Alright boyz, here we go!!! FM 2006 First Impressions

[sovereignstar]

Oh yeah.. what kind of roster size should I shoot for at this Div. II/III level?

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Oh yeah.. what kind of roster size should I shoot for at this Div. II/III level?

IMO it kinda depends on what kinda budget you've got as far as transfers and salary. I try to build some young depth if I have some $$ room, but not always possible.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Oh yeah.. what kind of roster size should I shoot for at this Div. II/III level?

It depends on how many matches you have to play. I'd say at that level, around 18-20 would be a good squad size.

[jbmagic]

sovereignstar makes a good point.


maybe someone with Instant message can help us newbies out by giving us a walk thru in what you do prior to your games and after. it can help us understand it better.

[vex]

Is the tutorial not very helpful?

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

So I have barely had any time to get into FM lately. Part of the problem is that I need large chunks of time to get into the game as it's one that requires my full attention.

Another problem, which I'm sure many newbies have had, is that I've got little to no ability to read my current team and determine what kind of tactics/system I should start with - who should I keep/get rid of? And what kind of attributes should I be looking at for this new system?

I've read Marc's hints and a couple of articles on Susie, but I'm still just "dinking" around in the game and not getting any progress made. I don't want to move ahead if I don't have some goals for my team set. I'm kind of compulsive like that - I need to know exactly what I'm doing and where I'm going. And right now I don't. I started a game with the Belgian team Aalst (3rd Division A). I've got quite a bit of money to work with - 100k transfer money and I can more than double my current wage level.

What are the chances that someone could briefly run down that team and tell me what they see? What would you do with the team personally? Have any of you other guys been in my situation and do you have some other tips for me?

I love reading about the game and I love browsing around in it, but with my limited time (and limited soccer knowledge) it seems likely that this game will get pushed to the side again soon if I don't make some sort of progress. Thanks for any help any of ya'll can provide.

I can't look at your team since I don't have Belgium active. However, I'll try and give you a rundown on how you might choose to start out.

If you don't know what you're doing, I would recommend starting out with the default 4-4-2 tactic. That's the standard soccer tactic.

What you want in a flat 4-4-2 positionally:

Strikers: A common tactic is to pair a small, fast striker with a tall striker who is a good header. For a small, fast striker you want Pace, Acceleration, Off the Ball, and Finishing. Big +s are Technique, Dribbling, and Composure. For the big striker, you want Strength, Jumping, Heading, and Finishing. There are a lot of other stats you want ideally, but those are the basics.

Midfield: The two wingers should have Pace, Acceleration, Dribbling, Crossing, and Creativity. +s are Work Rate, and the small striker stats, among others. If they can tackle and mark well, that's a very nice thing to have, but not essential.

One center mid should be defense focused, generally a DMC. Look for Strength, Positioning, Tackling, Marking, Anticipation, Work Rate, and Stamina. Aggression, Bravery, Team Work, Determination are big +s. If he can Jump and Head, that's great too.

The other should be more offensive minded, generally a MC or AMC. Mental stats are huge, as this guy is your field general who should dictate the play from the center of the pitch. Work Rate, Team Work, Determination, Creativity, Decisions, and Passing are huge. Pace, Acceleration, Off the Ball, Dribbling, Technique, are +s. This position is key, so really you want this place to be filled by one of your best players (meaning spend money here).

Defense:

For fullbacks, see the DMC overview, but add in Crossing and Pace.

For CD, Stength, Jumping, Heading, Positioning, Anticipation, Tackling, Marking, Determination, and Bravery are all important. +s include Passing and Concentration


This list isn't comprehensive by any stretch, and at the level of your team, it'll be highly unlikely to find players that meet all, or many of those attributes, but hopefully it can serve as a guide. An easy way to see what is really important to a particular position is to look at the stats of the top players in the world.

Tactically, I would start out with the base 4-4-2 and then try and mold a formation to your team strengths once you develop a better understanding of the game. FM06 is pretty complex tactically, so it does require some patience. At that level, I would keep things simple anyway though, as the more specific instructions you give your players, the better they have to be to be able to implement them, if you follow.

