I think that some people rely more heavily on 'advice' from message boards and good player guides than others ..... with of course a small smattering of FM geniuses in amongst them
Also bear in mind that its generally the people who are doing well who talk most about their triumphs, people who are doing 'ok' and enjoying themselves tend not to post so much about things because they might feel there triumps aren't as great as the people posting.
Personally though I've found some of my greatest triumphs (on all our games) both in terms of fun and challenge have been seasons where I've done 'badly' but survived a relegation battle - there's something in me which really enjoys the challenge of battling against the odds and staying in a division by the skin of my teeth (possibly something to do with me being a Brighton fan?

).