The next Diaby

Communication and Psychological 'Warfare' 08 (CPW) – Compact Version
How to succeed as a modern, media-friendly manager

Media and communication have become a major factor in the game and many real life managers seem to have failed simply because they were unable to communicate with media or with their players in an appropriate way. Whether you believe this aspect of management to be good or bad, FM reflects this development and you should learn to use these features to your advantage. If you are a communicative person, you will love it and likely excel, if not, you should at least learn how to make good use of it when needed. It will not turn a bad tactic into a brilliant one, but quality communication can boost your team’s success and shorten dips in form at critical stages of the season.

Man-management has become a vital factor in the FM-Britain tactic forums and finally led to a huge series of articles on squad management in the FM-Britain Tactical Bible. I do not think that FM-Britain did invent the terms man-management or squad-management in the game, but I think we can claim to be the first looking into these aspects in every detail and acknowledging the influence on team and player performance as almost equally important as pure tactical decisions in the game.

Taking all these facts on board, Communication and Psychological Warfare 08 will be released as sister thread of Tactical Theorems and Frameworks 08. The amount of issues to cover has grown enormously since the first version for FM 2007, so this is the compact version, focussing only on key highlights which are directly linked to morale, consistency and performance. For more information, please have a look at the full article.

Matches build up interaction

Being well prepared for an important match and having your squad at the top of their morale and form for this match can be a key in achieving your goals of the season and have massive impact on your results.

Advance planning
If you are facing key games, you should start looking at your preparation very early, at least seven days ahead if you want to achieve the best results. Of course nobody can always take everything into account for every single game, but looking at the calendar at times and setting your eyes on these dates can improve your performance massively.

If you are playing a fierce rival, you may also make a comment on your next opponent about three days before the match. The best-proven comment is to ‘expect a good rivalry’ as this will often take away pressure from your own players and occasionally build up pressure for the opposition.

Dangerman
Finally you will receive your scout report and have the option to comment on the opposition dangerman. But beware, it is a gamble, otherwise the game may get too easy. You should always watch out first at the form and personality of these players. If they are model professionals, driven or highly determined players, better stay away from commenting on them if they are not in a crisis. Players in a crisis and with less determined characters are more prone to buckle under the pressure then those who are on top of their form.

Pre-match media
Finally, after so many preliminaries, the most important part: The media pre-match interaction. Now you can make up for anything you missed before or finally blow it. Choose your options wisely and remember that being over-confident rarely is rewarded in the game. To make things clear: good pre-match comments will not win a game for you. But giving the wrong comments can have catastrophic effects and giving the right comments can boost your morale strongly.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>We are in a good form and can win this. The option to go with if your team is having a good run, if your odds are looking good and if your players are determined and can handle pressure.
<LI>They can cause us problems. If your form and odds are less brilliant, if you are additionally playing away and if your players suffer from a lack of self-believe, this option will cause less pressure and you will see your squad being more relaxed.
<LI>Just want a good performance. If you really do not see many chances to get away with a result or a point. Takes the pressure off your players and most likely will result in a good morale despite taking a loss. Don’t underestimate your team though, it may also lose motivation, if you do so.
<LI>You can see your team winning anyway. If you are at the very top, dominating the league from first to last and you intend to play an out-of-form relegation candidate, you can make some fun out of it and raise your profile as arrogant genius. Maybe you will get an award, but as you can guess, this option is rarely of any use, if ever.
<LI>No comment. Only advisable if your morale already is superb across the board and you do not want to risk anything to gain the extra motivation tags.
</UL>

Check how your players react. Every one is different. The more ambitious your players are, the more you can stay on the positive side.
Nice tip for cup mismatches: I often stir up my squad by being “never confident about these games”. Half of your key players will want to go out and prove you wrong.

Match Day Interaction - Team Talks

Team talks are a key to influence your team's performance and to give you a good start into the game. The half-time team talks have even more impact on the final score and often decide whether you are giving away a comfortable lead or turning around a game if needed. Some players claim that they have fantastic assistant managers who do this perfectly, but in most cases these team talks are rather lousy if you look them up using the team talk feedback, even if the values for motivation and man management are very high. If you do have any doubts about this, you should play some games following these recommendations and see if there will be a difference. I am totally sure that you will note the same, once you get used to this.

