While Manager Mode remains relatively unchanged from FIFA 14, it still remains a popular mode offering enough depth to provide hours upon hours of enjoyment in FIFA 15. Let’s take a brief refresher course and revisit why this mode is still a solid offline experience. This brief guide will highlight a few notable areas which are detrimental to your success as a skipper.

Objectives

At the start of each season you will be contacted by the club’s board via the email system. They will convey their expectations for the following competitions:

• League Season
• Domestic Cup(s)
• European Campaign (if you’ve qualified in the previous season)

Your job security depends on how successful you are at meeting these objectives. Depending upon your club’s stature, meeting 2 out of 3 objectives could potentially get your fired, especially if you’re at a club like Real Madrid or Chelsea.

Transfer Window

The Transfer Window is the time of year when a football club can transfer players to another club. There are two windows, the “Summer” and the “Winter” following this general schedule:

• Summer – From July 1st to August 31st
• Winter – From January 1st to January 31st

Players can either be transferred (permanently sold) or loaned out (temporarily play for another club). Loans can be of the short (half-season) or long (full season) variety. Additionally, players can be picked up via free agency when their contracts run out. The board will also set a transfer budget (the amount of money at your discretion to acquire new players + additional funds from player sales) at the beginning of each season. You can request additional funds if you set even tougher objectives.

Once you’ve familiarized yourself and have identified the strengths and weaknesses (your scouts can also help with this) of your squad you can explore the transfer market to find players who are no longer wanted by their team (Transferred listed), available for loan, or out of contract (Free Agents). If there’s a player that you’re interested in and you have the funds you must:

1. Approach the club to buy/loan (Sometimes it’s important to “inquire” before to see what their market value is and to make sure the club is indeed interested in selling the player).
2. Offer a Transfer Fee (The sum of money to be transferred for the services of the player)
3. Once the Transfer Fee is agreed upon it’s time to negotiate with the player (their new contract)
4. The player will have demands for:
   • Contract Length
   • Wages (Weekly Salary)
   • Squad Role – How important they are to your team
5. When the player accepts the team will be asked their final decision (Accept/Reject)

Typically the Summer window has more action whereas the winter window is a stop gap measure aimed at strengthening the squad for a late season run at a trophy, avoid the drop (relegated to a lower division), fill an injured player spot, or even sign a player who will be out of contract at the end of the year. “Transfer Deadline Day” is the last day of the window and treated like a national holiday. Rumors, speculation, and a crazy amount of cash being swapped are all game on this day.

Results

During the course of the season you will be tested. Injuries, suspensions, fixture congestion (a lot of matches in a short period of time), meddling clubs trying to poach your players, a demanding board, players complaining and various other annoyances will test your fortitude. What’s the easiest way to relieve this stress and silence the critics?

WIN!

When all the preparation work is done and the squads take the pitch it’s your players and tactics versus the opposition’s players and instructions. What transpires after 90-plus minutes on the field will ultimately determine how long you will be roaming your club’s technical area.

FIFA 15’s Manager Mode still offers a top notch career mode despite no major upgrades from the previous version. With multiple leagues and clubs for you to choose from, FIFA 15 offers the ability to make your mark on the club and national scenes.

Head over to the official "FIFA 15 Manager Mode" thread for a great discussion on all things Manager Mode related.