Football Manager 2008

[edyzmedieval]

So my copy is waiting for me back at my school (vacation momentarily), and I can't wait to get it and install it, but before that, I want to ask your opinion about you Orgahs which are FM fans.

Good? Worse? Same as 2007?

NOTE: I am a hardcore FM player.

[professorspatula]

They should ban that football themed spreadsheet. Games like that are horribly addictive and relationship breakers.

From the brief stuff I've heard of the new version, it's still excellent but not really adding that much new stuff. Well there's a 100 new features apparently, but still feels like it's not that different. Obviously the teams are more up to date, but I sometimes think they should be charging less until a bigger revamped version is released. If I recall they used to do that for a bit back in the old days when it was still Championship Manager.

Then again if you're a massive fan, you're guaranteed to get your money's worth when you consider how long you can play the game for so there's no real need to worry if the game has improved or not since the last one. It certainly isn't some 8 hour and it's over game like Max Payne. Pre-season takes that long for a starter before you even worry about your title hopes!

[scotchedpommes]

Ah, Football Manager.

There is so much I could say, edyz, but I'm not sure I should. As for the latest
version, I've been playing the demo and it seems very much the same, although
doubtless that will be enough.

Don't know if I will take the plunge and get the full version - not sure where it
would end. My strange relationship with the last game ended shortly after the
fourth season. The disgust of coming from nowhere to possibly snatch the title
on the last day, and then just have the team bottle it completely, it was just
unacceptable.

[Yes, ban the things.]

[edyzmedieval]

Ban the things. I spent 6h today playing FM08!

On another note, with Ajax, I owned Toulouse 4-0, PSV Eindhoven 4-2 and got a draw with Liverpool. :grin:

[scotchedpommes]

See, to me, there is next to no enjoyment to be had in playing the game with an
established top-level team. Regardless of my own sympathies, I will take charge
of a little-known team and attempt to briing them up.

[Although admittedly I am now naturally an honorary supporter of the club which
caused me so much gaming pain.]

[professorspatula]

Yea I don't usually play these games any more, but my brother who does, usually starts with a struggling low division team, then gets rid of as many of the high wage earners as possible, brings in some youngsters and tries to turn things around, before leaving to join another struggling side, albeit a slightly better one. It's harder to buy youngsters and make millions than it used to be apparently but usually you can stockpile a large amount of dough within a few seasons. Only thing is the chairman and board of directors never want you to have your hands on the money. They'd rather it went on expensive tea parties or something instead of on signing some star striker. I think the last time I played Football Manager I started with Doncaster Rovers or someone. I didn't do well though. It had been about 5 years since I last played one of these games and I was quickly overwhelmed with the sheer depth of the thing.

[scotchedpommes]

My own real success just about came to me when I decided to buy the
stand-out players from teams either just newly promoted into my division,
or those that were struggling. The problem then became that I didn't have
many youngsters coming through, and when I did buy one real prospect
[quite by accident] it disrupted the team chemistry completely. Add to that
the main problem that if you have even a hint of success, the players are
either poached by the more prominent clubs in the region, or the champions
in the same league.

[Lorenzo_H]

Will this game be better than the Fifa Manager 08?

[LeftEyeNine]

Will this game be better than the Fifa Manager 08?

I'd really not compare the two. No one would, Lorenzo. It's an insult, to be honest.

[edyzmedieval]

Actually, it's a matter of taste. I find the tactical part of FIFAM to be a bit lacking, but it makes up for more management issues, so you are a real manager, and also a coach. FM is concentrated on more coaching, less managing.

I have no favourites. I bought one, will buy FIFAM 08 too.

[Lorenzo_H]

I'd really not compare the two. No one would, Lorenzo. It's an insult, to be honest.
Yes, but an insult to whom?


Actually, it's a matter of taste. I find the tactical part of FIFAM to be a bit lacking, but it makes up for more management issues, so you are a real manager, and also a coach. FM is concentrated on more coaching, less managing.

I have no favourites. I bought one, will buy FIFAM 08 too.

So which would you reccommend to someone new to the genre? It seems that Fifa M08 has 3d games, which seems like a nice little addition (although I would be the last to complain in it's absence).

[Marius Dynamite]

I cant play Football Manager or Champy since I realised its all just programming code :'( Its all I think about when I play it.

[scotchedpommes]

And what did you think it was previously? The Gods of Football working in your
favour, or against you, as they see fit?

[AntiochusIII]

And what did you think it was previously? The Gods of Football working in your
favour, or against you, as they see fit?You know that might explain my luck in championships. :dizzy2:

I'm still scarred from the countless tormented days and nights I spent screaming at the monitor over the original CM series and this one. I swear these are worse stuff than the most addictive of MMO's.

[naut]

Always bargains amongst the free agents. :wink:

[edyzmedieval]

Sometimes, but only after the first season. You can sign some good guys in the January Transfer Market, but most great guys will want for you to wait time so they can see if they get any other offers.

My grief?

AI Managers want almost the double price on players. One guy valued at 1.3 million - the club wants 2.9 million for him. I have the cash, but I need to be 100% sure he will contribute. Scout reports are useful, but sometimes they can be a bust.

[scotchedpommes]

I caved in. :shame:

[edyzmedieval]

This means you're playing it? :beam:
Good boy!! Now you'll forget that women do actually exist and some of them are meant to be loved. :shame:

[scotchedpommes]

It means I've got it, but it's been sitting in its box taunting me, because I should
be doing some work. [Haven't though, so it will come out soon.] As for the
women... well, you couldn't be more right there.

[edyzmedieval]

I find FM 2008 a bit harder than FM 2007. First of all, when you try to transfer some players, the bad thing is that they actually ask for the player almost double the price! And also, hot prospects and other good players...forget it, the club will dismiss your enquiry from the start.

[edyzmedieval]

I can't help it. I arrived in campus at 11, I stayed til 3 a.m. to play FM08. Woke up at 10:30, went for a serious breakfast, then returned and played from 11 to 3:30.

