| FOOTBALL MANAGER 2002 |
| Starting Out |
| This page will give you tips on what to do when you are just starting anew game or joining a brand new club. When doing things like tactics and buying players refer to the best players pages and tactics page. I will give advice on starting at a top club (i.e. Barcelona, Juventus, Man Utd), a medium club (i.e. teams in division 1 in england or lower premiership e.g. Wolves and Derby County) and also lower clubs (i.e. Hull City, Queens Park). |
 |
| TOP CLUBS |
| When starting at a top club it is very easy to attract top players to the club. You also get a lot more money and the squad is already at significant quality. This means that the first team may not necassarily need strengthening. A big squad is the most important thing. As most big clubs have a big stadium as well you will get a lot of money from season tickets to make achieving your target a lot easier. You should immediately be buying maintenance equipment for the pitch, Buying a new training centre and upgrading the stadium. It may cost a fair bit to build a new stand but it'll be worth it with the amount of money you gain from it in the future. When you have finished building the training centre immediately buy another develpoment thing. Maybe a Clubhouse to increase your support which leads to more profits. Also remember to hire some half decent coaches so you can increase your players stats more when you have completed the training centre. When buying new players to save money look for young players like Hargreaves. He is very cheap at the start costing no more than around �4.2m. He is also versatile and he develops into a superb player. This is important as you need a big squad as you are likely to be competing on 3 fronts. Also look for players on the transfer list who will be good back up. You could also make 1 big signing for your first team. You also don't necissarily need your strongest team out for every game. Give your start players rest if they are tireda and give other players a chance. If they do well then keep them in the team. Don't just pick a player with 85 for skill when hes only got about 5.5 form, when you have a player with 80 for skill who has 8.2 for form. Refer to the best players list for info on the best players. |
|
| MEDIUM CLUB |
| As you get lower down the league ranking it gets harder and harder as a manager to build a succesful team. This is due to firstly a lack of cash and secondly because the top players won't transfer to the likes of Leicester. The advantage though is that the players are easier to find as there is more players to suit your needs. With the exception of Bolton you should be able to have a good season at all of the Premiership clubs. They all contain atleast one promising player for the future and also have a number of good players that will get a lot better quite quickly. For example Leicester have a number of players who are aged between 26 and 30 who all go up to atleast 80, like Sturridge, Izzet and Walker. Ipswich also have good players like that. As the top players will generally turn you down your target should be to buy players before they become top players. Buy youngsters like Hargreaves, Davies, Chadwick etc. With the right training these players will develop into good players quite quickly and they will be around for a very long time to give you more long teram strength. Also a couple of top quality loan signings could help out. Always look around on the scout screen to find what players are available for loan. Also look out for out of contract players. Altough the youngest a player will be is 24 he still has time to improve. You could find some real quality players. If you think your squad only nedds one or two alterations then I would improve the stadium and start building a Training Centre. A really good Assistant Manager could be very important as well as he will train the players up to get better faster. Therefore you are realising a players potential a lot earlier. Coupled with a training centre then your players could be superstars before you know it. When you are the top team in the country you should still retain the same attitude in the transfer market. As even when your team has won the European Cup 3 times in a row the top players will still turn you down unless you offer them over-inflated wages which your chairman is likely to turn down. This is a disappointment as it does make it harder for your team to succeed but hopefully your a good enough manager like me! to get around this problem. If you want more tips on managing in Division 1 then just take a look at the Lower Division Section. |
|
| LOWER CLUBS |
| I have already given a lot of information on how to manage a lower division club side in the Lower Division Section. But here I will tell you how to start out. You could refer to the example on that page. At a lower division side it is even harder to be a manager. The money is even lower and the quality of players you can sign is as well. You will have to be very shrewd in the transfer market. At Queens Park i signed and 18 year old from Charlton called Lewis who banged in no end of goals in the Scottish Division 3. He has around 55 for skill. Also look out for loan signings. Make sure you get a quality goalkeeper on loan as that will mean that he is virtually unbeatable in Division 3. He will probably also earn you a good cup run! Also get a top striker on loan. I signed James Beattie on loan for Queens Park in Division 2 and scores with virtually every shot he gets on target. It is very hard to make a team very succesful if you start this low down. It is possible but make sure your defence is strong and you have a striker who can put them away. I won the Scottish Cup in Division 3 with Queens Park beating 4 or 5 Premier League teams along the way including Rangers and Celtic. Just follow that criteria and you too could do the same. I have said before that Queens Park are the best lower division team to be due to their 50,000 capacity stadium. If you are them it will make your life a lot easier. |