Alright boyz, here we go!!! FM 2006 First Impressions

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Thnaks for the list. i never thought to check to see if there was a wikipedia page.:o

Just to explain the difference between Levels and Leagues..

at the lower levels, there are regional leagues, for example in Italy, there is the two major levels Serie A and Serie B.

Then we go down to Serie C-1. Since the teams are small there, they are broken down to two regional groups to avoid super long travel (C-1/A and C-1/B) teams from BOTH C-1A and B go up to B, and teams coming down from B get split into the sub divisions.

Then there's Serie C-2 which has 3 leagues (A/B/C)

[Galaril]

This is a question for Sir Fozzie and Daddy Torgo. I see both of you gentlemen live quite close to where I live ,Foz I am like one town over from you(Hopkinton). So,I was wondering about going to revolution games down at Gillette Stadium. Are they fun? How are the crowds? I stopped going to some local teams games uhmmemm.....not mentioning any specific.....since I got a family think about ANyways any other good advice for going ou to see the NE Revs would great. As far as getting tickets looks like it issn't too hard. Any suggestions about which teams are the best to see as far as rivals for New England?

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Just to explain the difference between Levels and Leagues..

at the lower levels, there are regional leagues, for example in Italy, there is the two major levels Serie A and Serie B.

Then we go down to Serie C-1. Since the teams are small there, they are broken down to two regional groups to avoid super long travel (C-1/A and C-1/B) teams from BOTH C-1A and B go up to B, and teams coming down from B get split into the sub divisions.

Then there's Serie C-2 which has 3 leagues (A/B/C)

Thanks for that explanation. So, would the two USL divisions (USL First and USL Second divisions) be like regional divisions?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Galaril

This is a question for Sir Fozzie and Daddy Torgo. I see both of you gentlemen live quite close to where I live ,Foz I am like one town over from you(Hopkinton). So,I was wondering about going to revolution games down at Gillette Stadium. Are they fun? How are the crowds? I stopped going to some local teams games uhmmemm.....not mentioning any specific.....since I got a family think about ANyways any other good advice for going ou to see the NE Revs would great. As far as getting tickets looks like it issn't too hard. Any suggestions about which teams are the best to see as far as rivals for New England?

woot. i used to go see Revs games quite regularly (was a season ticket holder for like the first 3 years @ Foxboro) but I havn't been in years. Foz OTOH goes all the time.

Last game I went to @ Gilette was Revs. vs Galaxy in the MLS Championship and it was a great experience.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Here's another question -- in older versions, I used to be able to view a little graph which charted my team's standing in whatever league I was in throughout each week. Do they still have that?

Yeah you click on their standing position and it'll display that (you can also overlay other teams graphs against yours).

We've similar in-game graphs for a few things now (past financial levels, player attribute changes over time etc.).

[mooreadamc]

Just bought the game yesterday and played for quite a few hours last night .

Anyways just had a couple of questions. Who would be the best team for me to start with? I want to be in the EPL and want to have a bit of a challenge but not so much that a relitively newbie could never do well at. I have played previous version so I have a bit of a grasp what to do. My best guess was Newcastle but there yearly player wage was much lower than what my players salaries wound up. I then thought Liverpool but they have too much money and it would propably not be as challening.

Also are there any guides out there for training and other aspects of the game? Wouldn't mind refreshing my knowledge on some of the areas. Thanks guys.

[Marc Vaughan]

Anyways just had a couple of questions. Who would be the best team for me to start with? I want to be in the EPL and want to have a bit of a challenge but not so much that a relitively newbie could never do well at. I have played previous version so I have a bit of a grasp what to do. My best guess was Newcastle but there yearly player wage was much lower than what my players salaries wound up. I then thought Liverpool but they have too much money and it would propably not be as challening.

The best team to start with is always Brighton ....

(hey we need supporters, so anyone I can convert via FM is a bonus )

If you're looking to start at the deep end (ie. in the Premiership) then I'd recommend either taking over a really large club (ie. Chelsea) so you should perform well or a club expecting relegation (as they won't mind you messing up so much).

If you take a club like Newcastle who's fans are demanding you'll enjoy it - but it might be a short career

Also are there any guides out there for training and other aspects of the game? Wouldn't mind refreshing my knowledge on some of the areas. Thanks guys.

There's a rather lengthy hints and tips guide which I wrote kicking around on sigames.com somewhere (and most good unofficial sites).

