Alright, boyz!! Here we go...FM 2007 First Impressions

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Quick feeder club question:

How often can you ask for one?

I don't think there's a hard and fast answer. I know i've basically maxed-out on mine...but it seemed to me that I could ask...twice a year maybe? I think it depends on the size/status of your club too. Since it does cost $$. I always just check "confidence" every couple months out of habit anyways. That's what I suggest.

[Critch]

Does anybody else have serious patches of wild injuries? I'm on the 5th game of my season and I'm already down to my 7th choice keeper, some scrub out of the youth squad. It's not the first time I've had this problem, players going down in groups, three first team players injured in 1 day of training. This time I had my three top keepers injured in training on the same day.

I'm using the default training, so it's not over training.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Critch

Does anybody else have serious patches of wild injuries? I'm on the 5th game of my season and I'm already down to my 7th choice keeper, some scrub out of the youth squad. It's not the first time I've had this problem, players going down in groups, three first team players injured in 1 day of training. This time I had my three top keepers injured in training on the same day.

I'm using the default training, so it's not over training.

wow thats odd. you have the latest patch 7.0.2?

[Critch]

No, I was still on 7.0.1. If I do the "Search for Updates" from within WSM it tells me there isn't one available, so I assumed 7.0.2 wasn't official yet. It's not in the FM2007 download section either.

Found it now, I'll give it a try but there's no mention of injury frequency in the patch readme.

Guess I'll have to start again, which is a pity cos my Man City had just beat Liverpool 5-0 despite having 2 players sent off

[BishopMVP]

(This is gonna be one of those question with an answer of no or "Are you serious? It's so simple.")

I'm new to the game and correspondingly terrible at in-game adjustments. Is there any way to just watch a match involving my team as a neutral observer and let my assistant handle all the tactical changes?

[path12]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

(This is gonna be one of those question with an answer of no or "Are you serious? It's so simple.")

I'm new to the game and correspondingly terrible at in-game adjustments. Is there any way to just watch a match involving my team as a neutral observer and let my assistant handle all the tactical changes?

Under Manager options you can check the box to let your assistant manager control the games. I've never used it so I don't know if that lets you watch it or not.....

[Critch]

I'm pretty sure you can only let your assistant manager control friendlies.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by path12

Under Manager options you can check the box to let your assistant manager control the games. I've never used it so I don't know if that lets you watch it or not.....

Yeah, like Critch said, it's just friendlies as an option there.

[Critch]

I agree that this would be a good addition, this version of FM has seriously moved away from the previous versions' strategy of picking a good formation and sticking with it. As far as I've seen you need to make minor tweaks to your formation pretty much every game to have a good level of success in FM2007. Nothing major, just adapting to the opposition or to the skills of the players you have available.

With Directors of Football and similar popping up more commonly all over the soccer world, playing as a GM-type roster manager while leaving everything that happens on the field to an assistant manager would be pretty realistic too.

[Flasch186]

4-1-4-1

making all the difference in the world for me right now.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

4-1-4-1

making all the difference in the world for me right now.

Got any more details? Team instructions and the like?

[Flasch186]

well at home its more attacking and very wide.

I also allow my furthest wide midfielders to drift forward.

I went to this because I just simply had too many good mids and not enough good ST to warrant putting them on the field with Macclesfield.

Anyways, It seems I have an extra guy to help defend the middle in my DM and When I attack I crash the boards and get some rebounds in.

This just seems to work beeter for us than the 4-4-2 I fought with.

BTW, its actually called the 4-5-1 attacking but looks to me more like a 4-1-4--1

[klayman]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

(This is gonna be one of those question with an answer of no or "Are you serious? It's so simple.")

I'm new to the game and correspondingly terrible at in-game adjustments. Is there any way to just watch a match involving my team as a neutral observer and let my assistant handle all the tactical changes?

You can go on holiday before the match, and come back after, and then review the highlights (or entire match if you want) after.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by klayman

You can go on holiday before the match, and come back after, and then review the highlights (or entire match if you want) after.

