First of all, I'd like to say that if you had the old team roster, you could probably not afford to pay their salaries. This is why you had to start from scratch with scrubs. One huge aspect of BB is the economy of your league and level.
Secondly, to correct @Trainerman on one point, you can find a (very) good mentor in lower leagues, at least in the USA leagues and/or some eropeans countries. You have to define first what kind of game you want to play and you'll enjoy: training or climbing the ladder as fast as you want. You will find very good mentors for training in lower leagues, for the latter you'll have to find a GE expert, and that - @trainerman was right - is rather found in someone that played successfully in higher leagues.
whish you the best