How's Your Game Going?

[SOLIDBOB]

Charlie Adam scores a highly unlikely hat-trick of free kicks and Italy fall apart as only they can. Freakin' sweet.

[Tommy]

Okish 1st season; Won the league cup (ok), last 16 of the CL (good), 2nd in the SPL (boo!).

Surprised how many coming and goings I managed in close season 2. Highlights include Basturk, Adu (1st time I've ever had him) and Aguilar.

Here's my squad for season 2.

[Stew]

Can't get in to any games I start in European leagues right now because of the update. --(Think Arsenal starting the season with £20m already, but now without Henry but no extra funds from his move.)-- So I'm messing about in non-European leagues and found myself at DC United, with the worst playing squad I've ever seen at a team who expect to actually win things straight off.

Needless to say, I did, anyway.

Anyone got any tips for getting back into Football Manager? Tried lower leagues, big teams, challenges etc, but the only games I seem to enjoy are with diddy US teams or Brazilian teams.

[¡Punk!]

One of my favourite games was going East Bengal in the Indian League. Although it's kinda fun running all the Asian games and starting unemployed. It's a challenge to rise from club to club.

[Zippy]

Check out the SI forums and have a go as a lower league club with the lower league rules - full attribute masking on, not allowed to send scouts outside of your region, all players must be scouted before you buy them, no clicking through teams trying to get their youngsters or anything like that. It's hard to stick to the rules they've set but it makes it a bit interesting.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by ¡Punk!

One of my favourite games was going East Bengal in the Indian League. Although it's kinda fun running all the Asian games and starting unemployed. It's a challenge to rise from club to club.

I have all the Asian and South/North American leagues running, but I also tend to keep EPL/SPL/Championship for moving back when a team I half fancy get's relegated so I can move in and re-build, then I regret leaving the original team and end up closing it down.

Best bet is to stop loading up SPL/EPL, isn't it!

Originally Posted by Zippy

Check out the SI forums and have a go as a lower league club with the lower league rules - full attribute masking on, not allowed to send scouts outside of your region, all players must be scouted before you buy them, no clicking through teams trying to get their youngsters or anything like that. It's hard to stick to the rules they've set but it makes it a bit interesting.

Good shout man.

I tried the thing ages ago where you manage Chelsea and within one season you must have only English players in your squad. It's actually suprisingly difficult considering the massive budgets you get.

[Zippy]

I have England as a staple, they're the most interesting leagues to start in or join once you've built a reputation in another country.

G.A's Three Rules of playing LLM.


1) Choose a team. Play the same team until you've won everything you can, regardless how long it takes, or until you're sacked. Then start a new game.
2) Choose a team. Play until your reputation attracts the interest of ever increasingly bigger teams; change Clubs as and when you're offered jobs until you're in charge at Real Madrid, Juventus, Man Utd or a World Cup winning Manager with San Marino.
3) Choose a team. Do crap. Get sacked. Wait for another team. Do crap. Get sacked. Wait for….ad infinitum.



Playing the game.


First thing to remember is…LLM is a way of playing the game, it’s not just playing with a Team from the Lower Leagues.

It is just a game, though. It’s counter-productive to get bogged down by rules, although there are a few guidelines which should be heeded in order to play the game in the LLM Spirit.

There’s a rule, though, which is best described as “set in stone”.

Play the game as SI programmed it. That is, install the CM Game, apply the latest official SI Patch, Choose a Team and play the game. That means do NOT use editors or third party updates (i.e. Updates on squads, competitions, etc, made up by persons other than SI).

The reason for this is that playing LLM is about playing the game as realistically as possible. This means trusting the data provided by SI is as good as you can get. Third Party Updates are done by persons who may be tempted to give an advantage/disadvantage to favourite/hated Clubs or Players – note MAY. It doesn’t benefit SI to provide faulty data, so steer clear of other updates.

Editors (The Spawn of Satan) are banned for two reasons. They can corrupt your game and they allow you to cheat, whether it’s producing super-players or swapping Teams from one Division or Nation to another.



