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LOWER LEAGUE DOCTRINE

I usually avoid playing the major teams in CM (Like Man Utd & Barcelona), preferring to manage lower league clubs like Hereford in the Conference. Over a period of time I have come to have implement a number self imposed of house rules to make the game more realistic and difficult. I have consistently referred below to the English league as this is the league which I play most often. This doctrine can be applied to any other country with a bit of common sense. Be warned, you will most proberly spend quite a few years in the Lower Leagues if you follow all of these house rules to the letter.

Fog Of War must be used
Comment: None needed as FOW is a must if you wants to play a pure Lower League game.

You can only sign players that your Scouts have recommended. No trawling through the transfer screen
Comment: This is a bit of a "grey" area. Some believe you should be able trawl though the transfer screen, as Managers in RL have access to web pages etc. Others like myself feel that you should only be able to sign players that your scout has found. You will find that if you do not use the Transfer Screen your chances of finding a good player to sign will diminish 10 fold, and with that the potential to be promoted decreases the same.

Your Scouts can only "scout" in countries where your Club can tour. In regard to England, this means your Scouts can only scout players in England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland up to Div 1. In Div 1 you can scout all EEC countries, and when you are able to get to the dizzy highest of the Premier League you are no longer a lower league club, and can send your scouts to the four corners of the world if you so wish.
How realistic is a scout from the Conference going on a junket trip around the globe looking for players? It just would not happen in real life, hence the reason for the restrictions. CM01/02 has now got restrictions on where your scouts can look for players, but this little house rule makes it just that tad more difficult.

If a player comes up as a Media Message, you are able to scout the player (if he is in your Scouting area). In most cases, the player will be a high profile player and will be well known.
If a player in your league wins "Player of The Month" you would know about it, so why wouldn't you be able to send your scouts out to look him over?

Hiring the Backroom Staff:
All teams are allowed to have an Assistant Manager, but if you are starting in the Conference, you are only allowed to have on your books two Coaches, one Scout & one Physio.
In Division 3, Human managers are allowed two Coaches, two Scouts, but still only one Physio.
In Division 2, a further Coach & Scout can be hired
In Division 1 you are allowed four Coaches, three Scouts & a second Physio.
The Premier League allows you to fill all remaining empty spaces.
I went through all the teams in the English League, and got the average number of backroom staff from each division to arrive at the above figures. Some of the figures I rounded up, others I rounded down to get some sort of balance.  If your club has more backroom staff than the recommended number, that is just your good luck. It is just something else to look over before choosing a new club to manage. It does make it more challenging as your players will not come on as quick as there is a lack of coaching staff, and with less Scouts on staff, the chances of finding a good player also decreases.

The only time you can use the "Player Search" screen is when you are looking for a player to loan from another club. As the majority of these players will have some of their stats not shown (due to FOW), you will have to scout them. This causes a dilemma because as soon as you scout a player he is put on your short-list, which conflicts with only signing players your Scout recommends. I get around it by taking the player off my short list if he does not measure up or refuses to sign for a loan agreement with you club. Optional: You are only able to obtain loan players from your scouts recommendations.
Another one of those "grey" areas. Each to their own, but in my present game I am only trying to get loan players that my scout has found.

You are only allowed to use tactics that came standard with the game. These tactics can be modified, but the formation must stay the same. For example the 4-4-2 tactic is not allowed be bastardized into a 4-3-1-2 etc.
In my opinion, taking advantage of flaws in the match engine is cheating. Use 4-4-2 etc, modify to your hearts content as long as it remains a 4-4-2 formation