Interesting things? Andy van der Meyde returned to Ajax, I bought Kerlon and his seal dribble, and I payed 7 million euros for Michael Woods, a 18 year old MC from Chelsea. Oh, and 5-2 vs AZ Alkmaar. :beam:

[Lorenzo_H]

I'm getting this and/or FIFA Mananger 08 as soon as I get a computer...

[scotchedpommes]

For those of you who do already play the game, which leagues
do you have simulated [fully or otherwise] outside the one your
team is playing in?

[edyzmedieval]

I find "hard" games much easier now. I did an experiment in my Champions League - Ajax, I got to the semi-finals against a full side Man Utd. Did it 10 times, I won 5 out of 10 times. Out of 20 times in FM07, just one victory was possible.

Now, I passed with Ajax almost everything. Except Arsenal. Arsenal is ridiculously good. My first try of the ECC final ended in a shocking match - 8-5 loss!!! And some players, which actually suck completely, are incredibly good. Ballack, Shevchenko... They sucked for Chelsea, but they caused havoc in my defence. Fortunately for me, Klaas Jan Huntelaar saved me again. The guy scored 49 goals in 54 matches. :dizzy2:

[edyzmedieval]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrMIC7u-J5A

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

[scotchedpommes]

I find "hard" games much easier now.
Stop playing as Ajax.
:hide:

Edit: Just listened to the start of the video, and surprise surprise,
where's the user from? :laugh4:

[Rhyfelwyr]

FIFA Soccer Manager 97 is the best soccer manager game of all time! I remember playing English 3rd division sides, selling all my players, and replacing them with new ones of similar quality, who I realised would all happily play on no wages for the limit of 60 month contracts. So with all the income I was soon able to sign players like Laudrup, Romario, Bebeto, Cantona, Giggs (he was the best in the game, 90 at Free Role) etc. Every time I played as some team I would win each division each season until I finally won the Premiership. Then the season after that I would usually win the Champions League.:2thumbsup:

Not like when I downloaded the FM2008 Demo and played as Dumbarton. I lost every pre-season game, including a defeat to Glasgow University. Then I lost 7-2 to Forfar in the first game of the season, and then I stopped playing.:wall:

I just had no idea what tactics to use, playing that game made me feel like I stepped into the Matrix, all I could see was code.:dizzy2:

[scotchedpommes]

Dear God, man! Glasgow Uni?

In fairness, they scraped a win against Partick or something in my demo
pre-season with Elgin. 7-2 to Forfar, though? What were you doing? I
take it you were down a man?

Forfar are whipping boys, are they not?

[IrishArmenian]

Fortunately for me, Klaas Jan Huntelaar saved me again. The guy scored 49 goals in 54 matches. :dizzy2:
Now that's real world simulation right there!:yes: (I'm not joking, he's amazing)
How does this game work, it seems interesting! Any chance of my leading Ararat to victory*?
Who the hell am I joking?

[edyzmedieval]

Stop playing as Ajax.
:hide:

Edit: Just listened to the start of the video, and surprise surprise,
where's the user from? :laugh4:

Ajax is probably one of the lowest teams which the chance of winning the Champions League. My most expensive transfer was Nicolae Dica from Steaua Bucharest, who cost me about 2.7 million euros. I got Ivan Ergic from Basel for a free transfer, Didy from CFR Cluj for 650.000 euros and in the January transfer window, I got Andy Van Der Meyde from Everton for 2.2 million euros. That's all the big transfers I made and I owned Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal...

He's from Scotland. :beam:

@IrishArmenian

If you do a lot of save/reload, and you make a new user with Chelsea, and you buy your really bad players for 50 million euros, then it's guaranteed you'll get the Champions League. :laugh4:

KJH - 51 goals in 55 matches (that's a bit too much...)

Oh oh, and guess what? :beam:
Edgar Manucharyan won Best Player of the Year. He made 19 appearances for me, and scored 14 goals. :laugh4:

[Rhyfelwyr]

Dear God, man! Glasgow Uni?

In fairness, they scraped a win against Partick or something in my demo
pre-season with Elgin. 7-2 to Forfar, though? What were you doing? I
take it you were down a man?

Forfar are whipping boys, are they not?

I've no idea what I was doing TBH. I used a basic 4-4-2, R/L midfield set to make runs forward. I checked I was using the player with the highest stats for each position. I changed my Captian to the player with the highest leadership/teamwork rating. I checked the opposing teams, if they had a star man I would set someone to mark him tightly. I used a long ball game since Dumbarton are not really a top quality side. Slightly towards attacking mentality for the poorer pre-season friendly sides. Made a couple of decent rated signings from lower clubs.

I only know the really basic tactics. But I really got badly destroyed.:shrug:

Anyway, I wouldn't say Forfar are the whipping boys, they only just got relegated, I think they've just had a slow start.

[scotchedpommes]

Aye, whipping boys last season. I very rarely go with long ball. Sit back, hit on
the counter, unless it really is a poor side you should gub with your eyes closed.
And when I start out I don't assign the captain, or most of the players myself.

[IrishArmenian]

Oh oh, and guess what? :beam:
Edgar Manucharyan won Best Player of the Year. He made 19 appearances for me, and scored 14 goals. :laugh4:
If only in real life.:oops:
And what is this about saving and reloading with Chelsea? I asked about Ararat, for it seems as if there are some quite obscure leagues, so I've a chance!

[AntiochusIII]

And what is this about saving and reloading with Chelsea? I asked about Ararat, for it seems as if there are some quite obscure leagues, so I've a chance!He means the old CM dirty trick where you created another account to bolster your first. You can use that other account (of whom you gave one of the premier teams of the game to) for various nefarious purposes ranging from selling your sucky players to that other rich club at exorbitant prices, screw their game plan in their upcoming match with you (can lead to insane scores), vent your rage by abusing some of their key players constantly, etc.