Guidelines:


Scout Where You Can Tour, or SWYCT.

This is a guideline that was devised as a method of determining where you should be able to send your Scouts when managing a Lower League Club. Financial constraints would make it highly unlikely that a Manager could send a Scout from England to Africa, South America or other faraway places, so the best way to decide where you could send them was to look at where the game would allow you to tour, in the United Kingdom Leagues this would be any of the Home Countries and Ireland, and only send your Scouts there.

It was later decided that it would probably be fair to scout your borders (SYB), i.e. send scouts from a German Club to surrounding Nations like Denmark, Austria, France, Poland, etc. when not managing in the UK.



The Search Screen.

Some LLaMa’s use the search screen to shortlist players in their area and then send off their scouts to find out how good a player he really is. Other more zealous LLaMas avoid this screen entirely letting their scout do the job for which he was hired ie: finding players. Signing “known” players is a big no no. Known players are ones that are known to you through outside influences, or have been signed and performed well for you in previous games of CM. Regardless of what you tendency is with the Search Screen, no player should ever be signed unless he is first given the once over by one of your scouts.



The Transfer Screen.

Stricter LLaMas would never attempt to sign players purely based on the fact they appear as freed in the screen that lists all transfers Worldwide as such a list does not exist in real life. It’s possible to find out such information in the Press, online, etc., but a real life manager doesn’t have access to a transfer screen.

Less scrupulous LLaMas use the screen by identifying freed players and sending their scouts to watch them, signing them or otherwise based on the scouts’ recommendations.



The “Find” button.

Not used by LLaMas. In order to use the “Find” button you have to know who you’re searching for. This can only be done by having prior knowledge of the player, either by having past experience of him in a previous game or by listening to a recommendation by a player tipper.



Signing Staff.

LLaMas usually only sign Staff that speak the language of the players they’ll be involved with. In Britain it’d be guys who spoke English. In Germany, German, and so on. The exception to this is scouts. Scouts don’t have day to day contact with players on a verbal communication level and can rely on their observation skills to identify worthwhile signings. It’s sometimes extremely difficult to sign a scout and you have to sign a foreign guy, so it’s looked upon as a “needs must” situation when signing scouts.

Since the huge improvement in the Job Centre in FM2007 the way to obtain Staff is to advertise in the Centre and choose Staff who apply (if they'll sign). The use of Staff Search is now frowned upon and must only be used as a last resort.

Current playing staff who express a desire to step into coaching or scouting from your squad are obviously fair game as well.



Signing Players.

All players should be first scouted before signing for an LL Club. Send your scouts out to Regions or Nations using the SWYCT or SYB (Scout Your Borders) guidelines, and decide which of the recommendations you’ll sign. Once the financial situation of your Club is better, and the Club’s reputation is such as you’d be able to attract foreign players, send your scouts further afield, keeping it as realistic as possible.

The exceptions are loans, in which it’s acceptable to use the player/staff search using minimum filters (e.g. for loan, free)in an emergency. LLaMas believe that players that you loan in should be first discovered by your scouts. This is a personal preference used by the more zealous LLaMas. Again let your conscience be your guide

If you have no scouts it’s ok to use the player/staff search screen to identify players and to invite them for a trial period to ascertain whether they suit your squad.



Tactics.

Best to start off using a default tactic and altering formations or giving individual or team instructions to players based on the strengths or weaknesses of your squad, and NOT to use other people’s tactics or formations. The idea of LLM is finding out the errors of your ways though trial and error. Pinching other people’s ideas is not the way of the LLaMa.



What English Clubs count as LLM?


By definition, a Lower League Club must come from the Lowest Division available in any given Nation, as mentioned above.

In England, and any other Nation with "Feeder Leagues", e.g. Portugal or Italy, then the lowest available League is the "Feeder League", in England The Conference North & South, but if the spec of your PC doesn't allow the "Feeder Leagues" to be loaded, then the Lowest available League becomes League 2.


