In FM 09, there are way more hints at what players to look at. Put Scouts to good use. A good scout should have good Judging Potential/Judging Ability stats. Send him out to scout regions/countries and he'll update you with what he's found. Another addition is looking at your assistant's Team Report. He will hint at a few players you should look into to fill any gaps your squad has.
Another good tool is the Player Search tool to find free agents. Just set your parameters however you want them but have it so that "Contract" "is" "Unattached" and look at those fellows. Looking before and after the January window is great for finding rejects from Premier League teams. I was able to pick up Sun Jihai and Shola Ameobi in one of my FM08 saves after their clubs didn't re-sign them.
im finding that watching matches unfold is very very fun. I dont think i have a full grasp on how to run my team effectivly on the pitch but i had a thrilling 3 - 3 tie against Crystal palace as QPR, they got a late foul in the penalty area and got a free kick for the win I'm currently waiting on sacha kljestion to get off international duty.
__________________
JohnnyCache wrote:
500 bucks for a set of hobby minis is nothing. I have other hobbies like "a gambling problem" and "whores" that make 40k seem like a very wise investment.
LA played an average Sydney ages ago and were shit, score was 5-3 or something to Sydney. They beat Wellington 4-1 when they were fucking terrible. They were going to play Queensland but that got canned due to no Beckham.
So basically I'm still waiting on a decent mls team v decent hal team game.
To be fair to Wellington, all their decent players were being rested.
To be fair to Galaxy, by decent players we mean Aloisi Snr and Elrich (Who wasn't playing too bad there.)
Damn you, Oldmanken, I was going to do that with my FML team! Also, my CD drive is out of wack, so i'm using my old copy of '07 where I am in charge of Inter, coming off two title wins and now I can't win a game to save myself.
__________________
Kreutz wrote:
To be fair, none of that was Chris' fault. She just didn't know how to work, that's all.
Despite my long list of injuries, I was more than ready to receive Colchester United. Without Neil Harris, I have only two reliable strikers: Lewis Grabban (young, good stats, and underperforming) and Björn Siguroarson (my youth signing). I decide to go back to my original formation with a few tweaks. I have a few key men that can guarantee a high 7 rating at the minimum per game. Paul Robinson, Seyfo Soley, Alan Dunne, and Koki Mizuno. I finally decided to keep Dave Brammer to cover my right wings despite his age, at least until the January window. Anyway, onto the Colchester match:
Obviously, I was very lucky to walk away with such a late winner. I started to manipulate the team talks a bit more and Mizuno was just relentless the whole game. My Germans were also doing well although the language barrier seems to keep hindering them. Tony Craig, my left back, was amazing and took the Man of the Match award. Both Soley and Siguroarson are called up for their respective national teams and so my match against Brighton & Hove Albion gets postponed due to friendlies.
A quick news flash from the Board...
Sadly, Björn isn't that big of a deal. This injury list I have to manage is a much bigger concern.
It's the end of the transfer window and it looks like I make headlines with all my bargain buys.
For the Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round, I end up drawing Brighton anyway.
While away for Gambia, Seyfo Soley ends up with a buised thigh. I add another notch to my clipboard.
My postponed match against Brighton (for the league) comes up and former player Ryan Smith has returned to face my squad. Whatever, I put his money to good use...I hope. I bring back Preston Edwards into the goal despite his condition not being over 95%. Goalkeepers don't really lose much condition so its a good risk to take.
Once again, a late goal gets me the win and it was nothing but awesome defending. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come from Grabban as he pretty much was constantly pushing forward and trying to meet Mizuno's crosses.
Anyway, a quick break and its off to Walsall, who have been having issues of their own.
Again, Grabban scores and I manage to come out with a draw when Walsall were all over my backline and should have scored like 4 by Edwards.
After a couple of weeks, Seyfo Soley is back in training. It's at this point I decide to check out my Phsyio's stats after he tells me Tony Craig would be out for about a month. I smells bullshit...
...and I was right. I have a quick search and I make a few offers for some talented Phsyios from the lower leagues.
My next match is at home to Leyton Orient. After a chat with my assistant, I made sure I would close down their midfield and put Soley on man-marking duties. It fucking pays off...
Both of Grabban's goals were great (Mizuno pretty much created the second from nothing) and he ends up assisting Pickel with a no-look-backpass on the wing and Pickel just rockets that bitch from 30+ yards.
You had to be there.
Prior to the match, I get the OK on Neil Harris and I put him on the bench to back up Grabban. Millwall get to rock their orange away kit, finally.
A road victory is a major plus and I think my tactic tweaking, team talk noodling, and man management is starting to pay off. Lewis Grabban is starting to learn how to round the keeper but I think the best aspect of him is that he's able to get around defenders so easily. Keep in mind I still have quite the injury list so any more of these and I'll be pulling kids from my U-18 squad. On the plus side, I picked up a new Physio, a lady at that. Her name is Vanessa.
So Millwall is sitting pretty in 5th place in League One for now.
We should be a good chance of beating Newy, especially since Griffiths is out and since he joined he the club they've never won without him. CCM look too good at the moment for Perth to win but you never know.
After beating Blackburn in an FA cup tie, as Arsenal (Year 2011, I went QOTS [Where I became "world class" by getting them promoted] -> Sevilla -> Inter -> Arsenal) I click on the "Previous Manager Comments"
Select "Make Public Your Dislike Graham Arnold."
Confirm.
Spoiler:
__________________
Kreutz wrote:
To be fair, none of that was Chris' fault. She just didn't know how to work, that's all.