Morning FM Lovers
I'm over 60 and retired, been playing FM for many years and am still putting in the hours. Actually started on Fifa Manager due to the graphics option. I'm a fanatic and do all the player/staff picture uploads too at the start of a save.
Anyhow, I want to post as to why I now play with the editor and what I use it for. I will add that I ONLY play with lower league teams, and prioritise youth and local players. I unlock all player attributes in every game now as I simply don't need to waste the multiple hours required to scout. Its a marginal gain of course but still takes me multiple hours of player searching. I also add databases extended by fanatics so I have places to loan my youth.
1. Set Up
I sometimes like to play with authentic squads, so may need to bring players to my squad and remove players from my squad to do that. I move players without fees and you win some and lose some, but with lower league clubs, the values are not always substantial.
There are also newer youth players who may have entered the game since FM24. The editor enables me to add these players to my squad by amending name/data of other weak players who you would be moving on. The updated FM26 enables you to add the authentic updated data for them at that time when they start their career in the real world. I added about 5 Bali United youth players in a save recently as an example, one of whom in 2026 is now a regular starter.
The editor allows me to open up searches for all players and staff and change squad numbers outside the window. It also allows me to update player data for 24.3 as some players may have had skills incorrectly set.
2. Transfers
I have many advantages with the editor, so limit myself here as it is very easy to abuse the market i.e. you can transfer IN any player from anywhere for no fee. You just cheat yourself and its boring.
As a lower league club I live off free players and very rarely spend any money. No player would move to my club if their previous team were in a higher rated league, though a youth player having zero game time would do that, so i never make that deal. As the game progresses you find the wages sky rocket unrealistically. Its a weakness in the game. A player earning 400pw under his old contract suddenly wants 4K per week when he is on a level with a player in my squad earning 400pw.. He matches my squad so I use the editor to make the transfer and adjust wages.
It can also be impossible to loan out from your youth when you market them. It can often make little sense there would be no interest. I can see all the current levels of my players and can find which league they are most suited to playing in i.e. my Welsh league youth can loan to Vanarama North. I set the loan wages at zero to compensate for that so no club is losing out financially. Very few of these kids ever improve much but it a realistic model. Loaning them and setting a future buy fee at zero is another good option to give them a career in the game.
If I loan a player in the last year of his contract, he plays regularly and fits with the level of my squad in terms of wages and ability, i usually use the editor to make that free transfer at the end of the loan. If you don't he will say he doesn't want to play for you, which makes no sense at all in the real world.
3. Building Assets
After a few seasons I usually find i'm bringing in some huge amounts of cash from UEFA competition qualifying. With smaller clubs you can never develop anything UNLESS you qualify for UEFA competition but once the finances are good you start to be allowed to.
As an aside my tip is always to save the game before you ask the board as you may need to ask them about 10 times before you choose the right combination of responses to get them to say yes. Infuriating.
The issue with smaller clubs is the board wont let you develop assets past a certain point. You may have 20million in the accounts but they wont let you develop your Youth Training beyond Below Average status as they say it is not appropriate for a club of their standing.
You may have played for 6 seasons and its almost game over unless you can develop your youth. So now with the editor I update in chunks. If my Basic Training facility can be upgraded for 750K, I can use the editor, spend a further 3.5million (I'm always generous with the amount as you know it increase exponetially) and upgrade it two further levels. Clubs would never upgrade in small steps in the real world. Its realistic.
So there we have it. I find it essential to have the editor with me to compensate for game weakness and inflexibility. can 100% accept there is an element of cheating 'involved' but that is up to you how you choose to abuse it.
Regards
I'm over 60 and retired, been playing FM for many years and am still putting in the hours. Actually started on Fifa Manager due to the graphics option. I'm a fanatic and do all the player/staff picture uploads too at the start of a save.
Anyhow, I want to post as to why I now play with the editor and what I use it for. I will add that I ONLY play with lower league teams, and prioritise youth and local players. I unlock all player attributes in every game now as I simply don't need to waste the multiple hours required to scout. Its a marginal gain of course but still takes me multiple hours of player searching. I also add databases extended by fanatics so I have places to loan my youth.
1. Set Up
I sometimes like to play with authentic squads, so may need to bring players to my squad and remove players from my squad to do that. I move players without fees and you win some and lose some, but with lower league clubs, the values are not always substantial.
There are also newer youth players who may have entered the game since FM24. The editor enables me to add these players to my squad by amending name/data of other weak players who you would be moving on. The updated FM26 enables you to add the authentic updated data for them at that time when they start their career in the real world. I added about 5 Bali United youth players in a save recently as an example, one of whom in 2026 is now a regular starter.
The editor allows me to open up searches for all players and staff and change squad numbers outside the window. It also allows me to update player data for 24.3 as some players may have had skills incorrectly set.
2. Transfers
I have many advantages with the editor, so limit myself here as it is very easy to abuse the market i.e. you can transfer IN any player from anywhere for no fee. You just cheat yourself and its boring.
As a lower league club I live off free players and very rarely spend any money. No player would move to my club if their previous team were in a higher rated league, though a youth player having zero game time would do that, so i never make that deal. As the game progresses you find the wages sky rocket unrealistically. Its a weakness in the game. A player earning 400pw under his old contract suddenly wants 4K per week when he is on a level with a player in my squad earning 400pw.. He matches my squad so I use the editor to make the transfer and adjust wages.
It can also be impossible to loan out from your youth when you market them. It can often make little sense there would be no interest. I can see all the current levels of my players and can find which league they are most suited to playing in i.e. my Welsh league youth can loan to Vanarama North. I set the loan wages at zero to compensate for that so no club is losing out financially. Very few of these kids ever improve much but it a realistic model. Loaning them and setting a future buy fee at zero is another good option to give them a career in the game.
If I loan a player in the last year of his contract, he plays regularly and fits with the level of my squad in terms of wages and ability, i usually use the editor to make that free transfer at the end of the loan. If you don't he will say he doesn't want to play for you, which makes no sense at all in the real world.
3. Building Assets
After a few seasons I usually find i'm bringing in some huge amounts of cash from UEFA competition qualifying. With smaller clubs you can never develop anything UNLESS you qualify for UEFA competition but once the finances are good you start to be allowed to.
As an aside my tip is always to save the game before you ask the board as you may need to ask them about 10 times before you choose the right combination of responses to get them to say yes. Infuriating.
The issue with smaller clubs is the board wont let you develop assets past a certain point. You may have 20million in the accounts but they wont let you develop your Youth Training beyond Below Average status as they say it is not appropriate for a club of their standing.
You may have played for 6 seasons and its almost game over unless you can develop your youth. So now with the editor I update in chunks. If my Basic Training facility can be upgraded for 750K, I can use the editor, spend a further 3.5million (I'm always generous with the amount as you know it increase exponetially) and upgrade it two further levels. Clubs would never upgrade in small steps in the real world. Its realistic.
So there we have it. I find it essential to have the editor with me to compensate for game weakness and inflexibility. can 100% accept there is an element of cheating 'involved' but that is up to you how you choose to abuse it.
Regards