In Summary:

Conference North and South - Lower League
Conference - Lower League-ish
League 2 - Lower League, but with reservations.
League 1 - Really pushing it.
Championship - You're having a laugh.

Some notes on Scouting Abroad and Identifying/Signing non-Scouted targets.

Several Nations have historic links with other Countries and as a result have a considerable number of foreign players with Teams that perhaps wouldn't normally be there, e.g. Brazilians in Portugal, Senegalese and North African Nationals in France or Middle Africans in Holland.

The way LLaMas "get round" this problem is usually to employ one Scout of the Nationality of the Country the players come from, e.g. Brazilian Scout in Brazil for a Portuguese Club, and he only Scouts in Brazil, again "normally" once a season but this can vary.


It can be argued that if you play against another Team twice in a season (four times in Scotland) that you would gain enough knowledge of players in that Team through those meetings or watching how the players do in the League against other Clubs to make a bid for them without relying on a Scout report.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Zippy

I have England as a staple, they're the most interesting leagues to start in or join once you've built a reputation in another country.

Aye, I love going back after a couple of seasons to a team like Boro or Bolton who've been relegated and lost their best players and re-building them and getting promotion. It just feels good, heh. But half the time I move back too soon and wish I hadn't bothered leaving when I had a cracking wee team coming together in the first place.

Indecision and a lack of concentration these days. Fuck you, coffee and lack of sleep.

Edit: Thanks man, got that printing off just now and might start a wee game.

[Zippy]

I'm Celtic in mine, I've never actually played as them in FM2007.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Zippy

I'm Celtic in mine, I've never actually played as them in FM2007.

I rarely play as Celtic in FM/CM games. After a season or two and I've pretty much brought in a new team and got them playing my way I go all "Argh, this isn't Celtic" and end up quitting.

I get in to these games far too much I'm thinking, heh.

[DiamondAFC]

I just updated shitloads data, got an uptodat on transfers and league changes, updated a majority of kits and logos also.

So started a new game as Linfield, Rangers & Airdrie and shockingly Hearts are fucking amazing.

They beat me 2-0 at tynecastle and fucked celtic 9-0. Although that was my only defeat with rangers so far.

Linfield i beat some icelandic mob (canny mind name) in 1st qualifying of champions league then also knocked out steau in next round, got beat in 3rd qualifying by copenhagen on away goals, wouldve been amazing to get to champs league with them, got Werder Bremen in UEFA Cup drew 0-0 at windsor park but got fucked 3-1 in germany.

Rangers, still in league cup got killie in semis to come, finished 2nd in champs league group behind Ajax, beat milan in san siro which big highlight, draw for next round in a week from where im currently saved. top of league by one point ahead of hearts.

Airdrie, well since im rangers and put myself out league cup bit shite lol, and st johnstone put me out challenge cup, top of 2nd division the now scottish cup draw soon.

[¡Punk!]

An Airdrie United fan also going Rangers and Linfield? Who'd thunk it!

Actually Linfield are an amazing game to go. Some quality players at that level and getting a Champions League place should be your aim after three or four seasons. For any green minded chaps I suppose going a team from south of the border would give you a similair type of game.

All the home nations, all leagues and starting unemployed is a good game as well.

When I get really bored of a game then fannying about with the editor can be fun as well. Then once you get into it after giving East Stirling a billionaire owner you find it easier to go back to a proper game.

[DiamondAFC]

Originally Posted by ¡Punk!

Actually Linfield are an amazing game to go. Some quality players at that level and getting a Champions League place should be your aim after three or four seasons. For any green minded chaps I suppose going a team from south of the border would give you a similair type of game.

I'll be disapointed if dont make champs league in second season as reckon brought in some good players, not amazing though but only really need to strengthen my wings and one really strong sweeper be handy. Hoping what i done this year will open up some new faces and better players in summer. My main striker is a boy called Glen Ferguson 37yr old and he's put in 23 in 17 games. Usually i never play players that old. Ageism.