You are expected to invest in new players and start rebuilding the team during this season. The Football Manager 2008 thread.

Are the matches 3D yet?

Go and play FIFA Mega Awesome Manager 08

Football Manager returns before Christmas packed full of new features for fans of the much-acclaimed series from Sports Interactive to feast their eyes on. Football Manager 2008 is out on PC / Mac this autumn, and offers football fans the chance to take on the greatest job on earth; manager of there favourite football club!

Bigger, smoother and more in-depth than ever, Football Manager 2008 is packed full of so much newness it could well take a lifetime to discover every new feature. So we asked Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at SI Games, to take us through some of the changes you'll want to hear about most...

Transfer Center - A new way of managing all current transfer and loan bids for your club, both incoming and outgoing, making it easier to compare bids and reject or accept them.

Finance Revamp - Sports Interactive have updated the finance area of Football Manager 2008 to better reflect the ever-changing modern football world. More information is available to the manager too, including, but not limited to, corporate matchday income, season ticket news, investment funds, improved sponsorships, collective win bonuses and the ability to move around funds from the wage budget and transfer budget (and vice versa) at any point to help you in your quest for the ideal squad.

International Management - The international management gameplay has been completely revamped for Football Manager 2008, including, but not limited to, media improvements, international retirements, player interaction, international scouting, improved national pool selection, captain selection and a separation of international and club morale for players.

Match Flow - The largest change to matchdays in a Sports Interactive game since the introduction of the 2D match engine. Match flow brings more atmosphere to matchdays with match previews, team talks, opposition player instructions, the match itself, half time and post match now seamlessly following on from one another. There's no more pausing to make tactical changes and you'll find a mini-radar pitch whilst making those tactical changes to keep you in touch with what's going on in the match.

Confidence - You can now easily tell what your board and supporters think about your performance in the game through the new confidence section. This gives you feedback not just on your current progress in competitions, but also your financial management and signings.

Easier to Use - A much cleaner skin, a brand new advisor system to help you through various areas of the game, a new notes and notebook system, better button positioning for simpler navigation and an updated tutorial and manual. Also, coach reports to make taking over a new team easier and a new calendar system - which lists all important dates throughout the season - help to make Football Manager 2008 the easiest Sports Interactive game to use yet.

Fan Days - The board can now arrange fan days to boost ailing attendances, or for matches that are likely to attract a low crowd, with a long-term affect to attendances if all goes well.

Awards Overhaul - A full overhaul of the awards system inside the game, which is not only more accurate but also includes new awards, such as the European golden boot and a 'best eleven', which shows the all-time (in-game) best XI for all teams and nations.

Match Engine Improvements - A greatly improved match engine, once again utilizing the footballing brain of Ray Houghton and other tools used by real-life managers, to make the most accurate simulation of football in a computer game even more like-life than ever before. Oh, and the ability to change the pitch dimensions at the start of the season to suit your style of play better.

Expanded Media - More media and feedback than ever before, plus more detail in existing media, and a new competition news section to find out what major things are going on in all league competitions.

Regenerated Player Photos - All in-game regenerated players now have pictures using FaceGen technology to give each player more personality. This gives the ability for players to be seen to mature and grow-up looks-wise in front of your eyes as the game is going on.

Speedyfastier - Saving and loading is now significantly faster, with network gaming quicker and smoother to play, as well as tactical changes and match reports being faster than ever before.

Okay all that user-friendly stuff might be the thing to drag me back in.

"For your information, the club is affectionately known as 'The Cobblers'".

Awesome.

First image that springs to mind = Ray Houghton's head in a jar, barking out instructions to an army of beleaguered programmers.

ok keep this updated, i've just (by chance) started a new game of CM4 out of withdrawal.

I have been playing and enjoying FM07 with my mate, but I don't play it on my own. Will this version change all that? If its user friendliness enables me to make the tiny nuanced but vital decisions more easily (rather than just ignoring them) then I think it might...