"Chelsea" is chosen because its big purse I think. I still remember the days when Chelsea wasn't the financial monster it is...I feel old. :inquisitive:

I'm not sure if the league you're looking for is in the game or not (I don't have this version...), but if so, good luck and win that Championship within the next decade or something! :laugh4:

[scotchedpommes]

No Armenian league. The team will doubtless be there, but unplayable.

Football Manager 2008

[Craterus]

:bump:

PS: I rock at this game.

[edyzmedieval]

I rock your bottoms at this game Craterus. ~;)
The game says it's time to change my underwear.

[Craterus]

EDIT: Forget it, I take it back. Those last few games were awful. :stwshame: :thumbsdown:

[Craterus]

Right, advice please.

It's May 2009 and I'm looking to pick up some players for free. Can anyone think of players who run out of contract in June 2009? I found Steven Pienaar, but I can't really meet his wage demands.

I particularly need a right-back. Went for Pascal Chimbonda (:laugh4:) but he went to Villareal instead.

Anyway, thanks for any input.

[Dodge_272]

I think Nicky Shorey's contract runs out in 2009.

Cool that there's an FM topic here, the only games I play these days are HOI2 and FM.

[edyzmedieval]

Woah, what team are you playing if you can't afford Pienaar? :inquisitive:

[naut]

Few options on the cheap side, not free unfortunately, Yonni Hinestroza (Columbian) should cost around £35K, Andrea Gritti (Italian) between £5-10K or Luca Lagnese (Italian) probably £10K. Gritti and Lagnese have a decent amount of potential, 83 and 81 respectively.

[Craterus]

I'm playing in the Bundesliga in my 3rd season as TuS Koblenz (although not for much longer as I rejected their final offer to extend the contract meaning it runs out at the end of the season - the wage was just insulting, I know my doesn't matter and doesn't change anything, but I'm getting well under half what most of the other managers in the league are being paid). Been promoted from 2.Bundesliga but still don't have much money and a tiny(!) stadium which can't be improved because the club doesn't even own it.

I've found a cheap right-back and he looks to be settling in but it's now July 2009 so I've missed my chance for pre-contracts. The real problem is a left-back. I played for a long time last night/this morning, just to be turned down by just about every left-back in the world.

There's a young Estonian guy who's agreed a contract but my assistant manager (none other than Mario Basler!) thinks he 'would not be a worthwhile signing'. I think his stats are fine for a left-back.

Anyway, if there are any other cheap and not too old left-backs, I'd like to hear them.

And, if anyone's a real expert, I wouldn't mind some advice on how many players I should have. I'm too opportunistic with signings. If there's a player going cheap, I'll buy whether I need them or not resulting in me having 7 attacking midfielders heh.

I play 4-1-2-1-2 (wide diamond) formation so yeah, number of players for each position? 3? And 4 centre backs?

EDIT: Transfer budget is €13m (using Euros for authenticity) because I'm aiming for a top-half finish and didn't do too badly last season.

EDIT2: Also, Ajax offered a contract to Pienaar so it may not have been mine wasn't good enough, they're just his favourite club. Tried to get Nakamura as well, but he signed for Fulham so had to settle for Ricardo Sousa as my new AMC but the fans don't like him. Neither does Mario. :drama:

[edyzmedieval]

Haha. I think ill start again FM, but I want to stop and start working on myself. Love and gaming don't get together at all, and gaming will have to go.

FM is like 2 Big Macs just after you worked your ass off and finally you show that six pack.

13 million euros for a 2nd league team in Germany?!?!?!?!? What the heck is that team? Chelsea of Germany?

Left backs - Jan Vertonghen from Ajax. He's good and has potential. Young too. 21 years old. Urby Emanuelson if you have the cash.

[Craterus]

I'm in the first league now, and I had a pretty good league position last season. Added to that is that I've only bought two players in two seasons. Anyway, €13m isn't that much.

Ajax are my parent club so I'll try get that kid on loan. Thanks.

[Tamur]

OK since there's a thread here and I trust you guys (well, not as babysitters, but...)

I have never played this game. I hear it's horrendously addicting, which is fine - I'm stronger than the addiction. :embarassed: Really.

What I need to know before I get hooked, though, is this: the game seems to be a simulation trying to match real conditions rather than a rubbish dumb-down. However, I've been consistently disappointed in simulation games' for ignoring the fact that I need good information and pinpoint tools to make good changes (e.g. diplomacy in RTW).

How is FM2008 at telling me what I need to know, and giving me the ability to make targeted changes? If a single player's morale is poor, for example, do you know that? Can you tell who else in the squad that is affecting? And what options do you have to help change that? If a player has a low rating in, say, throw-ins, can you actually set a coach on him and improve it? Or do you have to try to fix 1 cm wide problems like that with some sort of sledgehammer approach ("just train hard, idiot!")?

[Tamur]

Never mind, I just ran into davidkempshall's tutorial series on youtube. Definitely answered all my questions.

[Craterus]

Heh, glad I couldn't help.

Just to let everyone know, the transfer window was a disaster. I even did it twice (continuing from an older file) and everything that went right the first time, went wrong the second. However, I made a few more intelligent signings on my second attempt so I stuck with that.

2 days before the first game of the season, my first choice keeper got injured with a broken finger for 2 months. Wouldn't be a problem except my other, and only other, also had a long-term injury. Miraculously, I'd looked at the team report a few days before and my assistant manager's main concern was the lack of backup for goalkeeper so I put in a loan offer for a young keeper from my parent club, Ajax. I thought he'd only be there for my peace of mind, but a few days later, he was called into action. He's not very good :sad: so I think I may get fired.

EDIT: P.S. Embrace the addiction Tamur. Good luck! ~:wave:

[naut]

Tamur, I hope you enjoy playing.

Usually I stick clear of "top" teams, but I thought I'd give the Gunners a go. Pretty fun beating Spurs 1 - 0 on the opening day of the season.