[DaddyTorgo]

sometimes i find it helpful when playing with a brand new team and players i've never heard of Sov, to just let my AssMan handle all of the team selection, and keep the tactic a straight 4-4-2, at least for the first month or so. To get a better idea of how your players are actually performing versus what their ratings are.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

I've read Marc's hints and a couple of articles on Susie, but I'm still just "dinking" around in the game and not getting any progress made. I don't want to move ahead if I don't have some goals for my team set. I'm kind of compulsive like that - I need to know exactly what I'm doing and where I'm going. And right now I don't. I started a game with the Belgian team Aalst (3rd Division A). I've got quite a bit of money to work with - 100k transfer money and I can more than double my current wage level.

What are the chances that someone could briefly run down that team and tell me what they see? What would you do with the team personally? Have any of you other guys been in my situation and do you have some other tips for me?

I can absolutely relate to your situation as this was me a year ago with FM2005. I may talk a good game now, but when I started with Luton Town, I had about no clue what to do. Yeah, I'd seen some soccer before, okay lots of soccer but knowing what 4-4-2 meant was about the extent of my knowledge as I was a referee more than a player in my youth and as a ref, you don't "watch" the game in the same way.

What I did first was ask one of my coach (or my ass man) to do the selection on the basic 4-4-2 setting. I then managed the friendlies, subbing everybody out at halftime and I tried to take notice of who was playing well in what position, no matter what their skills were. I then started making switches with what my ass man was recommending I sort of built on that and started adding new players only later in the season. I saw that first season as a kind of "you gotta simply avoid demotion, you'll do better next season", maybe even more so since the guys in place are not really "my" guys... Sure, I went into an 18 game streak of sort in which I didn't win won and drew many times. At one point I was very close to getting sacked but I kept on going...

I'd also recommend taking a look at the in-game tutorial. I have not read many of the screens but the ones I've read, I was extremely impressed with.

FM

[Ramzavail]

I am struggling with obtaining friendlies and I want to keep my guys in shape, sure, I'm in the Super League in Malaysia right now, but why is it so difficult for me to get a friendly during the off season?

I can't bartar with $, they say I only make 1k from the friendly, any tips?

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

I am struggling with obtaining friendlies and I want to keep my guys in shape, sure, I'm in the Super League in Malaysia right now, but why is it so difficult for me to get a friendly during the off season?

I can't bartar with $, they say I only make 1k from the friendly, any tips?

If you are completely desperate then schedule some friendlies with your reserve team..

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Bea-Arthurs Hip

If you are completely desperate then schedule some friendlies with your reserve team..

That's what I was going to recommend. I usually book a couple friendlies between my reserves and my U18 squad only to get both squads a bit of work before the season starts...

FM

[Bee]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I can absolutely relate to your situation as this was me a year ago with FM2005. I may talk a good game now, but when I started with Luton Town, I had about no clue what to do. Yeah, I'd seen some soccer before, okay lots of soccer but knowing what 4-4-2 meant was about the extent of my knowledge as I was a referee more than a player in my youth and as a ref, you don't "watch" the game in the same way.

What I did first was ask one of my coach (or my ass man) to do the selection on the basic 4-4-2 setting. I then managed the friendlies, subbing everybody out at halftime and I tried to take notice of who was playing well in what position, no matter what their skills were. I then started making switches with what my ass man was recommending I sort of built on that and started adding new players only later in the season. I saw that first season as a kind of "you gotta simply avoid demotion, you'll do better next season", maybe even more so since the guys in place are not really "my" guys... Sure, I went into an 18 game streak of sort in which I didn't win won and drew many times. At one point I was very close to getting sacked but I kept on going...

I'd also recommend taking a look at the in-game tutorial. I have not read many of the screens but the ones I've read, I was extremely impressed with.

FM

A couple more suggestions I'd add to what FM said above.

1. I'd print out a roster sheet and then go through each player and check out their "position" screen. Make note of how good they are for each position they play. This gives you a much better idea of how to set up the lineup with the players that can play multiple positions. Also, it's a good way to note any holes you have as far as depth goes.

2. Pay attention to the highlights during the games. I think the 2D match engine is a great source of information. I watch for things like players that make bad/good passes, are really fast or slow, guys that take bad shots when there's another player open, etc. There's tons I don't know about soccer, but I can see for myself if someone is constantly doing stupid stuff or is slower than everyone else. I then use that information in conjunction with match ratings and skill ratings to evaluate my team over the season.

