Fully committed novice

Hello, after a trip down my local high street I impulsively purchased Football Manager 2011 for £15, no logic involved seeing the game is already out dated I was compelled to buy and play the full version after a previous stint at try out the Demo version.

You may remember my last posts around the time of playing the demo a few months ago and started getting into the swing of Football Manager until life interrupted my playing time.

Now I have the full version with my saved demo game lost long ago in the recycle bin, I need to start again but do not know where.

On my demo game I managed Boreham Wood, a non-league side I used to watch in my youth. However, it made the game very difficult managing a club expected to be relegated from the Conference South.

So, do I start at the Premier League club, where it's more 'professional' and 'easier' to sign players, or is the pressure and difficulty managing in the top flight too tough for a Football Manager novice like myself to deal with right now?

My attention turns to the Championship/League One, is that the best place to start? Advice very much welcome.

welcome to the FM world:P.

also i dont think it matters which league u start with. championship sounds like a good level to start with. but will be tough.

the main thing i would recommend you learn the tactical system quickly. you need to play matches and see what affects your tactical changes have to he team/players.

you just need to start a game and just play and learn as you go along. in the end you will get the hang of it and start winning. or losing. good luck.

Cheers, I suppose you're right, whoever I choose it is going to be a learning curve. Tried starting with Leyton Orient and then West Ham, neither really feel right so going to aim for a Championship team and just give it a go from there.

Do you recommend any guides for me to help with the tactics or other scenarios?

Thanks.

This is a very old blog i did: http://www.fmscout.com/i-315-Guide-for-Smaller-Teams.html
(the tactics and schedule are from old fm's so don't bother much with them as they have changed a bit now).
a few overall tips there that you could use.

otherwise you got a full page of hints and tips for FM 11: http://www.fmscout.com/c-hints11.html

Thanks RedArmy20, I'll give both of those links a butchers and see what's what.

i would pick a team from L2 to start with then work your way up - you can always get another job later on anyway like in the real world.

I'd go Premier League, big four so you don't have issues with players not wanting to sign, not being able to afford transfer fees, wages or staff and ease yourself in gently. In FM06, I started with Chelsea....but I guess Man City is the next Chelsea. If you want a challenge, you could always start with Arsenal or the Tottenham!

I just had a 5 game run of defeats with Leyton Orient so I think you're right, I am going to start a game with one of the big Prem teams and see how I do. Otherwise I am losing faith!

Good idea to start with a bigger team, it's like the game easy mode hehe. Chelsea was also one of my starting teams in FM 2005/2006.

The biggest advice I or anyone else could give you is READ, READ, READ. Although the guides for FM are not as good as for other games, there is still very, very much that you can learn from them. Also I would recommend not to just download and use tactics that other people make, or if you do so check the way they set them, see the players on the pitch and try to understand why they did what they did, this will help you most with this game, understand how it works.

Also when you feel you are not good at something, or you don't know something good, such as how to play a certain formation, or it's weaknesses just play it, it will take time, but you will discover new things about the game,me for example, i always hated press conferences, thought they are boring and useless, but I decided to give them a try this save, and when I saw that because of my assistant taking over some conferences, the team played bad I had to go and take them all, now I'm very happy with how I can motivate my players.

Also, never use cheats such as saving before a game and playing it till you win or stuff like that, after some time you will just loose interest in that save, and probably the game as well.

You will see that with time, understanding things like opposition instructions, press conferences, or player attributes will not seem so hard as it is now, things just connect.

My last advice for FM 2011: 1 striker formations are better

Actually starting with a bigger team is not the best option. With great money comes great responsibility. As a novice starting with a big team who want at least a top 4 finish can be too damaging especially if you start losing a number of games. And you ARE going to lose a number of games.
When I first started as playing FM2011 with Liverpool, I lost a lot of matches in the start and could not pick myself to manage them ever again.