It does seem a lot more player friendly. Plus the match engine seems to just be "improved" rather than revamped, so it shouldn't be five more months to learn the tactics for this one. Can't win for shit with Northampton Town, though. Plus I kinda wanna see if I can win the Champions League with Palermo on 07 beforehand. :-(

For the love of all this good and holy, plz be much more user friendly. I might even stick around long enough to try and get Adelaide United to the Asian Champions League play-offs. Or Huddersfield Town up a division.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/Juror8/NaNaNaNa.jpg

Just as a brief reminder.

the ability to change the pitch dimensions at the start of the season to suit your style of play better.

Now, playing wide means taking the ball out onto the street behind the stands before crossing it in to a waiting head in the box. Awesome!

Defeated by MK Dons in 2020 League Cup Final, Nevar Forget.

do you play as AFC WIMB dom? i am impressed...

Yeah... according to ingame statistics I've spent a total of 19 days playing that particular savegame. Annoyingly, and realistically, the gap between "championship playoff hopefuls" and "top flight Premiership team is roughly 40 seasons. I don't think I'll ever manage a top half finish, despite spending £23.5 million on Chelsea reject and England U21 wunderkid Jack Taylor (born 2.7.1999)

I think I don't like FM08 so far. Then again, I'm a Tottenham fan. I don't much like soccer at all right now. And I suppose the game's being pretty similar to the real team at the moment.

Haha

Currently fiddling around with Pro Vercelli.

I'm painfully unfamiliar with Italian football, how's that going for you?

Pro Vercelli are kind of a fascinating team to take on as a "challenge", so I'm sure when I fully "get" this game in a few months it'll be an amazing challenge. They're bankrupt, in serie C2A (Italian fourth tier), and a have a team with an average age of about 37. However, they also are one of the most successful teams in Italian football history, with seven Scudetti, the last of which was won in 1921. It's basically been a long, LONG fall down the leagues since then.

Don't like the idea of all that extra finance stuff. Maybe someone like Wenger gets deeply involved in the finance side, but asif Sam Allardyce or Neil Warnock gets involved in that stuff. Hopefully it'll be optional.

i found the transfers/team building/training/scouting great, but the match engine painful. i won't be spending any hard earned on this until they get a patch out quick. missing from three yards out sixteen times a match while conceding three from three on target gets old reeeeaaall quick.

Can you play Fort William in the Scottish Highland League?

Secretly, I do wish that instead of increasing the database to, y'know, major world nations like Mexico or South Africa or Indonesia or wherever, that they'd just keep expanding downwards into the English leagues. I wanna manage Metropolitan Police or Billingham Synthonia.

big club! big club!

I'm loving '08.

It really is amazing. Team updates please.

I'm busy dismantling the Cobblers with my own ineptitude, but then again I've never had any success managing the team I actually, y'know support, since CM97/98. Maybe I'll just manage Northwich Victoria.

I have just signed my cousin though (Riccy Scimeca), so maybe he'll start turning up to family weddings again.

I'm still holding off on getting this, after making a massive hash of managing Coventry on the demo. Are there any skins going around that make it look non-horrid?

I've asked Miles to give hot tipzzz for Pro Vercelli on next week's FM podcast, I hope he picks my suggestion!

in related news, i r total loser. In season 2 for a particlar levy-run prem league team, last year finished 11th. but won the fa cup. this year on target for 4th or so, under the manchesters and chelski, arse is running into the ground, sold walcott to villa, where he is 100% shit.

intersting transactions: I sold Berbs and Defoe for a combined 22m, and bought Aaritalo and Crouch to replace for a combined 5m, who are doing muuuuch better than their predecessors. I found Aaritalo on my own, who's so good and so cheap and so signable by practically any English team that it's practically cheating. Plus I've trained him for both wings and he's left footed... unbelievably useful guy. I've made some shit signings though, too, so it's evening out (Coloccini for more than I'd like to admit, and he's been nothing but garbage, really).

