BuzzerBeater Forums

level 5 is definitely better. you have to consider the salary though. in my opinion, i always want a trainer with less than 30k in salary. i got level 5 now at 23k salary, and note, i didn't get it cheap. you'll probably spend around 500k to get a salary of less than 20k and that is being optimistic. but since your trainees are all 20 over, i say that you retain your level 4 trainer and start to save up for buying a level 5 one as soon as getting a decent, young trainee. but still, don't forget to check the staff market every now and then, you'll never know what you'll find.

it also depends the time of the season. imho, i've found that when you go shopping trainers in the 12-13 week of the season (first playoff week), you can get lvl 6 trainers of 20-30k salary for about 300k-400k.

don't overestimate either the diff between lvl 4 and 5. look around for Josef Ka's coeffs for trainers work, and also trainee's age effect on decreasing the effectiveness of training. some say it's not worth it the sacrifice (money, plus elapsed time for other duties that would have been completed with that money, like building the arena) for the benefit (a couple of pop per season). if you ask me, i say... it depends. it depends of your plan as manager, most of it. if you have already made your mind and decide to build your team around a developing player, thus tolerating losing some games, and you'll keep this player, make it your franchise player, well, maybe it is worth it. if you're more like a business manager, short term success and stuff, maybe promoting fast -if there's such a thing-, and like buying and selling players while developing your ONE good trainee, or buying a player near his cap and try to cap him with the intention of keeping him, then maybe it's not worth it.

anyway. i say it depends. there's no rule for trainers cost-benefit efficiency. not all costs meet all managing styles, and not all benefits meet them either.

With respect,
It was mentioned that perhaps you ned to upgrade your arena.
You are just a few seats away from 5k seating capacity.
Keep the lvl 4 trainer and invest in your house. That move will pay you back 100 times over alone.
I personally did this for about 6 seasons and dropped no less than 2k seats per season. After investing in the only real source of income for you, you may wish to consider a lvl 6 trainer.
Just my 2 cents but many GMs put the cart in front of the horse.