I'm running 28 leagues (England playable, the rest are View-only) on a Mac laptop w/ 2gb RAM and it runs FAST. to the point where I have a hard time reading the 'Tips' in time.

Big improvement over 06.

This may be a dumb question, but I'm managing part-timers Queen's Park in Scotland, and although I scheduled 3 friendlies before the season started, a good number of my first team were not match fit (or even severely lacking in fitness) for the first 3-4 games of the season. My assistant handles all the training, so is the issue that I need to schedule more friendlies?

Also, I've set my assistant to schedule more friendlies, but up to 1 month before regular season games, he still hadn't done so. Am I supposed to prompt him or something?

*growl* i'm quite impatient and irritated that amazon and sega usa blow goats and my copy isn't here yet. my only solace is that the patch isn't out yet so I'm not missing out on anything in my "serious" career.

but still...next year I'm definately going back to ordering from overseas.

I've been noticing that no MLS games are ever on TV, so of course I don't recieve any TV money. I have no idea if this is how it is in real life though.

I wanted to support the US release this year but after the problems with the DD version and patching last year and the continued delays this year I think I will either go with GoGamer or CD-Wow... Any suggestions about which to go with??? CD-WOW looks like the cheaper option right now... Any negatives if I go with them vs GoGamer?

Oh damn, I just got news that Man Utd has announced a link with Chicago. And.....a beautiful annual fee of $1.4 million plus an annual friendly. :D

I like the main benefit too, "financial benefits for both teams".

Nevermind the cost seems to be about the same for both sites... just under $50...???

Amazon for 29.99 is tempting... But the wait is killing me!!!

Are you chicago, because if not thats going to suck for you

Yeah, I'm Chicago.

Anyone have any ideas about my match fitness problem?

no clue why he's not set up any friendlies as I alsways schedule my friendlies myself. As for the fitness, yeah, I'd say you need more than three friendlies to be in match shape. I usually start seeing players being match fit around match 4 or 5 and that's after playing friendlies every 5 days or so. Also make sure you give some playing time to most of your players about equally. I usually switch all 11 players at halftime for the first 2 or 3 friendlies, no matter what the score, except if there's an injury.

FM

'tis true though - a lot of English teams try very hard to break the American market, shirt sales etc. bring in a lot of revenue from abroad if you can get the interest up ...

Marc,

Any idea about the digital download? Do we expect it before the amazon release or after?

I'm afraid I can't say at this stage (simply because I don't know 100% for certain myself), sorry.

*growl*

Did anyone else receive an Amazon e-mail asking for their approval in yet another WWSM shipping delay? Amazon's page seems to indicate that they haven't even received any copies yet so it's not as through they're in short supply...they don't even have them yet!

Yeah, I got one. It looks like they'll cancel your order if you don't approve the delay. I guess it's a way to verify that you haven't gone somewhere else already since they can't seem to get a copy.

I haven't had the e-mail from Amazon yet, but I may be behind y'all in the queue because I didn't order until last week. If it is delayed again, I think I will just forget about it and go with gogamer, the 20 bucks extra is a small price to pay to get the game in my hand this week IMO.

not delayed long, the new date is 11/7 Shipping.

I just hope the Exchange crash is patched at that point so I can seriously play MLS

Ah, interestingly I already had that date when I placed the new order. So I guess they have known it was being "delayed" since the start of last week.

Something that has happened twice in my career in the MLS. I keep getting sacked with no notification. The first time I thought something messed up so I reloaded and then it happened again. All of a sudden I was just brought back to my "snapshot" with my Australia job as the only one listed. I looked at the news and there was nothing.

Clint Dempsey is turning into one hell of an EPL signing. Ten goals for me in mid-November thus far.

Now if only we could get Hartson firing at the same time.

And just as I say that, he gets a first-minute goal against Salzburg in the EURO Cup to boost his total to 11.

Salzburg then went and got themselves two red cards in the first half. We'll see if Dempsey can pad those stats now.

I decided to reload one more time to see if I could get anything and this time I at least got an ultimatum, then I got sacked again without any notification.

