anyone got tactics for a team playing in a league too advanced for the squad

[chris]

playing a long term save with bath city just got promoted to championship with a below average squad and now i dont have the finances to improve the squad to naturally compete with other teams in the league any approaches i should make regarding tactics to keep out of the relegation places untill my finances improve

[Spelunker]

Have you tried getting better players on loan? Ask your board to find a parent club and you won't have to pay anything either.

When I was bringing a low league team up I tried to be very attacking in my home games except against the top teams where I'd be balanced. In the away games I would be more cautious and if completely over matched I would park the bus, i.e. drop deep/stand off/play narrow to give their attack no space and go for long balls to catch them on the break. Alternatively you can push up and try to catch them offside.

Try setting your defensive players individual instructions to short passes/marking/closing down. N.B: This seems to overide any shouts/team instructions so remember to turn thesse off if you want to change their behaviour.

pay a lot of attention to your press conferences and morale. You can win or lose here. Against better teams be positive and confident to increase your players belief but try not to be disrectful or their players will be pumped up.

With morale low league players tend to be less professional and so more touchy/unpredictable so be careful. Usually older players respond better to a calm tone and young ones to passionate/assertive. Talk to players just before a game to raise morale but don't talk more than once a week (once a month for team talks) and don't repeat the same subject twice in a row (check history/conversations). Save before you talk to them until you get a feel for how they might respond.

[JH]

I find high work rate/tackling and fast tempo/get stuck in for the DCM/CM's which can make up for a lack of "talent"