less direct and retain possession better. But being less direct isn't always a good thing ;) They'll be more helpful when you just want to stroke the ball around to see out the last 10 or 15 minutes (especially the control one). The advantage of them is that they keep to the mentality system you're already using so your players won't play like donkeys when you try them out (or at least not quite so much like donkeys as they would if you changed mentality systems).
 
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I'm 23rd, 3 games left with 39 pts, 6pts from safety. just got beat 4-2 by Oldham who were 1 place above, think that's the clincher.
Ah well, think I'll keep me job, at least I've got some good players for BSP next season!
 
Search the transfer market for player not attached, and with more than say 10 international caps and try to pick up some oldies for a short term fix, you can get some decent players this way. And I always find in the lower leagues the most important signing is a goalie, get a rock at the back and your leaky defence wont matter quite so much, and frankly in the lower leagues leaky defences are common.
 
NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Hard drive has gone **** up, lost all data on it, including my save file. 4 seasons down the swanny!!!
Was doin well as well - managed to make £1m by arranging friendly cups pre-season, also had signed Jo Kuffour (highly recommended) who'd scored 10 goals in 8 games!!
Ah well, gonna start afresh, maybe decrease database size this time.
Will keep y'all informed!!!
 
Ive been playing with Falkirk in the second division with Zebedee's tactics, ive been getting mixed results, any ideas? I know my signings are fairly good because ive made close to 15 million in 4 season but am constantly getting lower in the league very year!
 
Can't help you mate, sorry! 15m?? That's a fair whack!!

Got 3 games to go in my 1st season back, and I'm only 11th - had a good run of 11 unbeaten, now can't do anything - My keeper kept 4 clean sheets on the trot and now he's gone bobbins, lettin in 2 or 3 a game. Not changed much, think I may get sacked!! :(
 
When things go dramatically worse for you after a very good run, it tends to mean that you have overused a variant and the AI is playing specifically to counter it. If goals are coming from individual errors, then it means you've overplayed a player or he's in a bad run of form.
 
Well didn't get sacked - but job in jeopardy in 2nd season - only 14th after 16 games. Doin ok at home, but get battered away. Only time i play decent is when i go 3-4-3, using attacking tactics. Always concede 3-4 goals.
Got some decent players, but they never seem to want to shoot, they just pass the ball then lose it. Dead annoying
 
Oh well keep trying, is this your first FM you have bought?
If so, then well done for starting at the bottom, you will end up a better manager<)8-|
 
Yeah it is - wanted to play as the team I support.
Now in 4th season - last season finished 6th, would've made playoffs if other results had gone my way.
New season, managed to sign players I had previously on loan and scored all the time, now they're poo!! I'm 18th, but always get beat by the odd goal. Conceding too many penalties as well, even though I set tackling on easy or medium.

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Oh spiffing - been sacked. No warning - yeah I know I was doin bobbins, but they could at least let you know!! My job had gone from very insecure to insecure - so dunno what happened there. Last 3 games I won 2, drew 1 (with 9 men, mind).
May start again, am getting bored of Dog & Duck Utd sacking their manager, expecting me to step in when they only have 3 players.
 
Got mine for 17 new from amazon - would be happy to get a tenner for it.
Tried sticking with it - tried tactics as suggested elesewhere in the forums and its got me nowhere. Beat by mansfield 6-1, just got beat by Southport in FA cup 4-1, one win in 16.

Had enough, it's going up for sale

To be honest the only advice anyone can give is.. Start with either a Premiership Club, or a top Championship club. That's how I get used to the game.. And then by the time you familiarise yourself with FM you can start to manage the lower leagues. Jumping straight into such a complex game with a really hard task isn't the best thing to do.. I just don't like seeing people selling one of the best games available just because they can't hack it.. I mean the game doesn't cheat.. It one of the most realistic simulations ever.. And to the guy who says he had like 5 or so different formations.. That's probably where you are going wrong, teams don't adapt well to change, bare that in mind when you start a season, playing a lot of new players/ making big changes and adjusting the formation in the early stages doesn't help much in the lower leagues..
 