PS> With regards to amazon I'm chasing to find out whats going on - but bear in mind that shops are a law unto themselves and unless its something our end its possible I won't be able to find out whats going on (as they don't have to tell me).

anybody know many sports sims where you feel the need to get acquainted with about everyone on your squad before you really feel like starting to make roster moves?

That's where I am at the moment with my newly started career. Took over Stevenage Borough in Conference National and as I went through the squad screen, kept seeing nice tidbits here and there. Like that 30 something striker who's mentionning he would like to become a scout after his career is over, or that other one who'd want to become an assistant manager. Nice touch SI :)

For those curious, I settled on the following football universe:
England (top to bottom)
Italy (top 2)
France (top 2)
Scotland (all 4 levels)
Holland (top 2)
Brazil (top 2)
MLS

These are the playable league and my database size is set to normal. I added England, Canada and Scotland as retained nations. Quick check returned 1871 unemployed staff available, specifically 794 unemployed coaches, 450 unemployed scouts and 141 unemployed physios. I felt that was good enough. :)

I also added 11 more European leagues as view-only, to give some flavor just in case I ever make it to European competition someday:
Spain
Germany
Portugal
Greece
Russia
Romania
Belgium
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Turkey
Switzerland

Savegame at startup is about 85mb but is saving and loading in under 10. While I have not advanced one day since starting it this time around, in test runs, it ran swiftly enough. I went on holiday for ten days and timed the processing time and it took it 3.5 minutes. These 10 days included two games for my team.

PC Specs are Athlon X2 dual core 4200+ with 2GB RAM and a 7200rpm HD.

FM

Remember, I'm the one who tipped you to Dempsey ;)

Okay, just started assessing my Stevenage squad and got some general questions regarding coaches. The current coaching staff consist (or consisted since I have sackedone of them) of one goalkeeper coach, one general coach and one youth coach.

My board is telling me I should limit myself to three coaches. Preliminary question: is that a strict limit, or is it like with the wage budget, where I could go over, but run the risk they could get pissed?

For real questions:
(1) Do I really need to carry a goalkeeper coach or would a general coach with a good "coach goalkeepers rating" do the trick instead? I sacked the current goalkeeper coach, as he had a bleh "5" for to train goalkeepers and I could only use him on goalkeeping. What's the use of such a bad coach restricted to only one type of training???

(2) Same with youth coach, do I need one or could I not simply appoint my regular coaches with god "coaching youth" skills to the youth coaching schedules?

Finally, my questions basically revolves around the type of coaches, ar they necessary, especially at the lower level? If I'm restricted to only 3 coaches, I'd probably want better all around guys more than one goalkeeper coach, one youth, one fitness...

FM

Talk about going above and beyond...
very cool of you.

I tell ya, you should have stayed with cd-wow. You'd be playing right now.

muahahahahaha, this time you can't blame me for anything!!!!! :D

FM

I'm sure if I thought about it long enough I could blame you, but I'm too distracted by all the emails from amazon saying my game is being delayed....

okay, just went through my first game and while the game is livelier, something is still bugging the hell out of me: sound still goes silent after making some quick tactics adjustments!!!

Are we up to saying it's not a bug but a feature? I mean, come on, the frigging sound goes off and only comes back if I hit pause then play. That is just annoying me to no end.

Other than that, the game is deeper than ever. I love the scouting reports you get when simply scouting a player. I've not sent out my scout though, so I can't vie for the number of players I will see. I did offer mutual termination to my original scout. He had something like 3 and 4 in judging player ability and potential and 1 in determination. That didn't fit my idea of a good scout :)

FM

Ugh. It's "nice" to see that this still happens. :(

I like to pretend that my tactical adjustments are so amazing that it leaves the entire crowd speechless.

Why this isn't fixed, I have no idea.

The game has been excellent thus far. However, one thing is bothering me:

After scoring, I see the "...wheels off to the crowd..." line WAY too much. How can this be fixed?

He just had two more against Bolton. He's up to 14 league goals in 20 league matches, 2nd only to Wayne Rooney in EPL goals scored.

20 goals in 27 overall games for Dempsey.

Yeah, dude's a beast.

