Iceland - is it unplayable or am I doing it wrong?

[Mikkyk]

I started a save with IBV in the First Division (second tier) and am now into my second season. I won the league at a canter in first season, so am now in the Premier Division and this is where the problems that had already started are now even starker. They are:

• Finances - I am losing (relatively) huge amounts each month. My player wages alone are more than my total income each month. I've cut the squad a lot, and am still making a sizeable loss every month. This means I can't sign new players, can't give players new contracts and can't hire staff. I've now got grey players on the bench due to the cuts made.
• Player stats - The club is semi pro so the training is part time (obviously can't go full time with the finance issues) and this seems to mean that all my players stats are dropping. Even the 1 star, potential 5 star 16 year old is getting worse. A couple of players have "fallen off a cliff" including my 28 year old keeper who has regressed from a 3.5 star to a 2.5 star. I have tried varying training schedules/methods and nothing seems to work.

Now obviously the above two interact with each other and at the moment I feel like I'm in a vicious circle with the only potential way out is getting money from European football - but this is so unlikely as my team is, quite rapidly, getting worse, due to sales and attribute drops.

Is this a problem with the game or something I'm doing?

 

[fc.cadoni]

Stars is relative opinion of background staff and it's based on your current squad. For example you may have a 4-5 star player; does not mean it's a Messi with high CA number. If you bring Messi in the club, then all other players - their stars will drop significantly. Attributes drop or gain can be viewed in this panel:

Player > Development > Progress > Attributes > Compare Attribute Changes Since (All Time)

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Iceland League is not one the best leagues out there or having a high reputation, so domestic money from TV or sponsors will be very low. The only way to gain some money is by qualifying in Europa Champions League (Group Stage) or Europa Conference League (Group Stage - more realistic option this one).

 

[Mikkyk]

 

[fc.cadoni]

View attachment 590939

It's not -1; that the positive one, only re-adjustment in CA thing.

In general, player progression - developing affect by:

- Age (above 24 is slower or not at all)
- Determination - Ambition - Professionalism
- Injury Prone
- Training Facilities
- Coaches
- CA/PA difference

In your case which is a semi-pro club, they train only 4 times in a week (with one game in Saturday for example); so it has very limited time to train - this effect their progression / developing.

Try to make it in Europe, solve the financial issue and make the club as professional and not semi-pro.

 

[Mikkyk]

It's not -1; that the positive one, only re-adjustment in CA thing.

In general, player progression - developing affect by:

- Age (above 24 is slower or not at all)
- Determination - Ambition - Professionalism
- Injury Prone
- Training Facilities
- Coaches
- CA/PA difference

In your case which is a semi-pro club, they train only 4 times in a week (with one game in Saturday for example); so it has very limited time to train - this effect their progression / developing.

Try to make it in Europe, solve the financial issue and make the club as professional and not semi-pro.

This is my original question, is it impossible for players to not regress while only training 4 times a week?

And if so, is the only solution to all this European football? If so, that renders the league unplayable imo as that shouldn't be the only solution to keeping a club alive.

 

[Vanjagl]

No. Due to low standards of your training facilities + training setup, your players will most likely stagnate, if not regress.

If you want to develop players, you need a proffessional status, and it should be challenging while in Iceland. And you'll need some luck too.

Keep in mind at that level, physical attributes are the king. Also keep your tactics simple. Getting fairly deep into european competition should provide great flux of chash for you. Also playing friendlies against big clubs can be really rewarding, well at least when it comes to money.

Best advice I can give you is to become ultimate dominant force in your league first. Then your league will develop, you'll get better players and more money. Also, do not keep players. Sell them for as much as you can (but since you're semi-pro, thats the part of an issue) and get cheaper/free agents.

 

[fc.cadoni]

Echoing what @Vanjagl said.

And yes, solution is European (CL, Europa, Conference) or sign-to-sell players.