Yeah, that's what I do now and it works well most of the time, but it'd be nice to watch some of the more important matches live without feeling like I'm hurting my teams chances.

Originally Posted by Critch

I agree that this would be a good addition, this version of FM has seriously moved away from the previous versions' strategy of picking a good formation and sticking with it. As far as I've seen you need to make minor tweaks to your formation pretty much every game to have a good level of success in FM2007. Nothing major, just adapting to the opposition or to the skills of the players you have available.

With Directors of Football and similar popping up more commonly all over the soccer world, playing as a GM-type roster manager while leaving everything that happens on the field to an assistant manager would be pretty realistic too.

Word; I always like playing games more long-term and bringing up a team from the bottom to the top (like right now I'm trying to take Millwall from League One to European power), which would take a loooong time controlling tactics every match. Probably not the usual demographic, but it wouldn't seem too hard to put a button in where your assistant controls the game and you take in the 2D goodness. (Less than a week in and I'm telling Marc to add features to a game he's been designing for 10+ years, developers must love me )

[Marc Vaughan]

(Less than a week in and I'm telling Marc to add features to a game he's been designing for 10+ years, developers must love me )

Some of the best additions to the game have in the past come from people who play it, I'm always open to ideas ...

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

4-1-4-1

making all the difference in the world for me right now.

I use that one too, though not exclusively. It's great for grinding out 1-0 wins away from home, but if you're playing as a team that is challenging for the league championship it can let you down. You'll end up dropping points by throwing in 0-0 and 1-1 draws against teams you should beat.

I've been going more for a 4-4-2 recently with a huge lumbering target man and a nippy little striker alongside picking up his knockdowns, with wingers dashing down the wing and crossing for the big guy. Working so well that Darius Vassell (the nippy little guy) is the EPL top scorer. Like that could ever happen Still keep the trusty old 4-1-4-1 for the difficult away games though, plus home to the big 4.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Critch

I use that one too, though not exclusively. It's great for grinding out 1-0 wins away from home, but if you're playing as a team that is challenging for the league championship it can let you down. You'll end up dropping points by throwing in 0-0 and 1-1 draws against teams you should beat.

Haha, I was using a 3-1-3-1-2 (basically a 3-5-2 in my book) and thru 19 games I was last in the league in goals scored with 12 and first in goals allowed with 12. Had like 11 draws, so even with only 3 defeats I was still mid-table. Moved the DMC up to the middle and it worked at first, but now I'm back to low-scoring games. Might have to go with the 3-4-3 again, but I just don't have the depth at striker to pull that off right now.

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Some of the best additions to the game have in the past come from people who play it, I'm always open to ideas ...

I'll bite.... any reason in particular why there isn't more of a GM mode, where you control the larger issues, but then have an assistant control tactics/substitutions while you watch from the sidelines? Too much time to implement, not the direction you see the game going, etc?

[daedalus]

I still have '06 but I love my 4-4-2 with the wingers up at the AML/R slots instead of the flat midfield.

Bish: If you are lacking bodies up front, maybe go with a 4-3-3 that really looks like a 4-1-2-2 (wide)-1? The DMC protects the back four while the 2 attacking forwards/wingers provide support for the lone front man.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by daedalus

I still have '06 but I love my 4-4-2 with the wingers up at the AML/R slots instead of the flat midfield.

Bish: If you are lacking bodies up front, maybe go with a 4-3-3 that really looks like a 4-1-2-2 (wide)-1? The DMC protects the back four while the 2 attacking forwards/wingers provide support for the lone front man.

I don't think I'm lacking the bodies, I think it's just more a case of my defenders/goalie doing a great job (all in the top 100 for form) and my middies/attack not doing well. (Case in point - my star striker had 22 goals and a 7.27 last year for a different team and was at 6.75 and 6 goals until the last month for me.) As it were, I was merely expected to fight against relegation, and I achieved 11th place, so I'm satisfied. Last game of the year for fun I threw out a 3-2-2-3 formation and I won 2-1 while dominating, so maybe I'll try that if I can keep my defense intact.