Trying out the demo and have a question. What exactly is an 'Appearance Fee' (under bonuses/clauses)?

just what it says it is, a fee you pay him to appear in a game, on top of his weekly wage. Good to offer to players you fear might never crack your starting eleven and may rot in your reserves squad, thus never playing a game, or not many of them...

FM

Had something really cool happen last night. I'm still in the very early stages of my game, mostly getting acquainted with my players and staff, trying to get a few new players in to help Stevenage Borough maybe promote out of the National Conference in my first season there.

On my very first day on the job, I had asked my board to find a parent club to link with. Some of you may know my strong ties with Luton Town, with whom I've had a couple of very good careers in FM2005 and WSM2006. Well, woudln't you guess, the board comes back with three possible links. The first was Charlton, okay, not bad. The third one was Milton Keynes, hrm no thanks, I'd rather go with Charlton. The very cool thing was that the middle team there was good old Luton Town Hatters. :)

No need to tell ya, I said yes in a heartbeat :) They will pay us a little yearly fee and will play a friendly with us, of which we will keep the whole fee. Also, they have already arranged to send a right winger my way, simply waiting to hear if he'll accept. If he does, he will become our starting right winger, as he is much better than the scrap we have on board. Exciting times :)

FM

My order with Amazon is now 'shipping soon'. The product page now lists it as ships in 2-3 days.

just saw these posted on the SI forum:
http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...1/m/9462009272




FM

dola, I have not read through the whole list of things that are being fixed, but at quick glance, I'm not seeing anything regarding the sound going off after a quick tactics change.

ANYBODY FROM SI: do you even acknowledge this as a bug? I've seen a bug report regarding this in your forum and somebody from your team sayign it was being looked at but still, it's not listed as something that will be fixed. It's a nothing kind of little bug, but it is annoying the hell out of me...

FM

Hmm. So the patch is a work in progress, but it's in its final testing stage. Don't tell me that this game has suddenly become Maximum Football Manager 2007.

hopefully this will take care of the major issue we've seen reported here...

FM

- Fixed a crash which would occur sometimes when negotiating MLS transfers.
- USY player status icon in Major League Soccer teams now takes you to a players transfer panel instead of not doing anything.
- MLS wage cap adjusted from $350k to $310k.
- MLS roster cut down tuning. Teams try to keep their better players.

Good stuff.

Good list, let's hope is released soon, i have stopped to play the game until the patch is out as after testing enought i want to start my first serious career.

It has shipped, w00t!

I got another delay e-mail and now it will be here next Tuesday at the earliest.

Mine says: Delivery estimate: November 16, 2006 - November 18, 2006

* 1 of: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2007

Grrr...

Mine shipped yesterday from Amazon.com.

it's amazing how much more depth this game has now. Little things everywhere, like when I went to offer a new contract to one of my player and it told me that another one of my players might want to get a similar contract. Really neat little touch.

FM

Marc? Any update on the Digital Download?

My Amazon copy will "ship soon." :(

:p Ok - can I please ask just one thing?

When referring to English football clubs, the nickname is a substitute for the team name, not an extension of. So there is no such thing as 'Sheffield Wednesday Owls', 'Huddersfield Town Terriers', 'West Bromwich Albion Baggies' or 'Luton Town Hatters' as a (partially) random selection ;)

It's an either or - 'Sheffield Wednesday' or 'The Owls', 'Huddersfield Town' or 'The Terriers', etc... You get the idea.

In order to fully integrate everybody into FM, I felt that this was important. Thank you. :)

an excellent choice for your example

maybe you should start an FOFC UK while you're at it :p

Got the hint but many things work against me here. I have taken to say "pitch" and not "field", "manager" and not "coach", being "sent off" and not "ejected" and even got "sacked" and not "fired" a few times. You can't ask a man to learn all at once.

Oh, and I was one of the first to ask if a UK English file was available to patch my WSM2006, so it's not like I'm not trying.

FM

FM

Never figured out what your question was here? Are you just trying to make a statement so you can teach us yanks something???

Quite right, I started off differently to how I finished. Apologies - there is no question. I should have worded it 'Can we please refer to...'