There is a new option available for FM 08 which will make things easier for you if you do not have much experience with giving team talks: the Ask Assistant button. This is especially helpful for selecting individual options for the new performance based talks since it will remind you to spur those individually which can be easily forgotten from match to match. However, you will still see that the AI standard choice is ‘for the fans’ and picked by far too frequently at start of the game. You can do it better! So, as a tip: select ‘Ask Assistant’ to single out some of the individual comments based on performance (not all are selected, again), but then select your overall team talk for the remaining squad. Please note that the quality of both individual and team recommendations given by your assistant differs strongly depending on his man management and motivating abilities.

A general hint for all team talks, individual talks and media interactions: Every player and each team is different and requires a different approach. Driven superstars require a different handling then unprofessional, low-determined part-timers. The better your squad, the more determined and professional it is, the more you can be demanding in your interactions. Until you know your team very well, you should always check your team talk feedback to find out the right way to handle them.

Pre-match team talks
After hitting the ‘Ask Assistant’ button and singling out (or reverting) some of the individual team talk suggestions he made, you should now make your personal choice how you want to send your squad into the game.
Tell the players they can win this game. Probably a good choice for most home games in which you are favourite, also if odds are in your favour for away games and you feel this is a realistic view of your team in contrast to over-hyped odds due to a good run.

You will soon see that this can become your standard team talk easily once you managed to assemble a combination of solid tactics, a gelled squad and consistent performances. In fact, despite the advice to vary team-talks given by the in-game hints, there is not too much room for variations if you have reached this state of stable performance. Don’t hesitate to use it then and vary on rare occasions plus vary individual talks in this situation.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Wish the team luck for the match ahead. This should be your choice for away games or home games where odds are clearly against you. The message is simple: you do not have to win today, I already would be happy with one point. So you should not be too angry if you will not get more, but your team may be much more relaxed and eventually get a result.
<LI>Tell the players you expect them to win the match. A clear and simple statement, and it will be understood as is. However, this can make your players buckle and succumb to the pressure. It can be helpful under these circumstances: you are clear favourite for the match and you do have a very determined, ambitious and professional squad. You will see that these kinds of squads often will react very positive and delighted if you put things clear. If you are lacking these kinds of players and a clear situation for the match, you should stay off from this choice.
<LI>Tell the players to do this for the supporters. For some strange reason the default assistant choice. But this should be reserved for the rather few games (depending on your league) against fierce rivals and occasionally for cup finals (get the trophy for the fans!). Always add individual talks.
<LI>Tell the players there is no pressure on them today. An option if wish luck seems to be too much. In other words, if you expect your team to lose anyway or to face one of the hardest games of the season, no matter if you manage a top team or a relegation candidate. Combine this with encouraging individual talks to all key players. Also, this is the most valuable team talk if your team is in a crisis and lost its winning form for several games and now will play a seemingly small opponent at home. More then once I have seen a team recovering using this route. It seems to work equally well for highly determined squads, which have started to dominate a league at will and have several leading members with high influence and determination on the field.
</UL>


Half-time team talks
The most important part of it since you now have the chance to keep your team on its toes if they are already winning, spur them up if they are behind and need to turn around the game or make them more focussed if they are playing well but cannot score. Wasting your half-time team talks can mean throwing away games and points and will definitely come back to hurt you.<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Show your anger at the team/I expect nothing else then a win. You are behind or drawing a game which you should clearly win without any doubt. Change formations, bring on a new player and combine with individual talks and you should see a different second half. Most likely you will be hailed by your players for turning around this game if you should succeed.
<LI>Disappointed/I want to see more from you. You are behind away, but you do not clearly see that a win is a must, you are draw against a quite good team at home or you are leading with a big team but only by one goal and the game is far away from being safe for you side, and the number of chances created is too low. Demand more and you may get it.
<LI>You can win today. Encourage your players in a positive way. Use this route if Angry/Disappointed may be too harsh since you are playing strong teams, if you still surprisingly hold a draw away without being favourite and think you have potential to win. Also, this is the way to go if you would have preferred angry/disappointed but your team has low morale,
<LI>Sympathize. The way to go if you unlucky behind or drawing, but see a good performance.
<LI>Pleased. For sustaining a good, at least two goals lead against a good opponent.
<LI>Show encouragement to the team (if available). If you are leading closely against strong opponents but your team is playing well and should maintain the performance to win.
<LI>Don’t let your performance drop (if available). If you are leading closely and feel your team is in control and dominating but has to stay focused to keep the lead.
<LI>Pleased at the performance (if available). Shows this: your are outplaying them everywhere! If you dominate from first to last, but missed to score yet, just scored once and all you need is more luck with finishing.
<LI>Thrilled. For a clear cut lead of three goals at half time, or a good lead away, or leading against a very strong opponent. Whenever your teams performs above themselves (even if they do it every week).
<LI>For the fans. See pre-match. Only for fierce rivals or cup finals.
<LI>Go out and enjoy the rest of the game/The pressure is off! For friendlies, if there is not much left to win, if you are already clearly behind and playing a team which is also clearly better then your own team and expecting to turn around will be asking for too much.
</UL>