[SirFozzie]

try games on the road, usually teams will accept away friendlies, since they're going to get paid (and you're not)

[daedalus]

Expect to get your ass handed to you on a silver platter the first time or maybe two you try out the game. Especially since you are trying out a tougher team (lower budget, lesser name). It's an unfamiliar game and an unfamiliar sport to you. That's just the way it is.

Check what Des, Bee and Frogger said. Specifically, just start with a basic 4-4-2. Let your assistant manager pick the squad. Read Marc's guide for what specific ratings to look for at specific positions (as you play more, you'll see what other ratings may contribute more but that's later). Watch the 2D games to see what glaring holes you may have. I would even suggest watching a game or two on "full match" mode (basically, watching the whole game) before switching back to "extended" or "key".

[daedalus]

I didn't have any games in the CM4-family prior to '06 so I can't speak for any of those but my 01/02 game did have players punching referees. It just didn't happen until generated players started becoming more prevalent. I believe the biggest thing with the ARSE command was that it allowed current players to do so as well.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

hrm, maybe, but I thought they took them back and sent replacement ones if you asked...

Based on what I read here, that was my impression as well.

[Sidhe]

This game is hard for a novice, but not impossible if you look around for advice and try it out. All the advice here is basically what I've done. Mark's tips helped leaps and bounds. I still haven't learned everything I need (I'm not running individual training regimens yet, for instance) but I had great success last season, getting a striker 30 goals and placing 7th (after a good run, reaching 3rd place, then fading at the end..) I think experiencing a little success is vital to feeling like you know how to play the game.

This season has been much more difficult. My monster striker is suddenly mortal and moody. I've imported players who I THOUGHT would improve my team, but apart from a loaned winger (who got hurt and had to be sent home!) I've not improved at all and actually slipped. I'm sitting in the high teens in late January. I know I've got a good enough squad to repeat last season's success, so the problem is ME! I had a great run managing the emotions of my squad last season, keeping them at superb, and wisely choosing when to kick their butts a little. This season I've been off the mark. I'm apparently condoning some poor play and being too harsh too soon -- SI has done a pretty good job of making this part of the engine feel like an art and not a science.

But through persistence we tasted success once again. Finally we fought through in the FA Trophy, soundly beating a team we should have beat and then drawing against a team from a higher conference that should have destroyed us. We did that because I learned how to manipulate the sliders -- ultra defensive, slow down, counter. The vastly superior team was frustrated beyond reason and started getting yellow cards. My second string goalie had the game of his life and when we forced the second game, which we of course lost, my squad was on cloud nine. We lost, but we'd built something, and we used what we learned to frustrate and ultimately DEFEAT SOUNDLY one of the promotion contenders in our conference, a team that had smashed us to bits in our first meeting.

(I think I learned that I have a talented defensive/counterstrike team. Had I not experimented I wouldn't have realized this. I'd have kept trying to resurrect last seasons wide open goal scoring machine.)

Once you learn how the game operates just a little bit, you'll be hooked. I've never played a game that is as deep as this, that makes you feel like you are doing something, like your decisions actually count. It keeps me on the edge of my seat watching matches.

A string of losses is a frustrating thing, but now I've seen the promised land and I think I can get us there. I keep reading threads like this one for pointers, and I keep watching my players to see what they are doing well and what they just can't do.

Now I have to figure out training.. I've already learned to staff as many coaches as you can afford. I've got eleven. I'd like more!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Sidhe

This season has been much more difficult. My monster striker is suddenly mortal and moody. I've imported players who I THOUGHT would improve my team, but apart from a loaned winger (who got hurt and had to be sent home!) I've not improved at all and actually slipped. I'm sitting in the high teens in late January. I know I've got a good enough squad to repeat last season's success, so the problem is ME! I had a great run managing the emotions of my squad last season, keeping them at superb, and wisely choosing when to kick their butts a little. This season I've been off the mark. I'm apparently condoning some poor play and being too harsh too soon -- SI has done a pretty good job of making this part of the engine feel like an art and not a science.

Remember that players may need time to gel together and become a team, especially foreigners. I've had this experience in the first season in which I'd brought in tons of new players to Q.P.R., all players that I knew where supposed to improve my squad. That was true in '05 and should be true in '06 too.

