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So you’ve just been promoted, after the initially excitement has warn off you need to start preparing for the season ahead. Below is a list of things for you to consider and be warned, some of them should be started ASAP so i’m hoping you haven’t left it till half way through the pre season to read this guide.

 

Update Recruitment Focuses

You might have different needs now you’re a league above, make sure to update your Recruitment Focuses so your scouts are sending the right sort of players. You may have previously setup your scouts to look in specific competitions that are now below your level, or cheaper players and you can now afford better.

 

Again do this as early as possible, before the end of the previous season when you’re sure you’re going to get promoted if you can, that way you’ll be getting updated reports during the summer.

 

Change Your Tactics

Now you’re in a new, harder, league it’s a good idea to adopt a more conservative tactical approach. Change your tactic to one focused on counter-attacking is going to work well against stronger opposition.

 

Make sure you do this as early as possible to improve your players tactical familiarity. As soon as the season ends is as good a time as any, maybe even earlier if you’re already assured promotion.

 

Update Your Training

If you’ve got new tactics then you’re going to want to refocus your training to include lots of “Match Tactics”.

 

If you have opted for a more direct counter attacking style of play after dominating the previous league with possession you’re also going to want to add “Attacking Direct” as well. Or if you’ve chosen a different tactical approach look for options that match the new style you’ve chosen.

 

If your new tactic has different roles, such as changing an advanced forward to a defensive forward you may want to change the individual focus for those specific players who are changing role as well, just go to Training > Individual > “List” in the top left dropdown (It may be labelled “Detailed”). Then in the 

Position/Role/Duty column you can easily select the role you want each player to play this new season.

 

If the previous season hasn’t ended and you’re already assured promotion, you can players lots of rest and recovery so they can recover ready for the new season.

 

When the pre season starts again make sure to focus alot on the physicals.

 

If you have experienced players that are unlikely to improve at all then you may want to skip all the individual development of attributes all together. Of course if you are trying to persist with a team of kids, then focusing on individual development is going to be requirement you just can’t avoid.

 

Make Friendlies Against Tough Opposition

Friendlies against higher-level teams will help you see just how much of adjustment this new league will be, make sure to arrange these yourself and do it early before the other teams fill up their calendar.

 

To arrange a friendly in FM24 just go to Schedule > Fixtures > Arrange Friendly, it's in the bottom right.

 

How to stop staff arranging friendly matches in Football Manager 2024

The option to take control of arranging friendly matches is really hidden, if you go to Staff > Responsibilities you won’t see any options for arranging friendly matches. Instead you have to go Staff > Responsibilities > Match and then under “Leads Friendly Matches” there’s a tickbox “Backroom staff arrange friendly matches for the first-team squad” untick this.

 

 

 

Assess Your Squad

The easiest way to get an overview of your squad is just to go to the Squad page and View > Reports and sort by Ability and Potential. From here you can quickly see the weakest links.

 

Or head to Squad Planner in the left sidebar. This is great because it has the option of seeing what your squad will look like “Next Season”. If you’re relied alot on loan players who will be leaving the club now or have players coming or going on free transfers this will show you what your squad will look like with/without them.

 

 

Make sure you have the right coach giving you reports

Each of your backroom staff have a score for Judging Current Ability and Judging Potential Ability but only one of them is providing the ratings you see in the Squad page or on the Player Report page and it might not be the best one.

 

To make sure you've got the best man for the job go to Staff > Overview > Coaching Team and then select View > Mental Attributes and sort by “Judge A(bility)” and “Judge P(ability)” and make a note of which person has the highest rating for each.

 

To make things even easier you can use nicknames to put their ratings after their name which will then appear anywhere you see their name. Here i’ve made a note that Andrew Findlay 15 for Judging Ability and 11 for Judging Potential.

 

 

 

Then go to Staff > Responsibilities > Advice and Reports > Provides Player Reports and use the dropdown to select the Person with the best ratings.

 

 

Squad Planner Comparison

If you go to Squad Planner > Report > Comparison you’ll be able to see a comparison between your players and the rest of the league. Unfortunately there’s no way to change this to compare yourself to other leagues (come on Sort It Out SI!!) so you’ll have to wait till the new season starts before utilising it.

 

But when it does it should be one of the first things you do.

 

You’ll know when the new season starts because you’ll get a news item in your inbox and when you click on your squad the division listed under the word “Squad” in the header will change.

 

Plan Short Term

Try to offer one or two-year deals to experienced players to maintain flexibility for future squad rebuilding. If you’re still in the lower leagues you may be pushing up another league soon, even if you’re in the Prem you could find yourself pushing for Europe or getting relegated again, in either case you don’t want to be stuck with players you can’t off load.

 

Thinking short term again, prioritise experienced players, sure we all love wonderkid’s but if your future is in doubt and the going gets tough there’s nothing better than players with experience.

 

You can go to Squad Planner > Experience Matrix to get an idea of how experienced your squad is at the moment.
 

Upgrade Your Staff

When making sure you’ve gotten the right person sending you reports and setting up nicknames, you probably realised that there’s room for improvement in your backroom staff, especially now that you have a higher wage budget.

 

You may want to wait a bit before doing this because your board will increase your wage budget, as well the number of backroom staff you’re allowed to hire now that you’ve been promoted. You’ll also have a wider selection of people interested in joining given your improved standing in the world of football.

 

So wait for news items about new season budgets and then immediately go to Staff > Overview to see how the board has updated your allowances. It should say things like “2/10 Scouts” which lets you know you still have room to hire 8 new scouts.

 

Then go to Staff > Staff Search and see if there’s anyone you can find who is better than your existing staff.

 

Remember if you do sign some new staff they may have better Judging CA and Judging PA so make sure to go and update Staff Responsibilities and Re-asses your Squad

 

How to ask the board for more backroom staff and increased staff wages

Don’t forget you can go to Club Vision > Make Board Request > Staff to request increases to how many staff you can hire and what wages you can offer.
 

 

Summary

Before Season End

  • Update your recruitment focus
  • Update your tactics
  • Update your training
  • Assess your squad

 

At Season Start

  • Make Friendlies against tough opposition
  • Upgrade your staff (reassess your squad again with the better staff)

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