Life at Club - An Introduction to Serie C
This is not a guide or walkthrough to dominate serie C, because such things don't really exist in FM and even if they did you shouldn't follow them
Nonetheless I happen to be some kind of Italian lower leagues veteran for my in-game experience with FM (I admit I'm awful at managing top clubs though) and because I have a little bit of actual knowledge of Italian football even at Lega Pro level (that is the current name of the division still known as serie C in FM). I had a tactic thread based on my previous success with Pro Patria, you can check it here if interested:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f103/kanderssons-4-2-3-1-lefty-won-in-style-italian-t54397.html
So there you are in the "Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino", you don't owe any taxes to the greedy Italian government and you're so close to Rimini's sea and night-life. Life is looking good indeed except you're still stuck in Serie C2 with a pedestrian squad (though predicted to finish 1st), a 4500 seats stadium, no corporate facilities and no youth academy.
The first thing you need to know about serie C (both 1&2) is that the level of football is unsurprisingly low and your team is no exception. Dumb as it may sound, the key here would be to heavily upgrade your squad by getting much better players than the average standard of the division. How smart uh? Ok wait a second...
This is why pre-season is in my opinion the most important part of the year for LLM. I litterally spent HOURS searching for the right players (and staff), both manually or using filters. Your transfer/wage budget isn't very inspiring, good news is there are many excellent free agents (lower league specialists, ex-serie B stars aging but still decent, former serie A prospects now in disgrace) more than willing to sign at the lowest level!
So my biggest suggestion is search search search! Will take time, but if you hadn't a fair amount of patience you wouldn't even start a San Marino challenge, right?
Some additional information and suggestions you may find helpful
- don't be afraid to shake things over and sign a whole bunch of new players. Let's face it the guys initially at the club are hopeless, and while the new signings will need some time to blend and gel together you'll eventually benefit from a revamped, much stronger squad. Same story goes when (if) you gain promotion.
- in Serie C you're not allowed to sign extra-EU players, but this doesn't mean you can't actually do any shopping in South America. Forget those hyped starlets from Brazil and Argentina, search around minor countries and (depending on your database) you may find some cheap gems equipped with that vital EU passport. Venezuela and Uruguay could be a nice place to start.
- players' morale is so important in FM, here's a way to keep your veterans happy: over-30 players (and you should have some) may express a desire to go into coaching/scouting after their playing career. Now and then (I suggest once a month) just tell them they could become good coach/scouts (or whatever they wish): they will be grateful and their morale will boost, or they will develop staff attributes straight away and if they're good enough you may have found a new player/coach.
- money is going to be an issue until you reach serie A, in the meantime you have to do with what you got and it isn't much. Tickets, tv, sponsorships, tranfers: generally none of these will really boost your finances while in serie C. Best I've found is arranging away friendlies against New Zealand clubs: when you reach serie B those NZ teams will pay you 200K euros (!) per game, but even in C their fresh cash should help you survive.
- chop the dead woods. You'll need every bit of your wage budget to put up a really competitive squad, so get rid of all your useless, ungifted players asap and free some valuable cap space. Sell, loan or terminate contracts: just get them outta here!
- interact with your board. Ask for more transfer/wage budget, more coaches, more scouts, more scouting areas, and do that as much as you can, all season long. You really need all that stuff, and usually the boardroom will end giving in your demands if you insist a bit.
Hope this helped newly appointed San Marino managers, season resumes coming next days stay tuned!