[Marc Vaughan]

I'll bite.... any reason in particular why there isn't more of a GM mode, where you control the larger issues, but then have an assistant control tactics/substitutions while you watch from the sidelines? Too much time to implement, not the direction you see the game going, etc?

Its largely a 'European' thing - text sims over here (predominantly soccer sims) have generally been very hands on with very little being 'handed off' to assistants.

Its possible that at some point in the future we'll consider allowing someone to effectively play as a 'director of football' where they act behind the scenes guiding transfers etc. but leaving the matches to someone else - but because its only a relative 'niche' of players who would do play in this style its obviously not something which is a high priority (and so don't expect it to appear in a hurry).

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

I still have '06 but I love my 4-4-2 with the wingers up at the AML/R slots instead of the flat midfield.

Bish: If you are lacking bodies up front, maybe go with a 4-3-3 that really looks like a 4-1-2-2 (wide)-1? The DMC protects the back four while the 2 attacking forwards/wingers provide support for the lone front man.

My Cambridge City side use a similar tactic in the Premiership in FM07, only difference is I've rotated the center of midfield to give an AMC/DMC instead of a flat middle (basis being I've already conceeded defending the midfield somewhat by pushing my wingers forward - thus the DMC acts as a block against runners through the middle and attempts to persuade play down the flanks where I'm now naturally weak in midfield ... thus my defense is wholly organised to deal with crosses).

PS> If you don't have a good DMC and tall central defenders with good positioning don't try this setup

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

My Cambridge City side use a similar tactic in the Premiership in FM07, only difference is I've rotated the center of midfield to give an AMC/DMC instead of a flat middle (basis being I've already conceeded defending the midfield somewhat by pushing my wingers forward - thus the DMC acts as a block against runners through the middle and attempts to persuade play down the flanks where I'm now naturally weak in midfield ... thus my defense is wholly organised to deal with crosses).

PS> If you don't have a good DMC and tall central defenders with good positioning don't try this setup

So you have AML-AMC-AMR behind the 2 strikers with 1 DMC in front of the back 4? I thought about this setup as well except 1) the few times I tried it, I really lost possession bad -- I may try it again with the higher quality mids I have now and 2) Cesc still isn't retired yet.

I'm still back in '06 (until I buy '08, that is) but I just want to know how Cesc drops from Legendary Midfielder to a Midfield General (not a tag to snicker at, mind) after a season in which he averages 7.66 in 47 games while logging 15 goals and 11 assists before leading Spain to a WC (shocking!).

[Marc Vaughan]

the few times I tried it, I really lost possession bad

You'll find you're conceeding posession in midfield a LOT in some matches - this doesn't matter too much so long as the team stick to the gameplan and are good enough to defend against the attacks (this is where the DMC and aerial abilities of the DC's and GK are vital).

NB> If you try this sort of tactic without pressing then I've no doubt you'll get hammered repeatedly because it'll give their midfield enough time to look for killer passes, the idea is that the DMC pressurises their midfield enough that they play the 'sensible' option as much as possible (ie. down the flanks to where we're prepared to deal with them).

PS> I'm a great fan of 'sucker punch' tactics if you couldn't tell - in CM00-01 I had a tactic called 'defensive counter' (which popped up in 01-02 as a CPU tactic) ... this was designed to soak up as much pressure as possible and hit teams on the break, nothing quite as satisfying as winning 1-0 against the apparent run of play in a network game

[Critch]

Originally Posted by daedalus

I'm still back in '06 (until I buy '08, that is) but I just want to know how Cesc drops from Legendary Midfielder to a Midfield General (not a tag to snicker at, mind) after a season in which he averages 7.66 in 47 games while logging 15 goals and 11 assists before leading Spain to a WC (shocking!).

Could be worse. I had a young German goalkeeper who went from being "The next Oliver Kahn" to being "The next Jens Lehmann" after a successful season on loan. Maybe he lost a hand, or something.

[bulletsponge]

Hey Marc, another quick feeder club question.

can you have 2 feeders that help you avoid wp regulation, like one in Poland and another in Belgium?


ohh 1 more. can a player without and english wp, say a 16 yo barbados resident, still play in u-19 league games if he doesnt have a wp?

