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The Lower League Staff Room
Jan 28 2011 05:50 PM | The Pioneer in Scouting
This is a joint guide between The Pioneer & Foxo
Following on from the Perfect Staff Room, myself and Foxo have worked together on a staff team for the lower leagues, as many of you have asked about suitable staff for these teams. For this we used Charlton and Southampton as the basis, two higher League 1 sides, but many of these will join anyone in League 1. The database loaded was large and England only down to the Blue Square North/South, so all these staff will be available in 99% of games.
Before we start going through the staff selected, one issue with these lower leagues is that many staff have a random CA/PA. We have tried to select staff that don't from what we can tell, apologies if they aren't as good on your game as on one of ours.
It is also worth noting that there are only 2 staff members who were previously employed demanding a total of £109k in compensation to their clubs, while the entire staff team uses just £7900 in total wages per week.
Al Stewart looks like the perfect candidate to be offered the role of Assistant Manager for a lower league side if you are looking to restructure your staff room, as a free agent you will not have to worry about any compensation fees and he usually agrees a contract deal between £600 and £700 per week.
Strengths
Stewart has fantastic motivating, determination, adaptability and man management attributes when you look at his profile, with an adaptability of 20 he should quickly settle in and gain full club knowledge and he is obviously a determined character who will strive to motivate players and the team as a whole.
Weaknesses
The downfalls of Al Stewart are clear in abundance with a limited scope of training possibilities from his coaching attributes and a mid level level of discipline, his level of discipline is countered however by his other mental attributes.
Alan Kelly looks like the ideal candidate to be offered a goalkeeper coaching role, again as a free agent you have no compensation package to worry about paying out and his initial demands are just £425 per week.
Strengths
Kelly has fantastic determination, goalkeepers and working with youngsters attributes when you view his profile, as the only goalkeeper coach at the club Kelly's high determination and working with youngsters attributes will help him strive to get the best out of the players assigned to him and his high goalkeeping coaching attribute and past playing experience as a goalkeeper show he knows the ins and outs of his trade.
Weaknesses
The only downfall I can pinpoint with Alan Kelly is his low level of discipline which is countered by his determination and motivating attributes.
Bryan Klug looks like the ideal candidate to be offered a coaching role and looks like the perfect staff member for general coaching use throughout the squad, another free agent means you save the pennies without compensation to pay for his services and an initial wage demand of £525 means he is not likely to break your balance when you are negotiating a deal.
Strengths
Klug is solid across the board with coaching attributes and has a high determination attribute on his mental attributes, he seems to be the perfect coach to help maintain a flow of keeping the coaching work load light and making sure you aren't spreading your base too thin.
Weaknesses
Klug has a couple of weaknesses which can be easily pinpointed, as a general use coach he cannot be used to coach goalkeepers leaving Kelly on his own and low level of discipline and motivating attributes but as he is only used as a general purpose coach he is countered by his fellow staff members around him.
Tosh Farrell, a former Everton youth coach, is a perfect candidate for the attack coach role, although he could equally coach the technical side of the game.
Strengths
Farrell's attacking attribute of 17 is one of the highest you will find in the lower leagues for such a cheap wage, and on a free too. He has well rounded mental stats, Discipline at 17 is a highlight, while if you needed a second opinion on a player he has good scouting stats to cover those areas. His motivating at 14 means players on his training routines should train effectively, aided by his reasonable determination(12).
Weaknesses
If I was being picky, I could suggest that his Adaptability (12) or Tactical Knowledge (11) wouldn't be good enough for an immediate impact, but really Farrell is a quality coach.
One of the two staff members who demands compensation from his previous employers, Plymouth Argyle, Evans is our choice as defence coach, although him and Klug could easily switch places. Defence coach was one of the hardest roles to fill in this staff team, as FM seems to lack defence coaches in general.
Strengths
His defence stat of 13 is about as good as you will get at this level, while he has a strong set of mental stats, with Discipline at 14 and Adaptability of 13 the pick of them. Evan's highest attribute is his Working with Youngsters at 17, which will help the defenders in your squad come through, which could be key if you need to use transfer funds to strengthen up front.