[Butter]

Are there any drawbacks to cancelling loan deals early? I'm thinking specifically of when I have a season long loan on a player... is it ok to cancel it the day after the season ends to avoid paying that extra month of wages? Or will that team (and others, possibly) be more reluctant to loan to you in the future?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Are there any drawbacks to cancelling loan deals early? I'm thinking specifically of when I have a season long loan on a player... is it ok to cancel it the day after the season ends to avoid paying that extra month of wages? Or will that team (and others, possibly) be more reluctant to loan to you in the future?

Currently there aren't many to be honest .... but seeing as you've mentioned it I'll make sure it forms a slightly negative relationship with the manager from the loan team if he's a moody git and was relying on the player.

(and I'll also assess the players opinion of being recalled etc.)

[SunDevil]

Here is the email I just sent Sega Support:

I downloaded WSM 2006 and when I start WSM 2006 I am getting a reminder to enter my name and the key as described in the provided documentation but there is none except for a game manual. In the email you sent with the order and on the website to get the unlock key, none of that information is displayed. All I got in the email was a list of my products purchased my order number and customer number. On the website when I enter my order number and password my information is displayed, but no unlock key. Thank you for any help.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Currently there aren't many to be honest .... but seeing as you've mentioned it I'll make sure it forms a slightly negative relationship with the manager from the loan team if he's a moody git and was relying on the player.

(and I'll also assess the players opinion of being recalled etc.)

Also, a somewhat related question. Are there any penalties for cancelling friendlies? I'm thinking this should create some ill will, especially if a larger team were to bail on a smaller lower-division club close to the date of the match.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Currently there aren't many to be honest .... but seeing as you've mentioned it I'll make sure it forms a slightly negative relationship with the manager from the loan team if he's a moody git and was relying on the player.

(and I'll also assess the players opinion of being recalled etc.)

since you're taking notes, here's one tiny wish for you Marc

I might have mentioned it in the past, maybe even in this thread, and maybe it's been mentioned by many others in the past, but it would be nice to get a bit more information about injuries *during* the game. I know a physio can't really say if there's going to be some long term damage by letting a player stay on the pitch, but having your head physio recommend you to take out the player because so and so could happen, a bit like the option we get once out of the match screen and we need to pick a treatment. It would be nice to learn more than seeing the player's condition take a dip, or see the green cross next to the player's dot when he runs on the field. Just a thought.

FM

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Galaril

This is a question for Sir Fozzie and Daddy Torgo. I see both of you gentlemen live quite close to where I live ,Foz I am like one town over from you(Hopkinton). So,I was wondering about going to revolution games down at Gillette Stadium. Are they fun? How are the crowds? I stopped going to some local teams games uhmmemm.....not mentioning any specific.....since I got a family think about ANyways any other good advice for going ou to see the NE Revs would great. As far as getting tickets looks like it issn't too hard. Any suggestions about which teams are the best to see as far as rivals for New England?

The Revs have a great deal this year, while they bumped up tickets a couple bucks, you can park free at the stadium (which saves $10-$15 a game).

Most of the crowd is soccer moms and the like, but the best part of going to the revs games (and yes, I am biased), is the Supporters Group, the Midnight Riders, behind the goal. We're like a lot of English Supporters groups, well minus the hooligans and that kind of stuff) we spend our 90 minutes standing and supporting our team loud (usually saying/singing/chanting bad things about the opposition).

Our "local" rivals are the two teams nearest us, DC United (who come in on the 17th), and the former Metrostars, now Red Bull New York.

To see all the players, you'd have to wait till the WC is over in July (the revs are without Dempsey, and some other teams have lost 2 or more players due to international rules), but I'm a season ticket holder, so I go to every home game I can

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Thanks for that explanation. So, would the two USL divisions (USL First and USL Second divisions) be like regional divisions?

Yup, but they are not playable in FM2006.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The Revs have a great deal this year, while they bumped up tickets a couple bucks, you can park free at the stadium (which saves $10-$15 a game).

Most of the crowd is soccer moms and the like, but the best part of going to the revs games (and yes, I am biased), is the Supporters Group, the Midnight Riders, behind the goal. We're like a lot of English Supporters groups, well minus the hooligans and that kind of stuff) we spend our 90 minutes standing and supporting our team loud (usually saying/singing/chanting bad things about the opposition).

Our "local" rivals are the two teams nearest us, DC United (who come in on the 17th), and the former Metrostars, now Red Bull New York.

