Rick's guide to mastering LLM

Lower league management (or LLM as it is popularly know) is a way of playing on FM which has a dedicated fan base of frustrated managers tinkering away with a side full of part-timers who during the day are out delivering milk or swiping your groceries through the checkout at Teco.
By definition LLM is any division below the top tier in any given county, However most LLM fanatics will tell you that's not real LLM, To truely get the lower league experience you need to download an expansion which will open up a whole new world of mediocrity to you, Might I suggest one of these?...
FM Updates EEE - England-Enhanced-Expanded - The best out there in my opinion, It goes down to Level eight on the English system and is very in depth, all the clubs have had their finances changed so they are realistic as well as league and cup histories all being added.
English Pryramid down to level 9 - Not as in depth as EEE but it does go down an extra tier and includes some regional cups for you to have a run in. Be warned though the FA cup has not been edited so some teams who should enter it do not.

Obviously in this article I am focusing on England, but there are numerous expansions out there on the FM scene for countries right around the world, I have found Germany a particularly enjoyable place to manage.

Set Up

Before you dive right in with your local band of semi-pro's there are a few adjustments you should make in order to get the best from your game;

1. Make sure you have your editor data selected, if you have installed it correctly it should show on your list, Note EEE also comes with a file which adds more local media to your game to add to the detail. I reccomend deselecting all other editor data to minimize the chances of conflicts and crashes.

2. When picking what nations to load, Unless you have a high end machine don't go overboard, these expansions tend to have a lot of custom leagues and cups which if combined with other countries will slow your game down considerably, particularly after a few seasons. If you'r managing in England I would recommend just loading the home nations or even just England it's self.

3. Select down to the lowest playable division.

4. When playing this low down you should always load all players from whatever nation you are playing in, to do this go to the database size bar which should say small,medium or large and select whatever country you are playing in from the drop down on the right.

5. Finally ensure you have the add key staff and add players to playable teams buttons checked, In EEE all squads should be complete with real players but that is not the case with all expansions. These buttons will fill your backroom and playing staff with regens, If you already have some real players and staff it will make you a youth team, some of whom can become very good players.
It's also a good idea to start in the league which starts the earliest, if you have loaded the Home nations that would be Wales, This gives you an extra month to prepare and bring in new players if your not happy with your squad.

Day One

Upon joining the club there are the formality's of meeting with the chairman and of course the media to attend to, Once those are out of the way it's time to take a look at your squad, there are many things to take into account here;

-Do you have at least two players for every position? Fitness levels are generally much poorer in the basement divisions so you will have to rotate almost constantly to cover tiredness and injuries, I like to have two solid players and if the club has any youth players I will have the most promising in each area on standby in the first team but made available to play for the reserves.
-Don't be discouraged if all your players attributes are awful, any attribute rating of 7 or more is good for this level, All the other teams have the exact same problem.
-Set up your tactics to a very old school style of football - None of your players are going to have the ability to play beautiful flowing football, direct passing with lots of long balls, always close down aggressively will be far more effective down here.

Also don't forget to play to your players strengths, if you full back is slow don't have him charging forward and looking to overlap with your wingers, If your striker is very weak don't have him as a target man trying to hold up the ball etc.
-Don't work your players too hard in training - As I mentioned before fitness levels are not good at most teams, these players have a day job to tire them out as well remember! You should have them at average intensity for the first few weeks of pre-season training but then drop it down to low once you actually begin playing friendly's.
-It's a good idea to hold a team meeting upon your arrival to introduce yourself to you players, If anyone reacts negatively towards you then there's a good chance their a troublemaker and should be given the boot. Demand respect!



So you've had a look through the squad, It's generally OK but there are a few players who just don't cut it, where do you start looking?

-Make use of your scout, if you clicked the 'add key staff' option earlier you will have at least one. But be aware he is just one man and can't scout the entire country on his own, My advice is to have a look around the other clubs that are close to you geographically (local players are more often than not interested in joining you as opposed to ones who hail from further afield.) and to mark out any players who look like they might be good be good, the scout will then fill in the missing attributes for you i you have attribute masking enabled (which you should for a genuine LLM experience)
-Don't let the star system be the be all and end all of your recruitment - remember at this level scouts generally only have up to a 5 or 6 rating for the judging of ability and potential so they could rate a potentially useful player too low or visa-versa so use your own judgement on the players attributes and character.
-Most players down here are either semi-pro or amateur, however they will ask for appearance fee's, goal bonuses etc, be very careful with these as money is a precious commodity and you will quickly find yourself in debt if your not careful. Don't be afraid to use the non-negotiable option when offering a contract.

Into the future

-As you go on better players will become available as the bigger clubs release them, pay particular attention from youth players released from League clubs as they are often willing to join a smaller team and can really add something to your squad.
-Don't think about upgrading facilities and the stadium until you get a decent bank balance as you'll just get into debt, that probably isn't going to happen until you've had at least a couple of promotions under your belt so be very careful with board requests.
-Look for a parent club, they can send you their best youngsters on loan as well as paying you for the privilege.
-Don't expect many great players to come through your youth team, you may get one or two but on the whole they are useless, your better off looking to sign new players until you eventually get new facilities.

Conclusion

LLM is not for everyone, it is tough. If you are the sort of person who enjoys instant gratification FM by winning everything with Man United or Barcelona in your first season then this isn't for you. But if you enjoy gradually building and patiently working your way up by painstaking searching for the right players then LLM is a beautifully rewarding experience.

Finally here's a few extra tips to help you get the most from your game;

-For added realism sign only local lads, for example if your managing FC United then only sign players from Manchester and the North East or if your with a Birmingham based club only get players from the West Midlands.
-Download the logo, faces and stadium packs from this site, It always surprises me what a difference it makes to my motivation if I can see exactly what the club's ground and what my players look like.

I hope you've found this guide informative and allow me wish you the best of luck in this challenging but extremely fun way of playing FM.