I've also seen that some players may take up to one full season before they are really comfortable with the team. That was true with Cristiano Lucarelli in his first season. He scored many goals in that first year but they came in burst and he was capable of the worst kind of games, then in his second season with us, he's a goal scoring machine...

FM

[scooter]

One other thing that I've used to "get to know my team" is to start the game as unemployed with a made-up name. I then run the game on holiday mode for a couple years (run it while you are doing something else). Then, during the offseason, I'll add myself in as the manager of the team I wanted in the first place.

With this method I've generated a couple years worth of form ratings for the players and history for the team (who's the fan's player of the year, top goalscorer, discipline leader). Starting a team from the beginning always seems like starting from a dead stop. This way is a little more exciting as everything is moving and you're just joining in.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by scooter

One other thing that I've used to "get to know my team" is to start the game as unemployed with a made-up name. I then run the game on holiday mode for a couple years (run it while you are doing something else). Then, during the offseason, I'll add myself in as the manager of the team I wanted in the first place.

With this method I've generated a couple years worth of form ratings for the players and history for the team (who's the fan's player of the year, top goalscorer, discipline leader). Starting a team from the beginning always seems like starting from a dead stop. This way is a little more exciting as everything is moving and you're just joining in.

you know, this is not completely crazy, I kind of like that... I probably wouldn't sim two years, maybe only one, but I like that idea and the fact that players have a tangible history behind them when you take over a team...

FM

FM

[scooter]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

you know, this is not completely crazy, I kind of like that... I probably wouldn't sim two years, maybe only one, but I like that idea and the fact that players have a tangible history behind them when you take over a team...

It usually works best with a team you don't know anything about, because if you started with a team you know well, you might be disappointed that the previous manager sold off your favorite players. I'll also run it with a number of leagues and save it - that way I can start up a game in whatever league I feel like at the time (or sometimes, I'll take over a team that has a manager opening). Set it to run before you go to bed at night and see how far it's gone by morning (if you can sleep, sometimes the excitement is too much ).

[sovereignstar]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys - really appreciate them. Will keep everything mentioned here in mind when I fire her up again.

[MikeVick7]

Sidhe pretty much summed up my career so far.

Had a decent first season with Northwich from Conference North. I fell two points short of qualifying for the playoffs in season one. Then brought in a bunch of new better and younger players for season two and it's been a disaster.

I'm just about halfway through the season, and I'm sitting 18th in the table and battling with the morale of my team after each game. From my many hours played with FM2005, I should have known better than to bring in so many new players, especially young players, to start off a new season but I just couldn't help myself. I saw all these young guys that were so much better than what I had on my roster, but I guess the experience factor of what I got rid of is hurting me big time.

I also got burned by bringing in players who were getting trained full-time and then their attributes fell somewhat once they started training part-time.

[Sidhe]

In my own defense, I tried not to bring in too many. But two of my starters got injured early, and then I found a wicked good goalie who actually wanted to play for me..

So what was going to be a couple of tweaks turned into wholesale changes..

The injuries were devastating since they destroyed my left side attack -- wing back and winger, gone for six months.. all the high energy, the crucial assists, disappeared. That's when I loaned in the guy who would have been the best player on my squad if he weren't one of five new starters. It's too bad HE got injured before he could flower into the system. That would have been righteous..

But I won't complain too much. I do have a better team. A few of them agreed to go full time, too, so we should be even better next year.

[AlexB]

A message to you all, and especially Marc: humble apologies! Transfer budgets, now I'm over the intial shock work pretty well - as I've been doing pretty well in the PL with Leicester in the 2006/7 season, the board have gradually released more funds - amounted to around an extra £4m after the initial £2.8m budget - this £6.8m figure strikes me as about right: what I would have expected tbh. And the board obviously wanted to play it by ear as to the finances: in case of relegation I guess.

But as my wages were £130k a week as opposed to £300k a week (I refused to give even decent contracts until I saw how we would do), we were making (only a little bit of cash) as well.

So at the beginnning of the January, with the mighty Foxes being generally 5th - 7th for the majority of the season (we were actually at that time 2nd and 3rd depending on who played when) I get possibly the best message I have ever seen in a FM game mid season...

I went back to the board, and checked that they had not put a decimal point in the worng place, but no, they confirmed the amount - £9m extra to spend! Woo hoo!

