TM Ireland - Trophymanager Ireland

Well he's been playing TM since Season 3 and in the English Premier League since Season 5, a European force and often offers the clear voice of reason during forum melees.  Thought we better quiz this Pathetic Athleticchap to see if we could pilfer some words of wisdom.

How much time would you spend on the game in a week, and what do you do with the time, searching for players, etc.?

I probably spend about 30 minutes a day playing the actual game. I spend most of my time looking at my match reports to understand more about my players, and working out what works and what doesn’t. I have a theory that you don’t need the best players in your side, but the right partners for those playing around them, so I spend a lot of the time working out what works. I look at other sides in my league quite a bit to understand the game more. I don’t use the transfer market too much and rarely look at players available. I prefer to work out what skills I want in a player, and then try to find someone when I need a new player rather than bringing in players and hoping they work.

Do you play any other online games, or just this one?

This is the only online game I've ever played. A friend suggested this site when it was first advertised and I thought I'd give it a try as a one-off. I've been here ever since.

I haven't played any Championship Manager type games for years either. Chess and backgammon are my usual games rather than this sort of thing.

How much does real life football strategy influence your tactics and formation selection?

I use real-life football as a starting point, and then see if the same strategies work in TM. They often do. It’s surprising how close the match engine is to reality at times. I don’t like formations like 3-3-3-1 on principal as they wouldn’t work in real-life though.

Some managers focus on tactics to beat opponents, some focus on formations – what is your approach?

My theory in any game or sport is that if you play your own game and make your opponent concentrate on what you’re doing, you’ve got them on the back foot straight away. So I tend to worry about my formation and ignore my opponent completely. The only time I change is when I’m playing a side who have won our last few games as there is no point repeating the same mistakes. Being in the top division means I get used to my opponents so can see trends quite often.

How do you use mentality to your advantage?

Mentality is something which largely confuses me, but I prefer the fact it works for me without knowing why, rather than finding out how it works and it not be as effective. My tactic is to just stick with what works.

However, I think if things are going bad for your club and you can’t explain why, that’s the time to meddle with it. The question I see a lot on the forum is teams asking why they dominate the game but can’t score. I always advise to use a more attacking mentality in those circumstances and sacrifice possession to gain better positions when you have the ball. I haven’t seen any clubs comment on that strategy failing to work for them.

One of my pet hates in the game is the preponderance for some inactives to go on stupendously successful cup runs, how do you beat those bastards?

If they're inactive, you can see what their strengths and weaknesses are. If you’re not convinced you’ll beat them, the best tactic is to simply match their formation, playing more attacking than them, and hope that by having better, more appropriate players in positions you can outplay them.

What would be the five things you’d like to achieve with your team?

I’ve only really got 3 things I’d like to achieve. Being a top half side in the top division is all I ask for really, anything else is a bonus really.
• My aim is to have a first 11 consisting entirely of players from my youth academy. My lack of FC’s means I’m not there yet and unlikely to be in the next few season. I did use that tactic in the cup last season and got through to the Semi-Finals so I’m nearly there, but not quite yet.
• I’d like my club to be the English side who always qualify for Europe. I think its 4 straight seasons now I’ve qualified and would like to get there every season. Given how tough the English league is, qualifying once is an achievement.
• A league title is obviously the main goal. I’ve only actually been in the title race once so far so have a bit of a way to go on that front.


You have a level 10 youth academy and a level 8 training ground – what’s the thinking behind that?

Reading the forum makes me convinced the highest youth academies produce the better squads. There is an element of randomness involved, but if I’m going to have a run of bad luck, I’ll get better players at level 10 YD than with the same luck at level 9.

In terms of the training ground, the difference made is slightly less marked. I’ve got very good coaches, so the difference made in TI by upgrading facilities is less noticeable. I’m moving between level 8, 9 and 10 dependent on the number of high-TI players I’ve got developing. I haven’t got any players with a TI over 20 at the moment, so the difference in going to level 9 is less marked. Once I get more players in bloom, and more with higher TI’s to take advantage of the boost, I will be back up to 9.

How good are your coaches, how high are they in the principal stats?

I've advertised a lot and ended up with a 20/20 and a 20/19 coach for combinations and closing down. That has been the only two things I've trained players in until recently, when I got a decent enough attacking coach (17/18/17 in key skills).

I want to create a side which is good at getting and keeping the ball, which is why I've stuck to just the two training regimes. But I've had some attackers who have looked a little poor at the end of their bloom due to the lack of an attacking coach so have had to bite the bullet and find one. It took over two seasons to find one worth moving players from the other coaches for.