Weaknesses
Evans lacks tactical knowledge, while you could say all his attributes could be higher, but as stated previously, finding a good defence coach is incredibly tough, if you have suggestions then feel free to say!
Our choice for tactical coach in the lower leagues staff room Mortimer is the perfect candidate to join the team to fill this duty. Available as a free agent and with initial demands of £500 per week he's easily affordable.
Strengths
With attributes of tactical (15), man management (15), tactical knowledge (14) and working with youngsters (20) Mortimer is easily the best choice for your tactical coach helping your current squad adjust to the formation you set and helping the under 18's learn the important of tactics in football also.
Weaknesses
Mortimer's main weakness as a coach are his low level of discipline and motivating attributes, if you are feeling particularly picky like we are!, and let him down slightly with SI's star rating however his fellow staff members around him help counter this overall and as such the coaching team are not affected in there day to day life at the club.
Downes is another former Premier League coach available on a free transfer, and with such a big reputation he does command a large wage, but is well worth it as your Technical Coach.
Strengths
His Technical is the obvious strength at 16, and clearly his determination at 20. Working with youngsters is also a high 16, so any youngsters than come through will hopefully have good ball control, and the strikers should be able to shoot. Man Management is also high, so Downes may be able to take control of the Reserves of u18s.
Weaknesses
Being honest, Downes has a host of poor mental attributes. His Adaptablility of 10 isn't good enough and he will take some time to settle in, while his discipline (10) and motivation (9) mean that he may not get the best out of players on his schedules.
Adi Aymes looks like an absolute steal of a staff member to go after for your fitness coach , one of just two staff members you will need to pay a compensation fee for in this guide and at just £6k to get his services he leaps out as a unsung hero in the staff world with his initial demands starting at just £375 per week.
Strengths
Aymes fitness coaching attribute, level of discipline, motivating and determination mental attributes show he is easily capable of helping maintain the fitness levels of your players at this level of football to a good standard.
Weaknesses
Aymes main weaknesses are his mental coaching attribute and working with youngsters attribute however both of these are countered by his motivating and level of discipline attributes.
Physiotherapist is one of the harder positions to fill in a lower league team, as most of the available staff with high attributes are snapped up by higher teams. However there are several who don't get signed, many this is due to prohibitive wages, but the two we have selected are not.
Strengths
Steve Whitehall starts unemployed with just a local reputation, making him easily signable by many teams. Couple this with his Physio attribute of 20, Determination of 17 and Discipline of 13, he will make sure that your players recover amply from injury, and is likely to be accurate with his predictions for recovery time.
Weaknesses
Despite his low reputation the wage demanded is slightly high, although this can be negotiated down to £350pw for some teams. He also has a low motivation stat (5) meaning that some players who suffer long term injuries may elect to retire, particularly youngsters. His adaptability of 11 is not the best, but should suffice to move club and settle in quickly enough.
Strengths
Unlike Whitehall, Paul Hunter has a high national reputation. While his Physio stat is a little lower at 12, he makes up for this with 18 Adaptability and 20 Discipline, while he complements Whitehall well due to his higher motivation of 12, meaning he could reduce the potential number of retirees.
Weaknesses
Hunter has poor determination, so while his physio reports may be correct most of the time, the occasional one may be inaccurate. His Working with Youngsters attribute is just 9 too, leading to potentially poor recovery of young injured players, although at this level you are unlikely to have too many good youngsters.
Strengths
Cockerill's judging player ability and potential attributes are excellent for the lower leagues at 15 and 16 and available as a free agent with regional reputation he should be able to find you lots of players and give you a wide selection each report with a high motivating attribute.
Weaknesses
Cockerill's main weaknesses are his level of discipline and tactical knowledge, a low level of discipline means the quality of reports he return will not be as good as a scout with a level of discipline of 14/15 whilst a low tactical knowledge attribute (4) means he will not assess how the players ability on his character and how he will fit into the tactic you use with your squad.
Strengths
Hunt's main strengths lie in the depth of the report he will return with for you to use, with a tactical knowledge attribute of 16, motivating 18 and judging player potential of 18 he is going to return with a very detailed report for you to work with and a large quantity of players per report giving you more choice rather than having to scout around yourself.