[bulletsponge]

bump

[Flasch186]

hey Marc

you guys spelled Centre wrong.



....and Marc is spelled with a K

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Its largely a 'European' thing - text sims over here (predominantly soccer sims) have generally been very hands on with very little being 'handed off' to assistants.

Its possible that at some point in the future we'll consider allowing someone to effectively play as a 'director of football' where they act behind the scenes guiding transfers etc. but leaving the matches to someone else - but because its only a relative 'niche' of players who would do play in this style its obviously not something which is a high priority (and so don't expect it to appear in a hurry).

But if the functionality is already in the game for the assistants to control the matches (as they do when on holiday, or for reserve teams), why can't it be a simple check-box option?

I understand that being a full director of football where you have to hire a manager and whatnot would be more difficult (and I don't really care about that anyways). But a check-box for the assistant to control tactics and/or lineup choices and/or subs doesn't seem too unreasonable for the nera-future?

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Critch

Could be worse. I had a young German goalkeeper who went from being "The next Oliver Kahn" to being "The next Jens Lehmann" after a successful season on loan. Maybe he lost a hand, or something.

So he went from an ill-tempered World Cup goalkeeper to a crazy ill-tempered World Cup goalkeeper. He probably had a head injury and had his 'eccentricity' spiked or something.

[Completely unrelated and my Arse bias aside, I do think Kahn > Lehmann even though I think he's been great for our club.]

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

NB> If you try this sort of tactic without pressing then I've no doubt you'll get hammered repeatedly because it'll give their midfield enough time to look for killer passes, the idea is that the DMC pressurises their midfield enough that they play the 'sensible' option as much as possible (ie. down the flanks to where we're prepared to deal with them).

THAT would be where I probably had that wrong [not pressing].

Any suggestions on making a wide 4-4-2 diamond (ML/MR instead of 2 MCs in the middle of the diamond) work?

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

PS> I'm a great fan of 'sucker punch' tactics if you couldn't tell - in CM00-01 I had a tactic called 'defensive counter' (which popped up in 01-02 as a CPU tactic) ... this was designed to soak up as much pressure as possible and hit teams on the break, nothing quite as satisfying as winning 1-0 against the apparent run of play in a network game

I would have disliked you immensely.

In the nicest way possible, of course.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Critch

Could be worse. I had a young German goalkeeper who went from being "The next Oliver Kahn" to being "The next Jens Lehmann" after a successful season on loan. Maybe he lost a hand, or something.

He stopped making ordinary saves look amazing? Or he stopped relying on handballs from defenders to shut out the US?

[bulletsponge]

Ok i need Marc's response for this question

I have a young African stud on my team who got a wp with about 12 caps. 1 year later he has 21 caps and his team is ranked globaly in the 30s somewhere. But for some reason he cant get a WP renewal. i want to give him a raise because he attracting a lot of attention form bigger clubs. luckily he has 2 more years on his contract, but what if he still cant get his WP renewed, he should get it renewed now!

is there something i can do to get it renewed ( he has a wp now and can play)

[twothree]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Some of the best additions to the game have in the past come from people who play it, I'm always open to ideas ...

Add the league customization of OOTP 2007 to a future version of FM. You don't have to change the real-world leagues in the game, but instead have an option to start a game with a fictional league(s).

It doesn't have to be as in depth as in OOTP 2007, but it would be nice if you could set up a game in FM using fictional players and your own created league structures at the beginning of a game like you can in OOTP 2007. Something where you could determine the number of sub-leagues under your main league. Maybe you could set how many teams get promoted at the end of the season. Or even set the number of cups and tournaments that will exsist in your game and determine in general which teams will play for those cups.

[Scholes]

Originally Posted by twothree

Add the league customization of OOTP 2007 to a future version of FM. You don't have to change the real-world leagues in the game, but instead have an option to start a game with a fictional league(s).

