Board Wars: How to Save the Messiah

Board interactions have long been distant and painful in Football Manager, with one sentence here or there determining the state of facilities and contracts for years to come. Nowhere is this more apparent when the board exercises the virtual right to royally screw a manager out of their best players if things go south on the balance sheet. My most recent save with HK Kopavogur dug up this issue, a team too good for its own league yet to land in champions league money, with criminally underpaid players in starring roles.

The summer of 2025. My chosen club's debt has become untenable and our young talent draws curious eyes and deep checkbooks from across Europe. Countless rejected offers have not dampened the various big wigs of the game angling to sign my finest homegrown players, players that can make the difference between a European breakthrough and continued obscurity.

It is hard to blame the board for acting out in these scenarios. As the manager the balance is another part of the puzzle that must be equally cared for and sacrificed for results. In Football Manager, with no real consequences for a poor balance unless it spins out of control, it is easy to ignore it altogether. To be clear - the easiest way to shield talented players from board-enforced sales is the retention of a high balance. There are no incentives for the board to move quality players otherwise, no matter how big the money bag, as long as the finances are 'secure' on the club info page. In the instance where a positive balance is impossible due to ambition or, say, playing in the Icelandic league where competition bonuses top out at $20K, battling the board is still possible. The summer of 2025 would be the proving ground as I attempted to save my young core of talent.

We were bludgeoning our way through the early rounds of champions league qualifying, hoping to finally break into at least the playoff round. The team was young, gelling and tastefully home grown. The 'excellent' atmosphere had kept the players loyal almost to a man despite passerby interest. Then, at the height of the summer transfer window, we put on a few massive performances in the playoff's early rounds. The calls came. First on the chopping block, prolific Australian international Tyler McCall (he's not real). A weak offer well below his market value gets pushed through by the board. In a flash, I have lost arguably my most talented player in the most crucial part of the season.

No less than a week later, my tandem of brilliant (and also not real) forwards Michaelsson and Friðriksson have offers accepted for them by the board. I decide to fight back. The offers accepted by the board were also quite low, so I offer them both out for a much higher price and attract massive attention with their transfer listing. Friðriksson drew close to 50 offers, with Michaelsson following close behind due to his fine form. One champions league match goes by and there's no breaking news. I am hopeful the endless sea of suitors has at least slowed down the two players' considerations enough to help us on our way, but it would do one better.

The answer to the age old question of how to trump the board even when they're at their worst, selling off stars to put band-aids over bullet holes, is to fight fire with fire. If Michaelsson chooses to go to the team who's offer the board accepts, the matter is taken out of my hands. BUT, if he chooses to go to a team who's offer I, the manager, have accepted, I have the opportunity to reject it outright. After the board has accepted an offer for a player they will not do it again, thinking their job is done and the money is coming in regardless. The offering out of a player for a bargain price underneath what the board accepted is capable of attracting a large amount of offers even if the player is not an obvious target, and each one of the offers received in return remains in the hand of the Manager, with your choice to approve or cancel in tact.

A word of caution to the cheeky - make sure your staff responsibilities are set to allow manager autonomy on transfer decisions AND confirmations. It will feel nauseating enough to click accept on dirt cheap offers for your favorite player, so make sure that feeling is temporary or else you could be in for a nasty surprise when ole' Joe Blow general manager exercises his only power to confirm the sale of your Messiah.

If you are building a small club into a massive one, the ability to stifle your boards monetary ambition will shave years off of your challenge. As for my situation, I got a lovely surprise when I canceled out both of my forwards transfers, which for good measure removes all interest in both players for the remainder of the window. The sudden disappearance of all interest in a player who's transfer has just been canceled is just an added bonus to the gutsiest, last resort move to keep your talented, poor team together.

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