But it seems my transfers were almost as disastrous as yours Craterus. I signed 3 decent young players, (Saivet, Coquelin, Dawes). But, almost every player I attempted to get was not available, (Diego, Mario Gomez, Nasri, Ben Arfa) or too expensive (Aquilani, Villa). I tried to buy Gervinho, but he got a work permit declined. I eventually jumped on Van der Vaart since he handed in transfer requests, but he ended up going to Barca, even though they offered him substantially less than I did. My scouts in Argentina turned up a player, Leonardo Ponzio, who I bought to replace Diarra (who I immediately off-loaded), only for my scouts to find a better, younger player, Ever Banega, straight after. :furious3:

Edit: Although on a positive note Ponzio did almost score on his debut, and set up the Spurs goal. So the fans seem to like him.

[Craterus]

Heh, that doesn't sound too bad.

I also stick clear of the top teams. I like the change in objectives when managing lower league teams. (Promotion, stay up, stay up with better position, mid table, title challenge etc.) With the top teams, it's the same season every time: Title challenge or win it, win the cup and do well in Europe. Bah.

Arsenal sounds fun to manage, good luck.

My now 1st-choice keeper, the one who got injured, is Rui Patricio. I signed him last summer (2008) and he's been named as the 3rd choice keeper in the Portugal squad. IRL! How cool is that? I think he's got worse as a goalkeeper because I didn't play him for a whole season. Reckon that will return?

[LittleGrizzly]

I also stick clear of the top teams. I like the change in objectives when managing lower league teams. (Promotion, stay up, stay up with better position, mid table, title challenge etc.) With the top teams, it's the same season every time: Title challenge or win it, win the cup and do well in Europe. Bah.

I usually just run one game as someone like Manchester United, its a bit boring same thing year in year out and theres no real way you can surpise people by doing so well, much more fun to go a 1st division team or something, find you can convince one or two half decent south americans to come...

Ever Banega

think i bought him for my Derby team, didn't really continue that game so not sure how well he plays...

[Craterus]

Well, I'm playing in the German league, so that's interesting. Fairly different style of football. I play defensive, slow-short passing tactics almost every game because that's the only thing that seems to work and seems to be the way all the other teams play.

Most of them also use my favoured diamond formation. Grr. I can't tell if they're just copying me.

My other big-money signing, for a whopping €1.9m was Guillaume Hourau from PSG. I bought him in Januray 2009 and he scored 2 goals in 9 games, but got injured, which was annoying. However, this season, 6 goals in 8 games.

[edyzmedieval]

Ha, I always play All Out Attack.

I always push on the gas. 4-1-3-2 or a 4-2-1-1-2 or a 4-1-2-1-2.
I always go with Ajax because it offers a bit of everything. The league is easy but long, and you always have to strive to get the best out of everything.

I play FIFA Manager now. Unrealistic sometimes (I beat Chelsea 5-2 with a normal Ajax team, and Milan 4-2) but it's good fun. Transfer markets are always good here.

[naut]

Van Persie is a goal scoring machine! A massive 20 goals from 15 games so far.

Really irritating though, I loaned out Flamini (for obvious reasons), and decided that 4 DMs would be enough for the squad (Gilberto, Diaby, Denilson, Ponzio). Then 45 minutes before the transfer deadline Juve offered £9.5M for Denilson, which the Board of Directors accepted, leaving me no time to find a replacement.

Bought Modric for £4M, a bargain, but the fans don't think much of him. My other signing Henri Saivet is epic, could turn out to be a real star.

I think I might play a game in an obscure league, hmmm perhaps Pribram in the Czech second tier.

[Craterus]

I like playing in obscure leagues because your judgement isn't affected by reputation. If I were managing a Premiership team, I'd pick players based on reputation. In the German league, it took a bit more thinking.

Last night, I got the Cameroon job. How easy is it to juggle club and country? I didn't sign a new contract with Koblenz so I will leave at the end of the season but its Dec 2009 now and the African Cup of Nations is in January. I'm kind of anxious as they expect me to reach the semi-finals but I'm hoping Eto'o will pull out all the stops.

Luckily, the German league has that (extremely annoying) break in January and I usually fill it up with friendlies so the team don't get unfit. I guess I won't be able to do that this season. I'll also have to find time to spend some of my budget on players which I'll only get to use for 6 months.

Impressive goal record for Van Persie. My top striker (Guillaume Hoarau from PSG) has scored 15 goals in 20 games which I think is pretty good.

[naut]

You better hope Song has been on form for the Gunners (or whoever he's been on loan too). Cameroon do have some decent players, Makoun, Kameni and M'Bami are a few.

[Craterus]

He went to Atletico Madrid for €5.75m in the first season. Was sold to Newcastle for €11m in the second season. He's on ok form. The main trouble at the moment is choosing a strike partner for Eto'o if I choose to have one at all.

[naut]

Gustave Bebbe and Pierre Webó are ok, but nothing special. Who's in your ACN group?

[Ja'chyra]

I always start out in the bottom leagues with this type of game.

I got the game a couple of weeks ago and went with Dorchester from the Blue Square South League, their 3 year plan was a respectable mid table position and I somehow managed to win the league in the first year, I think getting knocked out of the cups early helped :P. I'm nearing the end of my second season and I am in a playoff position in the Blue Square Premier, no chance of winning this year and I think I want to stay in this division for another season at least.

I've managed to get a few good signings like Tommy Coyne a Scottish striker and Sam Russel and English Goalkeeper but my best signing was getting Adda Djeziri on loan from Portsmouth, my parent club, he's on 50 odd goals in 30 games before getting injured.

[Craterus]

Gustave Bebbe and Pierre Webó are ok, but nothing special. Who's in your ACN group?

Sorry I didn't return to report back sooner but wow, it's been some campaign. Didn't think much of Webo by the way, he's only made one appearance as a substitute. I took a risk and played 4-5-1. Generally, I don't trust this formation because of the lack of options up front but I went for it (the other strikers weren't great and there were a few good midfielders) and it paid off.

