Last Update: 19th January 2008
 

 
   

 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Coaches and Training

What is the training camp?

The training camp is a place you train players in multiple skills for up to 5 weeks. A player can only go to the training camp once per season. Players in training camp cannot play. If his training overlaps into the next season he can still go to training camp again next season. You can put up to 4 players in training camps. Training occurs Monday through to Saturday, Sunday is the only day they don't train.

I want to put a player in training camp but he doesn't appear on the list?

This is likely because he is either on the pitch or a substitutes in one of your tactics. Remove the player from play if you want to put him in training camp.

What is the training camp effect on the players form?

Players sent to training camp have their form frozen.  Hence their form will be same when they return from training camp as it was when they went in.

Different packages and Youth packages?

There are different packages and their names are an indication to who might fight those skill useful but any player in an position should use the package if its the skills you want him to train him. The "Youth Package" is reserved to youths and randomly picks some skills to train the youths in. If you put the youth back into the same training next season a different set of skills may get picked. Crew have indicated that at least one of the skills picked are ones where the player will at least get 6 balls. Youths are not limited to the Youth Package , they can use the other packages also.

What is the cost of the training camp?

Cost of training varies depending on the players salary. You can also train a youth for free. You will be charged for the other youths but when the one you put into the camp for free returns you can put a different one back in for free.

1 week  2 x   players salary
2 week  4.25   players salary
3 week 6.75   players salary
4 week 9.5   players salary
5 week 12.5 x   players salary

Youths are assumed to have a salary of 1,100.

What the training benefits to training camp?

Training is accelerated in comparison to training without a coach. Below illustrate how the training camp compares to a player without a coach:

1 week 2x  normal speed
2 week 2.5  normal speed
3 week 3x  normal speed
4 week 3.5  normal speed
5 week 4x  normal speed

This training is spread across 3 skills (assuming one of the skills isn't maxed out). With the extra training day, that is an equivalent of 90 training days in fives weeks instead of the usual 25 days in normal training. If the player is maxed out in one of the skills then the training will be spread amongst the two, or at the extreme if he can only  train in one skill because he was maxed in the other two then the whole 90 days will go to that one skill.  Obviously if he is maxed out in all skills his time at the camp will be somewhat fruitless, best send him home when he can play again.

How does training camp compare to a coach when training in only one skill?

The player goes to camp and trains with "Super" coaches. The amount of effect is based on normal training however (i.e. first week in camp player get's twice the effect of normal training with no coach, second 2.5 times better, third week 3 times training etc). In total the player gets 30 days worth of training on each of the 3 skills, 45 days worth on 2 skills, 90 days worth on 1 skill.

I need my player back out of training camp?

You can pull a player out of training camp but you will not be refunded for the outstanding training.

How can I tell if a player has been to training camp?

You will see an icon that looks like a cone on his player details.

Under coaches what is "Negotiations" and "Available Coaches"?

Negotations - This displays coaches which have opened negotiations with you.  This can happen under two circumstances.  Either they are interested in your team and have approached you directly or they are a coach that you have approached through the "Available Coaches" screen. 

Coaches that opened up negotiations with you will have approached a few teams so you will be competing against fewer teams, probably less than 10. These coaches skill have  the skills that your requested in the coach "Settings" screen. Note that coaches that approach you and enter the negotiation stage do not automatically get given an offer.  So if you dont make them an offer they walk away after the first round of negotiations.

Coaches that you've made an offer in "Available Coaches" may be have been given offers by many more teams (possible hundreds) so your chances of winning a bid are considerably reduced.

Available coaches - These are coaches that are available for negotiations.  They make themselves known to a lot of teams and negotiations with these coaches are much more competitive than coaches that approach directly.  Their skills are much more varied than coaches that approach you directly.  When you make an offer to a coach from this screen, he will then appear in the "Negotiations" section.

How many coaches can I negotiate with?

You can have negotiations with up to 3 coaches.

How much should I offer a coach?

You will be given a range for the contract bonus, salary and contract length.  You have to work within those range otherwise the offer wont be even be considered.  You then need to make a guess at what is good value for that coach.  Do not think that bidding the highest value will get you instant success, the coaches know what sort of value they think is right.  Hopefully if you get the value roughly right the coach will go into further phase of negotiations where you can tweak your bid. 

