Ludicrous prices. Getting used to them yet?

[John Grant]

I am only a relative newcomer I guess , my oldest team is in its 12th season , the youngest is in season 10. In all I run 5 teams and not once have I bought a recommended player or player of the day , why ? I am not flush with tokens. My association is in Gold 2 with enough points to progress to Gold 1 next season so my budgets were between 90 and 120 tokens this season so I simply cant afford to spend that type of coin on 1 player, I have to be frugal which usually means I dont get involved even in auctions for the first few days and aim to have my squad settled by the first week of association games. I am forced due to the stupidity of the early auction bidding wars to go for players between 89 and 92%, the younger the better, and train them up. I usually end up with a 98 -99% team during the last part of the league season which is ok. Do I win the league ? not often but all my teams usually end up in the top 4 , I think the worst any of my teams has done was 7th( the season after winning the league. I concentrate on the league and associations and often send my second stringers out in the cups comps.
Now if the negotiation scene worked then I would be better off with my limited funds but it just doesnt work. About 20 times I have tried to negotiate for a player and anout 20 times the time limit has expired with no reply from the selling manager. I have just about given up on it.
As for these inflated player price offers , good luck if you want to spend the money , not me though.

[HairDryer]

I am only a relative newcomer I guess , my oldest team is in its 12th season , the youngest is in season 10. In all I run 5 teams and not once have I bought a recommended player or player of the day , why ? I am not flush with tokens. My association is in Gold 2 with enough points to progress to Gold 1 next season so my budgets were between 90 and 120 tokens this season so I simply cant afford to spend that type of coin on 1 player, I have to be frugal which usually means I dont get involved even in auctions for the first few days and aim to have my squad settled by the first week of association games. I am forced due to the stupidity of the early auction bidding wars to go for players between 89 and 92%, the younger the better, and train them up. I usually end up with a 98 -99% team during the last part of the league season which is ok. Do I win the league ? not often but all my teams usually end up in the top 4 , I think the worst any of my teams has done was 7th( the season after winning the league. I concentrate on the league and associations and often send my second stringers out in the cups comps.
Now if the negotiation scene worked then I would be better off with my limited funds but it just doesnt work. About 20 times I have tried to negotiate for a player and anout 20 times the time limit has expired with no reply from the selling manager. I have just about given up on it.
As for these inflated player price offers , good luck if you want to spend the money , not me though.

With all my respect i like how you manage your team and the way you play this game. Above all the honesty of you post.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

[John Grant]

With all my respect i like how you manage your team and the way you play this game. Above all the honesty of you post.

Sent from my SM-A800F using Tapatalk

Thankyou Hairdryer. Overnight I had 1 team win the league with a game to spare , another won the champions league ( my 98% team beat a 108% team) while another won the super league against an evenly matched team my association narrowly lost its semi final against superior opposition ( we average 96% against their average 107%) 14 -17 but will qualify for promotion to Gold 1.
I manage my teams on a shoestring budget but manage to make them more than competitive each season, its a bit like Martin O'Neal at Everton a few years ago with his teams always there abouts just behind the big 4. I find it far more rewarding to get the best out of players by developing them in training ( I have abandoned trying to multi position a player , my players start at 89 - 92% so I just cant afford it) , using good strategy centered around a solid , dependable but unspectacular team formation. I have read a bit in here about different formations to use and counter with but I have found my 3-1-3-1-2 ( not saying which team settings I use) to be useful enough in a tradesman like way . I will beat inferior teams 90% of the time , equal teams about 70% and superior teams about 30% which makes my teams highly competitive.
I find this way of management to be quite a lot of fun , requiring a fair amount of thought at times and far more rewarding for me than if I could simply throw some money around and just buy my way to success. I think this game would get boring very quickly if I was able to do that. I know there are those in this game that buy their way to success , good luck to them I say , but where is the satisfaction in doing that. Sure you may have a long list of titles to your name , good for you , but I can tell you here and now you dont get the feeling managers like myself do when we win something and really isnt that what a game is all about.
Anyway I better write something on topic I guess. Last night I watched an auction bidding war on pretty much the last day of the season that left me gobsmacked. 20 yo DC/DMC at 96% went for an unbelievable 31 tokens. Seriously tomorrow this player will be 76%. Couldnt believe what I was seeing unless there is some strategy that I as a relative newcomer cant see in this.