My group was Cameroon, Egypt, Benin and Zimbabwe. Eto'o, the lone man, scored 6 goals in the group stage (3 games) including a hat-trick against Benin. (1 against Zimbabwe, 2 against Egypt).

ACN Group 1
Cameroon P3 W3 D0 L0 GF10(?) GA1 GD 9(?) Points 9
Egypt W1 D1 L1 Points 4
Zimbabwe W1 D0 L2 Points 3
Benin W0 D1 L2 Points 1

In the quarter final draw, it was Cameroon against Guinea. Final score: CMR 2 - 0 GUI. 2 more goals for Eto'o.

And then:sad:: Eto'o - groin strain in training, out for the rest of the competition. I wasn't prepared to continue the 5-4-1 with any of the other strikers so 4-4-2 for the semi-final against Ivory Coast.

Possibly the most nerve-wracking game I've ever played. Normal time finished at 3-3 and I was winning 3-2 until the 84th minute. Two lucky goals from Joel Epalle, one of which may have been offside, had put me ahead. But they equalised and it went to extra time. I'd kinda lost hope by this point because they were on the constant attack but then Effa (substitute striker, only his second cap) scored a wonder goal from 35 yards and we ran out the time.
CMR e4 - 3 CIV.

And it's Nigeria in the final. I won't play that until tomorrow night because it's half 3 here and I don't want to do something stupid but I think I'll be happy with runner up.

IIRC, Eto'o is still top scorer in the competition with 8 goals and he had an average rating of 8.75 over the 4 games he played. :applause:

Also made a few signings for Koblenz, including a young Aussie keeper with a lot of potential (according to scouts and Mario Basler). Sold my star right-midfielder, Traut, for €6m but he could have gone for free so I'm counting that as a win. I bought Dimitriu Copil who has scored 3 goals in 3 games from an AMC position and I bought a Dutch MR called Kemy Agustien to replace Sascha Traut.

Overall, success.

[naut]

Quite the competition. If Eto'o is fit for the final you should do well.

I gave Pribram a go, start with €85K to spend, and in debt. Not a good situation, also there's pressure for me to get promoted straight away. But, the squad is too small, only 17 players, 2 of which are on loan from other clubs. My reserve goalie is injured aswell. :sweatdrop:

[edyzmedieval]

FIFAM marathon in the past week. :sweatdrop:

I won everything with Ajax, and I did the following in the summer transfer market:
- Theo Walcott - 14 million euros
- Andrea Barzagli (Palermo, CD, 26 years old) - 9 million euros
- Mario Ballotelli (Inter, ST, 17 years old)

Bomb transfer which I want to do: Diego. But they refused a 39 million euro offer so I'll have to go for someone else.

And in FM08, Huntelaar baby - 51 goals in 55 games. ~D

[Craterus]

Quite the competition. If Eto'o is fit for the final you should do well.

I gave Pribram a go, start with €85K to spend, and in debt. Not a good situation, also there's pressure for me to get promoted straight away. But, the squad is too small, only 17 players, 2 of which are on loan from other clubs. My reserve goalie is injured aswell. :sweatdrop:

No, Eto'o is injured for another few weeks yet. It's a shame because the 4-5-1 had worked really well so far. Ah well, there's always the world cup :beam:

As for your new campaign, I'd say loan players are the key for such a small squad. Try and get yourself a parent club and ask for some of their youngsters to fill your weakest positions. Also, try and use a formation that plays on the strengths. If you don't have any good wide players, use a narrow diamond and play strictly through the middle. Change your home pitch to as narrow as possible as well, if you can. Good luck.

Another question, when my Koblenz contract runs out, should I look for a new job or stick to international for a bit. Bearing in mind it's a year and a half till the world cup :juggle2:

[naut]

39 million euro offer
~:eek:

@ Craterus: Being a national team manager only can get a bit dull. Especially the wait for the next major tournament. The games are a bit too far apart for my liking. It's all on personal taste I guess.

[edyzmedieval]

Can someone please host somewhere or give links to the FM08 patches? Thank you very much. :bow:

[naut]

Here. (http://footballmanagerportal.co.uk/fm2008patch/)

Or here. (http://204.155.67.168/patch/fm08/FM2008_v8.0.1_Patch.exe)

[Herkus]

Another question, when my Koblenz contract runs out, should I look for a new job or stick to international for a bit. Bearing in mind it's a year and a half till the world cup :juggle2:

Are any clubs interested in you? How many leagues you run?

[Craterus]

It's actually only half a year to the world cup, I made a slight error.

Leagues I added:

French - Ligue 1 and Ligue 2
Spanish - La Liga, Liga BBVA
Dutch - Premier Division
German - Bundesliga, 2.Bundesliga
Italian - Serie A, Serie B

Left out the English and Scottish leagues because I was so sick of them after my 4-season Oxford game.

[Craterus]

Guilherme is a player to get early on. If you can afford it. He's even fairly expensive then.

[naut]

Beat Tottenham in the League (Carling) Cup, 3 - 2, nervy, nervy game. Walcott scored a double. But, Van Persie's hit a dry spell, and the fans are irritated that I still give him games. Only "difficult" team left in the League Cup is the 'pool and I beat them 3 - 0 earlier in the season, so I hope to meet them in the final.

[Craterus]

What's happened to Arsene since you dislodged him?

[naut]

Wenger is currently unemployed. I wish he was a staff role other than manager, because he's got some impressive stats.

[Craterus]

Wenger is currently unemployed. I wish he was a staff role other than manager, because he's got some impressive stats.

Hehe, definitely.

I'm playing FM a bit less. Hit a bad run of form and got a bit annoyed with it all so I'm taking a break for the obsessive play. However, World Cup 2010 soon so that will be good.

Also, Jens Lehmann is the favourite to replace me at Koblenz :2thumbsup:

[edyzmedieval]

Does anyone have the patch 8.02? It's only on torrents and there's a firewall that blocks any torrent downloads and I can't get it.

Thanks. :bow:

[Craterus]

Does anyone have the patch 8.02? It's only on torrents and there's a firewall that blocks any torrent downloads and I can't get it.

