Why is my training so erratic?

Seem to be quite good at creating talents - got 11 as i write but they don't seem to push on too well. Only on yellow for training but can't afford to upgrade. Only way to afford it seems to be selling a couple of young players - bit of a catch 22 as the lads aren't really good enough to attract bids! Ideas very welcome...

Talents are not going to push on as you are just 1 training ground upgrade above the most basic.

There is no point in keeping your talented youth players past the 5 trainings mark at which point you can put on auction. Refer to the chart for training, which is a sticky in the general forum, to see if you have a possible special talent.

You are wasting credits on 1 trainer that has neither 20 in Youth/Keeper/Outfield. I would use those credits to get a scout who can check the hidden rating of your players. "Reasonable" players should sell for 500k+

If you want to get ahead in terms of upgrades then you will need to be active in the transfer market.

Do not buy players above 30, preferably 28. Retirees hurt your bottom line.

Always have your players transfer listed so you can make a profit after wages. Hopefully purchase an upgrade with the profit made and keep going up.

Try to purchase players who have 2 weeks or more before a birthday, but don't pay a crazy amount over their value. Gives you 2 weeks of possible value increases before a birthday value drop. Hopefully they will sell before that time.

Check their training before you buy, if they missed a few days or even a day since the previous sunday update their value can drop without a birthday happening.

You can speed up your VM progression but it either requires a huge amount of luck in scoring a super youth, or a lot of time spent learning and trading the market.

Good luck