Do you use any of the tools that people have developed, and if so, which of them and why?

I’ve looked at the tools but they aren’t for me really. TM is all about combinations of players and partnerships, which no tool can really replicated. You can easily end up with 2 DC’s who are poor in the air, which will be a tactic which leaks goals. The tools seem good for getting ideas for inexperienced managers, but they aren’t always right.

If you started all over again, is there anything you would do differently?

I like the tactics I’ve used really and enjoy the concept of building up my own youths so would use the same system. It might not be the best for achieving the ultimate success, but you can produce a decent side that way.

What are the five key things that every new manager should know?

* Read the manual. A lot of managers seem to miss the absolute basics of the game. It's always worth re-reading it once you understand the basics of the game as there is a lot in there which is actually quite in-depth.
* Know where the Help forum is. Managers shouldn’t be afraid of asking questions as managers are always happy to help. Its worth reading through threads, and the answers given, to try to understand the mindset of the most experienced managers.
* Don’t trade in the first six weeks. The transfer system is where a lot of mistakes are made by newer managers. Its worth waiting until you understand your squad or you’ll make decisions you regret later.
* Find a strategy. The beauty of TM is there are many, many strategies which all work. Some people enjoy training up their youths. Others love scouting the market for cheap talents and big profits. If you can find a strategy which interests you, go for it and you’ll love the game.
* Remember this is a game. It’s not a football simulator trying to prove the MTs can produce an authentic algorithm for producing results. It’s a competitive game about trying to produce the best side. There is an element of luck in every match so don’t dwell too much on individual matches but try to identify trends to understand what the match engine is actually doing. You need to work out how the match engine works, not how it should work.

Is there anything about the game you’d like the Devs to change or improve?

I would like to see elements of unpredictability introduced. I know some of my players will be with my club until they retire. I know players won’t be injured for more than 10 games. I’d prefer it if players could demand transfers unexpectedly, or get season-long or career-ending injuries. It would create less predictability in terms of squad composition, which would be annoying when it happened but add extra depth to the game.


In Ireland we lose up to a third of our teams at the Season Update due to inactivity and bannings and it looks like England is fairly similar. Do you think this is an acceptable attrition rate?

The number of sides who decide not to stay in the game is largely irrelevant. Its better to attract 1,000 managers of which only 200 will stay, than attract 200 managers of which 150 remain.

The better measurement is the strength of the higher divisions. In England, the top division is getting stronger each season. The Second division is much, much tougher now than it used to be. It used to be possible for sides to promote right through the leagues, but now teams tend to level out at the 3rd or 4th division. The increase in the number of good sides is what should be judged, not how many inexperienced managers decide against remaining in the game.

What can established managers do to try to keep people in the game?

When I started off I went on a bad run and considered quitting. But I asked a question on the Help forum and got good advice on how to improve my side. That’s the main reason why I’m always happy to help out new managers and all the top English managers think the same. Hopefully by creating a good, friendly community of managers we can both help people enjoy the game and strive for the top. It’s noticeable that England is both the largest TM nation and has the most active national forum. I think that is more than just a coincidence.

Is there another manager in particular that you admire, respect or even fear?

In general, managers appear to be either good at the football element of the game, or good at the financial side. It's not uncommon to see sides making a lot of money but failing to spend it effectively, or sides with great managers but lacking the top quality players. I’ve always thought a side who could generally excel at both will be very dangerous.

Real Everton (in division 4 of the English league) appears to have both of these qualities and I suspect they will become a real force in the game. Its going to be a few seasons before they make it to Division 1, but I think they will be very successful when they get there given their strength in both elements of TM.

No title yet – is it a matter of time?

Winning the title is all about having the right blend of players. As I want to develop a side of youth academy players, that means I don’t necessarily buy the players I need. Personally, I would rather win the title through having developed my players correctly rather than been effective in the transfer market. I’ve got enough 7 youths who are first-choice so think I’ve got a side centred around developed players, and don’t want to sacrifice that for a title bid.

If I can continue to be a top three side each season, a title is bound to fall into place eventually. It’s a big ‘if’ though seeing how easy it is to follow a good season with a poor one.

What’s your theory about the captaincy; has it been your experience that a good captain has influence on the number of cards in a match, or even the match outcome?

For me the captain is the most important selection in a side. I have altered my team selection to ensure I have a good captain on the pitch. I notice my side are quite often outplayed if I have a poor choice of captain, but are rarely outplayed when I select a good one. It's worth selecting a slightly weaker player in a position if its going to improve the strength of the side overall.

Cheers for that mate and good luck with the rest of the season.