Subject: running out of cash

so....how do I get to break even?
how do i make money?!
other than selling my best players, of course.
would be grateful for some input
each week I'm either losing £2,000 or £10,000, but its not sustainable!
thanks

Get rid of some players!

You can train at most 22 players (in Pace) for every other skill it is 10 or less, so as a Div IV team there's no reason to keep 26 players on your books.

Even if you can't sell them (because they're so poor) sack them - it'll save you their wages for starters.

You also shouldn't have expanded your stadium, unless you were selling out every week? But that's been done.

Other more extreme options are:
- to temporarily close your junior school, assuming you have one?
- to cut your sqaud right down to 14 or 15 players - this could reduce your wage bill by 5k a week
- lose some assistant coaches temporarily

Nearly forgot...

Bonus Payment
I don't know how far up sh1t creek you are, but don't forget you get your end-of-season bonuses in 2 weeks.
Total Bounus = (1.5 x weekly sponsorship) + (75 x total no. of supporters)

This might bring your debts down enough to reduce your interest payments and let you take a more considered approach to cost savings! ;)
(edited)

the best thing to train if trying to save cash is Striker, as this only requires 6 trainees (though young mids benefit too a little). i would say that the lowest number of players to be able to field a team even with the odd injury is if training striker too. then you can cut squad to 16 e.g. - 6 striker trainees, 2 keepers, 4 mids, 4 defenders.

Have 4 trainees, keeping only those with a realistic chance of being solid or better byu the time they graduate
Play an away friendly each week against a league 3 team - the gate money is shared.
Leave the stadium as it is until it is full more than twice a season for home league matches

Post your coaches here, that is probably one of the underlying problems.

Early stadium investment & high cost of coaches always = lack of cash. Along with Junior School & buying new players - they also take away cash so fast when new Managers want to make an impact on the game.

How many new Managers do the same & run straight into cash problems - then perhaps quit?.

I know we have a very comprehensive newbie forum with posts & guides that are very good - but perhaps we should have a newbie 'quick guide' that helps everyone avoid the very big mistakes within their first few days playing Sokker?.

I believe if new players start Sokker well - they will enjoy the game a lot more, & be able to make better judgements as their knowledge increases over the first week or 2.

Just a thought......

I have seen your post in Sokker England fella and i like your idea however, i actually disagree with a couple of points you have made here.

What i (and ecartman) did was make a simple post with all the links that they're going to need at the start. This initial post is easy to digest, and if they want to do well they will take the time to read it.

I think half the problem lies in the fact most newbies don't find their way to the forums and have no interest in reading large posts to get early success. They then never log on again.

---

'I think half the problem lies in the fact most newbies don't find their way to the forums and have no interest in reading large posts to get early success. They then never log on again'.

I agree 100% - so how do you change that?

thanks for all your input.
I am not in debt yet but am doing the following to stop the rot:
reduce squad to 16-18 by sacking and selling
reduce juniors to 3
reduce coaches to 2
play away friendlies against III teams
wait for end of season bonus
sell best player if I dont promote to III
take more care over training strategy

Stadium was expanded when I had money (i.e. at the outset.) crowds did not grow as (I naively) expected.
I wont be giving up on this game even if it gets tough, so long as I dont go bust!
thanks again

All the things you list are good to help save cash, & your crowds & sponsor money will increase over the weeks.

I stopped my Junior school completly to save aprox £10k per week, as I found that it was hard to make any cash from 6 Juniors (unless Lady Luck Strikes). I hope to get it up & running again in 2 seasons time when I (hopefully) move up to league III.

Good luck

I just wrote another post on sokker england. I think it requires a complete sokker overhaul, and until sokker realise that, the problem will always exist

DJ - was it in my 'New to Sokker' post?.

If so - I think that after an end of season game, & a good nights rest - you will do a lot better than that. You always challenge & suggest new & exciting ideas to help the game & it's new players.

I would dump the junior school all together at your point in the game. I am in my like 6th season and I still am learning how to make a profit off it, and some seasons I dont. You dont need that, or the coach, and that will save you a lot of money. Instead work on developing a solid B team which you can sell those players from or when they move to main squad, sell off older A team members for good money.

NCFC said "'I think half the problem lies in the fact most newbies don't find their way to the forums and have no interest in reading large posts to get early success. They then never log on again'.

I agree 100% - so how do you change that?"

In my case I got hooked By direct mailing. When I joined up Sgod sent me a mail and offered me help at all times by mailing him direct. So by talking to him back and forth the game became interesting as I learnt the ropes. The reason why I got interested and hooked is due to this. Otherwise I dont think I would have taken the "closer" look at the game to find it interesting.

I am speaking from the point of a newb.
(edited)

I disagree. 6 seasons in you should definately aim to have a thriving junior school. I would always advise new starters to begin one as soon as possible, for a number of reasons.

@muhajir, i am glad that worked for you, and i believe the same mail is still being sent today (albeit from another user). Unfortunately, the feedback i've received from the mailing is that very few reply. This is mainly down to the user never logging in once receiving their team though.

I believe user retention would greatly improve if a rewarding tutorial system was integrated. Most new users spend all their starting money on useless old players or stadium upgrades. If they had to earn their money by completing simple tasks like recruiting new coaches and setting up a tactic then anybody that completes these tasks will get their cash reward and then have an idea on how to spend it.