2024???? Jesus, I play slow. 4 full days of game time and I just finished 2009.

Delayed response ;)

http://www.footballmanagerportal.co....adfm2007skins/

I just edited the Israeli league to try to create a proper American league (without wage restrictions and promotion/relegation.) I hope a future version of the game will have a "fantasy" league setup where you can create a league in the country of your choice, even if it's with fictional players. Because seriously, that's the only thing really preventing my long-term immersion in the game.

Some of us just don't really care about "real" teams all that much. And I know the data editor allows you to edit some stuff, but...to do what I've done is generally a royal pain.

I quick simmed it for 18 hours and got 2018. Simmed it for another 5 and was able to get to 2022. Started playing then :)

How far have you all gotten in FM/WWSM? Farthest I got was 2013 (or so) in WWSM2006 (started with the 2005 season in Russia). Unfortunately the game has slowed to a crawl so is now unplayable. :(

I turned 2nd Division Sokol Saratov into a regular European competitor. It's a shame, though, because I was looking forward to trying to crack CSKA's amazing stronghold on the Russian League -- to the tune of winning the title every year in my universe.

I'm at the end of 2018 with fictional rosters and have been playing from the start. Started out unemployed and I think it took about a year before Queen's Park in Scotland took me on. Got them (they're part-timers) to the Scottish League One (one below the SPL), but got bored because, unlike other clubs, they'll always be part-timers. So, when the Oxford United job came up, I took them, and then took them from Conference National to the Championship. I'm now in my first season in charge of Leeds United, who just missed relegation from the EPL the previous year.

Good times. :D

Someone in this thread posted a ling to a "save game cleaner" that gets rid of a bunch of data that you don't need - like detailed match histories, etc - that can potentially decrease your save game file by more than 75%. I'll bet that helps...

Thanks for the tip, but alas, unfortuantely, I've already tried this. Does lower the save/load time a bit but not much, and the in-game continue speeds are just unbearably slow.

here's one that worked w/ '06 and may work w/ '07:

http://cmfrenzy.com/component/option...owdown/id,529/

It is absolutely insane how good this game is.

Thanks for the kind words ..... but rest assured FM2008 will be even better :D

details man...details. I don't want to see another post from you unless it has FM2008 details!! :D

He's moved to the States now, so given the greater number of FOFCers in the U.S. than the U.K., it's probably feasible for us to find him, strap him down, and make him tell us all the secrets.

bawhahaha...yesssssssssss...anyone for a trip to FL?

Why did he move to Florida?

one word: wife

Did he find one? Or follow one?

follow

Becca is from Florida originally - she'd followed me to England and lived there for over a decade so it was really my turn to live abroad (that and her sister had twins last year and she wanted to help out with them).

what'd i tell you about posting without some teasing details about '08? I think we need a mod in here...this oughta be a boxable offense :D

on an unrelated note though Marc...how are you finding this side of the pond? settling in?

Whoah, when did I miss this? One of our best imports since Abel Xavier (ok, maybe a bit better :D).

Where once I was blind, now I can see.

After three years and three versions of this game later, I finally took the two weeks of reading the official forums and other sites and learned about soccer and this game. I am having a blast and this game is great. I now can totally understand how everyone likes this game. Also I am currently playing this game and posting in the drunk guys thread randomly, that is all.


Cambridge City rules bitches.

BAH! Cambridge City bows down to the real power in Cambridgeshire, the mighty CAMBRIDGE UNITED!

Bah.

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION FC!

Spain beats Ireland

You know, the team one supports sez a lot about you, Neon Chaos :)

So Foz, if your beloved FM team ever meets in the FA Cup final vs your EPL team, who do you root for?

I don't really have a EPL Team (except Fulham), but if Fulham played Cambridge United in the final?

I'd fly over to England just to support the mighty Cambridge United, although considering they're a fifth division team, it would be the greatest run in the history of ever!

But I would somehow get myself into one of the Cambridge shirts, and I'd be at Wembley (Seriously, I have like three shirts of theirs)

Because of FM, I myself have bought a Crystal Palace Shirt. Palace til I Die bitches!

Another tweak to the FM codebase then ...


;)

Here's a suggestion for future versions:

When looking at the roster, right now I have the choice to view certain groups of attributes - "attacking", "technical", etc.

It would be VERY cool if I could create my own groups of attributes to view. For example, I might create a group just containing "off the ball", "jumping", "heading", "finishing", "composure".

I'm fairly sure that was in a previous version and removed for the FM6 series.

Man...I was playing '06 so much when '07 came out that I didn't bother getting it. Now I'm chomping at the bit waiting for '08..

isn't it great to see your players gel together and start playing good football?

I started a new career with Luton Town maybe a couple weeks ago. I brought in a few players and we had a strong start to the season but then hit a snag. We just could not create anything offensively. We even had a game where we got completely shut out of any shots with something like a 50-50 split in possession. That was ugly. I switched the team from the basic 4-4-2 to a formation I'Ve always loved, the wide diamond 4-1-2-1-2. Took a couple games for us to find our ways, and me bringing back to first team football a usual starter that had been buried in the reserves and boom, it happened. From game to game I started seeing my players exchanging the bal in great combinations, nice passes and even anticipation of where the would be with superb through balls from the fullbacks. We went from 18th to 6th place in a 6 game span that has seen us draw twice and win four in a row now. Life's great :)

FM

You assholes. It's Victoria Day holiday in Canada and I was going to get out and actually do some stuff outside but you had to make me read this thred and play some more FM.

Rushden and Diamonds FTW!