Given that we have been constantly in a European spot, have just got to 39 points in early Jan, and are still in the UEFA, it seems pretty good how the board have been cautious, and then when I can buy again, they say - OK, you've proved to us we can do well - here's some cash.

Now, just gotta make sure I don't blow it

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Remember that players may need time to gel together and become a team, especially foreigners. I've had this experience in the first season in which I'd brought in tons of new players to Q.P.R., all players that I knew where supposed to improve my squad. That was true in '05 and should be true in '06 too.

I've also seen that some players may take up to one full season before they are really comfortable with the team. That was true with Cristiano Lucarelli in his first season. He scored many goals in that first year but they came in burst and he was capable of the worst kind of games, then in his second season with us, he's a goal scoring machine...

FM

I've noticed the same problem. It happened in 05, but is far more noticeable in 06. If you bring in an entire new squad in to the Premiership after promotion or what have you, you'll get your butt kicked for a season. I avoided relegating back down with Leeds by one spot even though I had far superior talent than the rest of the bottom half.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I've noticed the same problem. It happened in 05, but is far more noticeable in 06. If you bring in an entire new squad in to the Premiership after promotion or what have you, you'll get your butt kicked for a season. I avoided relegating back down with Leeds by one spot even though I had far superior talent than the rest of the bottom half.

In my opiniong, this is not really a "problem", it kind of mimicks real life. Think about it, would you bring a whole new starting eleven in real life and hope they would all get together right from the start? I don't think so, things have to be done in little steps... Even more important is the fact the we, at least I do, usually bring in players from all around the world to make up one team, often no matter if they even speak English...

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, I meant not a problem with the game, more a problem with how we build our teams

FM

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

dola, I meant not a problem with the game, more a problem with how we build our teams

FM

That's what I meant too.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

That's what I meant too.

and you and I both realise that there is probably a thread titled "OMG IT'S A FRIGGING BUG, MY TEAM IS SO MUICH BETTER AND SHOUDLN'T BE LOSINGLIKE THAT!!!!!111......SI PLEASE RESPOND!!!" on the SI forums somewhere where somebody brought in 3 Spanish players, 3 Italians, 3 Brazilians, a Swede, and an Argentinian to an EPL squad and doesn't understand that the players just can't communicate with one another

FM

[Pumpy Tudors]

This is kind of an aside, but I've started bringing a bunch of Belgians to Exeter City. I don't know why. I guess I'm trying to turn us into Belgium West.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

This is kind of an aside, but I've started bringing a bunch of Belgians to Exeter City. I don't know why. I guess I'm trying to turn us into Belgium West.

hmmmmm, waffles

FM

[Sidhe]

"Mr. Sidhe, while you have done a good job getting the players to play in your system, are you aware that we are now 75 THOUSAND pounds in debt?"

Uh.. no I didn't catch that.

They gave me a new contract but narrowed the amount of money I can spend considerably. Now I'm almost 2k/wk over budget..

This because I wouldn't sign a long term contract last year since they were LOWERING my wage. Of course, I was losing them money..

So there's a whole other side to being a manager I wasn't really paying any attention to while I was fiddling with tactics and players.

Is it possible to get out of that hole in the Conference South? Largest crowd I've ever noticed at a Basingstoke home game was just over 400, and that was last year when we were winning.

oops...

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Sidhe

"Mr. Sidhe, while you have done a good job getting the players to play in your system, are you aware that we are now 75 THOUSAND pounds in debt?"

Uh.. no I didn't catch that.

They gave me a new contract but narrowed the amount of money I can spend considerably. Now I'm almost 2k/wk over budget..

This because I wouldn't sign a long term contract last year since they were LOWERING my wage. Of course, I was losing them money..

So there's a whole other side to being a manager I wasn't really paying any attention to while I was fiddling with tactics and players.

Is it possible to get out of that hole in the Conference South? Largest crowd I've ever noticed at a Basingstoke home game was just over 400, and that was last year when we were winning.

oops...

Yea'... promotion.

Seriously, if you're in the top half of the table all year for a year or two, and especially if you're in the promotion chase, your attendance will increase.

Moreover, if you can get an FA Cup (not FA Trophy) matchup against a L2 or up side, you'll get a real nice payday. In your case, I would base all my decisions around fielding a team that can win a game or two in the FA Cup.