To see all the players, you'd have to wait till the WC is over in July (the revs are without Dempsey, and some other teams have lost 2 or more players due to international rules), but I'm a season ticket holder, so I go to every home game I can

Great, I will have look you up when me and wife go to a game Also, a related question for anyone. Do the soccer leagues like English Premier, Serie A etc arounfd the world not take the time the worldcup is going on off. It would seem like it would be a good idea since alot of the best players will be gone. I look at the Revs and this hurts them quite abit it seems with a couple of their key players away. So, why doesn't the MLS take abreak until the end of the cup ?

[SirFozzie]

The reason they gave is to not disrupt the season too much, they didn't want to play into November. *which is a bunch of hooey, if you ask me*

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

Here is the email I just sent Sega Support:

I downloaded WSM 2006 and when I start WSM 2006 I am getting a reminder to enter my name and the key as described in the provided documentation but there is none except for a game manual. In the email you sent with the order and on the website to get the unlock key, none of that information is displayed. All I got in the email was a list of my products purchased my order number and customer number. On the website when I enter my order number and password my information is displayed, but no unlock key. Thank you for any help.

Update:

I went to Digital River's website and went to the page where you can enter your order number and password or email address and last 5 digits of your credit card number, which Sega has the exact same sign-in. I tried both methods and on the Sega site and it works, it takes me to my order with all my order information except for a registration key. When I try on Digital River neither sign-in method works it says my order does not exist. Has anyone else run into this issue when you ordered the online/downloadable version from Sega? Thanks.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The reason they gave is to not disrupt the season too much, they didn't want to play into November. *which is a bunch of hooey, if you ask me*

Well, if they bleed too far into American football season, their attendance/TV will drop dramatically. Plus, unfortunately many of the MLS teams still share cavernous stadiums with NFL franchises ... so I'm sure the NFL teams are not keen on having their turf chewed up by soccer clubs during the season.

[MikeVick7]

While we're throwing out suggestions here...

Marc - Has there been any thought to adding some reasons to the list when I decline a loan request for one of my players? Right now the choices don't usually fit the reason why I'm turning a team down. The choices we have seem to fit older backup players who could see first team action if a starter goes down, but if I have a 17-18 yr old who has no shot of seeing first team action and I want to loan him out, the choices don't always work. Some examples might be...

- The team's training facilities aren't adequate.
- There maybe too much competition at the spot that player plays at on that team.
- The level of that team may be too low. (The team is in League Two and I want to send my guy to League One)

Would telling an AI team any of the above have any bearing? I guess I could tell them that the reason my prodigy isn't going to play for them is because the training facilities suck, but could that encourage them to improve them? I know if an AI team would be able to tell me this when turning my loan request down, I would definitely ask the board to improve them.

[BreizhManu]

I usually accept all loans for listed players (with sometimes a callback option if I'm not sure he'll get playing time) but this is a good idea.

[condors]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

Update:

I went to Digital River's website and went to the page where you can enter your order number and password or email address and last 5 digits of your credit card number, which Sega has the exact same sign-in. I tried both methods and on the Sega site and it works, it takes me to my order with all my order information except for a registration key. When I try on Digital River neither sign-in method works it says my order does not exist. Has anyone else run into this issue when you ordered the online/downloadable version from Sega? Thanks.

I had a similar issue after i had to restore my hard drive, and it took 19 days to get a response from digital river

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by condors

I had a similar issue after i had to restore my hard drive, and it took 19 days to get a response from digital river

while I was lucky enough not to have any problems with DR, this kind of horror story is what will make me stay far, far away from the digidownload version in the future...

SunDevil, sorry I can't help you on your problem.

FM

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Well, if they bleed too far into American football season, their attendance/TV will drop dramatically. Plus, unfortunately many of the MLS teams still share cavernous stadiums with NFL franchises ... so I'm sure the NFL teams are not keen on having their turf chewed up by soccer clubs during the season.

Foz And Moriarty both good points. I am a hugeamerican football fan as well as baseball but have really grown to love soccer. I lived in Korea during the last world cup 02 and got achance to go see abunch of cup matches.I saw Ireland play against Spain, the Portugal vs USA game and Korea vs. USA . games. They were the first soccer matches I had been to inmy life! The whole atmosphere was incredible over there during people especially the local Koreans went nuts over the wc. Anyways, I hope soccer continues to grow and acquires a nice piece of the US sports territory. I think with hockey losing some ground and possibly basketball soccer could have a decent shot. The usa playing well in this tournament could be a big help for interest back home. When I here the local Boston media (WEEI radio) ridicule soccer as not a real sport it pisses me off. Do peopel relaize the lastworld cup was watched by 29 billion people. That number is the total for all games. Soccer is played in every country in the world. This remindes me when I was in Korea and Koreans would rip American football as not a real sport and in fcat would compare it to Sumo Wreastling in Japan! Not to get to far off topic but this is what "grinds my gears" about 'some' Americans; they just never think about outside of the very insulated and isolated world. Sorry to get on a soap box.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

while I was lucky enough not to have any problems with DR, this kind of horror story is what will make me stay far, far away from the digidownload version in the future...