It was genuinely intended as a helpful piece of advice - many of the guys here seem to be huge footy fans, and their knowledge of the players and the game is massive. But this one way of describing a team would never be used - so it was meant as a way of adding to the integration into the sport. Like I hope people would pick up a Brit using a slightly off bastardisation of the colloquial way of describing the team - I might know it's the Miami Porpoises and Buffalo Williams, but other may not...

I kinda like the name 'the Buffalo Williams'.:)

No need for apologies. If I were in your shoes it would bug me as well. It's funny here in America when we say we have a question for everyone we usually follow that up with the question - not an answer! (unless of course you happen to be my mother) :D

Hope no offence was taken - explanation above. I know how big a fan you are - when I was outside the UK for 18 months I know how hard it is keeping in touch with the game, and completely lost touch with the NFL, so full respect for your following of The Beautiful Game.

nah, none taken, wasn't really aware of the "rule". I'll try to remember the lesson. :)

I always play in England too (or at least always start my career there) and using the right English wording for stuff is one amazing way to completely get immersed in the game, to feel as if I'm really there managing the club. It also adds a bit to my knowledge and use of the English language everyday ;) (native tongue is French in case you didn't know)

FM

I would never have known this and must admit I'm pretty disappointed. I really liked the idea of managing the Barnet Bees. :(

Ah...what the hell. In my game universe, it's still the Barnet Bees. :)

To add to JRS's comments, I would like to point out that it's either "Oakland Raiders" or "Fucking Pieces of Shit." It's not "Oakland Raiders Fucking Pieces of Shit" like many of us call them.

What about QPR? That would be an exception wouldn't it?

Not sure that they are the Rangers of Queens Park. When you refer to them by a nickname, it would be "The Rs". I learned that at least ;)

FM

Kinda - QPR are 'The Hoops' (edit: or indeed the R's), the Rangers is part of their full name, rather than a nickname.

Rangers is in effect the equivalent of Wanderers, City or Town. Which gives me an idea to keep people semi-amused for 5 minutes....

Understood. I have another question about Newcastle. Do they use "The Toon" to refer to the team or the town or both? And if you know this bit of trivia, where does that name come from? We could probably start another thread about this but I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to deignorant myself. :)

interesting. Had never heard them referred to as The Hoops before as in the game, they always go with The Rs...

FM

From Wikipedia:

In Geordie, a North Eastern dialect of English English, "Toon" refers to Newcastle ("Toon" coming from "toon", the dialectal version of "town"); the supporters of local football team Newcastle United are nicknamed the "Toon Army".

Rodney Marsh (an equivalent of JB, Howie, Terry, etc) got the sack from Sky Sports for a joke about this... The thing was the joke was only offensive to David Beckham, but I think the timing of it was the problem.

The day after the SE Asian natural disaster 2 years ago, Marsh said that when Becks was told of the tsunami had killed thousands, he'd said he didn't even know Newcastle were playing away...

WTF?! :)

Dunno! :D

Mass delete, aisle 5!

Cheers - delted two and put 'triple post' in the reason. Came back and there was about 10 others... As Slapbone said WTF? I hit CTRL + ENT by accident which sometimes does cause a double, but a decapost... weird. Sorry mods.

I've pointed it out to SD, second time this has happened this week... Not sure how to begin diagnosing it though..

Did anything weird happen when you posted? Did you have a delay and hit submit multiple times or anything?

Well, the weird thing, as with the post earlier this week, is that it progressively added words as you posted..

CTRL-ENT... I've never done that before...

All I was thinking was "Boy, those Brits sure have a weird sense of humor".

Yay Peterhead! Go Blue Toon!

Can I ask some questions? (And I actually mean that)

Will I be able to buy WWSM in stores?

I'm getting a new laptop soon. What kind should I get, if all I really want to do with it is play FOF, WWSM, and Civ4?

Intersting stuff about UK teams nicknames... in Spain not any team has a nickname, only the city name adding the word "Real", "Athletic", "Atletico" or "FC=Futbol club".