[Senator]

I just want to know one thing. Has Quiksand played this?

[Desnudo]

Well I just resigned from Leeds at the end of January 08' after not winning in lord knows how many months. I was getting sacked sooner rather than later anyway. The first time in any CM/FM game I've had to resign/been sacked. The season started out with promise, first after October, but then it went all downhill. A few bad games turns into a moral issue turns into players losing confidence, turns into no goals. No injuries to speak of, just bad play. I had a good training program, four and five stars, good players, what I thought was a good tactic. I'm actually not unhappy that the game would play out like that, I just wish I had some sort of clue as to why.

I think that's my frustration, is not feeling like I have the tools to understand why my team is underperforming.

Fortunately I got the USA job before I resigned, so hopefully I can bring them glory.

[Sidhe]

The morale thing seems to be very important. Once you lose that, you have to work on getting it back or you are sunk. I guess. I don't want to sound like an expert because it could be who knows how many other things besides, but it looked to me like once my team lost morale, they tanked and it took a morale lift to get them into good form again.

I can also say that I have a couple of guys who play well even when they aren't particularly inspired. I remember someone, Mark maybe, mentioning that professionalism could play a part in it.

At my level, ECS, there isn't much professionalism to be had.

I seem to have been wrong about my budget because now it shows me at 700 pounds per week under budget. But we are still losing money hand over fist! I don't know why at the end of last season it showed me running such a huge overbudget (2K/week). When the season ended I let some contracts expire, but these would have been worth about 50 pounds apiece, times half a dozen or so. Does not equal up to 2.5K/week. I do not understand what I saw at the end of last season -- it was at the bottom of the page where you make an offer for a guy. There's a sentence there that advises you how close you are to your budget limit. I got to within 70 pounds but I didn't go over the original budget, then IT APPEARED that when I signed the new contract WHAM I was 2K/week over. Is there something that ordinarily happens at the end of the season that I stumbled across and just don't get? Someone help me out..

I am now a cool 100K in the red.. Why don't those stingy Basingstoke peeps come out to the show? WHAT ELSE do they have to do there?

[AlexB]

I live about half an hour outside of Basingstoke - tbh I don't know what they do there: it's a strange place - one of those that you drive through rather than to .

How much was your contract worth? I would imagine, but don;t know for sure, that this would be counted within the budget, so if you are on £2k a week more than before (unlikely I know!) that could explain it.

Even if you stick to budgets, this is not a guarantee that you will break even or better - many lower level clubs run at a loss in the hope of either getting promotion or selling a couple of players to balance the books. So you could find yourself slipping into debt even if you stay within the level set - if you go over it you are likely to be haemmoraging cash

[3ric]

Originally Posted by Senator

I just want to know one thing. Has Quiksand played this?

Oh yes. I dont know if he has bought FM2006 yet, but with the previous versions he has done some very enjoyable dynasty threads with the lower league team Lincoln.

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...ad.php?t=37337

[Marc Vaughan]

I seem to have been wrong about my budget because now it shows me at 700 pounds per week under budget. But we are still losing money hand over fist! I don't know why at the end of last season it showed me running such a huge overbudget (2K/week). When the season ended I let some contracts expire, but these would have been worth about 50 pounds apiece, times half a dozen or so. Does not equal up to 2.5K/week. I do not understand what I saw at the end of last season -- it was at the bottom of the page where you make an offer for a guy. There's a sentence there that advises you how close you are to your budget limit. I got to within 70 pounds but I didn't go over the original budget, then IT APPEARED that when I signed the new contract WHAM I was 2K/week over. Is there something that ordinarily happens at the end of the season that I stumbled across and just don't get? Someone help me out..

The board reassess budgets at the end of the season and can alter them so your budget might have raised or dropped, also if you have players with seasonal rises then this mounts up quickly (if you're silly enough to give a player a 25% rise per season then you'll find his wage gets big fast).

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Well I just resigned from Leeds at the end of January 08' after not winning in lord knows how many months. I was getting sacked sooner rather than later anyway. The first time in any CM/FM game I've had to resign/been sacked. The season started out with promise, first after October, but then it went all downhill. A few bad games turns into a moral issue turns into players losing confidence, turns into no goals. No injuries to speak of, just bad play. I had a good training program, four and five stars, good players, what I thought was a good tactic. I'm actually not unhappy that the game would play out like that, I just wish I had some sort of clue as to why.