Oh well keep trying, is this your first FM you have bought?
If so, then well done for starting at the bottom, you will end up a better manager<)8-|

Oh I stand corrected - think I had FM04, got very bored of that as I lost all 12 of my first games, 3-0 or more. Also being an old LMA fan couldn't get to grips with the fact you couldn't really tell how well your players were playing.

---------- Post added at 12:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 AM ----------

To be honest the only advice anyone can give is.. Start with either a Premiership Club, or a top Championship club. That's how I get used to the game.. And then by the time you familiarise yourself with FM you can start to manage the lower leagues. Jumping straight into such a complex game with a really hard task isn't the best thing to do.. I just don't like seeing people selling one of the best games available just because they can't hack it.. I mean the game doesn't cheat.. It one of the most realistic simulations ever.. And to the guy who says he had like 5 or so different formations.. That's probably where you are going wrong, teams don't adapt well to change, bare that in mind when you start a season, playing a lot of new players/ making big changes and adjusting the formation in the early stages doesn't help much in the lower leagues..

May do that - but kinda relish the thought of taking a lowly club up the leagues. I also see people on ehere as man u who can't win anything either...

Did manage to get my team to L2, until lost everything on my hard drive :S
 
May do that - but kinda relish the thought of taking a lowly club up the leagues. I also see people on ehere as man u who can't win anything either...

Did manage to get my team to L2, until lost everything on my hard drive :S

Yeah it's a great acomplishment to do that but I'm just trying to say it's probably not worth selling the game, you will gradually learn who will perform well and who to sign for cheap etc. Though just playing, and probably trying with many different clubs, and there's a lot of helpful threads for lower league managers on here you should read! :)
 
Nice one Batlord, stick at it mate. My advice would be to have one set formation (i.e. 4-4-2) then have 3 varients of that formation for what team you are against -

1. Attacking- use an attacking adaptation for when you're playing teams you should be beating

2. Standard- use this when you're in a 50/50 match, could go either way

3. Defensive- use this when you know you're gonna get a pasting.

Also, don't be afraid to go from Defensive to Attacking or vice versa depending on how the match is shaping up- I often change my tactis 3-4 times a game.
 
Nice one Batlord, stick at it mate. My advice would be to have one set formation (i.e. 4-4-2) then have 3 varients of that formation for what team you are against -

1. Attacking- use an attacking adaptation for when you're playing teams you should be beating

2. Standard- use this when you're in a 50/50 match, could go either way

3. Defensive- use this when you know you're gonna get a pasting.

Also, don't be afraid to go from Defensive to Attacking or vice versa depending on how the match is shaping up- I often change my tactis 3-4 times a game.

Cheers man - wierd thing is, I use my own amended version of Zebedee's tactics so do this anyway. But sometimes I've got decent results using an attacking tactic while away and playing a better club - ironically if I go defensive I ALWAYS let at least 3 in, even if I'm holding onto a lead from a **** side.

For some reason, I saved my game under a different name about 4 games before I got sacked, so gonna see if I can win the 2 games I didn't last time. Notice my job status is very insecure (as oppsed to Precarious or Under Review) so think it's a bit unfair they sacked me in the first place!! May ask the board for some extra time to build the squad, see if that helps
 
Right, I've been a bit naughty and reloaded my game, tweaked things round a bit and find myself with a last 8 game record of WWWWWWDX - now up to 8th! Job now stable!!

As someone once said, its a funny old game
 
Well, 6 months or so later, still at it - reckon I can now beat my mum at this!! Finally got promoted out of the BSP after 5 seasons (and a conference cup), promoted from L2 in 3 seasons, then won L1 in 2!!! Currently 10th in my 2nd season in Championship, even tho I'm favourite for relegation.

But have tried to nurture good young players to see if they blossom into Rooneys, but they don't seem to improve, even after being loaned out. Ah well, all the fans love me, thats what matters
 
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