Post-Match Team Talks
The shortest and least important part of all, since most time your players don’t listen anyway! The only bad mistake is not to give enough praise after good performances, and your players will let you know if this happens.

Generally, be positive post-match. If your team has lost away but played well, be pleased. If they have drawn at home but should have won, be pleased. Only lay into the players if they have performed way below expectations or if you are running a top quality side. After very narrow wins, warn against complacency. If you are able to praise individual players or even the whole team with a 'fantastic' feedback, you should not be too reserved with your post match comments. These options are only available if the engine has clearly seen you outplaying your opponents, and your players will expect an according feedback.


Match Day Interaction - Individual Player Talks

Individual player talks can be the dot on the 'I'. Use them wisely and check the assistant feedback to find out how your players react. It depends on their individual personality again. As mentioned earlier, you can use the ‘Ask Assistant’ button to select comfortably some individual talks, which is especially helpful regarding a new feature in FM 08: the individual talks to players based on their previous performances.

Pre-match talks
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Having faith. Still the most useful option at start of a match, since most players will act very favourable, especially if they have been on low morale or if you apply this to your key players before a very important match. I often had the impression that it works like adding some extra composure points to your attacking players.
<LI>No pressure. It may help your youngsters through their first senior team performances, but also and especially new players who still have to link up with their squad, additionally it can be helpful for players during their first games if they are returning from a long injury. There are some signs it can help for players with low morale, but there are more test feedbacks needed.
<LI>Expect a performance. Formerly a useful option for players after a series of bad performances, best combined with according media feedbacks, but now it does look rather obsolete since you will be able to give performance based feedbacks. Maybe it still can be applied for key players who did not achieve anything better then something like a 7-7-6-7-7 form. Will also need some testing.
</UL>
Performance-based player talks<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Expect better. Only available after a performance below 6 in his last match, and it will be most likely only helpful if morale is not too low now. Further long-term results needed to judge how efficient this talk is.
<LI>Pick up where you left off! This option is only available after a performance above 7 in the last match. Should be applied if the player has a good morale or better.
</UL>

Most likely you should only give these performance-based talks to players with at least good morale to apply them efficiently. If possible, you should make sure that your players would go into these matches having good morale. If not, you should better stick to the ‘have faith’ talk which has proven its worth as something like a ‘killer’ talk due to the enormous morale boost it can give.


Half-time talks
Similar to overall team talks, take your time on these since these are the talks that can change things and make the difference.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Angry. This will only be helpful if the player is under-performing but still has a very good morale.
<LI>Disappointed. As above, but less harsh and again rarely morale boosting. Use both talks only for very professional, determined key players if they have good morale and are clearly performing below their standards.
<LI>Having Faith. Just the same as in pre-match talks, this is usually the best morale boosting talk. Especially watch out for players who are behind the team morale when already winning. It can help to increase confidence and performance for the second half.
<LI>Pleased. Can result in sustaining an already good, but not brilliant performance. Most players will react favourably.
<LI>Delighted. The same as please for a brilliant performance. Often will result in a morale boost
<LI>No pressure. As in pre-match, a good option if you sub in the same kind of players, be it youngsters, new players or players coming back from an injury. You can additionally confirm this during half-time, if performance during the first half was not brilliant.
<LI>Prove a point. Only available if you are behind at half time. Similar to a killer talk for players who are far away from their standard.
<LI>You can make the difference! The ‘Have Faith’ talk for a team being behind at half-time. Very often the best option in combination with ‘Prove a point’ and a good team talk.
</UL>

Post-match talks
As for team-talks, probably the least important part and you can give some individual feedbacks, if you are up to. Look for new players and youngsters first, additionally for those with bad morale despite winning or those who played well despite losing. Check your team talk feedback frequently to find out how your players react since everyone is different and needs and individual handling.