It doesn't have to be as in depth as in OOTP 2007, but it would be nice if you could set up a game in FM using fictional players and your own created league structures at the beginning of a game like you can in OOTP 2007. Something where you could determine the number of sub-leagues under your main league. Maybe you could set how many teams get promoted at the end of the season. Or even set the number of cups and tournaments that will exsist in your game and determine in general which teams will play for those cups.

I was just thinking how unbelievable FM would be if it had OOTP's league creation wizard. Historical leagues and fictional leagues, along with OOTP's history/almanac would make the best game ever untouchable.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

Ok i need Marc's response for this question

I have a young African stud on my team who got a wp with about 12 caps. 1 year later he has 21 caps and his team is ranked globaly in the 30s somewhere. But for some reason he cant get a WP renewal. i want to give him a raise because he attracting a lot of attention form bigger clubs. luckily he has 2 more years on his contract, but what if he still cant get his WP renewed, he should get it renewed now!

is there something i can do to get it renewed ( he has a wp now and can play)

He needs to play more as a starter on your team and not sitting in the reserves

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

He needs to play more as a starter on your team and not sitting in the reserves

ok thanks. for the record he is a starter, but between injuries, national call ups and rotations i guess he hasnt played enough. she get enough this year because hes now my undisputed starter and theres no african cup this year

[Flasch186]

so in WWSM 2006 I took the Forest Green Rovers very very far and loved every minute of it. this time with '07 I ended up with MAcclesfield and Im simply shocked at how bad the team is after 3 seasons. Every individual moment is awful. From winning less than 10% of headers, crossing % below 20%, inability to move the ball once they receive a pass, inability to get a shot off, inability to out run anyone, inability to work together, inability to hold onto a lead EVER. We are firmly locked into last place and headed towards relegation and so far every player that has been brought in has done nothing but enjoy this terrible play. fun.

[klayman]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

ok thanks. for the record he is a starter, but between injuries, national call ups and rotations i guess he hasnt played enough. she get enough this year because hes now my undisputed starter and theres no african cup this year

AFAIK, WP are no longer dependent on club matches played, only national caps. He must have at least 75% of all caps possible for the last 2 years. Maybe he missed a tournament while injured, and that's preventing his WP application?

[Flasch186]

I had to quit my Macclesfield game. It was too disheartening. I have since started over this time with Hayes of Conference North. My question is, because theyre Semi-pro how does this change the game?

[SirFozzie]

Basically, your players are mostly part-time palyers (they have "real jobs"), so you can't spend three hours a day training them etcetera

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

I had to quit my Macclesfield game. It was too disheartening. I have since started over this time with Hayes of Conference North. My question is, because theyre Semi-pro how does this change the game?

I wonder if your players won't get as much training time. I understand that semi-pro isn't the same as part-time, but that's my guess. I may be way off, but it's a theory.

I have finally started getting into the 2007 game. It took me a long time to get rolling, but now I'm nearly halfway through my first season with Exeter, and I'm digging in. One of my matches had a controversial penalty called in my favor. We ended up scoring the first goal in what turned out to be a 2-0 win. After the game, some reporter comes up to me to ask whether I thought the ref made the right call. I said yes, and my player who got fouled got upset. He thought I was unnecessarily stirring up controversy. Well, I'm just trying to defend the guy, but he didn't want any part of that. The next time a reporter asked me about a referee's decision, I kept my mouth shut and all my players were fine.

I'm not the type of manager to hold my tongue for long, though. A couple of weeks later, one of my opponents whined because they thought one of their guys got fouled, and the ref said to play on. We ended up winning the match, and I told the press that the other team's manager was just bitter. Funny, none of my players thought I was doing anything wrong that time. They must have agreed with me.

[Marc Vaughan]

If you're managing a semi-pro team then generally the board are a little less intensive with expectations and players tend not to be quite as uppity unless they have true ambitions to become professional (simply put the ones who aren't likely to turn pro won't really want to move clubs too much because they've probably got jobs relatively local to your club and thus are somewhat committed to the local area - obviously this is more visible if your club is in the middle of nowhere rather than London ).