SunDevil, sorry I can't help you on your problem.

FM

I wonder why isn't SI using eLicense for FM when they are the best digital download software producers by difference when talking about good support. I really hope that the OOTP experience will finally convince them for the next FM.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by mooreadamc

Just bought the game yesterday and played for quite a few hours last night .

Anyways just had a couple of questions. Who would be the best team for me to start with? I want to be in the EPL and want to have a bit of a challenge but not so much that a relitively newbie could never do well at. I have played previous version so I have a bit of a grasp what to do. My best guess was Newcastle but there yearly player wage was much lower than what my players salaries wound up. I then thought Liverpool but they have too much money and it would propably not be as challening.

Also are there any guides out there for training and other aspects of the game? Wouldn't mind refreshing my knowledge on some of the areas. Thanks guys.

Here is the the guide Marc wrote that he mentions above.

http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php?type=view&id=358

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Galaril

When I here the local Boston media (WEEI radio) ridicule soccer as not a real sport it pisses me off. Do peopel relaize the lastworld cup was watched by 29 billion people. That number is the total for all games. Soccer is played in every country in the world. This remindes me when I was in Korea and Koreans would rip American football as not a real sport and in fcat would compare it to Sumo Wreastling in Japan! Not to get to far off topic but this is what "grinds my gears" about 'some' Americans; they just never think about outside of the very insulated and isolated world. Sorry to get on a soap box.

Yeah, I hear you. Most of the local sports broadcasters around here (DC area) pretty much ridicule soccer as well. Even Tony Kornheiser who I usually enjoy just trashes it. Most of the time they dismiss it as dreadfully boring. Of course I can't imaging sitting at a NASCAR event watching cars make left hand turns in a circle for four hours either. I was actually shocked when I was listening to a weekend show (don't recall who it was) and they were talking about soccer favorably.

I think it's just part of the culture here. If it's not an 'American Sport' it must suck. Then again, I enjoy the NFL alot as well, and I'm sure there's a lot of Europeans (and Koreans as you mentioned) that just don't get it. Oh well...

[Galaril]

Also, I came across this for anyone who noticed the German and Dutch national teams weren't in the game for licensing reasons. Just follow the steps here . I guess the real players are there they are just hidden.

"If you already have played FM2006, or remember this from the release of FM2005 you will notice that there is no Oliver Kahn in the game. Good, you might think. As he is still a competent goalkeeper for FC Bayern. But don't get too excited, he is still in the game. But his name is Jens Munstermann, and I can ensure you it is very annoying to have a non-existant player like this present in your game. Even if you're english and really dislike the germans you wouldn't want it this way.

Due to licenses and lack of rights for his name SI are not allowed to use his name in the game. Pathetic? Yes, but hey, that's life these days. It's all about the money and legal rights. We wouldn't want SI to get sued because they didn't remove his name, would we? Nahh, we aren't that lazy, at lest I can say that about myself. It's quite easy to get Oliver Kahn back into the game, and that is something I am going to tell you how.

Even if Oliver Kahn is the only player name that can't be used in the game, you might have noticed that the international teams of Holland and Germany are made up by "greyed out" players, and not the stars like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rafael van der Vaart, Michael Ballack etc. That is also due to some issues with licenses. This is also something that you can change easily in order to get more realism into your game of Football Manager. And I highly recommend you to do it as well. But remember it before you start a new game, the changes will not effect your current save games. Just as that's told as well. Let's get on to how we can sort this problem out.


First of all I want you to go to the following folder in your Football Manager innstallation: data\db\lnc\all

Your installation will most likely be found here: C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\

Then you have a couple of options. If you want to go the easy way simply delete the file that is named fake.lnc. If you want to keep that file you can either edit it yourself, or overwrite it with the file you can download here .

Personally I prefer just to edit this file. It's very easy actually. You just open the file with notepad. At the top you will see what the commands mean. A couple of lines under you will see that they have turned the fake option for Holland and Germany "on". To get it back to normal simply change the number from 1 to 0 which means "off". This will allow Germany and Holland to use real players for their international teams.

