Football Manager 2015

[stokeriño]

A sending off from two yellows is an official warning.

A straight red is an automatic 1 week's fine.

A violent conduct red card with an extended ban is an automatic 2 weeks' fine.

These punishments are generally accepted by all players, I find.

[DavidMarrio]

I just fine two weeks wages whenever its a straight red.

So far in League 2 with Gateshead I am top of the league after 19 games on 40 points. Won 12, Drew 4, Lost 3. I changed formation from last season as I managed to improve my centre mids so I normally play a 4-3-3 with 3 CM's and two attacking wingers but I've been playing a narrow 4-3-2-1 lately which seems to be working okay in terms of dominating possession but I don't know whether long term it'll be perfect as I'm not sure about chances being created. Its great for being boring and killing games but I don't think it'll bring long term success.

Also I signed Shaun Wright Phillips on a free transfer in October on £550 a week, and well tbh he's a waste of £550 a week.

[Benji]

A sending off from two yellows is an official warning.

A straight red is an automatic 1 week's fine.

A violent conduct red card with an extended ban is an automatic 2 weeks' fine.

These punishments are generally accepted by all players, I find.

I don't care if players get cards so long as it's not a straight red, mostly because my tactics involve a lot of heavy tackles

[stokeriño]

Well most of the time the second yellows are just for something stupid and/or a 'professional' foul. I'm basically warning them to use their head a bit more the next time they're on a booking.

And yes, I do have the "Get Stuck In" instruction on in virtually every match. I see no contradiction here.

[Benji]

Found on Reddit titled "thanks for keeping us up, don't spend it all at once!"

[Meacon Keaton]

My Braintree game started off like a house on fire. We had six wins and one draw in our first seven games. However we didn't have a single clean sheet during that time.

The next four games were rough, as we drew two and lost two. We got our first clean sheet in one of those draws, though.

The last loss we gave up a whopping five goals, easily the most we've conceded all season, so I put in my youngin' keeper for the following game. Despite my veteran keeper getting only one clean sheet in his first eleven matches, he came in and got one in his very first showing. He had some darn good stops too.

Anyway, I'm sitting in second, going back and forth between it and third, while Gateshead easily leads the pack. Seriously, after twelve matches they're like 28 goal differential.

[Meacon Keaton]

This squad is the most Jekyl/Hyde I've ever seen in these games. We dominate possession all match, every match at home, but we can't even make simple passes away. We're winning 2-0, 3-0, or 4-1 at home, and then getting skunked away.

I'm literally not doing anything different tactics wise, and it's not like my opponents are that much better than me talent wise. So what gives?

[Benji]

You're playing in the Conference. That's how they do.

[DavidMarrio]

Yep.

If you're gonna be playing a passing possession tactic then it will go to shit at times because you have a shower of shite in your team. Plus you are playing away from home. Make an away version of your tactic, perhaps drop a man deeper into midfield? I used the 4231 tactic I made on my Southampton game and altered it slightly cause I obviously have worse players then I did with them. Away from home I went from an AML/AMC/AMR to an AML/AMR and the AMC dropped to DMC.

[Meacon Keaton]

You're playing in the Conference. That's how they do.

Go ahead and write off Braintree. They all do!

[Baddar]

A sending off from two yellows is an official warning.

A straight red is an automatic 1 week's fine.

A violent conduct red card with an extended ban is an automatic 2 weeks' fine.

These punishments are generally accepted by all players, I find.

Speaking of player fines...

4minutes into the league game with Liverpool at Anfield, Fellaini got a straight red for hacking down Henderson. Somehow won 2-1 but fined him a weeks wages after the game, which he accepted.

Annoyingly, in the following match, I was 2-0 up at home against Sunderland at HT, but they had more than their fair share of chances, so I instructed my players to not get complacent. 65minutes gone, still 2-0, but by the 80th, despite a "concentrate" shout after they grabbed one back, it was soon 2-2. Infuriating. Luckily again, I won with a late header from a corner.

[TCO]

I never use shouts. If I'm defending a slim lead and don't have the momentum, I drop a midfielder back and switch to an anchorman, put the fullbacks defensive if they're not already, keep the ball and switch to contain.

[Baddar]

I use control by default in games I SHOULD be winning, but drop it to standard and then counter as the match goes on if I feel I need to. Defensive or contain are only used really late on. I used to try defensive on other versions and found it just invited pressure and eventually I would concede.

Saying that, in 14, if I had an early red card at 0-0/1-1, I'd always lose or draw the match and very rarely win, but my two first half reds this season have been in wins at Swansea and Liverpool.

[Benji]

I can't say I've ever used control or counter with any regularity, I find defend and attack do the jobs far better.

[stokeriño]

I use Control more than 95% of the time.

I find that using Attacking tends to send the players a little crazy, and they start rushing and blazing silly shots over the bar and whatnot. Control still enables them to score a tonne when they can, but just prevents them from being boneheaded about it.

[Benji]

I find control just doesn't have nearly enough shots. I don't mind if they're missing so long as they're having a go.

[Benji]

I forgot to say, I love that Forest keep taking all my cast-off players. I've sold no fewer than eight players to them in four seasons, and they've taken a couple from frees too. It's amusing to see them climb the league with my scraps, only to get walloped each time we face off.

[Franklin_1]

I use defensive a lot to good effect, find it works much better than counter

[TCO]

Contain is surprisingly effective a lot of the time. Keeps things tight and you often score on the break if you're getting bombarded by a frustrated opponent. I rarely do anything but standard, contain if I'm down to 10 or going to get battered or overload in the last 10 mins chasing a game.

[Baddar]

Overload annoyed me on FM14. Don't know if it's just me, but I lost count of the amount of times I switched to it with 10-15 to go, only for the game to play out without another highlight being shown. :/