philbozz

My season with Wolves has hit a bit of a bump.

It was all going well, a manager of the month award for October. Two unbeaten runs of 10 games. 4th in the table. Top scorers in the division.

But the last six games it has gone horribly pear shaped. I've lost 5 and drawn 1 - including a 6-1 no show against Barnsley. My teams morale is rock bottom and I'm now 8th but still only 2 points from the playoffs, but this bad run doesn't look like ending.

All season my defence has been pretty sound and the attack has been deadly. I've still scored 7 in those 6 games (3 came in a 5-3 loss against Charlton). But the defence has fallen apart - They've let in 15 in the last 6 - I've conceded 62 all season, nearly a quarter have come in the last 6 games!?

I've used the same tactics all season - Have they been sussed out?

The same thing happened on my last game with Melbourne - I was top all season, but lost the last 3 or 4 games and lost all the games in the finals series.

Is a change of tactics in order or are my team just a bunch of bottlers?

Amaroq

No. Not necessarily. Look instead to your team talks and/or usage of the media.

Morale plays a huge part in results, in FM, and if morale is poor and confidence is rock-bottom, its no wonder tactics which have worked are coming apart on you.

You might take a look at Communication and Psychological Warfare over in the T&TT forum - great stuff.

You may also want to consider the advice at Halting a poor run of form for a different perspective, and some other things to try.

That said, if your tactic was based on the quick counter-attack, and now that you're top of the table you find everybody sitting back, your attack is probably running straight into the teeth of their defense, and you may need to shake it up a bit - but don't try to "shake it up" just for the sake of change!

Neji

A change of tactics may help but it's more that your team are bottlers! If morale is low, then changing tactics will probably just make things worse. Are you players tired at all? High training?

gunnerfan

Okay, first of all, don't start screaming at your players in team talks. It only makes things worse (just like real life). Keep team talks as positive as possible. However, if you find your fall-off is due to one or two players seriously underperforming, let 'em have it in the media.

Secondly, tweak your tactics. No team plays exactly the same way game in and game out because then they become predictable. In my current saved game, I'm juggling to keep Farsley Celtic from going down in the BSP, and I juggle my tactics fairly regularly. The down side is that the players might not be as cohesive as I'd like, but the upside is that I keep opponents off balance.

Thirdly, bring in some of your reserve players if they're any good. It might turn your season around and it will also grow your bench.

Fourth, if your schedule allows it, schedule a friendly against a lower level team. Beating the snot out of a weak team will help perk up morale.

Fifth, if none of this works, fire one of your coaches. It sometimes helps and in any event it will make you feel better.

Good luck.