Under this you can see that they are changing Oliver Kahns name into Jens Munsterman. Simply delete the whole line. It's as simple as that. "

[sovereignstar]

In other news, people are starving in China.

[Passacaglia]

So I started using the itunes skin -- it's very very cool! I especially like the fact that, even though I play in windowed mode, I can now see the entirety of my homepage -- I always missed out on the bottom three lines before.

The bad news is, I need to put the smack down on my keeper. He's developing a tendency in the last few games to join the attack whenever he feels like it. Last game, he did it while we were up 1-0 in the 70th minute! We were on a corner kick, and he practically hid himself between the opponent's keeper and one of their defenders. He hasn't been burned yet, but I'm waiting.

[sovereignstar]

Does anyone use "community" training schedules? I'm going to embark on my next serious career and I still don't feel that comfortable with training and would rather use someone else's schedules. Any suggestions?

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

In other news, people are starving in China.

I will find this quite ironic when I order Chinese food in 4 hours.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Does anyone use "community" training schedules? I'm going to embark on my next serious career and I still don't feel that comfortable with training and would rather use someone else's schedules. Any suggestions?

I picked a set up, I forget who created them, they work pretty good for me. Attack/Defense/Goalie/Pre-Season (the only thing I don't like is they don't have a midfield one)

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I picked a set up, I forget who created them, they work pretty good for me. Attack/Defense/Goalie/Pre-Season (the only thing I don't like is they don't have a midfield one)

Oh that helps a lot!!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Oh that helps a lot!!

I think my sarcasm detector just broke...

FM

[SirFozzie]

Well, what I was going to say is.. do you want them? Guess not. Neeever mind

[sovereignstar]

Well, so far I've grabbed some Super Resource pack from Susie made by a guy who calls himself Crane. That is supposed to have some schedules in it. I also downloaded the "Official Throw-in Training Schedules by Shadowalk".

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Well, so far I've grabbed some Super Resource pack from Susie made by a guy who calls himself Crane. That is supposed to have some schedules in it. I also downloaded the "Official Throw-in Training Schedules by Shadowalk".

links?

[sovereignstar]

http://sortitoutsi.net/index.php?pag...ile&fileid=812
http://throw-in.com/index.php?action...&cat=1&file=15

[sovereignstar]

I'm sure there are tons of schedules out there. Problem is that I don't know who any of these guys are. For all I know, Hatcher Flaschen made them.

[MrBug708]

There is also a supposed cheat training schedule too, but havent looked into it...

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Do the soccer leagues like English Premier, Serie A etc arounfd the world not take the time the worldcup is going on off.

All the major European soccer leagues operate on an August/September-May schedule every season. Some of the countries with very, very cold winters (Sweden/Russia) have leagues which play through the summer months. These leagues will take long breaks during the World Cup.

[SirFozzie]

the SOuth American leagues will play through the World Cup

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

If you take a club like Newcastle who's fans are demanding you'll enjoy it - but it might be a short career

Plus, I think it's programmed into the game that they self-destruct and underachieve.

Not quite Sp*rs-level but, y'know, what is?

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

All the major European soccer leagues operate on an August/September-May schedule every season. Some of the countries with very, very cold winters (Sweden/Russia) have leagues which play through the summer months. These leagues will take long breaks during the World Cup.

Wow so in Germany they play through the winter from september to may? That is tough. I mean they are out there in just short and t-shirts, brrrr!

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Wow so in Germany they play through the winter from september to may? That is tough. I mean they are out there in just short and t-shirts, brrrr!

There is a 6 week break between mid December and late January in the German League.

[MrBug708]

Mexico has an opening and a closing session with a break in between

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

the SOuth American leagues will play through the World Cup

The Brazilian League is taking a break until mid July and the Argentinian League follows the European schedule.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Wow so in Germany they play through the winter from september to may? That is tough. I mean they are out there in just short and t-shirts, brrrr!

Ask Landon Donovan.

.

.

.

.

.

Good gracious. Now I've done it.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Ask Landon Donovan.

.

.

.

.

.

Good gracious. Now I've done it.

Pfft, Landon just missed being coddled and told how great he is daily. I mean, why test your skills against better players and try to improve yourself when you can be a "star" in the MLS and play in front of 5K fans. Grrr... he's such a wussy.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Wow so in Germany they play through the winter from september to may? That is tough. I mean they are out there in just short and t-shirts, brrrr!

LOL

The idea is for them to run around to keep warm

PS> You should see the Scottish league in December with snow piled on the sidelines ...