Media Interaction - Giving feedbacks to players

Player Interaction
Unfortunately FM 08 did not introduce a feature many players have been hoping for: internal talks which are not linked to the media. It still seems to be quite strange that you need media to talk to your players, however these talks via the media may explain why they have so much influence on players. Just imagine you would read your boss’ statements about you in the morning paper. It does happen in this business, of course, but there should be other steps first and in fact I think most coaches are very cautious regarding explicit comments to media. It is remarkable that SI did not attempt to close this gap so far.

When interacting with your players, you should always think about how you would want to be treated as a player. You can build up and you can destroy players, and a large number of player under-performances must be related with the way some managers treat their players If you use your options wisely, you will gain more consistent performances and less cards and errors. Related to different characters acting different on team and individual talks, there are also differences in reacting to media feedbacks, which will be explained later.


Media feedbacks
Regarding FM 08, even superstars are more favourable acting towards praise then in FM 07. An additional help in FM 08 is the fan opinion about your players. If you are not sure where to start with praises or criticism, you may get an idea from the fans spokesperson.

When to praise for good performances. Especially after a win, you should single out your most valuable players. But keep in mind if you are praising a key player or a rotation or backup player. Be more generous with unexpected performances. Some key players will even get annoyed for too much praise or too gentle criticism, while youngsters will feel let down if you demand too much.

When to criticise bad performances. Especially after a loss and after draws, already after a win if you feel a player is playing below his standard or has been e.g. send off or came back with a lousy rating for a poor match, be it because of errors or anything else. If you do this pro-actively you can stop many collective and drastic drops in form before they have begun. Be harsher to your key players and less demanding to youngsters, backup and rotation players.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Delighted with recent form. Generally only for a run of extremely good performances. If you have been spot on, the fans will support this praise. If you are talking about superstars, it should be something like a 9-9-10 performance to praise them so highly. For a part-timer is may already be a string of 8 performances with maybe one 9.
<LI>Pleased with recent form. For a very solid to brilliant run, most players will be encouraged and stirred up to go on, looking for more praise.
<LI>Recent form is acceptable. Just like the word says. Not really brilliant, but the player may feel your support and perform much better soon.
<LI>Recent form is below par. For most normal players, anything below 7 can be singled out for criticism, especially after losses. Tell them and watch the next games. In FM 07, 7-7-7-7-7 for most superstars already was notable, however this may have changed for FM 08, many of them will see this as harsh, but also react more favourable to praise.
<LI>Disappointed with recent form. Usually most performance around a 6-6-6-6-6 should be ranked here, except for extremely unambitious players.
<LI>Deeply upset with recent form. The ultimate measure for a series of under-performances and losses, most time those players will have made errors as well and need the hairdryer treatment.
</UL>

If you are using media feedbacks for a while, you will notice that they have a huge influence on your players, often reflected in the game’s comments. You can help your players to maintain good form, stir them up to improve even further but also shorten individual dips of form. Another benefit: if your praise or criticism is spot on at several occasions, the players will be grateful and show you as favoured personnel. If you have enough players having you as a favoured personnel performance is likely to remain high. If you need to get a key player back on his feet, you should also think about letting him play a number of reserve matches. This often works real wonders.


How often should I use media-interaction?
Simply said, as often as possible. It is not available after every game, and sometimes you may keep it for a key game, which is coming soon, but usually you should always have an eye on your players and their performances. This can be a key in maintaining your players’ and your team form and interfering early into anything that is not going right. During a long season it is important to stay focussed and keep your players on their toes. Additionally it will be helpful during the start of your career to have as many players as possible showing you as your favoured personnel, especially the key players of course.


Squad Factors

Captaincy
If you take over a new team, there is a captain already and there will be a recommendation by your assistant usually recommending this captain and a vice captain so you will need to decide if you want to take this advice or not. If you want to change things, you should have a good reason and you should be willing to take the consequences as well. If you already know you will make changes, make them early and before your assistant will ask you.

I am simply looking at these attributes first: Influence plus determination. I also look for decisions, work rate and finally bravery. He should have a certain age and last not least have been at the club for a while and he should be highly respected by his team mates, you will see this in their good relationship screens. But, and this is a big but, sometimes an older ‘natural leader’ has just joined the club (only a candidate if settled in the same country!) or the ‘real life’ manager has a strange way to find captains. Then it is time to verify the choice, which I did twice so far. In both cases this was very well received, even though it does come at a cost and some candidates will feel left behind.


