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

Sorry, I don't see it. I have:

Make an Offer
Move to
Request Report
Training Schedule
Player Interaction
Discipline Player
Compare With
Misc

If you enabled a recall, then it will be available. I know some loans you are unable to recall the player (it's an option when you negotiate the loan I think), so it may not be available to you.

No, this is a player I have loaned IN. I want to send him back to his team.

A new tactic thread by wwfan (bottom of the first post)


How To Play FM07: Tactical Design and Management Strategy

I must say Marc, that you really should put wwfan on the payroll. He really helps at least me as a new player to really get enjoyment out of this game.

I second the motion.

Are u paying his salary? If so, that's probably why you cannot terminate.

No, I'm not paying his salary.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

I agree with comments about expecting a win or expecting a performance. It feels too risky for me since I'm not 100% sure of everyone's personality. For example, how to tell if I have a cocky player. Most of team is determined, so I tend to keep my comments along with the odds. When a underdog, the pose us problems gets a good response.

I love the media interaction. Now that I'm in the Premier League (started in League 2 with Boston Utd) I get a lot more comments from other managers about my chances for relegation. I'm just about to finish my second season in the Premier League and have a safe mid-table position (12th or 13th).

I think I just experienced the craziest in-game sequence of my playing any FM version.

The backdrop: 3rd round of the FA Cup, Luton's first game, vs League Two Mansfield.

Take a look at what happened in one quick sequence, from the match report, M: means something related to Mansfield, L: means it relates to Luton
L: A freekick was awarded
M: John-Baptiste tripped Robinson
M: O'Neil kicked Steve Robinson !!
M: O'Neil was sent off !!!
M: Laurie Ellis was furious with the referee !
M: Buxton was furious with the referee !
M: Coke was furious with the referee !
L: Parkin was pushed over by Buxton !!
M: Jake Buxton was shown a yellow card
L: Barnett passed to Spring
L: Spring managed to turn on the ball
L: Spring moved the ball forward for Calvin Andrew
L: Andrew brought the ball forward
L: Andrew was tripped by John-Baptiste
L: Clive Penton gave Luton a free kick
M: The referee showed John-Baptiste a yellow card
L: Spring flighted in the free kick
L: SPRING SCORED FOR LUTON!!

To help you get a feel, Robinson, Parkin, Barnett, Spring, and Andrew all play for Luton. The others are the bad guys. ;)

When the whole "kicking the guy who's down" thing happened, I had so many flashbacks of the time I was a soccer referee, especially toward the end of my career, when I used to be more often a referee assistant than the center man. The number of times I've seen a center official just on the verge of completely losing control, man. And then the whole thing ending with a goal from 25 yards out, that was just great... :)

FM

This is what I love about FM. I've felt the same way at times until I remind myself, it's just a damn game!!!!

one thing I really like with FM2007 is how you can ask one of your scout to give you match reports for your players that are away on loan. Sometimes they will add tidbits of information as to why the player had a good or bad game. Nice touch.

FM

Is there any trick in this year's version to be able to attract players? I was in my 2nd season with Fisher, winning the gawd-awful conference south the first season. Every time I filter for interested players, the only ones I get are worse than the crap I'm getting rid of.

I originally thought this would fix itself after we consolidated a position since we were somehow tipped for relegation pre-season, but the new year has rolled over and I'm sitting on a 90k transfer budget and no one to spend it on. A defensive midfielder from freaking Forest Green, 16th in conference south, turned me down. I'm watching player after player from my shortlist join other teams in the division, whether on loan or on transfer and it's exeptionally frustrating.

Any help is greatly appreciated as I'm ready to start a new game at this point.

It's a whole different ballgame in the transfer market as an LLM. I've never had much success buying players at Conference or Conference N/S level. I'm guessing you're probably still a semi-pro team, with a poor training ground, and a non-descript manager (you!) which puts you at a distinct disadvantage.

What I've done is to keep a sharp eye out for non-league teams making cup runs and trying to see how good their best players are. There are a few decent players you could buy that way. Otherwise, it's free transfers for you.