I got Bristol promoted last season and brought in some blood and after a fiery start to the season that had us at the top half of the table we've since fallen apart and are struggling to keep our noses above the relegation line. Its a difficult fight especially when I find myself tinkering with the tactics on a daily basis in an effort to figure out what little intricacy Ive gotten wrong....this time.

Constant fiddling with the tactics during a losing streak will kill you in my experience. As hard as it is at times I end up running my most basic tactic with mostly my same lineup (except putting in as many veterans as possible) until they break out of it.

I still haven't gotten a job since Exeter gave me the sack. :(

A couple of media/team talk questions:

1. Before almost every game I'm asked a question by the media. Why can't I see the response of the other manager. I'm sure he's asked the same question

2. During the pre game team talk you have three options. One is I expect a performance from you. Has anyone used that one and it what circumstances does it work best?

I don't use the "I expect a performance from you" too much. I'll use it when we're playing at home, it's a team we really should beat, and Morale is good or better across the board.

Do you use it for your attacking midfielder or strikers or your best player?

I used to answer the pregame media questions, but I really haven't found much of a situation where they are useful, with the one exception of when my team has a game they are likely to lose, then I get some decent results (ie fired up about the game) with the low expectations option. Other than that though I rarely comment. I seem to have better luck with the mind games comments.

As for the pregame team talk the only time I've seen the 'expect a performance' work is when I've got a player I know likes the big games. Usually it tightens the player up -- same with 'expect a win' for the team. I prefer not singling out individuals in pregame anyway though and usually stick with 'you can win this' or 'wish team luck'.

I think it has to do with the personality of the team. My squad is very professional, so they respond best when I give the "all I want is my team to play to my tactics" response, no matter who we're playing. I've had to throw in some "We need to rise to the challenge" responses in order to keep my mainstay response fresh.

I've found this type fo team personality very counter-intuitive to my usual "rah-rah" style of managing. They also like it when I disagree with questionable refereeing decisions made in our favor. When the media is raving over a player's performance, I get favorable results when I respond that I want more out of them.

Actually, I very rarely use it individually. Instead, I'll "expect a performance" from the whole team. Bear in mind, though, that I'm usually managing small teams playing "above their place", so most of my games I'm the underdog, which is why I don't use "expect a performance" all that much. If I was managing Man Utd, for instance, I'd use it a lot more.

The pre-game individual talks I use the most are "have faith in your ability" or "no pressure" for folks with low morale. Guys with high morale I generally don't touch, pre-game, except as part of the overall team talk.

You'll get some responses from opposition managers noted and a chance to reply from them occassionally - please bear in mind this is an area of the game which is slowly evolving over time, there is already a HUGE amount of text in the game and it takes time to get this sort of thing feeling right.

In FM07 there are normally a fair few options (most commonly 5) - "I expect a performance from you" is a way of telling a player that he should do well during a game, use it if you want to put pressure on a player to perform who you think might slack off or be cocky (for instance a big-name striker who has been getting cocky and you're about to play a small side in a cup match) ... that sort of thing.

Also one thing to bear in mind is that just because a player might sulk a little when you are 'hard' on him - it DOESNT mean its had a negative effect in all instances, check the test on his profile and watch his performances .... some personalities players play best when given a harsh talking to and will go out of their way to prove themselves afterwards, even if they'll never admit to you that you were right.

(remember you're their manager not their friend? - it doesn't matter if they are upset so long as they perform? ... or does it ;) )

Marc, I have so many concerns regarding tactics creation and tweaking. :)

From browsing the community forums, I have always found that wwfan's TT&F thread to be the most useful when it comes to creating them for a team. I'm not really good at creating tactics, and the sheer depth of the tactic engine in the game is mind-boggling (for a simple guy like myself). Whenever I try and make my own tactics, I keep on failing miserably (even when I try to play with EPL teams, such as ManU and Chelsea). When I use wwfan's tactics, I do well, but I always feel that I'm cheating the game a bit because I'm using someone else's tactic set. Are seperate home-away tactics necessary? How large of an impact is it to the game when using individual mentalities to every player as compared to just using a team mentality? What are the factors that truly contribute to a player being able to be given a ton of individual instructions without it messing up his brain and leaving him confused on the pitch?

I wouldn't worry about that too much to be honest - just think of it as you taking advice from one of your coaches - enjoying the game is the most important thing imho, using other peoples tactics etc. is fine imho, indeed its one of the easiest ways to learn about such things.

(I take a similar approach with coding when I work on a new platform to be frank, I grab all the example code I can find and suss out how and why that does what it does ...)

Not at all really, a lot depends on your style of play and whether you want to be the type of manager who adapts things for each match and situation or whether you're someone who wants to control a match and force teams to play the way you want them to.

My style is generally to 'enforce' a style upon a team (generally hardworking, pressing to keep them harassed and prevent them from 'playing' - a little like Chelsea did in the cup final, although I hate to admit to it ;) ).

Again it depends on the style of play you take - some people like elaborate tactics with individual roles everywhere others prefer a 'solid and simple' approach to things.

Generally in the lower divisions simpler tactics are best (as the players will simply not be able to hand elaborate plans generally) but in the upper reaches its worth putting at least a few simplistic touches to a tactic to get the best performances (for me this is simply a few minor things like asking my tactical general to hold up the ball and spray passes around the place and my lesser striker to drift wide so draw defenders out of the way for any midfielders drifting forward - that sort of thing).


Generally its down to the talent of the player in individual areas as to how well he handles specific instructions, for instance a player with low positioning who plays in defense and is given attacking instructions will be generally awful and caught out of position all the time whereas a player in that role who is good positionally will know better when to move into 'attack mode' and so handle the same instructions more productively.

How can I terminate a loan?

from the player screen, it's one of the options in the lower left corner