Taking a small team to success in Football Manager
Average Rating: 8/10 Hits: 733 Submitted: Sep 4, 2008
Wouldn't you love to just take a team like Brentford and make them the next Manchester United? First dominate the top league before going on to be a success in Europe? I know many fans of clubs in lower divisions dream of these kind of feats and with Football Manager, it's all possible. But what's the best way to go about doing this?
Well, it's not going to be easy of course and one of the main ingredients of success of course, is patience. A word I've hear all too much recently when it comes to Football Manager 2008. Being patient will eventually get you somewhere, ask Tanel, he took Romanian club Cluj to the Champions League final, and won it! Someone on Football Manager 2007 managed to take San Marino and win the World Cup after decades of trying.
Anything can be achieved through patience. Remember that.
I'll use Brentford as an example through this 'short' guide. So, they're currently in League Two after being relegated last season [2006/07]. First thing to do is sort out the squad. Who do you need in your team, who is surplus to requirements? Any good players in the under 18's that need nurtutring? Reserves, any of them need experience? Answer yourself all of these but also think of the following.
- Strengthen the squad, any team can always improve.
- Finances, are you stable?
- Pre season friendlies, are there enough?
- Training, do they train enough?
All of these can be key in your first season. You need a strong squad, they need to be match fit before the season begins and they'll need to train hard. Not too hard however as they may begin to miss training as often a player will. This is when your squad discipline comes in to it. Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson gets anywhere by letting players do what they want and face no consequence? No of course not, if someone misses training, warn them, hey even fine them! And if you want to be one of those do or die managers then sell him.
As the season goes on you'll need to monitor how your team is doing on the fitness front and if the players are up to your standard.
So, the end of season comes and where are you? No promotion? Well then, the second season begins and you try again. Remember, patience! Just carry on, if you had a good season then carry on in the same manner but always thrive to improve your team and fight tooth and nail to keep your star players.
However, what if you're promoted? Then congratulations, you're one step closer to the FA Premier League. So, now you're in League One, tougher opponents and of course you don't want to drop back to the division you just left. So what do you do? It's easy and I've already mentioned it, you strengthen your squad. You may not have much money in these divisions but you don't really need to. Loan players from the division above, there are always good ones available, also, players on free transfers and also those who are transfer listed and available on the cheap.
At the end of each season it is important that you review your season. I do this each and every season with my Bayern Munich side. What was good, what was bad, where can I improve? Answering and sorting out these questions will only do your team good. Also, at the end of the season evaluate how good the season actually was, did you gain promotion, were you close? Or did you indeed drop back to where you began?
Eitherway you will be in a dilemma. If you go up, you need to strengthen again and hold on to your key players, if you go back down, you need to maybe rebuild the squad as you may lose out on some of your players, loss of money through relegation may also force you to sell players.
However, as I've said through this guide, keys to success are to remain patient throughout the game, evaluate your each and every season. It'll help you out in the long run I can assure you. These are two of the easiest things to do and within time you will have your success.
Of course this will also come down to how you use your squad during the season and how good you are when it comes down to the tactical side. Tactics are still important, as is most things but as I will stress again: patience and evaluation are key.
So for now, hopefully this has helped you and have fun FM'ing wink
Tarrantino
Anything can be achieved through patience. Remember that.
I'll use Brentford as an example through this 'short' guide. So, they're currently in League Two after being relegated last season [2006/07]. First thing to do is sort out the squad. Who do you need in your team, who is surplus to requirements? Any good players in the under 18's that need nurtutring? Reserves, any of them need experience? Answer yourself all of these but also think of the following.
- Strengthen the squad, any team can always improve.
- Finances, are you stable?
- Pre season friendlies, are there enough?
- Training, do they train enough?
All of these can be key in your first season. You need a strong squad, they need to be match fit before the season begins and they'll need to train hard. Not too hard however as they may begin to miss training as often a player will. This is when your squad discipline comes in to it. Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson gets anywhere by letting players do what they want and face no consequence? No of course not, if someone misses training, warn them, hey even fine them! And if you want to be one of those do or die managers then sell him.
As the season goes on you'll need to monitor how your team is doing on the fitness front and if the players are up to your standard.
So, the end of season comes and where are you? No promotion? Well then, the second season begins and you try again. Remember, patience! Just carry on, if you had a good season then carry on in the same manner but always thrive to improve your team and fight tooth and nail to keep your star players.
However, what if you're promoted? Then congratulations, you're one step closer to the FA Premier League. So, now you're in League One, tougher opponents and of course you don't want to drop back to the division you just left. So what do you do? It's easy and I've already mentioned it, you strengthen your squad. You may not have much money in these divisions but you don't really need to. Loan players from the division above, there are always good ones available, also, players on free transfers and also those who are transfer listed and available on the cheap.
At the end of each season it is important that you review your season. I do this each and every season with my Bayern Munich side. What was good, what was bad, where can I improve? Answering and sorting out these questions will only do your team good. Also, at the end of the season evaluate how good the season actually was, did you gain promotion, were you close? Or did you indeed drop back to where you began?
Eitherway you will be in a dilemma. If you go up, you need to strengthen again and hold on to your key players, if you go back down, you need to maybe rebuild the squad as you may lose out on some of your players, loss of money through relegation may also force you to sell players.
However, as I've said through this guide, keys to success are to remain patient throughout the game, evaluate your each and every season. It'll help you out in the long run I can assure you. These are two of the easiest things to do and within time you will have your success.
Of course this will also come down to how you use your squad during the season and how good you are when it comes down to the tactical side. Tactics are still important, as is most things but as I will stress again: patience and evaluation are key.
So for now, hopefully this has helped you and have fun FM'ing wink
Tarrantino
