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Last week I wrote an post about how to end a run of bad form after my own experience with Southport unable to win in 12 games I discovered for myself the importance of keeping you squad happy. There is a few tips in that post but I wanted to expand a little further on the subject that a lot of people seem to ignore but is a vital part of Football Manager strategy.
Not only in making sure you escape poor form, but in an ability to win anything. Just look at Chelsea, they were last season loving playing under Hiddink and again this time under Ancelotti and showing a vast improvement then how they played under Scolari a manager that is more than capable tactically, but just couldn’t keep the backroom of Chelsea on his side and high in morale. Happy players will want to play good football and will look confident on the pitch, as unhappy players will make more mistakes.
Therefore it is no surprise when teams that don’t look happy find it difficult to win games and will root themselves further down the table, but those players that are happy will go on to win game after game. It is therefore the same in Football Manager, as well as tinkering your tactics, this game is not a series of clicks but in order to find success especially with teams that you are looking to overachieve, a whole strategy of keeping them happy is very important and dealing with any disruptive players within the side should be taking swiftly as well as effectively.
Praise and Criticism
One of the main ways that you can interact with players on a regular basis is to go into the players interaction page and big them up or slate them depending on how their current form is. Doing this you will be able to raise morale of those players that currently aren’t in an superb status of morale for what ever reason. Reading at the FM Britain forums, I was surprised at how often other players actually do use this feature within their games. Garth Millward also offering us a rough guide of what to say to players depending on their average last 5 game rating:
Usually. As a rough guide, I tend to use the “last 5 games” stat, and do the following:
7.50+ – delighted
7.00-7.49 – pleased
6.50-6.99 – acceptable
6.00-6.49 – blow par
5.99- – angry
If a player reacts badly to that, I make a note in their profile to say that they tend to like more/less praise/criticism.
I have never really given this method much thought, but as I continue to play my game in a run of good form, I am keen on using this method to prevent any sudden change in mood that could stop my players from performing. In is an affective way to managing your players morale throughout the season and helping keep your top players motivated to play and giving the odd kick up the arse every now and again can really change performances as the player looks to keep his place. Recently I have critising an experience winger Paul Barrett, a player who has under performed for the whole season of 12 games, a little word in the presses ear he scores two goals next game.
Press Conferences
A tedious feature of the game I know and it can be so easy to ask your assistant to take control of them, but I have now found it much more beneficial to do them myself. I would like to hear from yourselves whether you feel that having a good assistant manager with a high motivation stat can do as good a job as yourself in the press hotseat, but I have found that this has been a major tool in winning games. If I say the right things in the long term it has been given me results, putting pressure on young opposition players and jeering up my own players has lead to games where I look better in control and sustained runs, or even after losing the game preventing it from turning into a series of loses. I found this one of the biggest tools in getting me back on track in the league as I relieved my assistant the duty of dealing with the press. Don’t forget to take note of how each player reacts to you.
Team Talks
I find team talks more like a little push in the right direction then any major change, team talks are a place where you can see straight away how your team is going to react to a positive approach or a negative approach. But I think that it has to be said that you should really be treating your players all of the time with respect. When they are down, they need encouragement, an arm around them and not a tea cup in the face. But when they are up on a high and just plain over confidence is what is ruining a game a game that is the only time you should lose it with your players when the high morale is able to take a little bit of a beating to kick them in the right direction.
I think the bottom line is treat your players like you expect to be treated yourself, it work in real life right? It should work in a simulation, you want to make the players want to play for you, want to play for the squad and by doing this you will see top players stay for longer, players perform better and results come in much easier. Player interaction is a big tool in game that is so often missed by gamers.
Please share with us your own tips and stories about keeping players morale high and how this has affected your Football Manager strategy. You can leave a comment below or join the conversation on Twitter @FMpundit.
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This is spot on! having been in a near identical position with Morecambe, unbeated in 12 and rock bottom. I decidded to attend press conferences myself and start ‘slagging off’ other managers aswell as highly critiscing players if they play bad or have bad disciplinary. Last 7 games , 5 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. nice article
Doesnt work for me, got promoted to the new league and not won for 19 matches :S won every match in the lower league
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