You'll find attracting players from professional clubs near impossible because (as Pumpy indicated) your players will only be training part-time and they won't want to drop their standards that much unless they've pretty much given up on their pro-career.

Funding is generally also lower at semi-pro teams (ie. expect a lower transfer and wage budget than at a professional club).

PS> Finally because of their part-time training bear in mind when you DO sign a player from a pro club their attributes will tend to fall slightly because of their training less than at their prior club.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I just decided that I'm going to be a hard-ass of a manager. I'll be critical of anybody who's not playing well, and I'll be quick to banish someone to the sidelines or reserves if they're not performing. If anybody on my team wants to be a crybaby about it, they'll go onto the transfer list in a second. I ain't gonna fool around.

These boys are going to play my brand of Exeter football, and they're going to like it!

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I just decided that I'm going to be a hard-ass of a manager. I'll be critical of anybody who's not playing well, and I'll be quick to banish someone to the sidelines or reserves if they're not performing. If anybody on my team wants to be a crybaby about it, they'll go onto the transfer list in a second. I ain't gonna fool around.

These boys are going to play my brand of Exeter football, and they're going to like it!

lol, i bet you dont even know where Exeter is!

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

If you're managing a semi-pro team then generally the board are a little less intensive with expectations and players tend not to be quite as uppity unless they have true ambitions to become professional (simply put the ones who aren't likely to turn pro won't really want to move clubs too much because they've probably got jobs relatively local to your club and thus are somewhat committed to the local area - obviously this is more visible if your club is in the middle of nowhere rather than London ).

You'll find attracting players from professional clubs near impossible because (as Pumpy indicated) your players will only be training part-time and they won't want to drop their standards that much unless they've pretty much given up on their pro-career.

Funding is generally also lower at semi-pro teams (ie. expect a lower transfer and wage budget than at a professional club).

PS> Finally because of their part-time training bear in mind when you DO sign a player from a pro club their attributes will tend to fall slightly because of their training less than at their prior club.

So I guess my next question is, "Is this really spinning my tires OR can I build some experience and a bit of a rep. to be invited to head up a different team in due time?" The next thing would be, "Hey, Marc, it'd be cool if we could know what jobs they have. That'd be a nice bit of flavor."

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

lol, i bet you dont even know where Exeter is!

I don't have to.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

So I guess my next question is, "Is this really spinning my tires OR can I build some experience and a bit of a rep. to be invited to head up a different team in due time?" The next thing would be, "Hey, Marc, it'd be cool if we could know what jobs they have. That'd be a nice bit of flavor."

It could be like that ManU - Burton Albion game a couple of years ago where they interviewed some of the Albion players before the game. "Pete Jones. Defender. I'm a plumber. I'll be marking Wayne Rooney on Saturday."

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I don't have to.

Bottom left, in the middle of the sticky-out bit under Wales.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

So I guess my next question is, "Is this really spinning my tires OR can I build some experience and a bit of a rep. to be invited to head up a different team in due time?"

Yes you can build up some experience at a small team - if you're good enough and patient enough you can also turn that team into a BIG team ..... but it takes quite a while (took me 27 seasons to get Cambridge City from bottom to top).

The next thing would be, "Hey, Marc, it'd be cool if we could know what jobs they have. That'd be a nice bit of flavor."

I've considered this in the past - however its something which we could only do for regenned players as getting a persons real-life job incorrect would be something they might take offense at in extreme circumstances (ie. indicating that a lawyer irl is a dustman might not go down particularly well ).

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Yes you can build up some experience at a small team - if you're good enough and patient enough you can also turn that team into a BIG team ..... but it takes quite a while (took me 27 seasons to get Cambridge City from bottom to top).



I've considered this in the past - however its something which we could only do for regenned players as getting a persons real-life job incorrect would be something they might take offense at in extreme circumstances (ie. indicating that a lawyer irl is a dustman might not go down particularly well ).

but wouldn't you think that a good % of semipro players would enjoy providing that information, as a way to flesh out their "character" in the game? I know if it was me and I played semipro i'd prolly also play FM, so I wouldn't mind at all. And then it'd just be a matter of data input.