Football management is a taxing pastime. You go into the job looking like Jose Mourinho, and six months of stress later you look more like Harry Redknapp... unless, of course, you're Jose Mourinho.
To make the task of managing a club more manageable, and to save you from the Keegan effect of instant grey hair, Football Manager 2006 gives you a roster of staff who can take on tasks so you can focus on the parts of the job you feel matter most. Chances are, though, you're not using this invaluable resource to the full. With this in mind, we've put together a beginners guide, from the top of the club's hierarchy down, to squeezing every inch of value out of your backroom boys...
Chairman
Not strictly a member of staff (in that he's your boss!), but the Chairman is an invaluable figure on the club's payroll and will want to ensure you have every resource you need, within his budget. You can use your relationship with your chairman to your advantage, especially when you have developed a good rapport with the club's fans and a good reputation in the game. Don't be scared to push home your advantage to request extra transfer funds when you've been at a club for a while and enjoyed some success.
Assistant
a) Options screen
Assistant managers can be little more than coaches with a better car and a loftier title, or they can be your right-hand man, charged with looking after key areas of your job description. You choose how much to delegate to them and can alter their tasks by accessing the Options screen. Click on the Manager drop-down at the top of your screen and select Options to access a list or roles you can delegate to your assistant or - if you don't have one - your most senior coach.
There are basically four reasons to use these assistant options: to relieve yourself of duties you can't be bothered with or you think are getting in the way of your job, to ensure areas of the job you aren't as good at are taken care of properly, to provide a yardstick for your own performance and, finally, to give you MORE control over the way the club is run.
Clear your desk... Some areas of your job description, such as arranging friendlies and managing the youth team from the dugout may be important to some bosses. However, if you think you can spend your time better elsewhere, such as immersing yourself in the management of your senior pros, it pays to ask you assistant to take charge of these issues. If you feel your assistant has too much on his plate, or prefer to use a coach, you can use the drop-down menu to allocate tasks to someone else on your backroom staff. This is particularly useful if you have a coach who specialises in working with youngsters, for instance, and you are looking for someone to take charge of youth affairs at the club.
Ask the experts... You probably know your own weaknesses as a manager. If you feel you are having trouble handling team-talks, for instance, why not ask your assistant to take care of them? If he's experienced enough he might just have the nous to motivate your players while you concentrate on the tactical element of the game.
Judge your skill... Using your assistant options as a yardstick is also useful too (see Go On Holiday below). By asking your assistant to take charge of reserve (or even first-team) games you can watch and learn from his style and perhaps incorporate some of his tactical decisions int your own approach.
Get more power... By checking the Use Current Match Tactics you can dictate that every team in the club conforms to a certain formation. Ordinarily assistants will try to win a game by accommodating players into a formation they think best suits the talent at their disposal - but it may be that, for you, results are secondary to other considerations at the reserve level.
This option is really useful when you are trying to drum a certain style of play into everyone at a club and enables you to judge how players will perform in a certain position in the event you'd like, or are forced, to call them into the first-team squad. Sometimes you'll find that a reserve player with lower stats than a first teamer performs much better in a specialised position - under these circumstances that reserve teamer would have a justified shout for first-team action.
b) Team report
This supremely useful feature should be consulted on a regular basis as it represents your assistant's no-nonsense view of the strengths and weaknesses of your squad, cutting through the many statistics that you can sometimes get lost in while you navigate the game. To access this menu, click Get Team Report on the left-hand panel of your Squad screen.
Taking into account the Profile of your assistant - he may not be as astute as you, or may have a different footballing philosophy - the first and second team line-up suggestions given here are a good place to start when it comes to selecting your side, especially if you have joined a team mid-season.
The star ratings are a great at-a-glance indicator of your assistant's overall view of players' ability. If you find yourself with a set of players rated with a lowly single star you can pretty much guarantee that, since your assistant is unlikely to be THAT wide of the mark, you have a poor squad. By flitting between the two squads you'll get an instant sense of the depth of your set-up - if you have four five star-rated defenders you can be confident that those positions are in good shape... though there's always room for improvement.
The best, weakest and potential stars category is a great way of tracking who you should be focussing on keeping happy and who is a candidate for the boot, but perhaps the most useful aspect of the assistants' team report is the brief squad analysis at the top of the screen. Your assistant won't mince his words here - if he thinks players need to be shown the exit or the squad is in danger of missing the season's targets he tell you in no uncertain terms. As a manager you ignore the advice of a seasoned assistant at your peril.
c) Filter Out
As much a time-saver as anything, but also a fun way to see how your pull in the transfer market is ebbing and flowing, this. In the Filter Customise... option you should click Ask Assistant To Filter Out Unrealistic Targets if you are looking to find a player you want to sign now, rather than one you'd like to track over a period.
This option will instantly rule out any players who wouldn't consider a move to your club, thereby saving you the effort of pursuing them and also the heartache of agreeing a fee only to find you cannot meet the demands of the player you are chasing.
Coaches
a) Training
If you think coaches are way less important than you, think again. Your coaching staff has more contact with the majority of your players than you do, and they are involved in the day-to-day moulding of your squad. Their values will rub off on the squad and, even if you are heavily directing them, your coaches are bound to bring their own football philosophy to bear.
One way of using your coaches to the maximum is by adopting a system of specialisation. It may even pay to take your coaching precision to extremes, hiring in a trainer to work with a section of your squad, a few players or even individuals. If you do so you'll be following the lead of many top clubs who now look to specific defensive, midfield and striking coaches, as a well as that traditional specialist subject area - goalkeeping, to ensure very member of the team is properly prepared.
