++ [ originally posted by mikhail ] ++
Yeah, it can be great fun to build a great team from nothing. My favourite CM games were in CM01/02, with Oldham and Wolves. The former were in Division 2 (and in trouble) and had 11,000 or so seats when I took over. Wolves were better placed, but I had a couple of players who'd come out of the youth team on it, including a world class goalkeeper.
Yeah. The biggest problem for me was that I took over a club I knew absolutely nothing about, especially the players, so I didnt know who was good, who was bad, who to keep and who to sell.
It took me a year to finally figure out my players. Luckily I had 3 good players, one in defense and two in midfield who kept banging them in and I customised my tactics to them. My two central midfielders had more goals than all other players, including the attackers, combined. The in my second season I got promoted to C1B, and at the start of the 3rd season I decided to take a risk. I needed more income but had a fairly large wage bill. So I sold almost the entire first team, except my 3 best players, who were, luckily enough, on small contracts, kept only youth players and players with low contracts. I struggeled to avoid relegation for 2 seasons, but thanks to my tactics buring that time I managed to accumulate a fair bit of money. Took that money and bought the best players in C1, including the best two scorers, Elivis Abruscato and anothe player I cant remember now. Bought the midfielders with most assists, best defenders, etc. All in all, I bough perhaps 6 or 7 of the best players in C1 and C2. Elvis especially had a great season. In my 5th season I managed to get to the playoffs but I lost, and in the 6th I managed to get promoted to Serie B.
Aaaah, the good old days
