The assistant manager is arguably the most important member of staff to have at a club. He can be commanded to do anything from arranging friendlies to taking control over the first team. He will also provide notes throughout a match containing tactical advice and information on player fitness.
Finding a Good Assistant[]
A good assistant should be good at at least one area of coaching, capable with tactical knowledge, determined, have high man management and motivating. The best assistant should have high attributes all round. This allows him to do a good job of managing the reserve and youth teams if required, provide accurate tactical notes and negotiate contract renewals well. If a player requires his to buy players, he should have high scouting|attributes.
To find a good Assistant Manager, click Staff Search from the Scouting menu. Set the filters to Assistant Manager and Unemployed, then tick Intereested Only. Filter attributes by selecting the coaching attribute of choice, motivating, tactical knowledge, man management, motivating and determination (as well as any other desired attributes) using the scale below.
- World Class Team: miminum of 80
- Very Good Team: miminum of 70
- Good Team: minimum of 65
- Average Team: minimum of 55
- Poor Team: minimum of 45
- Very Poor Team: Minimum of 30
- Extremely Poor Team: Minimum of 20
Assistant Options[]
A player may opt to give extra responsibilities to his assistant. This allows him to focus on other areas of management. This is incredibly useful for newer players who are learning and not quite ready to take full control. To change what the assistant controls select 'Manager Options from the 'Manager's Office' on the sidebar.
General Options[]
Assistant Takes Training[]
The assistant will take over training schedules. By default he will always make outfield players train on the default "Team" schedule and goalkeepers on the the default "Goalkeepers" schedule, so this may as well stay un-ticked.
Assistant Arranges Friendly Matches[]
This is a good option to have, as it saves time and he generally chooses good opponents. He will never choose anyone in the same league and nearly always at least one domestic opposition is chosen. The dates chosen are always well, and new frendlies can still be arranged and the ones he chooses can be cancelled.
Assistant Can Select Seniors Lacking Match Practice[]
This option means that, if the assistant takes control of the reserve team, he can pick senior players who are lacking match practice to play in reserve games. This is another good option to have; it means reserve players will be match sharp for when needed. This prevents big drops in fitness and performance during a match. There are disadvantages, however: if matches are coming in think and fast and lots of rotation is needed, the reserve players may be tired as well, so rotation is impossible.
Finance Options[]
It is recommended the assistant in question has high scouting and man management attributes if any of the following options are enabled.
Assistant Handles Contract Renewals[]
This is a mixed option. The assistant generally makes ok choices but even with high scouting attributes he may let a good player go, especially younger ones. Another disadvantage is that he may offer a high salary of squad status or a long contract to players who are not vital to the team which the manager may wish to sell. The advantage is that it leaves more time for the manager to concentrate on more important issues. If this option is enabled, a message is still sent to inform the manager of contracts which are running out, giving him the option to renew them manually if he wishes.
Assistant Hires and Fires Coaching Staff[]
The assistant is often quite good at this and usually won't get rid of many coaches unless they're useless. He may also sign good coaching staff, depending on ability. However, it is possible for him to sack good coaching staff or hire bad staff as he bases his decisions on reputation, not ability.
Assistant Buys and Sells Players[]
Similar to the coaching staff option above, the assistant will usually sign decent players for the team, though generally never anyone too special. Transfers can still be done manually, but he may waste money on average players or sell vital squad members; it is best to leave this option disabled.
First, Reserve and Youth Team[]
Control Team[]
If this is selected, the assistant manager will take full control of the team on match days, selecting the line up, [[[tactics]] and substitutions. This is a good option to have for the reserve and youth teams; it saves a lot of time as reserve and youth results are unimportant. It is not a good idea to have it ticked for the first team as he rarely ever does a good job - even top quality assistants are still only mediocre. If the assistant does badly in matches, it will be the manager, not the assistant who is sacked. He will also perform team talks and run the matches without the player. The result will be sent to the player meaning that the player will be unable to watch the match.
Assistant Selects Team[]
The assistant will select the starting eleven and substitutions. He does not have any input on tactics and formations but he will adapt to them. He will always choose what he believes is the strongest team available. If Assistant Controls Team is selected for this team, this is selected by default and cannot be un-ticked.
Assistant Selects Tactics[]
The assistant chooses tactics. This means he will choose one of the default "stock formations" and will set player and team instructions. He will not choose the starting 11 or substitutes. If Assistant Controls Team is selected he will does this be default and it cannot be un-ticked.