Season 3 is coming to an end at Powerplay Manager, and while there are many managers still battling it out in playoff matches, many of us are looking ahead to season 4 and starting our preparations. Part of a large part of those preparations has to do with the financial contract renewals of General and TV Sponsorship, aswell as Sky Box Rentals (for those with Sky Boxes).

Naturally, upgrading the Human Resources Department is going to help you get a better sponsorship deal at the end of the season, as will finishing in a good league, a good league position and have a good Overall Team Rank.

What many don't think about though is a seemingly small tactic that can make a big difference... buying a new Manager. Let me explain.

Managers & Secondary Attributes

The second attribute to your Manager is "Marketing"; the single most important attribute when it comes to you getting good sponsorship deals. Look at your current staff members, specifically your manager(s); how many do you have? What are their 2nd attributes? Many managers have 2 staff members, each one specialising on a particular attribute. This is a great way to run your team, however not when it comes to getting new sponsorship deals. You don't need attribute 1 on those days, you need attribute 2, and you need as much of it as you can get. Chances are, you don't have that right now... right?

So how do you fix this? Simple; buy a staff member.

There are 2 ways you can do this.

The Temporary Purchase Method

This is my preferred method, as it allows you much more room to move on the market and often costs you a LOT less. What you need to do is buy a manager with a high attribute 2. Quality is unimportant, as is nationality or OR. With this method, you want to find a manager with high(ish) attribute 2 and hopefully buy them for a low price. Set them as you assistant staff member (if their 2nd attribute is lower than a current staff) and wait for the sponsorship deals. After you sign a new deal, you simply fire the staff member or place them on the market to recoup your purchase price. This method is often quick, costs less and serves as a means to an end. The downside is that you often will never recoup your purchase cost, and you don't get a long-term staff member.

The Long-Term Purchase Method

This method often requires time and a higher budget. Similar to the previous method, what you want to do is search for a manager on the market. This time however you want to ensure you use the filters to only find high quality staff members. The purpose being that buy buying a high quality manager now, you can keep them employed all season and already be set for the future sponsorship deals. Like above, when you do find one, set them as an assistant or head staff member during the phase of sponsorship negotiations. The downside to this method is you will often need weeks to find a good staff member and will pay a large amount to find a very good one. The upside as mentioned above is you get a good staffer for future seasons.

I personally am a fan of the temporary method, however when i'm searching I will always do a 2nd search to see what high quality staffers are available at the same time. The key here is do your research and find the guy that fills a need on your team.