What are the "non negotiable" clauses

These are some of the employment terms the coach demands which you cannot change.

I’ve made an offer to a coach, what happens next ?

The coach tells you when the evaluation will start.  He will then review your offer.  If your offer was way out he will not be interested in going into further rounds of negotiations. If he is interested he will give you feedback on your bid and go through a few further rounds of negotiations.

When the negotiations start, they happen over a period of 3 days.  The 3 phases of negotiation are represented by the highlighted "lights" next to the coach name.

After 3 days he will let you know whether you have succeeded and he will join.

Coach accepted the offer when will he start?

Coach starts the day after he accepts the offer.

What is the "Contract Bonus"

This is a one off fee you pay when the coach initially starts.

What does "Contract: xxx days left" mean?

This is how long the coach contract will last.  You will need to renegotiate his contract before it ends.  You can only renegotiate 28 days before it ends. 

Note: Currently the contract timer does not count down.  Managerzone is waiting to ensure that the new coach system is ok before this featured is enabled.

What happens when the coach's contract ends this season?

At the earliest 28 days before the contract ends you need to start renegotiation with the coach. Simply follow the same steps you did when you first started negotiations to get him to work for you. The risk of the coach rejecting the offer will remain. If you don't wish to risk the coach walking away you have the oppurtunity to change negotiation settings to "auto renew" on the settings tab. Negotiation will start automatically and all the coaches' demands are unconditionally accepted.

I keep offering the max values but they still decline my offers?

This is because the coach is looking for a bid that most closely resembles what he expects.  Most coaches aren't greedy, you will do better offering something in the middle of the ranges and hopefully you will get the chance to make adjustments in a later round.

My Coach has started and is in the coach list, but I cant see him in the training page

Sometimes the coaches start on the youth training ground. In the training section, select youth and move the coach off the field (remember to save). He should now be available in the main training ground. Also, sometimes they are put on the field and it happens to be exactly on top of an existing coach so you don't notice his appearance.

What is the effect of a coach?

A coach increases your the rate of advancement. If the coaches balls are less then the players in the discipline you are training him in then the improvement wont be that great. If however, the coach has more balls then the player then the player has a better rate of improvement.

[fab] It is unclear whether having a coach that has lots more balls in a discipline then a player is any better than a coach that just has one more ball.

Will my players improve without a coach?

Yes they will. Obviously, with coaches they will improve faster.

Does putting more than coach in the same position make a difference ?

No it wont make any difference.

How many players can I put on a coach ?

Although you can put many players on a coach, only 4 of the players will get the benefit of the coach. You wont know which one will however.

I haven't logged in a while and noticed my training has been poor ?

If you have not logged in for more than 2 weeks, your players stop training.

What is the restriction on sacking  of coaches ?

You must keep a coach for a minimum of 4 weeks before you can fire him.

Can I get my sacked coach back?

No

What do the little bars and arrows mean on the training report?

Working in the order which they are illustrated, the first is showing that your player has gained a ball in the mentioned skill. This picture can be displayed anywhere in the training report and not just at the top of the list.

All the other yellow and green, up arrow pictures show that your players have made an improvement. The number of bars show how effectively the player trained for that day. For example, 1 bar indicates that the players training efficiency was between 1 - 20%, 2 bars indicate an efficiency between 21 - 40% and 5 bars represent an effectiveness of between 81 -100%. Players with 5 bars are normally youth players.

The empty box shows that the player didn't or couldn't train and therefore no progress was made.

The two red bars and down arrow pictures show that the player was deteriorating in the mentioned skill. When the red ball is displayed with the red bars it means that a ball has been lost.

One of my players is in training but it he has no bars in his training?

If the player has no bars against him on the training report and it is in the section "No Change" he is likely to be maxed in that skill. You will have to train him in an other skill.

However, before you can be sure a player is maxed make sure:

  • He is in the correct place on the training pitch. Sometimes players look like they are in a training position when in fact they are not.
  • He isn't injured
  • You don't have more than 31 players on the training pitch

Every player however can go up to 4 balls in every stat so you could always train them on something else. If the player is still training in a skill, you can rest assured that he at least get one more ball in that skill. Typically you find out out that a player is maxed the next training day after he gets an extra ball.

