Hi guys, I hope I have put this in the right place. It is a good little guide I found on FM-Britain regarding player morale and how it can be improved and thought it may come in handy for you.
This isn't a guide made by me, it is one made by Gareth Millward from FM-Britain. I just thought some of you guys (Including me) would find it quite useful.
Morale boosting is an important and often underrated part of Football Manager. A team with superb morale can perform to a much higher standard than a disenchanted dressing room. A squad which, on the whole, sees you as one of their favoured personnel is not going to “struggle to motivate itself to play for you”. And crucially, happy players don’t tend to cause dressing room discontent by ******** about their team mates and destroying club harmony.
After looking at all aspects of the game, I have found that the best way to do this is through player interaction.
We have five options for talking to our players. We can say whether we’re delighted or merely pleased with a player’s performance. We can say whether we think they are playing acceptably or below par. Or we can say how disappointed we are with their recent form. The trick to finding the right option is twofold:
The Example
At Hinkley I worked on a basic premise. Since “7” is the baseline for a decent performance, I decided that any average rating above 6.50 would be acceptable. Therefore, if I had the chance to comment on a player’s form, I would work on a scale going up and down by 0.50 at a time. So, for example, an average of above 7.50 would delight me. An average of below 6.00 would make me angry.
Working on this basis, I commented on a player whenever I could. Usually this happens if the player has played at least 5 games for you and was selected in the previous match. This is not always the case, so you will need to check.
Then I used the notes system to take a look at the reaction of my players. If a player reacted badly to my praise or criticism, I wrote it down. For example, last week’s subject Sylvain Legwinski thought that I was wrong to suggest that his performance between 6.50 and 6.99 was “acceptable”. Being a more professional and experienced player, he expected a lot more from himself and expected me to demand the same. So, I had to modify the way I dealt with him.
I made a note to criticise him more often. I knew that in order to elicit a positive response from him (i.e. to get his morale boosted) I would have to shift my scale by as much a 0.50. So, performances in the range of 6.50 and 6.99 were now “below par”.
After about half a season, it became clear who fit into my initial scheme and who didn’t. I was commenting so much that I didn’t even need the notes in the end – I knew my players and who needed what sort of treatment. This, to me, is basic man management. And vital to building a good team atmosphere.
There are a few things to note:
Happy reading guys, hope it comes in handy
This isn't a guide made by me, it is one made by Gareth Millward from FM-Britain. I just thought some of you guys (Including me) would find it quite useful.
Morale boosting is an important and often underrated part of Football Manager. A team with superb morale can perform to a much higher standard than a disenchanted dressing room. A squad which, on the whole, sees you as one of their favoured personnel is not going to “struggle to motivate itself to play for you”. And crucially, happy players don’t tend to cause dressing room discontent by ******** about their team mates and destroying club harmony.
After looking at all aspects of the game, I have found that the best way to do this is through player interaction.
We have five options for talking to our players. We can say whether we’re delighted or merely pleased with a player’s performance. We can say whether we think they are playing acceptably or below par. Or we can say how disappointed we are with their recent form. The trick to finding the right option is twofold:
- We need to tell the player what they need to hear.
- We need to tell the player what they want to hear.
The Example
At Hinkley I worked on a basic premise. Since “7” is the baseline for a decent performance, I decided that any average rating above 6.50 would be acceptable. Therefore, if I had the chance to comment on a player’s form, I would work on a scale going up and down by 0.50 at a time. So, for example, an average of above 7.50 would delight me. An average of below 6.00 would make me angry.
Working on this basis, I commented on a player whenever I could. Usually this happens if the player has played at least 5 games for you and was selected in the previous match. This is not always the case, so you will need to check.
Then I used the notes system to take a look at the reaction of my players. If a player reacted badly to my praise or criticism, I wrote it down. For example, last week’s subject Sylvain Legwinski thought that I was wrong to suggest that his performance between 6.50 and 6.99 was “acceptable”. Being a more professional and experienced player, he expected a lot more from himself and expected me to demand the same. So, I had to modify the way I dealt with him.
I made a note to criticise him more often. I knew that in order to elicit a positive response from him (i.e. to get his morale boosted) I would have to shift my scale by as much a 0.50. So, performances in the range of 6.50 and 6.99 were now “below par”.
After about half a season, it became clear who fit into my initial scheme and who didn’t. I was commenting so much that I didn’t even need the notes in the end – I knew my players and who needed what sort of treatment. This, to me, is basic man management. And vital to building a good team atmosphere.
There are a few things to note:
- The best time to comment, in my experience, is when you get the mail about the match odds, about 24-48 hours before kickoff. Too much earlier, and the effect of your interaction might “wear off”. Any later, and the player won’t react to your words until after the game (which seems pointless).
- It isn’t always necessary to comment on a player who has “superb” morale, but if you do and you get it right time after time there is more chance that the player will see you as a “favoured personnel”.
- Professional players in higher divisions will need more criticism. At a semi-pro club (and a small one at that) I found the softly-softly approach worked best. At better clubs, the players will demand more from themselves – and more from you. Likewise, youth players may need more encouragement and fewer tongue lashings in order to build their confidence.
- Never, ever, ever be afraid to get it wrong. You will get it wrong, and occasionally will get it wrong with a player you’ve known for years. That isn’t a problem – the player won’t resent you for it long-term and without making mistakes you cannot learn what the correct response is.
Happy reading guys, hope it comes in handy