Weaknesses
Hunt's one weakness is his level of discipline attribute (2) meaning the quality of his reports may be hit and miss depending how much time he spends in a particular region or on a particular player, it may take more than one visit for him to get a full view of the player.
Strengths
Bowyer has many strengths and is a versatile staff member to consider adding to your team, his main strengths that stand out are his determination, judging player potential and motivating attributes mean he will return with in depth reports you can trust to be accurate and make a good first impression from.
Weaknesses
Bowyers low adaptability attribute means he is not one who likes travelling outside of his comfort zone, this isn't the end of the world but if you wanted to send him to another nation he is less likely to return with a good amount of players to work from than he would compared to England for example, he counters this with his other attributes however and the adaptability of his fellow scouts around him.
Strengths
Hoekstra's main strengths lie in his adaptability, determination and level of discipline as he will return with a good quality of reports and is easily adaptable to find players in other nations should you send him roaming around Central Europe as his main objective.
Weaknesses
Hoekstra's main weaknesses are his low motivating and tactical knowledge attributes available at this stage of the game, at the age of just 37 however he has a long time to go in the scouting world and with time has the chance to improve and get better and better in these areas along with others.
Strengths
Sibierski's main strengths lie like Hokestra's in his adaptability, determination and level of discipline and his knowledge of french football mean he can help unearth French talent to help you go forward in the lower leagues whilst remaining adaptable to different countries for scouting trips and returning a good quality of report.
Weaknesses
Sibierski's downfalls are again like Hoekstra's with low motivational and tactical knowledge attributes but at just 35 he can counter these and in time improve them if he becomes a long term member of your scouting staff team.
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Back to Football Manager Guide Index
Following on from the Perfect Staff Room, myself and Foxo have worked together on a staff team for the lower leagues, as many of you have asked about suitable staff for these teams. For this we used Charlton and Southampton as the basis, two higher League 1 sides, but many of these will join anyone in League 1. The database loaded was large and England only down to the Blue Square North/South, so all these staff will be available in 99% of games.
Before we start going through the staff selected, one issue with these lower leagues is that many staff have a random CA/PA. We have tried to select staff that don't from what we can tell, apologies if they aren't as good on your game as on one of ours.
It is also worth noting that there are only 2 staff members who were previously employed demanding a total of £109k in compensation to their clubs, while the entire staff team uses just £7900 in total wages per week.
Assistant Manager
Al Stewart
Free
£675pw
Al Stewart looks like the perfect candidate to be offered the role of Assistant Manager for a lower league side if you are looking to restructure your staff room, as a free agent you will not have to worry about any compensation fees and he usually agrees a contract deal between £600 and £700 per week.
Strengths
Stewart has fantastic motivating, determination, adaptability and man management attributes when you look at his profile, with an adaptability of 20 he should quickly settle in and gain full club knowledge and he is obviously a determined character who will strive to motivate players and the team as a whole.
Weaknesses
The downfalls of Al Stewart are clear in abundance with a limited scope of training possibilities from his coaching attributes and a mid level level of discipline, his level of discipline is countered however by his other mental attributes.
Coaches
Alan Kelly
Free
£425pw
Alan Kelly looks like the ideal candidate to be offered a goalkeeper coaching role, again as a free agent you have no compensation package to worry about paying out and his initial demands are just £425 per week.
Strengths
Kelly has fantastic determination, goalkeepers and working with youngsters attributes when you view his profile, as the only goalkeeper coach at the club Kelly's high determination and working with youngsters attributes will help him strive to get the best out of the players assigned to him and his high goalkeeping coaching attribute and past playing experience as a goalkeeper show he knows the ins and outs of his trade.
Weaknesses
The only downfall I can pinpoint with Alan Kelly is his low level of discipline which is countered by his determination and motivating attributes.
Bryan Klug
Free
£525pw
Bryan Klug looks like the ideal candidate to be offered a coaching role and looks like the perfect staff member for general coaching use throughout the squad, another free agent means you save the pennies without compensation to pay for his services and an initial wage demand of £525 means he is not likely to break your balance when you are negotiating a deal.
