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SE7EN's Lower League 4-2-3-1

Hello everyone and welcome back to another year of FM!

If my tactic work's for you make sure to click the thumbs up and drop a comment below sharing your results.

I've tested this tactic with 2 lower league teams at the moment and as you can see from the screenshots my team dominated the league comfortably winning each title.

The tactic is solid but a major factor in getting B2B promotions in the lower leagues is being adept in the free transfer market. Especially in the first two seasons my starting line up changed constantly as better players will be become interested in singing for your team IF your topping the league. When your club turns pro and get's promoted to League 2 onward's I only sign around 5 players each season due to financial constraints.

To give you an idea:

1st Season: I signed 30 players
2nd Season: I signed 37 players

TIP 1:

Download my National League 1st Season Shortlist:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1916132416

Signings of the Season:

DR - Chiori Johnson
DL - Jake Kenyon
MC - Will Patching
MC - Romário Vieira
AMC - Denilson Carvalho
AML - Millen Baars
ST - Jamie Gray

TIP 2:

Signing higher reputation players makes other high reputation players interested in joining your team. Generally speaking higher reputation players will always have consistently better stats than lower reputation players. Take advantage of "Non Contract" when offering players as this does not effect your wage bill expenditure. Many good players with high reputation, who have been without a club for a long time, are happy to accept a "Non Contract". They need to be over the age of 22 and when approaching to sign them they have their "Playing Time" automatically set to "Fringe" player. If it's any higher than that they will want a yearly contract. The longer a player is out of contract their "Playing Time" request will slowly drop as they become desperate to sign for a club. Every month approach the player you want and see if his "Playing Time" has dropped down to "Fringe" player status and eventually you'll be able to snap him up.

To do this click on the Scouting Tab then click Players > Players Search

Add the Conditions:
1) Contract Status > Expired
2) Contract Status > Unattached
3) General > World Reputation > Nominal

This filters out the crap as you move up the leagues. Nominal reputation can be signed for National League & League 2. You can move to "Decent" reputation once you get to League 1.

TIP 3

Offering contracts has become a lot harder in this years edition, especially in the lower leagues. This is how I do it.

1) On the preferences I set the wages to weekly.
2) If a player wants £400 a week first I will suggest around £220 (just over 50% of what he wants), then the next time you need to increase you bid slightly to £230 for example.
3) Keep suggesting a slightly higher bid each time until the bar turns orange, then you know it's your last chance.
4) On the final offer a player will ALWAYS accept -£50 less than HIS final suggestion. So for example you've bought his request down to £300 from £400 using my technique. Now click the lock so it changes red on "Non Negotiable" and offer him £250 and he will accept.

My team had such a tiny wage budget I could only sign 11 players on a 1 year contract. The rest of the players I signed were back up players on "Non Contracts" over the age of 22. Fringe players who were just cover in case of injuries to my first team.

Good luck & enjoy!