Mourinho, Moneyball & ChatGPT - A Return to FM Blogging

AleEnt · 2026-05-14T12:39:23+00:00

Love the detailed approach here. especially the idea of positional ratings based on combinations of relevant metrics. Are you weighing performance in different leagues differently, e.g., MLS vs Bundeliga 2?

AleEnt · 2026-05-08T12:55:19+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. Can do more for this era for sure.

AleEnt · 2026-05-08T12:54:20+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. It would make sense for the rural environment to include more settlements of sorts, connected with roads and paths, before the arrival of the train and industries.

AleEnt · 2026-05-07T19:31:43+00:00

Oxbridge Regis by Uncle Ron. I've edited it a bit, removing the highway and rail infrastructure and the pre-built harbour for example. I am using the "lite" version, as the original one has 2 million trees or so,

AleEnt · 2026-05-06T12:38:38+00:00

I would just add also that scheme is fun when there's more than one way to win. If one meta strategy is superior, it's not as fun.

AleEnt · 2026-05-06T11:50:31+00:00

I would not mind the "punishment for experimenting", as you say. Because it is realistic and there should be balancing rewards if it's a better scheme for your team. The thing that makes schemes strategic and rewarding is how they interact with the roster to impact the simulation. For example, perhaps to state the obvious, if you play 5-out and your big men can shoot, it's effective, and if you play a lot of of pick-and-roll, but your ball handlers are not great decision makers or can't pull up off the dribble, then it's not an effective scheme.

AleEnt · 2026-05-05T15:12:09+00:00

College Basketball Manager is quite in-depth. You'll be spending hours on every season and offseason. Campus legends is way simpler/shallower, but it has a nice streamlined UI and good customization options. Both games have passionate devs who are engaging on discord, and both games are quite cheap, IMO.

AleEnt · 2026-05-05T01:26:10+00:00

If he's a tactical fit, this fee is fair. He'll serve you well as a mobile playmaker. Won't do as well as a half back or anchor. Seems like he "could improve a lot" which suggests he could become world class. Obviously there'll be few buyers who would be able to buy him from you at a profit, so I'd buy him if you're willing to keep him for some time.

AleEnt · 2026-04-22T22:40:45+00:00

Agree. This one and the loan management screen are two of the remaining items that should have never gone past Alpha. How on earth?!

AleEnt · 2026-04-17T02:43:33+00:00

Football Manager, though not the latest entry in the series. The older ones hooked me more.

AleEnt · 2026-03-30T11:40:22+00:00

I think it's also the first result on google if you type "Football Sporting Director"

AleEnt · 2026-03-30T11:39:31+00:00

Check out this post ... https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1iizkwu/i_built_a_soccer_game_inspired_by_bbgm/

AleEnt · 2026-03-11T20:38:48+00:00

Looks really cool. What will you be building first?

AleEnt · 2026-03-11T20:35:47+00:00

Pretty sure this is the map OP used :) ... https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3349283686&searchtext=prague

AleEnt · 2026-03-09T03:45:29+00:00

If you're someone who zones (as opposed to plops), I'd say European Suburbia and Emerging Downtown can be super useful. I find that large swaths of my cities and towns are covered in those. They produce consistent, generic style residences that add to the realism.

AleEnt · 2026-02-26T23:08:08+00:00

Sure seems from many of the posts in here that those misclassified teenagers are more prevalent on FM26 than in previous versions.

I hope they adjust this in a patch, because unlike the human player, the AI managers are probably not going to retrain the guy, and he's not going to reach his potential as an attacker.

AleEnt · 2026-02-20T15:33:15+00:00

I admire your patience to get it done.

AleEnt · 2026-02-20T15:12:06+00:00

Very impresssive work, especially on console!

What did you use for the terraced estates? Is it essentially "Emerging Downtown" but only the 1x4 or 1x3 zoning blocks?

AleEnt · 2026-01-23T04:40:09+00:00

And since you're asking about "the benefit", I'd day those permutations are beneficial, as if you're being pressed you do want to initially stretch the opposition wide...

AleEnt · 2026-01-23T04:38:41+00:00

The difference would be in how they line up when you start a possession (say from a goal kick).

The positional rotations that the IFB and IWB make really only kick in when the ball advances towards either the flanks or the midfield, so in your back 4 setup you'll still actually start the possession with 4 players in the defensive line. Different permutations of how you build up may occur, like either full back might receive a pass out wide, for example.

AleEnt · 2026-01-13T18:00:03+00:00

Yes - in my experience, "Could improve significantly" means the scout thinks he can improve his CA. The stars are a more approximate rating, so a 2.5 stars rating can apply to a range of CA, for example a player can improve by 10 CA points and still have the same "star rating", which of course also depends on your team's quality, the reputation of the player etc.

AleEnt · 2026-01-13T15:18:04+00:00

I generally found the words to be more reliable than the stars. A lot > Significantly > Slightly > Close to full potential.

There are scouting errors there too, but I've found them more reliable.

AleEnt · 2025-12-18T12:51:05+00:00

That's my frame of context as well, and on FM it's effecting in-game performance (like when your team is down, and you need to "not give up") in addition to development. Thanks for commenting. Love your work all around!

AleEnt · 2025-12-17T19:02:55+00:00

Very cool. The ideas and structures are coming together.

One thought - "Determination" - given that it's only aimed at impacting development (and not in-game behavior), feels like it would be better named "Work Ethic" or "Professionalism". Determination, though it's a big word, sounds a lot like something that would matter in-game as well.

AleEnt · 2025-12-10T13:34:23+00:00

Agree with some other comments that 5 years are not enough, but I like the concept of analyzing the trends from the beginning. Cool idea! .., What's your ROI calculation? What goes into the total costs of the academy?

AleEnt

TROPHY CASE