On free transfers -- I've always just tried to find some decent players who are without a team (don't bother to use the interested players filter). You can filter by expired contracts and one other filter not immediately coming to mind. Bring in these guys for trials, or if you like what little you can see and they're cheap, go ahead and sign them. Especially be on the lookout for guys released from the youth system of the big clubs (check their playing history). I've found a few really good players (for the LLM level) that way.

Just want to agree with Dacman with getting big clubs leftovers

The only transfer fees I've paid out were for staff. :) Picked up a few releasees from the big teams who are my top players, but they're young. All 18-21. I need a few older guys to come in and not suck, especially when we start losing.

Tried to get professional, but that didn't happen. I don't know if it can switch mid-season, but I'm down to one part time contract aside from staff who refuse to move.

I feel like Wigan right now, but with zero risk of getting relegated.

Try to sign 35ish y/o guys who get released -- not a great long term solution but they can still be good enough for Conf. for a year or two.

The board decides when the club turns pro -- not you -- and it only happens once a season for any team -- late June. The only thing you can do to move it along is promote to League 2 (automatic pro) or build up the club's kitty so the board feel comfortable turning pro. If you're just signing your staff/players to full-time contracts, you're actually shooting yourself in the foot vis-a-vis the second method to becoming pro as you're likely spending a lot more on wages than if everyone were still on part-time deals. Signing a few of your best young players to full-time deals can be beneficial due to the extra training time, but I wouldn't go any further than that as a semi-pro team.

Still waaaaay under budget, but that's really good to know.

Many, many thanks for the help.

You're a semi-pro team most likely - this will limit the players who will be interested in joining you severely (few pro players 'want' to drop down to that level as without full-time training they're less likely to make it back up to a full-time club again).

Best bet is to target free-transfers and players with low value who are transfer listed at clubs in the division just above yours - they might decide to join you because they know they're on their way out already.

To help 'persuade' people consider giving them easy 'release' clauses to show you won't stand in their way if a professional club makes a serious approach for them.

I know that you can boost a team by putting a line in an *.edt file that gives the team a financial boost, a prestige boost, and/or a stadium boost.

My question is, how can you handicap a team? I'd really like to make a team really bad and watch them suffer. What's the best way to do this - short of taking over the team myself ;) ?

You could use the editor to lower their reputation, release all their players, and give them a huge debt.

FM rules. I picked my game back up last night after giving it a little hiatus for a week or two...and BAM...right back into the thick of it with all the drama and goodness.

oh and umm...thanks to shrewd moves (buying low+selling high) I have a 251 million dollar transfer kitty, and no glaring weaknesses.

yeah yeah...juventus...the chelski of 2015-20??

I've just picked it back up again after about a six month break, and am beginning to get back into it. Takes forever though.

The money side is one of the major problems with FM, and has been for years: it is impossible not to make millions!

Yeah, I hate it when every mid-table side has 30 million pounds in transfer budgets. Also, I wish, especially for smaller clubs, it was clear that they have to sell to stay alive and profitable- I don't think I've ever had to sell one of my players if I didn't want to.

well I had a steady climb up the wealth charts...stagnated at like #5 for a few years. But I've consistently asked for like 40+ million extra in wage budget that I didn't need. That's one of the ways I've always played...asked for way too much wage budget...that way your balance sheet stays looking good and your club rewards you with infusions of cash. works quite well if you can afford to do it and still compete.

i'm actually not even the richest club in the world...i'm in 2nd place...140 million behind Barca and 85 million ahead of Roma and Real Madrid.

Barca is worth like...874 million! After Madrid at like 652 there's another 100 million dropoff down to the next 3 clubs.

you mean chairmen forcing you to? I've had that happen a bunch of times.

And hell, I still go through my squad and cull it. I have a $34 million dollar DM transfer listed right now just because he's surplus. And I just offloaded a striker I bought for 21 million for 57 million. Couple years ago I bought a striker for 6 and offloaded him for 20. Wheelin and dealin is the path to the promised land brotha.

Right - what I mean is that while wheeling and dealing is fun, at no point in FM are you generally forced to let your players go from a mid-major to a star - and teams make a profit without selling. My impression is that outside the premiership, that simply doesn't exist - your average Spanish/French team needs to sell stars to balance the books.

