Abaddon879

I have been looking at getting the best backroom team possible, and have been looking everywhere I can for information on how staff mental attributes affect each role such as Coaches, Assistant Managers, Scouts, Physios, Youth Team Coaches, 1st Team Coaches.

I found this link discussing which attributes they feel affect which roles, which helped a lot in my quest, but still I long for more.

Looking at the FM08 manual, they have kindly given us a short description of what the attributes do, and for which roles they may help.


According to the Manual:

Coaching

Fitness - THis felects a coach's ability to work on the fitness side of the game, and as such should be one of the key attributes to look at when hiring a Fitness Coach, and less importantly, a Physio.

Man Management - How well the member of staff is able to dael with those around him and particularly below him. This is a mental approach; a hiugh attribute indicates a coach who is capable of organising and keeping people happy.

Mental - Their mental approach to players. A good mental coach will be able to observe and act upon each individual's state of mind and react accordingly.

Tactical - How tactically astute he is. More tactically astute coaches will not only be able to coach the tactical side of the game more effectively but any advice they may offer is likely to be more accurate and informative.

Tecnical - The ability of the coach to teach the technical side of the game - work with the ball. This can be one of the hardest areas to coach and it may be that a former player is particularly useful here.

Working With Youngsters - How successful a coach is at working with younger players - those aged 18 and under in particular. Having a coach who is very good at nurturing youn talent can be priceless if just one or two of them develope into useful players.


Mental

Adaptability - A high adaptability attribute will enable the staff member to settle quickly predominantly in a new country but also will help a little4 in settling in at new clubs and new roles. The faster (i.e. higher rating) a member of staff can adapt to their new working environment, the quicker and better they can do their job.

Determination - The mental desire of the coach to succeed. This isn't a coaching attribute in terms of coaching a player's mental approach - this is the coach himself and their own innate drive to better themselves.

Judging Player Ability/Potential - When employing a scout, these two attributes are the first things you should look at. High attribute ratings in these two areas will most likely result in more accurate scouting reports. Jusging Ability is important if you have assigned a scout to watch players you intend to bring in or are scouting upcoming opponents. Judging Potential is more important for the scouts you intend to assign to identifying the next generatioin of footballing talent. At the very top levels, a rating of 15 in these attributes would be considered the minimum requirement, but as you go down the ladder, a good scout can be a highly valuable commodity.

Leverl of Discipline - This reflects the level of discipline the coach is likely to take in his approach. A higher attribute means that the coach will take up a harder line in his approach and keep things strict. A lower one means the coach is a little more relaxed.

Motivating - The mental ability of a coach to motivate his player. High motivation will allow the coach to suitably pump his players up not only for a big match, but also in an every day sense - keeping a squad motivated towards their goals is imperitive.

Physiotherapy - This attribute is exclusively for use with physiotherapists. Having a Physio with a high rating iin this attribute is something you should always look to have. If possible, have at least three Physios with high ratings for this attribute to ensure your players recieve high-quality treatment to both prevent and rehabilitate injuries.

Tactical Knowledge - The tactical knowledge possessed by a coach. Their experience in the game, where they've been and who they've worked with will affect the level of knowledge they have, and when using this knowledge they may have ideas lesser coaches haven't become familiar with, which is an advantage.



This is all very useful information, but there are some small bits in there that could possibly indicate certain attributes are sometimes overlooked. For example I for one have never really looked too much at a Physio's Fitness training attribute, as I always believed physios ability was determined by their Physio rating, but if you read the fitness description, this indicates that a good physio will need to possess a certain level of fitness coaching, as well as a high rating in physio.

So what can we draw from this information? Can we get any special insight into what attributes are needed for each role and which can be discarded?


From the way I have understood them, this is how I see staff roles in regards to attributes:

Assistant Manager:
Mental - To allow him to understand the players better and spot when a player might have a problem sooner so that the problem can be addressed
Man Management - To allow the assistant to keep the group of player happy at all times, to help keep moral up and get the best out of the players
Working with Youngsters - To help with managing the u18 squad particularly, unless you do this yourself
Determination - To make him want to succeed, and to aim high to help drive the club forwards
Judging Ability/Potential - To help with squad assessments and enabling him to pick the best team possible
Level of Discipline - To keep the players in line, hopefully preventing any loose cannons from ruining squad moral
Motivating - Pumping players up at half time if you choose to allow him to take team talks, and to generally keep morale high in the camp (links with Man Management)
Tactical Knowledge - To allow him to outclass the opposition tactically, useful for taking charge of Reserves and u18

Physio:
Fitness - To keep the players fitness levels up and to aid in their recoverey
Man Management - To allow him to manage all the injured players that he needs to treat
Determination - To make them strivew to be the best physio they can be and offer the best treatment possible
Level of Discipline - To ensure the players stick to their rehabilitation regime
Motivating - To motivate the player while they are injured to prevent them from dropping morale
Physiotherapy - To allow him to offer the best possible treatment

Scout:
Adaptability - To allow them to settle in new countries quicker whilst on scouting trips
Determination - To make the scout always search that little bit further and possibly find the next big thing
Judging Potential - To give them an insight into how good a player could possibly become, if they are given the correct training
Judging Ability - To allow them to give accurate reports on the players current level of ability and how well they would fit into the team. Also useful in rating opponents players and how much opf threat they might be
Tactical Knowledge - To give them the contacts with managers and other people within the footballing world


However, a question that has always bugged me is whether or not coaches can be combined? For example, if I had a excellent Goalkeeping coach who had very low motivating, and I also had my assistant manager who has excellent motivating ratings, if the assistant was on the training regime, would he oversee the training and step in to help motivate the player when neccessary, or would the player suffer because the actual goalkeeping coach himself does not possess the high motivational attribute? If they can be doubled up then it would severly lighten the requirements for good all-round stats, and we could then just employ a overall coach to help with the mental side to training such as motivating them and keeping them disciplined.