Thanks. :bow:

Yes, I have it.

[edyzmedieval]

Can you please upload it on MegaUpload please, so I can download it?

Thanks a lot.

[Craterus]

Zipped?

[Craterus]

Alternatively, edyz, give this link (http://www.gamershell.com/download_23243.shtml) a go. That's where I got it from.

It's just uploading it slows my computer down so much that I can't play FM! :beam:

Or try this (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JAAX1Z8V). I uploaded it for you anyway. ~:)

[edyzmedieval]

Thanks a lot Craterus! ~:)

:bow:

[edyzmedieval]

Darnit!!!!

For some reason my CD stopped working. It's not scratched or something and the shape appears to be normal. My DVD Drive works perfectly.

Any idea?

[Craterus]

There is software you can buy that allows you to play games without needing the disc but I don't know too much about it, sorry.

[naut]

What's wrong exactly Edyz?

Do you get the SecuROM message saying insert the disc when the disc is in? I get that pretty often sooooooooooo frustrating. I just reboot and try again, that usually works.

[edyzmedieval]

I put my CD in, it starts to spin (the sound) but it doesnt spin completely I think and it keeps trying and trying again. And when I click on the DVD Drive it says Insert Disc. It can't read it. It won't read on Mac or another PC either, and I don't know why!

The CD is not scratched and it's not bent or anything.

[Craterus]

World Cup (very quickly before I sleep)

Group with France, S.Korea and Scotland. Lost 2-1 to France, as expected. Beat S.Korea 2-0 and needed a draw or better against Scotland to qualify for the next stage. It finished 0-0 but I probably should have won.

2nd round - Brazil :scared:

This was a very strange experience. I wasn't expecting to win, I actually thought I'd be defending for most of the game and lucky to get a goal. But, after 16 minutes, CMR went 1-0 up and we continued to have the better game, more threatening and much better possession. Then, just before half-time, Samuel Eto'o scored the best goal I think I have ever seen on FM. It was a cross from the left-wing and, from just inside the area, he put an overhead kick into the top corner. Game finished 2-0. However, it was a young Brazil team, probably one to watch for the future. In this game, they barely threatened and even Pato, who led the attack, was poor.

Quarter Final - England.

Interesting game, wasn't expecting to win this one either. Can't remember it too well either but scored early and the final score was 1-0, despite England being refused a penalty and hitting the post. They dominated for much of the game so it was quite tense waiting for the final whistle.

Semi Final - Romania

Thought this would be an easy one but turned out to be very close. Finished 2-0 but didn't score until the 83rd minute as the Romanian defence proved extremely difficult to break down. Chivu is incredible.

Final - Spain

Scored first from a penalty, converted by Eto'o. Spain were the much better team though and the 4-5-1 didn't seem to work very well. Eto'o just didn't have any support on the break (which was my only hope really). They came back to win 2-1. Should have been 3, Torres missed a sitter.

However, as runners up, I was really pleased. I seem to have been very lucky throughout the tournament, especially the win against Brazil which I really didn't expect but actually turned out to be the most comfortable game. On the attack, I was weak. Scored less goals in the tournament than a lot of the other countries and I may have to look for a decent strike partner for Eto'o and alter the formation a bit.

However, I have to recommend Kameni as a goalkeeper. He is immense. In both tournaments, he has been completely solid between the posts and he also has quite a low value: €8m at most, I think. Reflexes 20, One on Ones 18.

[Craterus]

September 2010: My game's started to get a bit buggy again.

I was replaced as Cameroon manager but their fixtures were still listed under my own. Then he got fired so I applied for my own job, as it were. I may continue, I may start a new game. This is with 8.0.2 as well.

[naut]

September 2010: My game's started to get a bit buggy again.

I was replaced as Cameroon manager but their fixtures were still listed under my own. Then he got fired so I applied for my own job, as it were. I may continue, I may start a new game. This is with 8.0.2 as well.
Weird. :inquisitive:

[The Stranger]

oh hhaha just noticed... I'm still playing 07


FM is one of the best game ever made... it can take 3 hours to get tru a month... but it never bores :"P the one thing that annoys me are the trainingdowns... you just got a players stats up with 2 points allround and for no reason a month later it plunges back 2 points allround.... that always frustrates me.

if you know all the tactics and countertactics it gets even better, I starting to develop a real tactical skill at this game... 5-4-1 gets beat by 4-5-1 or 3-4-3. 4-4-2 attacking gets beat by 4-5-1 etc :P

players to get easy and cheap and are good for an impressive team in 2-4 years if you train m good are

Ustari or Akinfeev (both for 10-20M but are worldclass goallies)
Vandenborre (3-4M) Ratinho (4-6M)
Micah Richards (15M)
Chrychinsky from Shaktar (6M)
MARCELO!!! (5-7M) best one you can get
Modric (2.5M) Eduardo (2.5M)
Huddlestone (10M) Denilson (6M) Gago (7-9M)
Iakovenko (1M)
Freddy Adu (4M)
Guardado (4M)
Esparza (4M)
Raul Garcia (15M)
Lebohang Mokoena (0.5M)
Hleb (140K)
Aguero (16M after a year)
Walcott (12-15M)
Vela (4-12M)
Merida (3M)
Gourcuff (6M)

My current Ajax Team is:

GK: Ustari (15M)
DL: Marcelo (6M)
DC: Kompany (20M)
DC: Heitinga
DR: Vanden Borre (3M)
DM: Gago (9M)
MC: Elano (14M)
AMC: Sneijder
AML: Guardado (4M)
AMR: Aguero (16M)
ST: Huntelaar

Subs:
GK: Stekelenburg
DL: Emanuelson
DC: Micah Richards (30M) the bastards didn't want to sell... but he is worth it
DR: Ratinho (6M)
DM: Denilson (6M)
MC: Esparza (4M)
AMC: Gourcuff (6M)
AML: Adu (4M)
AMR: Modric (2.2)
ST: Babel