What are "partial balls" and do they matter?

When you train, you gain a fraction of a ball in that skill.  You cannot tell what that fraction is as the system only displays "whole balls" but uses the fraction in the simulator.   Hence a player that has been training in a skill for quite a long time (hence maybe shooting 4.9) will be better than when he just received his 4th ball (4.0).

When does the training report come out ? (UK)

The training report comes out  around 1:30am.

My player has deteriorated, why is that?

Players when they get to a certain age start loosing skills. This normally happens after 25 but instances of younger players loosing skills have been noticed as well as well as player as old as 33 still gaining skills. So it is down to the individual. It is believed  you can avoid this by removing the player from the training ground, although there is no solid proof that this is true. Placing a player on a station with a coach will reduce the chance of deterioration, and can reverse it. However, there will still come a point when a player is too old for this to work as, even with a coach, his deterioration will be higher than his training gain.

My Coach Has Arrived. What do I do with him now? 

You need to place your coach on the training station where he will have the biggest effect. Look at both his best stats and those of the players he is training. For example: If all your passing trainees have 5 or more balls but your shooting trainees only have 3 or more, whilst your coach has 6 balls in both, he would be better training shooting as the gap between his ability and the players is greater. Never leave your coach on the side of the pitch.

I’ve just got my team. Should I sack my starting coach and look for a better one?

No! You will leave yourself without a coach for at least 2 weeks if you do this. You will also be getting rid of the cheapest coach you will ever find. The coach may not have great skills, but he will be very handy when you want to improve players’ secondary skills. 

What is a good wage to offer a coach? 

There is no real set wage for a coach. There are guides on the MZ page which give an idea of what the lowest amount a coach will accept it, but the top amount depends on the supply and demand in the country you are in, as all managers are competing with each other for  them. Remember you are bidding for a coach against other players.

When I click on a coach, what does it indicate?

Speculation is that this was the wage of the coach with his previous employer.  What is clear is that this is not current bid nor is it the minimum he will work for.  You can bid less than this amount and have a chance of getting the coach.

I have put my best coach on my player but he still trains slower than the others. Why? 

It is possible that the player is either old (27+) or has a low talent in that skill. Try him on a different skill to see if it helps. The talent is a hidden attribute that determines how fast the player learns. It is also possible he is nearing his potential for that  skill, as players learn more slowly as their skill gets higher.

My player in the middle of my training list has gained two balls but the ones above him haven’t gained any. Why? 

It is highly likely that the player gaining balls already had a partial ball in those skills. A partial ball can be anything from 0.1% to 99.9% of a ball. It is also possible he is training at the same speed as the players above him in the list.

I haven’t gained a ball in 4 weeks. Is my training broken? 

No – it just means that your players have all been training in skills where they have a very low partial ball. On the up side, in a few more weeks you should get a rash of new balls as they all reach that full ball at about the same time.

Should I get coaches and if so how many ?

There are many schools of thoughts on training. Here is a summary:

No Trainers at all

Some believe trainers are just a waste of money and with the savings they buy better players - hooper14, Eggchasers, is one that has this view. Given his ranking we must assume there must be some weight to the argument. My main question is whether he feels like this now because to have better trainers than his squad is so expensive that the cost savings are worthwhile - is this still applicable to anew team ?

Cheap trainers - specialist

This is where people get trainers that have a skill concentration in a particular skill. So overall he doesnt have too many balls but has quite a few in one skill. These tend to be not too expensive. Of course you will need lots of them. Potentially one for every skill. Benefit of course it that you can move players to what training you want and get full benefit.

Expensive trainers - Generalist

Here people opt for coaches that are pretty good at most things. These will be very expensive but people tend to have less of them. They will then move coaches from position to position. Less flexibility afforded in training however.

Should I keep rotating the players in training to get best effect ?

It depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want a player to generally gain balls then rotating them is a good thing to do. The best strategy, especially if its a new team or player new to the team, is to put them in a training position and keep them there until they gain a ball. A soon as they gained a ball in that skill move them on to another skill. You may find that you get lots of
balls gained very quickly. The theory behind this is simple, a player may already be a good percentage gaining a ball in a skill already so you finishing the training off. This is why rotating is good but rotating all the time before a player has gained a ball has minimal benefit as you spread your training.

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