NepentheZ

It's just so difficult.

The Scene :

I'm knockbreda, of N. Ireland, and have won the title the last 16 years in a row. I win all the domestic cups, and have amassed 41 Cups and 17 league titles in my 20 year stint. An average of 3 Trophies a season.

The Problem :

all my player want to leave to "win trophies" they don't think they can achieve with me. WTF.

A lot of my players want to leave to play for bigger clubs, and as the years progress, my scouts find less and less players that are willing to play for my club.

I currently have a shortage of strikers, and the best that 5 scouts can come up with between them, is a 32 year old 2* rated player. Even in the player search screen, the highest valued player interested in me is worth £8,000.

When I do get a good player, It usually only takes them about 6 months before they want to leave for a bigger club, or because they don't feel they can win anything with Knockbreda. Nobody will pay more than £500,000 for my players generally, which is a bargain, even if they are only valued at £90,000.

What gets me the most though, is the fact that, my players mainly leave for clubs like Crystal Palace and Sheffield Utd. I play Champs League or UEFA Cup football year in, year out, and they leave for these clubs.

And its all down to League Reputation. Whats the point of playing in these leagues, when I really cant progress further than domestic dominance. Really, I've lost 4 league games in 14 seasons. My current leage streak is 180 games unbeaten. And all three of my cup runs are into the 100's too.

I've tried to persevere with this, but at the end of my last season, I lost 12 players to free transfers. 7 of which were 1st teamers, and the others were back up, but got regular football. I'm now left with a plethora of worthless players, and no-one outside of 3*** wants to play for me.

I think it's time to revert back to FM06 for me. I loved that game. FM08 is getting the better of my patience.

niktheblade1

I totally agree with this.

Because legue rep doesn't change throughout the game, you could theoretically win the champions league every year and the league would never get noticed worldwide.

I was Cwmbran in Wales for ages and couldn't progress past the group stages of the champs league because I couldn't attract the right players to the league rather than the team.

I hope this gets changed in FM09 because if a team from Wales/N.Ireland, even Luxembourg plays well year in year out in europe, they would be well know and there would be a bigger following for their respective league, wider TV coverage and therefore a better players playing in that league. This should also happen the other way round, a country should lose reputation if their football falls into decline.

zeke

I can appreciate the effort you have invest in the game since I do only play for longterm games.

The biggest "beef" I have againts FM08 is the regen system. Once you advance further and further it just becomes apparent that the "regen system" is not working.

I just loaded up my career last night and this doesn't encourage it too much.

I just wish this are of the game receives A LOT of attention from now on! I can understand that serie realese for FM08 is yearly so that propably is the main reason why this have actually never being fixed.

This will be last FM for me until this issue you described is actually improved significantly.

Sad to hear this story allthough hat off to you for playing many seasons in the Northern Ireland league!

Jase1982

In order for the rep to change would the nation not have to do well, as opposed to the individual club?

This is all reality....you're playing in N.Ireland so it's perfectly acceptable for your players to want to move on and winning the N.Ireland league and cups is probably ranked extremely low on the radar of things to win in the whole FM world....personally I enjoy adding several leagues and trying to lead a smaller team to greatness...if you get bored with the N.Ireland team, just jump ship to another league.

Kazza

There's an inbuilt anti-bias towards celts...it's deliberate, after all the lads producing the game are english..... :p

NepentheZ

Yea, all the reps are combined, I understand that, but after 20 years, and the fact that I do get CL football, and my Manager Description is "Legendary Manager" surely that would have a big effect on players wanting to play for me?

Even young players, as a stepping stone, refuse to use my club, although it would be a great platform for them.

IRL, If a team from N. Ireland got to the CL Group stages, it would do wonders for the league, and the impact on such a small nation would be cataclysmic. Let alone doing it several times.

My only real example is CSKA Moscow. They got regular CL football, and now the team is flooded with amazing players. In turn, the league is becoming more recognized globally....

Jase1982

That's Russia though, I'd say much lower than N.Ireland....I dunno, I'm sure in previous games you used to be able to look at your nations world ranking and nation points...I'm pretty sure the nations ranking effected how many points your country gained through European / international club competition, therefor increasing your rep...

I can't think of one example in reality where a country the same size as N,Ireland has improved dramatically enough to attract top quality players.

Seems like it could be an improvement needed for the next FM game.

Jase1982

Sorry....higher....

Hawshiels

I realise it doesn't help you here, but having suffered from this when I play a Scottish Premier League game, I now usually set the league competitions reputation to be higher. It's not ideal though - far from it.

What I also hate about the current reputation system is how it affects the players in your team. After a while, many of the average players have very high reputations meaning that you cannot offload them as easily. I have to use FMM to reduce the reputations of my players just to sell them. This seems crazy. When you've played the game for a number of years, it's amazing how many things you end up doing as workarounds because you know the flaws in the game. Hopefully one day this will be addressed.

NepentheZ

You cant see it, because you're not looking IMO. It does happen, but it doesn't happen instantly. Celtic and Rangers are a prime example. They wanted to change divisions because its taking so long, but since that, they now seem content, because teams like Hearts and Aberdeen are getting closer to the Old Firm, and making the league a lot more enjoyable. You just have to look at the type of players that are beginning to join the league, and even some that have been there before.

(Flo, Gattuso, Wright, Sutton, Arteta)

All good-great players.

I was under the impression that, as my team rep grew, other teams would strive to match me. But in 13 seasons I've been a Pro team, not one other team in the division has matched this ambition, and they are all Semi-Pro still.

The ONLY thing I can ever do to change this manually, is (when the situation arises, as I'm sure it would given enough time) that when my finances are so strong, I simply buy the players from the other teams reserves for massively inflated prices, so that they hit £5,000,00 in profit and turn pro. In turn, this would allow them the option of better players, and perhaps increase the overall rep of the league?

I'd be like a private investor. Its a sad thing to have to do to enjoy the game in minor leagues.