: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:21 pm
I always have 2x 5* Developing Potential coaches on the staff. Then I just endlessly recruit new players to the alliance, and weed out any below national standard. It takes about a year to set up. But after that, you have a conveyor belt of talent. Don't rush to promote any player who reaches full potential, as you can only promote 12 in a year, and nothing is as frustrating as trying to promote that excellent international whose contract is about to run out, only to discover that you can't because you promoted 12 decent nationals earlier on.
I now only promote internationals, and keep the rest of the Academy ticking over with fully developed nationals. If I haven't promoted 12 internationals by season's end, then I can pick and choose from fully developed nationals depending on the positions I need. The result is I now have an international standard Academy as well as a first team, and in 2014 I completed Hemel Stags second clean sweep of all the honours at Alliance, Academy and SL level.
However, I do have a problem - no matter what I do I cannot persuade any world class players to come to the club, either at alliance or fully-pro level. Yet no matter how many hundreds of alliance players I've recruited, a world class one has never turned up. My club is fully equipped with maximum ground facilities and has pots of cash, but it looks like I'll never get world class players. This is a bit of a bugger because I need to start developing those players to improve the England squad for the world cups. Any tips would be most welcome.m