Not finding any good newgens yet, sadly. I usually play a few seasons with a T'Ham, and then delve into LLM once I've gotten used to the new game. I'm tempted to branch out his year into a non-English league-- considering playing as the team my grandfather used to play for (!) in the Scottish 3rd (i think?) div, or maybe scrape from the bottom of the Spanish or Italian leagues.

The patch is (allegedly) out later tonight. I really, really think this is the best FM since 01/02 in terms of pure "feel", and as such am finding it hard to explain why I like it so much.

Jody Morris is an essential free transfer signing for League One teams, regardless.

Actually, I think it's how a good cup run can fool your fans into thinking you're a better manager than you actually are that's doing it for me.

Exactly! I would have been fired if not for the FA cup winning.

Is this game even available in the US? I'd love to play it.

It is, although for some reason it's known as Worldwide Soccer Manager in the Staes.

People over on this side of the pond get furious about hings being called "football" that actually involve kicking the ball with the foot >6 times a game

Thanks Dom, I'll check into it. This sounds totally up my alley.

Alright - I've read that this is full of bugs, but you lot seem quite enthusiastic. I think i'll give myself a treat this weekend.

Of course it's full of bugs, its Football Manager. The lifeline of any game of FM is:

eager overbearing enthusiasm
tempered "OK, these are some good new features"
dispiritedness at wacky long shot/closing down/superkeeper/other random "feature/bugs"
hours spent on SI Community/The Dugout/FM Britain forums whining
patch gets released
Still problems
Second patch gets released
Enthusiasm returns
Dispiritedness when you realise you're a shitty manager
Manage Chelsea instead
Win shitloads of trophies
Manage your favourite team
Get relegated quickly
Manage Harrogate or someone
Suddenly become a good manager
Realise "Wow, my life would be empty without this game"

Lather rinse repeat. I love this game more than my parents.

this is sitting at home in the wrapper. i need to keep my girlfriend right now, so i won't open it til i've got my christmas presents from her.

patch doing the job re: closing down/ six yard misses?

ok opened it last night. late for work this morning, GF not talking to me.

Starting my first season with PSG. Sitting at a very realistic 15th position halfway through the season.

Pro Vercelli in fifth place, tight as the Pope's asshole at the back, can't hit a cow's arse up front, despite an ever changing array of Juventus U-18 prospects on loan

I *think* that one man up front is the key to the game this year, 4-4-2 seems to be an utter failure whenever I use it, and three upfront hasn't done shit for Champ since 97.

yes, i started with the usual 4-4-2 which turned out to be a disaster. I'm having an OK record since I switched to 4-1-4-1

Which I suppose is a decent reflection of modern football, games are won and lost in midfield. Also, at LLM level, it's really all about the counter attack.

Also: if you're managing LLM in Italy, you can get Salvatore Fresi on a free transfer, he's only 34.

berbatov, keane and kevin doyle are putting them in the net for me alright, but strangely enough i can't seem to get spurs to keep a clean sheet.

Darrahmac out?

One of the criticisms of the new games is that "good" teams are too powerful, but then again that's just annoyingly realistic. It stops Newcastle from every winning the title, so it's fine by me.

the crowd are happy enough with me so far! selling bent for 12 million was always going to buy me some kudos.

the patch has made defending a bit more realistic, but i can't get a decent set of coaches together for love nor money now.

is it harder to get players to come to you? i've had loads of bids accepted, but players (even at small teams) aren't interested.

by the way, have you tried palermo yet? they have a couple of amazing players in my current game.

I tend not to manage top flight teams, but as soon as I think "OK, right, I've _got_ this now", Palermo will get a few season run out from me, as will (probably) Celtic and a random "constant underachievers" English team (Wolves or Leicester or someone)

spurs?

i go the way will_m said upthread- i'll start with spurs and give it a few seasons, then take on a lower league team when i've worked out a few of the kinks. it's pretty great so far, much better than the demo.