Bonuses
At start of the season, you can determine the sum that will be paid out at the end of the season, based on the success in several competitions. I think that there is not much of a choice here. Even if you are running a cash-strapped club, select the highest available option. First off all, this sum is included in your budget anyway, but also important: it is based on your success, which does mean you will have to pay less if the team fails to reach the season’s goals. As always, achieving something will generate more income for your team, so do not try to be miserly with bonuses. I never knew whether contracts have an influence or not, but I always tried to offer low wages, but high bonuses in contract talks.

Good bonuses do have an effect like a permanent media feedback at start of the season, I did not try to do the opposite, but most likely it has to result in a reversed effect. So, even if you are cash-strapped, give your guys the best bonuses. Morale and motivation will always pay off; a lack of it will cost you much more.


Fines

SI introduced a new feature to handle fines easier: there is a kind of hidden advisor system only allowing you to fine a player if something has occurred that justifies handing out a fine. Additionally you are restricted to the related kind of fine, which is certainly a very good improvement and can prevent many wrong choices or accidental fines, which can seriously harm your relationship to a player. To my own surprise I noticed this way that you can fine players for flirting with other clubs in public, but I yet do have to find out if this does make any sense in the long run. I hardly can imagine it does have a good effect in the long run, at least you should restrict the penalty to one week. I was even more surprised that this fine has been accepted as well.

There is a reason why you can fine players. It is amazing to read all the posts “player x got five red cards a season and is banned for most of my games”.Of course it is good to have some players with aggression in your squad, but you have to keep them at bay. Usually in every season you will reach a point where the big sending off starts, and if you don’t react, it will develop into a flood. If you react, it is over before it has begun. I simply follow this route:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>2 weeks fine for one red
<LI>2 weeks additional (after the player reacted) if it was violent behaviour
<LI>2 weeks for missing training
<LI>1 week if for yellow/red if I was too stupid to substitute or set down on easy tacking ;-)
<LI>1 week for a 5 performance of key players
<LI>2 weeks for a 4 performance of key players
</UL>

You will notice that most professional players will accept their fines and try to improve in future. Occasionally and if you are lucky, you will receive a message from your assistant manager letting you know that your fine has led to a major improvement in your player’s attitude.


Last year I wrote some words of thanks for reading until here, this year I would like to add the same and the additional hint that you can read much more in the complete version of CPW 08, especially regarding additional squad factors which are equally important for team performance, but will work more indirectly. I hope this 'short' version was a helpful introduction to get started with man-management, squad management and interaction, even more so if it may have raised your interest in reading more.


Links

Complete version of CPW: Communication and psychological 'warfare' 08


Tactic Building Basics
Tactical Theorems and Frameworks '08 - TT&F
Tactical knowledge remains the core of the game and can only be completed (or ruined) by man-management. Our sister thread offers in-depth knowledge and maybe the most systematic approach available since many years.
Fundamental Football Manager - FFM
Rashidi's systematic approach offering many alternate, but also common solutions to TT&F

Squad Management links
Squad Management I
The first article of the complete Squad Management series of the FM-Britain Tactical Bible.
If you want to read more details, updates and post questions or feedbacks, please visit the Tactical Bible Forum.

Articles and threads on man-management
Extra-tactical Factors
A very good introduction into the importance of several aspects of man-management by Millie.
Team gelling and tactical consistency
Examples given based on my experience with rebuilding Zaragoza
Pre-match Comments - An experiment
Excellent detailed research by wugster on the effects of pre-match media interaction, especially helpful regarding different reactions of individual players.
Player Interactions and their effects
Using the media to manipulate morale, another in-depth experiment run by wugster.
Things what I have learned in Madrid
Practical guide on applying squad management during the difficult first months with a new club by Millie.


Credits

Special thanks to the members of FM-Britain, the staff, my tactical co-workers Millie and wwfan and last not least, the contributors of the Tactical Think Tank, especially crazy gra and again Millie for editing and proof-reading the long version.

Abramovic

Another fantastic article/thread from the guys at FM-B.

KUTGW :thup:

ObaMartins09

Saw and read this on FM-B the other TND. It is a great read. So helpful.

Thanks.