Curious about a couple things when scouting young players and hoping for some insight

[Moo Strength]

Before I get into these questions, I apologize in advance for the length of my post. 25 years of IT and having a stupidly high WPM causes me to type some long posts, I apologize for the length but I do appreciate anyone helping out having read my long post below....

I've been playing FM15 on my iPhone now for about 3 weeks thanks to my cousin who introduced me to this highly addictive game (long time Fifa14/15 player but since I have a 2 year old, I need something that's easier on the manage side, less time consuming on the actual 'play' side, if that makes sense)...

I'm curious about a couple things when it comes to evaluating talent and potential....

How much trust should I put into the star ranking system, obviously it's easy to evaluate a player like Sterling or RM's Jese that shows up at 5 stars, proven names and realistically they're going to turn out to be world stars. But what about the regen players, or players that I might not realistically know as much about (being American, having not so great TV packages here, plus not being able to watch as much thanks to the aforementioned kid, if you like watching 90 minute matches, don't get married and have kids, you'll find out that free time is a distant pipe dream )

I guess what I'm wondering is, is the star rankings my best indication that a player is going to perform well in the long run?....

Also, because I'm knew to the FM games, I'm 'learning' to play this wonderfully addictive game by using a monster program like Barca. Obviously this negates the need for a whole lot of worry, but I am curious about my 'B' team. Can I dump those players without penalty? Is there is any reason why I should keep a bunch of 1-2 star players around that have little to no chance of me ever using them on the 'A' side?

I guess my logic is they're at least as far as I can see just taking up money on me, and if I get rid of them I can use their money for buying better players that have a shot at being a real backup or contributor to the A side. In theory if I released the entire B team and paid the penalty for getting rid of all of them, would anything negative happen? Would management **** can me or something?

On the issue of Morale, how much of an impact does this have on the performance of the player come game time? If I have a keeper like Der Stegan who is seriously just sick skill wise, but he's got low morale, and someone like Masip or Bravo has Superb morale, should I consider letting Stegan sit out unless it's some opponent of real skill like say Real Madrid?

Lastly, I realize most of you are probably playing FM15 on a PC/Mac or Console. Does the game and your questions for the most part transfer over equally to the iOS/Android platforms? I know there are some differences in FIFA14/15 when it came to playing on the iOS, just curious about FM15 for the same situation....


I do have some other questions but I figured this is enough to start. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my long post.

 

[louiscfc]

1. The recommendation stars for a player are only based upon the strength of the players in your team. For example, if you have poor players then Raheem Sterling would be a 5 star player as he'd be better than most of the players at your club. However, this star rating wont be as high if you have better players.
Also, star ratings aren't the be all and end all. They are just a recommendation from a scout and the accuracy/judgement of how good he thinks the player is depends on the quality of the scout you have. A rubbish scout will most likely give you an inaccurate star rating.

2. Yes, you can get rid of B team players but if you want to terminate their contracts this will come at a cost. Alternatively just wait for their contract to end. There's no use in keeping rubbish players.

3. Morale plays a big part but its not crucial. An unhappy player may give up when losing or look complacent when winning or appear nervous alot of the time but that does not mean he will play badly. If he's crucial to your team and you have no suitable replacement then he should still do a job.

4. Regarding the handheld > PC versions, i'm guessing they both have the same principles but maybe less features than in the actual game.

5. Forget the kid, man. Do you think Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho pampered their kids in the middle of a crucial league game? You're a football manager now, your life has been taken.

 

[Moo Strength]

1. The recommendation stars for a player are only based upon the strength of the players in your team. For example, if you have poor players then Raheem Sterling would be a 5 star player as he'd be better than most of the players at your club. However, this star rating wont be as high if you have better players.
Also, star ratings aren't the be all and end all. They are just a recommendation from a scout and the accuracy/judgement of how good he thinks the player is depends on the quality of the scout you have. A rubbish scout will most likely give you an inaccurate star rating.

<Insert simple but equally expressive four letter word>

Okay, that's quite possibly the worst response I could get lol , because now I'm screwed, since I have beenbasing my decisions on that factor. I'm basically trying to find young talent. If I already have a good squad with what I've started out with, Barcelona, then all things being equal, if I were to scout player A against player B for the same position, would their respective star ratings be comparable with regards to how each possible target will fit within my club? In other words, if I'm trusting my star rating based on the status from within my specific game, as opposed to someone else's post/opinion of their 'star' rating, would that still be an educated and quantifiable method to establish the better prospect of the two?

Let me give an example if you don't mind....

I created an excel spreadsheet showing the depth chart of my first team. I gave color values based on the players star rating for the potential only. So in my case, running a 3-2-3-2 formation, I right now have Messi and L.Suarez respectively up front as my two FC Then I have D.Suarez as my AMC. On the wings I have Neymar and Sterling respectively as AM L and AM R. In the backfield I have Alba at DL, Pique at DC, and at DR I have Bartra. At GK I have der Stegan

The problem is, if I look at that previously mentioned star rating under potential, all but two players ranks out as a 5 star for potential. Bartra and Pique show as a 4.5 for the max.

If I assume that the star ranking did cover the actual potential ability max as I previously thought, I went hunting for a DR that shows up as a 5 star under potential ability. So I went after Marquinhos to replace Pique as his PA is 5 stars. I haven't found a true DR yet that shows up with potentially a 5 star rating that's young, but for the sake of this hypothesis lets say I found two DR's with 5 stars.

All things being equal, if I had this scenario, would they both show 5 stars under Potential Ability?

5. Forget the kid, man. Do you think Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho pampered their kids in the middle of a crucial league game? You're a football manager now, your life has been taken.

Well, I think my wife would stop doing 'things' that I prefer her to do as it stands (I'm not Al Bundy if that makes sense lol), so as much as I would like to play this game non-stop, there are other 'activities' that take place in my marriage that are infinitely more exciting (6)

I presume that Alex or Jose probably can just trade their ladies like they trade their players anyway, I know I'm lucky with the woman I married so she's more apt to trade me lol

 

[Bowieinspace26]

Once you've brought a player in, the star rating will be based on your assistant managers opinion on the player, not your scout anymore. As both assessments are meant to be somewhat subjective, there is a chance there will be small differences in the star ratings once they enter your squad, even if their JPA/JCA stats are really good. If your scout/assistant manager has not such good ratings on judging potential ability or current ability, they might not be accurate.

The star rating definitely isn't gospel, your staff may get it slightly wrong, and a player with a 5 star rating might not perform as well in games as a player with a 4 star rating. It's a good loose guideline, but there's definitely a lot more stuff to look at than just the stars.

That being said, I've only ever played the full fat, PC version