Can't help for the store question or what to look for in a laptop for FOF or Civ4 but I got some thoughts for playing FM/WSM. A dual core processor, or at least an intel with hyperthread, is highly recommended as well as plenty of RAM. Don't know about the cost of RAM for a laptop, but I'd say go for 2gb and you won't be disappointed.

My new computer is an AMD X2 4200+ running at 2Ghz with 2gb of RAM and it really is running very, very well with a pretty nice setup of a game in FM (see previous post of mine about what league I'm running).

FM

FM

Glad to see I'm not the only one with an irrational pet peeve.

Thank you for the enlightenment, sir. :D

hey, stupid question here. I just took a look at my U18 squad and all the players aged 18 that I just sent down are marked as ineligible for the next match, what gives? I think I remember that an 18yo player used to be able to player with the U18 team, no?

FM

I thought I remembered seeing players on my U18 who turned 18 getting automatically moved to the reserve squad.

From what I remember, if a player was 18 to start the season, he was eligible to play with the U18. That meant I even had some 19yo playing in there later on in the season, although this might have been only on FM2005 and not on '2006. I'm fairly sure an 18yo was allowed to play with the U18 though...

FM

it's apparently been reported as a bug and a mod over at SI posted it's been logged although I don't see any mention of it in the list of fixes...

Also, I offered a player and received two emails from Exeter. One saying they would not be putting in a bid, the other saying they were bidding. They ended up signing the player. Kind of odd. I have screenies if needed...

FM

here's another little thing that bugs me. When I go to the team report screen, the one from my assistant manager, he shows his report with the basic 4-4-2 tactics still in there, even though I've altered the tactics tô play a 4-1-2-1-2 wide diamond formation. Not too sure if that alters his reporting or not, but it didn't do that in FM2006.

FM

dola, and while we were playing friendlies, there were many reports in the team talk screen, now that we've started the season, after our first game, nothing in there. Nothing regarding how the players reacted to my pre-game talk, nothing about half-time talk, nor full game talk...

During preseason, there would be some stuff like "was not listeining" or "demotivated, got boost, motivated". Now, when you'd think it would count the most, the regular season, nothing...

FM

They don't always listen. You have to pick your battles.

I know that, what I'm saying is that during the preseason, my assistant was giving me this nice report of how EVERYBODY was reacting to my talks, even if his simple report was that they were not listening. Now, nothing is showing up on that report page, nothing at all, it's completely blank, even though I've played one league match, with pre-game, halftime, and full time talks...

FM

That's about what I looked for. I got a dell with a high processor speed (2GHz), lots of RAM (2GB), and a decent video card (256 MB ATI Radeon X1400). I'm excited to run FM fast, as opposed to the slooow pace on my 980 mHz with 128 or 256 MB of RAM.

Upshot - Clint Dempsey scores the winning goal in the EURO Cup final against Manchester United, giving him 14 for the competition and 38 for the year.

Downshot - the damn US team ran him ragged in World Cup qualifications and he's now out two months with hip injuries.

Upshot - the ridiculous bank we made means that our transfer and wage budgets are through the roof this season, so I was able to buy some extra attacking players, and hopefully rotate everybody better this year.

Downshot - we have some woefully insecure guys whining about the new additions.

Joy.

C'mon, Dempsey, heal from that hip injury. Those ratings keep dropping. :(

And apparently Arsene Wenger has retired from Arsenal, and they now want to poach me away from WBA.

I may split my save here and play around with Arsenal while I continue my WBA career.

Oh. He didn't retire, he left for FC Bayern.

okay, found what causes these things to happen. Turns out that if your assistant manager is also a player, when you move him to the reserves squad, he starts reporting about the reserves. I had just moved him to reserves right after our last friendly. My reserves are set in a bland 4-4-2 formation and they've not played a game yet, thus no team talk feedback. Moved him back to the senior squad (he's a 43yo backup, backup, backup goalkeeper) and boom all the reports are back.

FM

Ratings do go down while he's out of action, but likely will go up once he returns

I know that. I was praying for him to heal before the ratings went down any further. The farther he falls, the higher he has to climb to get back to his 37-goal form.