FYI...I tend to make $$ in the transfer market.

Total Value of Players Sold by Year (in millions):

2019: 107
2018: 50
2017: 0
2016: 31.5
2015: 21
2014: 9.5
2013: 26
2012: 0
2011: 12.25
2010: 4.3
2009: 39
2008: 30.5
2007: 38

So I don't know that the system is that flawed. I'm very active in the transfer market, that's for sure. Wheeling and dealing, buying and selling to make a profit. The key I think is (provided you have a strong enough squad) to sell a couple players that are more or less surplus, invest that $$ in buying up-and-comers. Keep one or two up-and-comers to improve your squad, sell the rest on once their values rise...rinse and repeat again and again.

Dunno, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir and everyone already knows that.

But I'm not sure I'd say the financial system is "broken" or anything. The "inflation %" might need a bit of tweaking, but other than that I mean...it seems pretty realistic to me. The rich get richer...the other clubs stay somewhere in the middle.

Also of note, all this $$ hasn't bought me the world or anything. I've won the league 5 times, the italian cup only twice, and only made one CL final (which I won).

Oh 2014...that was the Glory year.
Serie A, Italian Super Cup, Champions League, European Super Cup, Club World Championship

Is there a bug thread somewhere where I can post this?

Playing my career last night, my team was awarded a penalty when my striker was obstructed from the ball by a defender during a corner. Not that I'm not thankful, but according to the Laws of the Game, obstruction is not a penal offence, so I should have only been awarded an IFK from the spot of the foul, even though the foul occured in the penalty area.

I'm actually OK with that, especially as one who usually goes lower level and works my way up. I've got enough to worry about without money being 100% realistic.

I really hope they find some way to make this game more customizable than it is now. It takes like a year (ok, not really..but a good while) to create a custom league. I'm not talking "super duper champions league", but a simple fictional league with dummy teams/players.

I know that the game is about simming real life soccer and all, so it might not ever be feasible, but...I hope it becomes a priority someday. Because..well....it'd be nice
?

Can you summarize them here, plskthx.

Yes, I have read a couple of the threads in there, it sounds really fun. But it is also a pretty intimidating bunch of people in there as well, who do not like new people. :D

What are the chances of being able to transfer saved games from FM07 to 08. I have taken Altrincham from Conference to League 1 and won the WC with the USA in 2014. I don't think I can leave them until I get a 50,000 seat stadium and into European comps, unless my true favorite team Coventry City asks me to return them to greatness!!!

Also I was offered the Arsenal, job when I negiotiated the deal before rejecting it a week later, how come the media didn't mention it? If I would have applied they would have questioned my loyalty?

won't happen. no new version of CM/FM has EVER been backwards compatible.

I know it never has been done but maybe they can take some of the good things from OOTP ( saved games ,face gen) into FM?

i would LOVE to see face gen in FM for regens. OMG yes

facegen is terrific.

also some other ideas i think i posted in this thread, but maybe i just PMed them to MV, i'm not sure. i just remember at one point i had some damm good ideas

Here is another potentnial new idea.
Iwas having trouble getting players to come to me via loan while I was still semipro. I searched on SI's site and found this site for actual team locations.

http://www.footiemap.com/

I would love to have something like this in the game. Click on 2 teams to see the distance in between.

Thats a great link, it'll keep me amused for weeks. Thanks.

That's an understatement. Hell, I've seen them flame people mercilessly for POSTING in the tactics/strategy forums. Apparently, you cannot be in their little elite club if you post anywhere else on the boards.

Yep, made an appearance in their section yesterday to ask a question. It got a little warm in there, but I survived. The place really reminds me of the "Soup Nazi" Seinfeld episode where you walk in, order what you want, pay, and then get the hell out. :D

My login must keep getting removed due to inactivity. I can't get in anymore and haven't bothered to re-register.

Do many people play MLS leagues out? I rememeber a big gripe was that eventually the league got filled by all foreign players with a only a few players coming from the NCAA level. With feeder leagues is it been resolved? Any other issues still with feeder leagues?

I had no idea there was something like a "merchandise feeder club". Boggle.