Strengths
Klug is solid across the board with coaching attributes and has a high determination attribute on his mental attributes, he seems to be the perfect coach to help maintain a flow of keeping the coaching work load light and making sure you aren't spreading your base too thin.
Weaknesses
Klug has a couple of weaknesses which can be easily pinpointed, as a general use coach he cannot be used to coach goalkeepers leaving Kelly on his own and low level of discipline and motivating attributes but as he is only used as a general purpose coach he is countered by his fellow staff members around him.
Tosh Farrell
Free
£625pw
Tosh Farrell, a former Everton youth coach, is a perfect candidate for the attack coach role, although he could equally coach the technical side of the game.
Strengths
Farrell's attacking attribute of 17 is one of the highest you will find in the lower leagues for such a cheap wage, and on a free too. He has well rounded mental stats, Discipline at 17 is a highlight, while if you needed a second opinion on a player he has good scouting stats to cover those areas. His motivating at 14 means players on his training routines should train effectively, aided by his reasonable determination(12).
Weaknesses
If I was being picky, I could suggest that his Adaptability (12) or Tactical Knowledge (11) wouldn't be good enough for an immediate impact, but really Farrell is a quality coach.
Allan Evans
£600pw
Plymouth Argyle
£103k compensation
One of the two staff members who demands compensation from his previous employers, Plymouth Argyle, Evans is our choice as defence coach, although him and Klug could easily switch places. Defence coach was one of the hardest roles to fill in this staff team, as FM seems to lack defence coaches in general.
Strengths
His defence stat of 13 is about as good as you will get at this level, while he has a strong set of mental stats, with Discipline at 14 and Adaptability of 13 the pick of them. Evan's highest attribute is his Working with Youngsters at 17, which will help the defenders in your squad come through, which could be key if you need to use transfer funds to strengthen up front.
Weaknesses
Evans lacks tactical knowledge, while you could say all his attributes could be higher, but as stated previously, finding a good defence coach is incredibly tough, if you have suggestions then feel free to say!
Paul Mortimer
Free
£500pw
Our choice for tactical coach in the lower leagues staff room Mortimer is the perfect candidate to join the team to fill this duty. Available as a free agent and with initial demands of £500 per week he's easily affordable.
Strengths
With attributes of tactical (15), man management (15), tactical knowledge (14) and working with youngsters (20) Mortimer is easily the best choice for your tactical coach helping your current squad adjust to the formation you set and helping the under 18's learn the important of tactics in football also.
Weaknesses
Mortimer's main weakness as a coach are his low level of discipline and motivating attributes, if you are feeling particularly picky like we are!, and let him down slightly with SI's star rating however his fellow staff members around him help counter this overall and as such the coaching team are not affected in there day to day life at the club.
Bobby Downes
Free
£700pw
Downes is another former Premier League coach available on a free transfer, and with such a big reputation he does command a large wage, but is well worth it as your Technical Coach.
Strengths
His Technical is the obvious strength at 16, and clearly his determination at 20. Working with youngsters is also a high 16, so any youngsters than come through will hopefully have good ball control, and the strikers should be able to shoot. Man Management is also high, so Downes may be able to take control of the Reserves of u18s.
Weaknesses
Being honest, Downes has a host of poor mental attributes. His Adaptablility of 10 isn't good enough and he will take some time to settle in, while his discipline (10) and motivation (9) mean that he may not get the best out of players on his schedules.
Adi Aymes
£375pw
Havant and Waterlooville
£6k compensation
Adi Aymes looks like an absolute steal of a staff member to go after for your fitness coach , one of just two staff members you will need to pay a compensation fee for in this guide and at just £6k to get his services he leaps out as a unsung hero in the staff world with his initial demands starting at just £375 per week.
Strengths
Aymes fitness coaching attribute, level of discipline, motivating and determination mental attributes show he is easily capable of helping maintain the fitness levels of your players at this level of football to a good standard.
Weaknesses
Aymes main weaknesses are his mental coaching attribute and working with youngsters attribute however both of these are countered by his motivating and level of discipline attributes.
