Powermonger

I was going to start a Coca Cola League 1 game but have decided to try and bring one of the Blue Square North/South teams up to Premiership level and on to further glory.

I've never attempted managing such low league teams, can anyone offer any tips on best ways to approach LLM in terms of squad management, transfers, finances, evaluating/selecting players etc?

I know true LLaMa's frown upon such questions but a guy has to ask sometimes for a little help in guiding a LLM career to success.

Pugs12

Im managing Castel di Sangro a lower league team in Taly. I have got them into Serie A.

1. Tips dont get to attached to your best players, you will have to sell them to survive

2. Make good use of free transfers.

3. Do not mess aroud with tactics to often, and keep them simple.

4. You will need to have some experience in your first team.

5. Have patience, you will get beat, and beat badly sometimes.

6. Try not to shout at your players, there heads will drop.

avstwentyone

Damn straight. No need to need tips. Just play, take the losses and the hard times on the chin and you'll enjoy it all the more when everything comes together and you succeed. If you get sacked, pick yourself up and go get another job.

Mister Z

Some tips to survive LLM

1)Have patience with finance, but at all times keep your wages within budget

2)Trim your squad, you don’t need 22 first team players

3)You can loan up too 4 “good” players, use this to save money and bolster your team

4)Don’t put time/money in youth development, you don’t have the facilities

5)Cup matches generates cash, so focus on these matches

6)Don’t offer your players long-term contracts, It is hard to sell players when you don’t need them

7)Don’t gather a large training/scouting staff, they can be cash bleeders

8)Don’t shout to loud at the monitor when players don’t do what you told them to do

stumostro

From my exerience in the BSP as Exeter,

Seek free transfers and loans.

Only offer one year contracts incase they turn out to be duffers.

Look for a good mix of young and old.

Offer all players a pay cut, they more often than not take it especially older players.

Request a Parent team if you don't have one already.

Physical stats are marginally more important in the lower leagues.

If you're offered good money for a player (around 100k) take it, you can usually find someone decent enough to replace them with.

Get the best scouts and coaches you can, you can normally get enough coaches to have one per training speciallity, and again like the transfers, there should be some good enough one on the free transfer market.

stumostro

These are points i should have added too.

MaccTown

Loan, loan, loan!

If you don't have four loanees from Premier or Championship sides in your squad, you are wasting a vital opportunity.

When I was managing Northwich Victoria I had four players on loan for the ful season. These were from Man City (2), Liverpool and birmingham City.

They were my four best players that season and because I didn't offer to pay any of their salary, they didn't cost me a single penny.

One lad (I won't name him here because some people don' like to know, but if you want to know, just ask) I had on loan for three consecutive seasons. He was my top scorer in all three and I never once paid him a penny in wages!

MaccTown

Another couple of tips.

Time consuming but very useful.

1: Make the effort to get top clubs for friendlies. If you can get one Prem club down for a friendly, it's going to be £45k in your bank. You might have to ask them ALL but it's worth it if you get one or two.

2: Trawl through international sides for free transfers. I once found a moldovan striker who I sold on within the season for £150,000.

Just look at international side after international side and see who is available for free.

xouman

A true LLaMa won't seek advice. The best advice to have fun is "play as you were a TRUE manager". That involves:

-Don't buy players that you don't know (not IRL, but scouted players). Don't buy players because their are free or because FMM says they have good potential. You may take risks, but team could suffer.
-Don't buy 10 players each season, and don't buy only young players thinking they will improve. Think in short term: if your team perform well, it will promote, and some of your players won't be needed.
-Don't have 8 coaches in BSS: a couple or three will do. Have scouts is difference, because IRL you are able to scout by yourself, but in the game you can't.
-Play best players at every moment, don't focus on youngest thinking that would helo the future.


Advices to improve your success are a different thing, and some managers have told you better than I could

Pangaea

This has absolutely nothing to do with LLM (in any form).

Here's a novel thought for you: How about thinking for yourself??

Or are you the kind of guy that after buying a new game the first thing you do is to look up trainers and walkthrough guides? That's what you do here anyway.