retired_erwin8

Maybe, but there are only a couple of games like that during a season. Do you think it will be enough?

And besides.. there is no such thing as a sure win in FM2008 ;P

retired_courtneybalsam

It's better than nothing at least! With Chelsea, to use your example, they should be reasonably sure of victory in around 40% of Premiership games and the first few rounds of both cups, plus several European games. Having one developing player shouldn't hinder your chances in most of those games and, okay, a highly probably win then

retired_MikeMcC

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Starting CA PA Age Pos Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Season progress | Months injured | New CA Schaaf 85 199 16 DM +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 0(inj) +7 1 92Saivet 135 196 19 AMRL ST +1 +1 +2 +2 0(inj)-1(inj) +5 2 140Paloschi 96 192 20 ST +3 +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 +10 0 106Klinger 84 191 18 AMR +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +3 +9 0 93Keller 86 185 17 MC +1 0(inj)0(inj) 0 0 0 +1 2 87Sandro 90 181 18 DM +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +3 +9 0 99Whitehurst 133 180 20 ST 0(inj) +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +6 1 139Moloney 136 179 21 DRC 0 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +5 0 141Valle 84 179 19 DC +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +7 0 91Edwards 114 175 20 GK 0(injured)0 +1 0 +3 +4 3 118</pre>


Conclusion from 1st season:

Although not a whole seasons data, i think a few things are starting to appear

1) Although this was fairly obvious, a long period in the First team, uninterupted by injury, is the best way to increase CA

For the loanees Paloschi and Klinger were first team choices, both playing more than 20 games, Valle was used in rotation and only played 17 games, Keller played 7 games when he first joined, but after his injury, didnt play again. This is representative of their CA rises over the course of the season

The players in the Forest first team all featured as regular first teamers, with the exception of Sandro and Schaaf, who rotated ( but still maintained a healthy CA rise, in fact, they fared the best out of the players in the Forest first team, perhaps indicating that intermittent First team football is better than regular first team football? )

2) It will be interesting to see how Moloney's development fares next season, he is the only player over 20 in the experiment and has been an everpresent in the Forest first team squad, but never increased by more than 1 CA pt per month

Things to do/change for next season

1) More players in control group, 1 player is not enough, needs more players so that 1 has a good run of fitness and decent conclusions can be drawn

2) I shall make another group of players who play occasional First Team football ( maybe 3-4 bursts of 5 games at a time ) and see whether this affects the players development.

3) I shall change the Training schedules according to a few threads on here ( I shall be using Seasoned Alchoholics Pre Season training schedules, and the Regular Schedules from |maze|'s thread )

4) I shall send the same group of players to Chesterfield that i did last season ( they finished in the Playoffs of League 2 last season, but lost in the semi finals, Forest finished 8th in the Championship )

retired_FaultyFate

Be careful though. If a player develops too earlier he may not reach (or even come close to) his potential ability, especially if he starts picking up fast at age 16-17. I have had a couple saves in FM07 where very promising youngsters almost stopped developing at 22 - only their mental attributes kept increasing slightly. Those youngsters were among my first first 11 at age 18, and even though they were pretty good, but not as brilliant as one would expect. On the other hand, in anoter save the same youngsters were given first team eaxperience more gradually and they were world class players by age 25-26 with much better attributes than in previous saves.

retired_w0lfpack1

This, I think, should be a "sweet spot" issue. In other words, a young player who is asked to carry a team starts "feeling the pressure", and so shouldn't develop as much as one who is free to play without pressure.

It would be interesting to me if you could add a player who rots. In other words, one whom you never even name to the Reserve team - so that all he gets is training.

retired_MikeMcC

This, I think, should be a "sweet spot" issue. In other words, a young player who is asked to carry a team starts "feeling the pressure", and so shouldn't develop as much as one who is free to play without pressure. </BLOCKQUOTE>

yes, i have decided that for this season of the experiment there will be 4 groups

Group 1 will consist of Moloney, Saivet and two new signings, these guys will be regular first teamers

Group 2 will be Schaaf, Sandro, Paloschi and Whitehurst, who will rotate in the first team in pairs ( i.e the first month Schaaf and Whitehurst will be first choice DM and ST, the next month Sandro and Paloschi will be first choice and so on )

Group 3 will be Edwards and 3 new signings, they will stay in the reserves to be the "control group"

Group 4 will be Valle, Keller, Klinger and a new signing, they will be on loan at Chesterfield

Could you place an over 18's player in the U'18s squad and let him rot there, or would the AI pick him for the reserves?

retired_MikeMcC

interesting, ive just had a look at the development for June ( when theres no games! ), im going to put it down to the preseason training!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Starting CA PA Age Pos Jun Schaaf 92 199 16 DM +1Saivet 140 196 19 AMRL ST +1Paloschi 106 192 20 ST +1Klinger 93 191 18 AMR +2Keller 87 185 17 MC +1Sandro 99 181 18 DM +1Whitehurst 139 180 20 ST +1Moloney 141 179 21 DRC 0Valle 91 179 19 DC +1Edwards 118 175 20 GK +1</pre>

retired_FaultyFate

AI may pick him but it worth to try and check his stats (appearance) later. Also you can definitely place him in the first team squad and not play him

retired_MikeMcC

Ok probably my last update before i go to bed!

First off here are some pretty pictures! they are the training schedules im using and snapshots of the players profile at the start of the season.

Training Schedules

Player Snapshots

In my game it is nearly August, Pre-season is almost done ( it is 2 weeks till the first league game, and I shall switch from Pre-Season Training to the regular schedules now ). The four groups are:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Nat Start CA PA Age Pos Jun Jul First Teamvan Buuren Ned 132 181 18 DLC DM MLC N/A N/AMoloney Irl 141 179 21 DRC 0 0McLean Sct 127 183 18 AMR N/A N/ASaivet Fra 140 196 19 AMRL ST +1 +1RotationSchaaf Ger 92 199 17 DM +1 +2Sandro Por 99 181 18 DM +1 0Paloschi Ita 106 192 20 ST +1 +1Whitehurst Eng 139 180 20 ST +1 +2ReservesEdwards Eng 118 175 20 GK +1 +1Kessler Ger 98 169 18 DC N/A N/ADumitrescu Rom 91 176 18 DC DM N/A N/AGonzalez Fra 94 176 17 MLC N/A N/ALoaneesMarbus Hol 98 175 18 DC N/A N/AValle Spa 91 179 19 DC +1 0Keller Ger 87 185 18 MC +1 +2Klinger Ger 93 191 18 AMR +2 0</pre>

The 6 new signings were obtained for about 5 million all told and hail from all over europe ( in fact, amongst this group, pretty much all western european nationalities are represented! ) Interesting to note that the players who will ( barring injuries ofc ) be everpresent in this experiment are on the wings ( i.e 2 full backs and 2 wingers ) and the guys who are rotating will be playing through the middle ( at DM and ST ), I don't know how much ( if any ) effect this would have, and it is purely coincidental!

retired_kellyk

There is a screenshot which shows development across a season, at the bottom you'll see bars for specific skill areas...can you grab a few screenies...it should be interesting.

Whats your specific approach? Do you vary the intensity of the training?