Physios
Physiotherapist is one of the harder positions to fill in a lower league team, as most of the available staff with high attributes are snapped up by higher teams. However there are several who don't get signed, many this is due to prohibitive wages, but the two we have selected are not.
Steve Whitehall
Free
£525pw
Strengths
Steve Whitehall starts unemployed with just a local reputation, making him easily signable by many teams. Couple this with his Physio attribute of 20, Determination of 17 and Discipline of 13, he will make sure that your players recover amply from injury, and is likely to be accurate with his predictions for recovery time.
Weaknesses
Despite his low reputation the wage demanded is slightly high, although this can be negotiated down to £350pw for some teams. He also has a low motivation stat (5) meaning that some players who suffer long term injuries may elect to retire, particularly youngsters. His adaptability of 11 is not the best, but should suffice to move club and settle in quickly enough.
Paul Hunter
Free
£625pw
Strengths
Unlike Whitehall, Paul Hunter has a high national reputation. While his Physio stat is a little lower at 12, he makes up for this with 18 Adaptability and 20 Discipline, while he complements Whitehall well due to his higher motivation of 12, meaning he could reduce the potential number of retirees.
Weaknesses
Hunter has poor determination, so while his physio reports may be correct most of the time, the occasional one may be inaccurate. His Working with Youngsters attribute is just 9 too, leading to potentially poor recovery of young injured players, although at this level you are unlikely to have too many good youngsters.
Scouts
Glenn Cockerill
Free
£525pw
Strengths
Cockerill's judging player ability and potential attributes are excellent for the lower leagues at 15 and 16 and available as a free agent with regional reputation he should be able to find you lots of players and give you a wide selection each report with a high motivating attribute.
Weaknesses
Cockerill's main weaknesses are his level of discipline and tactical knowledge, a low level of discipline means the quality of reports he return will not be as good as a scout with a level of discipline of 14/15 whilst a low tactical knowledge attribute (4) means he will not assess how the players ability on his character and how he will fit into the tactic you use with your squad.
Simon Hunt
Free
£550pw
Strengths
Hunt's main strengths lie in the depth of the report he will return with for you to use, with a tactical knowledge attribute of 16, motivating 18 and judging player potential of 18 he is going to return with a very detailed report for you to work with and a large quantity of players per report giving you more choice rather than having to scout around yourself.
Weaknesses
Hunt's one weakness is his level of discipline attribute (2) meaning the quality of his reports may be hit and miss depending how much time he spends in a particular region or on a particular player, it may take more than one visit for him to get a full view of the player.
Ian Bowyer
Free
£450pw
Strengths
Bowyer has many strengths and is a versatile staff member to consider adding to your team, his main strengths that stand out are his determination, judging player potential and motivating attributes mean he will return with in depth reports you can trust to be accurate and make a good first impression from.
Weaknesses
Bowyers low adaptability attribute means he is not one who likes travelling outside of his comfort zone, this isn't the end of the world but if you wanted to send him to another nation he is less likely to return with a good amount of players to work from than he would compared to England for example, he counters this with his other attributes however and the adaptability of his fellow scouts around him.
Peter Hoekstra
Free
£425pw
Strengths
Hoekstra's main strengths lie in his adaptability, determination and level of discipline as he will return with a good quality of reports and is easily adaptable to find players in other nations should you send him roaming around Central Europe as his main objective.
Weaknesses
Hoekstra's main weaknesses are his low motivating and tactical knowledge attributes available at this stage of the game, at the age of just 37 however he has a long time to go in the scouting world and with time has the chance to improve and get better and better in these areas along with others.
Antoine Sibierski
Free
£425pw
Strengths
Sibierski's main strengths lie like Hokestra's in his adaptability, determination and level of discipline and his knowledge of french football mean he can help unearth French talent to help you go forward in the lower leagues whilst remaining adaptable to different countries for scouting trips and returning a good quality of report.
Weaknesses
Sibierski's downfalls are again like Hoekstra's with low motivational and tactical knowledge attributes but at just 35 he can counter these and in time improve them if he becomes a long term member of your scouting staff team.
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