What does the patch do?

tightens the nuts and bolts of the match engine, tweaks some players/coaches abilities, fixes some bugs, and lands spurs with poyet and a fitness coach that they can't get rid off, making a balls of training for at least four years.

I never bother playing around with training schedules.

it's better this time than the last incarnation i played regularly (CM4) you just assign individual coaches to the regimes, you'll get a star rating to let you know how they'll do. simple as, really.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/Juror8/Cavalry.jpg

lol tinkerman

passantino out, he doesn't know his own first team for fuck's sake.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/Juror8/LowerLeagueGlamour.jpg

The glamour of the lower leagues.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/Juror8/70.jpg

http://i31.tinypic.com/2qjvbkz.jpg

I spent the first half of this season battling for first place with Liverpool, but we both dropped to stupid Arsenal at the end of the season. Arsenal has been clear of the top place every season so far in this stupid fucking game. Other than that though... IPSWICH IN THE TOP 4. I rule. I sohuld try an even lower team and see where I can get them. Maybe one that doesn't actually HAVE the capacity t be world-class (in fans, money, etc). What's a middle-of-the-road League 1 side for me to have a go at?

Northampton Town, obv

I managed to keep them in the prem for six seasons, but like you say with certain clubs the infrastructure just isn't there to be any good as a team with. Ground's too small, reputation is too low, directors aren't ballin'.

Alt, are you aware of Da Fuge's challenge, Will? I managed it on 07, but nowhere near on 08

http://www.dafugeschallenge.com/Rules/

oh hey this must be the thread for Super Microsoft Excel Simulator 2008

Haha, I think I was the one who told oyu about Dafuge's, Dom ;)

(or at least, I presented the idea to you, maybe not that dude's specific link... you kow, going on holiday for a year and picking one of the newly risen teams).

I'm not THAT good yet, anyway. I mean, I got a Champ team to the Prem.

DG is jealous that he's number-retarded.

What formations are you using, anyway?

I prefer using a 4-3-3 with two wingers who move into striker positions when they have the ball... although sometimes I move into a more traditional 4-4-2 (which isn't working quite as well) or move the DMC up to AMC (also not working quite as well). The problem is I now have two totally amazing strikers so I can never really pick which one to play... luckily the better of the two is pretty comfortable in the AMR/FC role, so that's good.

Do you know what the diff. is between an F C and a ST in this game?

http://i29.tinypic.com/fdbn2o.jpg

DG is jealous that he's number retarded.

-- Will M., Monday, June 23, 2008 4:24 PM (17 minutes ago)

fixed

oh, and I also set the formation to be about 50% more narrow, always have counter-attack on (it's like the don't suck button, seriously), have time-wasting up to maybe +33% (for some reason, they just play better like this-- experimented with lowering it, but they just make more bad plays if I do), D-Line a bit further back, and when I'm losing, I drop the time wasting way down and push the closing down way up and the D-line to normal.

xp haha. seriously this game is fun though. also easy to alt+tab. hint hint.

always have counter-attack on (it's like the don't suck button, seriously)

^^^ Realness

or at least in the case of some comedy players, the "suck slightly less button." seriously i overpaid for this fking southampton left-back and BOY am I unhapy aobut that. I'm not even sure he's gotten a 7 rating this season, while at least 6 other of my players are about 7.5 average.

Playing as Palermo right now. So fucking hard to get anyone decent to come to them, or when they do, you end up paying 23million for a 31-year-old Andrea Pirlo

Man I always have to start with a bottom division team. So far I've taken Chester to bottom of the table relegation glory but now I've started to get my head around the game (admittedly I cheated and looked at a couple of fansite guides, nothing cheaty but a basic overview of how shit works) I reckon we might be a good outside bet to get promoted straight back up again.

