You may just need to accept the fact that you are rubbish
Put it this way, I always go as blackburn and at the start of the game spend the first season clearing out the dead and bringing in some good young players - Adu - Ben Arfa - (you can normally get these guys for a couple of quid as they are so young - TIP - These two guys are very important for me and I ALWAYS get them. If another team come in for them then I just Bid 20M and their offer gets rejected and I loose the transfer cos I cant afford it and then start again with the small offer) The first year keep the team up and thats good work. The second season when hopefully you have a bit more cash you first head straight for the out of contract guys - DONT BUY ANY RUBBISH - you normally get some good players in here (I got Anton Ferdinand and Joey Barton). The next couple of players I recommend are Antony Vanden Borre - Vincent Company - Freddy Gurin and Lehbong Mokoena - Scott Sinclair James Keane (You should get the last two guys for next too nothing) With these players you shouldnt go too far wrong.
A big tip is that I think you should get a formation that suits you and dont mess with it no matter who your up against - when ever I start to mess thats when I start to loose. Generally keep all your options on normal - not attack or defend. Only change these at the end of a game. If you are winning then stick every one defending and time waste but still counter attack. Change it the other way if you are loosing.
Dont upset other managers - doing this could harm your chances of buying one of their players in the future
Get some coaches in that have 20 rating for working with the young. Each season promote some young guys from the under 18's as they will get better - if they dont send them on their way with 1m in your back pocket. Andy Taylor and Sergio Peter will also benefit from good coaching.
Hope this helps