[naut]

I had to share this, since it's so uncanny:

https://img112.imageshack.us/img112/5629/45356615wc1.jpg

[naut]

Double post:

Seems misfortune has struck my squad, Bendtner was hitting his stride replacing Eduardo, then he tore ankle ligaments. This was quickly followed by Ade breaking his arm. Walcott came to the the rescue with a hat-trick against Tottenham and a vital goal against Reading, only to pull a leg muscle. My next game is against Newcastle, and I only have Van Persie, all good you might say, but he's badly out of form. I need a replacement striker, and not too expensive either, since I don't have all that much money as Arsenal. :juggle:

On a lighter note I enjoyed ripping Blackburn apart in the League Cup, using Wenger's policy of youth and fringe players in that comp. I won 3 - 0. With a line up consisting of:

--------------Almunia

Traore--Senderos--Nordtveit--Eboue

--Modric--Diaby---Banega--Ponzio--

--------------Barazite

--------------Walcott

I have since offloaded Eboue (he was whinging about being a fringe player) to Inter, for a sum of £5.5 million. I bought Gianni Zuiverloon, for a hefty sum of £6.5 million (plus £1 million after 1 international appearance and £1.5 million after 40 League appearances). He was my fourth choice to replace him, (Heitinga being my first, Castro my second and Flano my third), he's a decent lad, but I'll probably regret the price later.

So any striker suggestions? (Huntelaar is too expensive, so is Aguero at some £20 and £30 million respectfully).

Edit: Bayern Munich have accepted a £8 million bid for Podolski, but he's not that great in FM08?! Oh noes!

[Craterus]

Well, I know of one striker but I don't know if he'd be good enough for Arsenal.

2010/11 season with TuS Koblenz in the Bundesliga.

Poor start to the season and still haven't recovered so I'm currently in a disappointing mid-table position and it looks like I'll finish with that (below last season's achievements and also below what I told the board I'd achieve :sad:). About 10th as of mid-March.

In the cup I am through to the semi finals but have to go to Werder Bremen after a penalty win against HSV who've knocked me out in the cup on 2 occasions, I think. Bogey team anyway.

Got to the second knockout round against Lyon in the EURO Cup. Drew 1-1 in the home leg and lost 2-1 away. But had a shot cleared off the line in the 93rd minute. Had it gone in, I would have been through on away goals.

However, the highlight of the season, far and away has been the form of Guillaume Hoarau. I may have mentioned my purchase of him but he REALLY came into his own this season. €1.9m from PSG in Jan 2009.

In this 2010/11 season (which still hasn't finished), here's the stats:

https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/Craterus/hoarau.jpg

I think that must be a record for goals in a season and there's still 11 league games to go, bear in mind.

Combined goals for all other players is probably between 10 and 15 but he's been an assassin this season. And it also means I'll probably stay in the German league another year just to see the follow-up even though I'm getting pretty tired of it.

Can't think of much else interesting that's happened. Walcott went to Chelsea for €55m and I think he's pretty mediocre on FM. Benzema went to Juventus for a similar fee.

Still occupying my non-existent role at Cameroon but I intend to take another international job as soon as one becomes available.

EDIT: Just realised it'd have been easier to just screenshot from the game but nevermind. Would PrintScreen work or would I have to download something?

[naut]

Seems you picked up a bargain there.


Poor start to the season and still haven't recovered so I'm currently in a disappointing mid-table position and it looks like I'll finish with that (below last season's achievements and also below what I told the board I'd achieve ). About 10th as of mid-March.
Ouch.


Just realised it'd have been easier to just screenshot from the game but nevermind. Would PrintScreen work or would I have to download something?
Print-Screen works for me.

Played out a dull goalless draw with Newcastle (which was my aim, being away and all). Managed to just beat Blackburn on the return leg 3 - 2, Saviet with the winner (what a bargain, he's a must have any game you play, from Bordeax for £250K). After the game I had 17 odd clubs offering to buy Saviet, for almost nothing. NO way! League Cup final here I come.

Fringe players again:

--------------Almunia

Traore--Senderos--Nordtveit--Zuiverloon

--Modric--Diaby---Banega--Ponzio--

------Van Persie---Saviet

Looks like Podolski it is for Arsenal.

Edit: Podolski was a good choice, scored a double in my 4 - 2 win over Liverpool. Yey!
https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/678/podolskise2.jpg
Dreading the LC Final, I'll surely lose if I use fringe players since Diaby picked up a suspension, and he's my LC creative force.

[edyzmedieval]

FM 07 campaign still continuing for me, playing as FC Basel. I started the game last year in the summer, still playing it after a year.

Season 2009-2010, in the previous one I won absolutely everything (save-reload on CL, from semifinals, just then - Bayern Munchen was just incredible), I beat Real Madrid in the CL final with 1-0, goal 95th minute from a free kick from Hugo Viana. The international club championship, 2-1 against Internacional with Alexandre Pato in the lineup, the guy is amazing in 2007.

TEAM

Franco Constanzo
Alberto Morgado, Gary Medel, Manuel Da Costa, Koji Nakata
Gabriel Obertan, Hugo Viana, Rasmus Lindgren/Jean
Leandro Lima
Guilherme Cramer Noronha, Bojan Krkic

All out attack 4-3-1-2, with relatively unknown players but I managed to make a winning team out of it. 3rd year in a row I win the championship, they raised my transfer budget to 21 million this year after initially offering 17. This happened because of the good results.

[Craterus]

So Hoarau ended up getting 34 league goals in 33 league games. He got Top Goalscorer by a long way, 7 goals IIRC, but he didn't get Player of the Year. What kind of BS is that? He had the highest average rating in the league right up until the last 2 games (he finished the season with a 6-5-6). Gah!

