When starting with a Championship or Premier League club, the long-term goal in Football Manager is for complete domination unchallenged as the top club in Europe for a sustained period of time. Priority however is building a lasting legacy rather than quick success. Simple rules to live by
1. Never break the bank
2. Always stay within budget
3. Look to refresh the side every couple of seasons
The first two rules are self-explanatory. When you leave the club, it needs to be in a position of supremacy. Any debts are out of the question. Moving stadium, for example, is a financial stretch for a club. Fantastic as it is when doing so, make sure you’re turning over a big profit every year as to keep the club in the ascendancy. The key to this lies in youngsters — keeping the reserves full of young players from across the globe. Have them all loaned out (unless using them in the first team doing the business). When they return in pre-season, check their progress and potential one by one. When they’re not doing it, ship them on for a big profit and always try getting a 50% sell on with no time for sentiment. Just in case you made a bad call when they misfire on you, you can collect a tidy sum and the club stays in the black, big style.
The third tip is to refresh the side. It goes without saying that if you have fantastic worldies, then don’t sell them while they are performing well. As soon as a ‘Big Name’ has a bad season, for me he gets offered out if there’s profit to be made. Same goes for when they hit 29; if they aren’t indispensable, they hit the road while they still have profitability. This shows some of the money coming into the club.
Football Manager is available from Amazon and other retailers.
