How Sports Interactive Should Make Amateur Management Harder
It's too easy otherwise
How Sports Interactive Should Make Amateur Management Harder
Amateur club management is too easy in Football Manager.
Now, I’m not talking about managing an amateur club that plays with professional or semi-professional teams. I’m talking about managing an amateur club that plays in a completely amateur league — or, better yet, in a country with only amateur teams.
Here are five things I recommend Sports Interactive do to make amateur management more challenging.
Make Transfers Harder
As it stands now, you can easily steal good players from other teams in amateur leagues. Most players in the same league (or country) will be more than willing to come to your club if you just ask. It’s trivial to amass a team made up of every single member of the media “dream eleven.”
This should be more difficult. Sports Interactive should make it so that players on amateur teams have at least some sort of loyalty to their current club.
Without this change, winning a few games in a row will suddenly turn you into a good player magnet — which is exactly what I’ve experienced with PanSa East F.C.
Fix the Finances
As it stands right now, amateur club finances make no sense at all.
PanSa F.C. has no expenses — none whatsoever. Players cost nothing, staff costs nothing, and the club only brings in money. We’ve got minor expenses to help maintain the shared ground, and that’s it.
This is ridiculous, of course. One easy path to success in an amateur country is to grab a team, make good transfers, win games every year, and slowly progress through the regional Champions League. Eventually, your team will become so rich that it will become semi-professional, and then eventually professional. Winning the league is then incredibly easy, and the real question becomes whether you can improve your team enough to win an improbable Champions League victory.
Amateur teams should not be able to stockpile cash indefinitely. This needs to be modified and made more realistic.
Expand the Attribute Ranking System
Currently, Football Manager attributes rank from 1 (lowest) to 20 (highest).
That works great for leagues and countries that come with the base game. However, it’s awful for amateur leagues.
The truth is that there is a big gap between, say, the 13th tier of the English football system and the 6th tier. You won’t notice this gap in Football Manager, however, because there are only 20 possible ratings for each attribute.
I recommend allowing negative attribute ratings to be created to simulate football at the lowest levels. Without this change, advancing through the lowest amateur ranks is merely a question of time and patience.
Better Stadiums
This is a point that many people have made already on many Football Manager forums.
The problem is that all Football Manager stadiums look like they come from somewhere in northern England. It’s ridiculous, of course. If I’m playing in American Samoa, I shouldn’t be looking at terracing. If there’s a crowd at all, they probably should be standing on the side, barely separated fromt he field.
Allow the customers to make their own custom 3D stadiums!
Better Board Goals
The current board goal system is awful for lower league management.
Our goal at PanSa East F.C. was to finish in the middle of the pack this year, and maybe finish in the top half next year. Now that we’re basically guaranteed a first place finish, both the board and fans think that I walk on water.
I don’t mind the praise, but it’s ridiculous. The board should have at least some kind of ambition in the long run. Amateur clubs should look to become professional, for example — not just finish in the middle of the table for all time.
Board goals should be revamped in general. However, it is critical that they be improved for amateur management. Otherwise, it feels like there is simply nothing left to do.