I think that's my frustration, is not feeling like I have the tools to understand why my team is underperforming.

Fortunately I got the USA job before I resigned, so hopefully I can bring them glory.

What problems were you facing? Was the team just not scoring?

[Sidhe]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

How much was your contract worth? I would imagine, but don;t know for sure, that this would be counted within the budget, so if you are on £2k a week more than before (unlikely I know!) that could explain it.

Ha! I'm on an 80 pound per week retainer.. That's about $120/week. I'd make more than that working at McDonalds!

[FrogMan]

There has been some questions on the SI Forums as to how many concurrent installations of the downloaded version of WSM2006 one person can have. While it was always believed to be two, as per Graeme Kelly, some people mentionned having trouble registering for a second one. Here's what Graeme just posted on the SI Forums:

Originally Posted by Graeme Kelly on the SI Forums

Here's the reply for the 2 licenses queries:

That one had been bugging me a bit, mostly since we may get a second computer in the house next Spring. Now I should be able to install the game on two separate machines following that procedure.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Sidhe

Ha! I'm on an 80 pound per week retainer.. That's about $120/week. I'd make more than that working at McDonalds!

hey, if it's 80 pounds of burgers, you're not in that bad a shape

FM

PS: I do know you were talking about British Pounds

[Bee]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

hey, if it's 80 pounds of burgers, you're not in that bad a shape

FM

PS: I do know you were talking about British Pounds

I thought the British used kilograms or stones or some nonsense like that.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Bee

I thought the British used kilograms or stones or some nonsense like that.

I'm Canadian, but I'm multi-scales, pounds and kilograms are all right, although stones, got no clue about these

FM

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm finally about to start my second season with Exeter City. I thought I was going to get fired (I even got the dreaded vote of confidence from the board at one point), but a decent finish has netted me a new 2-year contract. One of my star players was very happy to see me get the new contract. The fans have no comment. I think they haven't forgiven me for an incident that happened during my first season. I embarrassed myself by declaring an interest in Jeff Agoos, when everybody would know that he'd have absolutely no interest in leaving MLS to come to Exeter. I figured that I'd try declaring interest just to see what would happen, and the fans ripped into me for it. I'm not sure if they've gotten over that yet.

I'll be playing all weekend!

[Sadalia]

1 stone = 14 pounds. Weight, that is, although I'm sure there are some nice stones you could buy for 14 pounds cash.

Coming toward the end of February in my first year in charge of League One Blackpool, and we are in a rather impressive fourth place, in a playoff position and still with some hope of catching Swansea for the second automatic promotion spot (Forest are way out in front).

I am enjoying this game a lot, and am getting a real sense of the personalities of my players. I have a pretty young squad, and they seem an enthusiastic and positive bunch of kids. They also seem pretty laid back. My star defender Peter Clarke wanted to move to a bigger club, and when a half-million pound offer came in I gladly took it, seeing as his contract was up at the end of the year. The fans were not happy, but Simon Ford, the replacement I brought in from Kilmarnock on my scouts' recommendation has done great. Since Clarke left there has been not a whisper of discontent among my team; I suspect our decent league position has a lot to do with that.

My main concern has been strengthening midfield and covnering for injuries with a pretty thin squad. Some more of the Clarke money brought in young Bradley Orr from Bristol City, who has been solid if rarely spectacular in midfield; however, my coaches think he could have what it takes to be a great player in the future.

This post is in danger of becoming a minidynasty; I hope it illustrates how involved I'm getting with fm2006, which I believe is the best CM/FM game yet.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I had a player on my Exeter team who was absolutely ripping up the league. He didn't score many goals, but he knew how to find open teammates and make the perfect pass. One of the few goals he scored turned out to be the Goal of the Year in the Conference National, though. He got injured near the end of the season and missed the last 10 matches or so. His value had skyrocketed to $300,000 (sorry, guys, I can't help playing with dollars), and my team had started to learn how to play without him, so I let him go. I really hope that another of my players can make such huge strides this season (hopefully a player who's already tied into a long contract!).

Loving this game, guys!

[jbmagic]

can you trade in fm 2006?