Oh and the fans representative can fuck right off btw.

BTW, if you want some tips as to who to buy as a Champ-level team I have a couple of tips, some players who really blew the game out of the water.

Oh and also re: corner kicks, 6 YARD BOX + your best header guy CHALLENGING KEEPER = defenders with oodles of goals at the end of the season.

ah, palermo. i was jealous of their midfield starting as spurs. how those younger kids performing?

Edison Cavani can easily become one of the best players on the game if you groom him right.

Mark Bresciano, on the other hand, can't.

I've had decent luck w/ Bresciano in previous games, are you playing him in the center or on the left?

shit, i bought him in that game. haven't played it since.

hot tip darragh: don't sell Dervite. Just loan him out until he's god thne play him. That's 4th placed Ipswich team up there? He's the cap'n. He'd make a perfect King replacement by, like, 2010.

who holds on to ledley king for that long? but thanks, will keep in mind.

don't suppose boateng/huddlestone are you're all conquering midfield pair?

ugh grammar.

Not mine, I'm playing Ipswich, remember? I actually use three midfielders in the starting XI, two M C and one DM C. I dunno if they're regens, I think not given their ages, but they're Younousse Sankhare, Eggert Jonsson, and Drissa Diakite. They are all AWESOME. I paid a fair bit for these guys, mind you.

I've never fancied using Huddlestone, he's highly rated by the game but too slw for my tastes. He sells high and I use the money on someone younger, faster, harder, stronger, etc

hollywood passes are always worth a place in the spurs midfield.

That's why I have a little dude named Younousse, seriously he's ridiculous.

Mustapha Hadji on a free to Redditch, first season. Possibly the best transfer I've made since nabbing Darren Jack on a free for Blyth on '07, maybe even Febian Brandy for Leyton Orient on... '05?

Also - Exodus Geohaghan. Utter, utter don.

HELP ME.

I started a game with a friend, I picked Leyton Orient, he was Brighton. His board wanted midtable, mine were happy for us to get relegated valiantly. So I got relegated valiantly, bought well in mid season, feel I have a good team with all areas covered, some nice loans from feeder club Spurs.

Only problem is I've got 11 points from the first 9 games in League Two. I've found FM2008 hard always, but this is proving really hard. I expected, with a few new faces, to really push for a promotion place in League Two but my form seems kind of the same.

I've been playing quite a high tempo and tend to go a goal up and then concede one or two in the second half. Is it worth changing formations to defend a lead? I used to think in FM you'd just keep playing as you were doing and go for the jugular but that isn't working.

I guess I'm saying I haven't "cracked" FM 2008 yet.

I've been playing Direct or Long Ball straight 4-4-2, hard tackling and high tempo.

I'm now thinking of changing formation. I've considered 4-3-3 cos I have a string of great strikers. I've also considered 3-5-2 cos I have lots of good mids. Finally I was thinking of changing my style to "passing".

Any general advice? This is embarassing, my friend got sacked and is now manager of Rochdale but he's doing well!

I could rewrite all the stuff in this thread and try and pass it off as my own, but 95% of the knowledge you need for FM08 is here: http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=7202

Just got King's Lynn Town promoted in my first season with them, and making a decent stab at a playoff spot in my second.

As a rule of thumb, I've found FM08 really favored palying with just one striker and two AMCs behind him. Also, I've been having good result with relatively slow tempos and keeping the "counter attack" always on.

Counter-attack on seems to be commonly praised, I must try that.

That thread looks great btw Dom, thanks a lot. Now to remotivate star striker Adam Boyd!

I got April Fooled today cos I reached April 1 in game. Bastards.

Although if I'd given it a moment's thought I'd've realised the Board at Lincoln weren't likely to inject £500M into the club as we fail to reach the League 2 play-offs.

football is a cruel mistress. i'm not allowed buy the new FM, so i guess there are crueller mistresses out there though.