Clearly you'll need to be at a club with plenty of funds to make this a viable tactic, but when you're at the top of the game you can use such extreme specialisation to minimise your chances of failure.
b) Report
Coaches can give you an at-a-glance look at how a player is settling into your squad and how they are performing in training. By clicking on a player and then selecting his Training Overview page you'll see a break down of how he is faring, courtesy of your coach. As well as a statistical indication of how the player is doing, your backroom team member will give a brief report on the individual highlighted. This will come from the most senior coach at your team - so will fall to the assistant if you have one.
This information is crucial as it doesn't solely focus on the player's physical response to training, but will also give you an indication of his attitude to training - his commitment and willingness to put in the effort. In extreme cases this may be extremely sub-standard and require a reprimand from you, but at the very least it will help you to build a profile of the player and to decide how, and if, he fits into your plans.
c) Ask To Pick
You needn't simply rely on your assistants' advice on team selection. Use the Ask To Pick option (on the left-hand panel of your Squad screen) to get a breakdown of the first team line-up each of your coaches would select. This is ideal if you are weighing-up the attacking bent of your side, for instance, as you can call on the views of coaches who prefer a more adventurous style as well as your more conservative members of staff.
Scouts
Scouts are often grossly under-used in Football Manager. You can get away without relying upon them as you become more experienced in the game, but it pays to keep your flat-capped friends as busy as you can - with a very real note of caution, however, that that it costs you money to send you scouts out on missions. Plus, remember that it costs more cash when you are asking scouts to trudge off to far-flung lands in search of a player. Small club managers on a tight budget - you have been warned!
Basically, you must judge for yourself how much scouting you can afford, and use a sliding scale to decide how to employ your charges. Here's a good order of preference you may find useful as a rule of thumb. If you are on a budget, still try to use the minimal scouting option as it should help you get the all-important wins under your belt that you'll need to turn the finances of your club around.
1. Scout next opponent - this will give you a quick tactical lowdown on the team you are about to face. Note that, as with any staff advice you receive, pay attention to the nuggets of info you are given here. No matter how simple they are, they will often help you to enjoy success.
2. Look locally for young talent - ask your scouts to be on the look-out for young talent that mightn't crop up in your usual searches. This could save you a fortune in the long-run and net you a decent player for a low fee.
3. Scout more unusual countries - chances are you'll be aware of the talent on offer, but if you do have a bit of cash, it could be that, lurking in the lower reaches of some Eastern European league, you'll find a player that's under the radar and well worth a closer look.
4. Scout globally. If you have multiple scouts it makes sense to send them off on sustained scouting missions to try to identify the best talent around the globe. Crucially, your scouts will help you to judge players against your current crop of talent and in the context of your league. It's not easy to judge how a free-scoring striker playing in a weaker league will handle the step up in class - your scouts can help you greatly here.
5. Scout specifics - this is a sliding scale too, but as you get to a point where you are enjoying success with your club, have the finances to support a wide scouting network, or where you feel confident that the majority of your squad does not need improvement, then you should ask you scouts to look for specific attributes and positions. This way you'll get a great cross-section of the talent in a given position, which should help you hone in on a handful of targets.
Remember: finances permitting, you should always scout a player before you sign him. If you need to move swiftly, you can always set the wheels of a deal in motion and get a scout report while negotiations take place. If your scout is unimpressed with what they see you'll still have time to pull out of the move.
Physios
Before Football Manager 2006 you had to ask your physios to report on your players. Now they come to you, offering suggestions of treatment that should be weighed up carefully. The physios will always advise you of a course of action that will best suit the health and fitness of the player and, in the case of a contagious malady, the squad. Defying their advice will only put your players at risk, but it's up to you to assess the advantages of allowing the physio to apply a quick-fix solution.
In Fact, the Get Physio report (on the left-hand panel of the Player Profile screen) remains in FM2006, enabling you to seek advice from your medical staff about your players' current state of health and the prospects of them staying fit.
Though you will be constantly well informed by your physios, it pays to occasionally ask All Physios to give you the lowdown on a player. Some periods, such as after someone has recovered from injury or as they get older, may be hazardous for your playing staff. Use this option to check on their health - you can always do a Newcastle and sell off your perma-crocked star central midfielder to the world's biggest club when you think they'll shortly be injured again. Just don't expect said big club to do you any favours when you come back with a bid for their fifth choice striker.
Go On Holiday
This is the managerial equivalent of taking a break and leaving your older kids in charge of the little 'uns. It enables you to let the club tick over on it's own and is primarily useful if you are out of work and need to skip through screens without sitting through endless results and button clicks. As an emergency measure, however, it can help you see how good your assistant is (he'll take charge of games) as well as give you the opportunity to weigh up your own performance if you're struggling to cope with the demands of the job or your team are in a real slump.
While you're away you can allow the assistant to pick the team. On your return it will pay to review his tactics for each game, match reports and his selection decisions. It may be that something as small as you assistant's preference for one defender over another appears to makes a huge difference in your side's results, in which case can embrace his changes and look forward to happier times ahead.
Players
Really, the players are the most important people of all. That's why you should take the tips above to get your staff embroiled in the other issues surrounding the club. You want to free up as much time as possible to focus on meeting the needs of, and getting the most out of, your players.
In Football Manager 2006, there's never been more opportunities to go face-to-face with your starlets with player interaction, team-talks and so much more... |
发表于 2006-4-13 16:00:59
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