[naut]

So Hoarau ended up getting 34 league goals in 33 league games. He got Top Goalscorer by a long way, 7 goals IIRC, but he didn't get Player of the Year. What kind of BS is that? He had the highest average rating in the league right up until the last 2 games (he finished the season with a 6-5-6). Gah!
Yeh, it's a bit stupid. For me Van Persie got European player of the year, and striker of the year. But he didn't get World player of the year, that was won by Luca Toni who was third place runner-up in Europe. :dizzy2:

[Craterus]

He wasn't even in the top 3, which is what got me a bit confused. Klose, Schweinsteiger, Gomez.

Just turned down the Lyon job but starting to think I should have taken it. So sick of Germany now.

[AggonyDuck]

Just felt like sharing a shocking match of mine.

I'm currently playing as Rochdale in FM08. I started in Coca-Cola League 2 and I have managed to gain two consequent promotions to the Championship, from which we are most likely to be relegated from. Anyway my shocking victory took place in the 4th Round of the League Cup, in which my little Rochdale ended up facing Liverpool at Anfield Road. I figured it was a done deal and went in with a "lets save our face" attitude. Little did I know that my players had something else in store for me. It was definately football at it's best and I'll now share a quick report on the match.

I started the game with a 4-1-4-1(AM) against Liverpools 3-5-2 in hopes of just conceding as little as possible. The first half was Liverpudlian domination and they bagged two goals during the first half and only my goalkeeper saved me. So for the second half I decided to go for an all or nothing approach and did some offensive substitutions and changed my formation to a 4-2-3-1. To my great surprise my little buggers started the second half with great verve and actually put the pressure on Liverpool and their side. Due to our pressure and excellent passing, Liverpool's players were forced to commit fouls and on the 82' minute, we got a penalty which my fullback Tom Kennedy bagged in. Sadly for us the time was running out and I was already prepared to congratulate my guys on a valiant struggle, when Nastja Ceh surprises Reina with a great freekick from 35 yards and equalises on the 94' minute.

So we go in to extra time and I decide to continue with the same style and ask my players for one more goal. We mildly dominate the extension, but fail to score. So to my great fear we go to penalties, which Liverpool should win comfortably due to their superiority in player skill. My first shooter misses, while Liverpool's bags it. My second and third penalties are stopped by Reina, but my goalkeeper Richard Martin stops theirs too. My fourth shooter was my ex-captain and veteran midfielder Gary Jones who makes a tremendous effort and scores. Then Martin makes another save and we're equal at 1-1 when we go for the final shooters. Here my "weakest" penalty shooter of the five, Mike Jones surprises me by scoring his penalty. So the pressure suddenly falls upon Liverpool's final shooter, Mohamed Sissoko. He buckles under the pressure and shoots his penalty way wide of the goal! Rochdale advanced to the 5th Round of the League Cup and will face Wigan.

Match Overview:
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5610/rochdalevsliverpooloverur3.th.jpg (https://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rochdalevsliverpooloverur3.jpg)


Match Stats
https://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4296/rochdalevsliverpoolstatwv1.th.jpg (https://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rochdalevsliverpoolstatwv1.jpg)

[LittleGrizzly]

Congrats! Thats what i love about football manager, the unpredictability, its almost like real football...

Edit: im thinking about starting a game in the lower divisons, probably divison 1 (as in below championship) now any good signings for lower divison clubs ?

[AggonyDuck]

Congrats! Thats what i love about football manager, the unpredictability, its almost like real football...

Edit: im thinking about starting a game in the lower divisons, probably divison 1 (as in below championship) now any good signings for lower divison clubs ?

Well basically there are tons of good players out there that are willing to play in England at that level and usually you can find quality signings by just looking in the right places. Usually some of the less known football nations in the EU like Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Hungary etc. are full of quality players for League 1 that are available for free or rather small transfers. Another key thing of course is finding players from the Premier clubs available for loan. This has two advantages: firstly it gives you great talent for free and if they like it there you can eventually hire them when you get the money. Anyway free transfers are your friend. Many of the Premier clubs have a habit of offloading some of their reserves at the end of every season and you can easily make good signings that way.

Personally when I started in League 2 with Rochdale, my key signing for that season was a 33-year old Finnish striker/coach called Peter Sampo. I acquired him for a rather small transfer sum of a mere
5k and he pretty much became my best striker with an average of about 7.6, both acting as my playmaker and as my main scorer. This added with the fact that he came with 19 attacking and 18 tactical made him an useful coach too. Sadly his next season in League 1 was cut short due to a leg injury and never really got to see what he could do in there, but the first three games had been very promising. Now in the 2009/10 season he is the best scorer in my reserves. :2thumbsup:

[LittleGrizzly]

Yeah the viking countries usually have some good cheap players, wasn't sure they would be willing to go to d1, any reccomendations for best clubs i that division, not nessecarily players but good stadium and facilities and hopefully a decent bit of money...

[AggonyDuck]

Millwall, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest should all be excellent options with good facilities, budget and stadium.

[Craterus]

I just randomise when I start a new game. Fighting relegation can be more exciting than picking the best team in a league and coasting to promotion. I'd say every team has it's bonuses.

However, good players for lower league teams:

Hmmm, I'll be back.

[AggonyDuck]

Seems like the Dale's good performances against Premier League teams continue. Just beat Wigan 2-1 and advanced to the League Cup semi finals. :2thumbsup:

[LittleGrizzly]

Uefa cup here we come ?

Leeds or Nottingham sound good, are leeds still poor and is there any point penalty on them ?

Fighting relegation can be more exciting than picking the best team in a league and coasting to promotion. I'd say every team has it's bonuses.

Well i like to take a club as far as possible, a good start is great momentum....

[Craterus]

A relegation-threatened club goes a little farther ~;)

The key to lower-league clubs is to get yourself a parent club (preferably Premiership) early on and have them send you some of their promising young talent on a season-long loan.

One of the best, for League 2 and below is Charlie Sheringham from Crystal Palace.

My best signing on my Oxford game (I went from BSP to Championship) was a generated player from Newcastle's youth team. Can't remember any specific great buys though. You're much better off doing a very precise player search.