Topic: Football Manager Series

[CheshireDave]

Played another few games last night of my Macclesfield save. I managed to beat Morecambe easy enough in the 1st round reply. The Sunderland game was a weird one. I set up cautious to start with until about the hour mark. It was 1-0 to them after an hour or so and they were dominating. So thought fuck it I will have a go. Changed both wingers, changed to positive and got the fullbacks overlapping. Managed to nick an equaliser. I thought it was heading to a reply (which to be honest I couldn’t be arsed with as the gate money for the reply would be shit and fixtures were piling up as it is) only for them to grab a winner in the 94th minute. 2-1 loss in front of 16,000 fans. So at least the gate money was helpful.

In game date is around the end of January a week or so before the window shuts. I still sit at the top of League 2, 9 points clear of 4th. As long as we don’t get loads of injuries/suspensions can’t see us not going up now. Whether we win the league or not who knows.

In terms of transfers only 1 player left the club in January (so far) and it was a right back. Already this season he’d been sent of 4 times, picked up 10+ bookings so got the bans for that and was injured for a month! So even though he is pretty decent I got rid. He went to Dag and Redbridge for £20k. His value was only £30k and his contact was up in the summer anyway. Sunderland have bid for my right midfielder Grant Ward (I also play him as a CM sometimes) too. I picked him up on a free last season and he’s my top earner (1.2k a week) and Sunderland have come in with a £400k bid for him. It’s a weird one because his natural position is right midfield (not right wing) which is not a position I use most of the time. He also has a release clause of £550k. He has a contract until the end of next season though. So I have two options really. Try and get them to pay the £550k (which the club desperately needs!) now or wait and see if I can get him to sign a new deal without a release clause in the hope of getting a bit more money. The latter option will almost certainly mean me paying him more than £1.2k a week. So I think I am probably going to see if I can get a bit more than £400k and flog him. If I am honest his numbers this season have not been great. Though that may be because I am playing him out of position. I was expecting the board to accept the £400k on my behalf to be honest. In terms of incoming transfers I picked up another loan. A young right back from West Brom until the end of the season. They didn’t require any wage contribution and I had just flogged a right back so just made sense. He is rapid. But not the best defensively. 

I have noticed this year it’s more costly to get loans in as lower league teams. In previous additions if you were a league 1 or 2 team you could take your pick of youngsters from big teams and they hardly ever wanted any wage contribution. But now most will require some sort of contribution and it’s often 100%

I will probably get through to the end of the season tonight and will try and work out how to get a couple of screenshots into a post on here. And sorry if there is typos in the above. I wrote it really quick as I am in work!

[ScottScott]

I've caved and bought this. Was gonna hold off but couldn't

Started with Sunderland to try and get them back to PL. Currently done preseason and 3 games in the League. 2 draws and a win has me in 6th and a win against Bolton in the LC has given me a game against Newcastle in the 2nd round to look forward to

Picked up Brewster, Jones and Lewis from Liverpool on loan until the end of the season and they have come in and helped straight away. Brewster with a couple of goals and Jones playing well. Brought Anton Ferdinand in as an emergency backup CB as well as we were a bit short. Hoping to get them to the PL in 3 years and then see what the future brings

[ScottishKopite]

I've caved and bought this. Was gonna hold off but couldn't

Started with Sunderland to try and get them back to PL. Currently done preseason and 3 games in the League. 2 draws and a win has me in 6th and a win against Bolton in the LC has given me a game against Newcastle in the 2nd round to look forward to

Picked up Brewster, Jones and Lewis from Liverpool on loan until the end of the season and they have come in and helped straight away. Brewster with a couple of goals and Jones playing well. Brought Anton Ferdinand in as an emergency backup CB as well as we were a bit short. Hoping to get them to the PL in 3 years and then see what the future brings

You can do a better job than Jack Ross haha

[Jake]

Loved FM2019, turned Liverpool into absolute tanks, won the league 10+ on the bounce, had 600m in the bank and a stadium named after me.

So went for Liverpool again in FM20 but the one thing I am struggling with is getting our fab three to score goals. 33 games in the league gone and we're still unbeaten(!) BUT we've only won 21 and drawn a massive 12! Salah only has 8 in the league, Bobby has 11 and Mane has 5! So the goals are a bit more spread out but my front three are missing so many chances. Anyone else finding the same?

[CheshireDave]

Anyone else finding the same?

Not managed Liverpool in FM20 to be honest but because I have the English leagues loaded I can see the Premier League tables and I think United won it in 2019/20 and are set to win it again in 2020/21. But last year's version any save I did and ones I followed on YouTube had Liverpool dominating for years. Perhaps Liverpool were overpowered in FM19. Not sure.

[Something Worse]

Loved FM2019, turned Liverpool into absolute tanks, won the league 10+ on the bounce, had 600m in the bank and a stadium named after me.

So went for Liverpool again in FM20 but the one thing I am struggling with is getting our fab three to score goals. 33 games in the league gone and we're still unbeaten(!) BUT we've only won 21 and drawn a massive 12! Salah only has 8 in the league, Bobby has 11 and Mane has 5! So the goals are a bit more spread out but my front three are missing so many chances. Anyone else finding the same?

4-2-3-1 gegenpress

Get an AMC in (I paid silly money for Havertz) and sell one of the CMs (they usually come in for Gini). Haven't checked yet but I'd guess Mane is at 11ish in January and Salah probably a few ahead.

Oh also this guy Kurzwa is a decent cheap LB from PSG, although his age demands are high. Great cover for Robbo for a couple of million.

Sunderland is a tempting proposition, what are their finances like?

[bailey90]

1v1's have never been great, but they seem worse than ever on this.

[ScottishKopite]

I have only went Liverpool on FM once think it was FM17 first game of season was V Tottenham and I was hammered 6.1 I stopped the save and deleted. I never go Liverpool I thought id give it a go and lasted one game I am not the best FM player and cant face getting beat being Liverpool or putting Kloppo out a job  .

I might start a new save over the Holidays.

[El Lobo]

Always find it a tiny annoyance that you can’t play as an existing manager on these.

[Welshred]

I'm still on 18, is this worth getting compared to that?

[FiSh77]

Always find it a tiny annoyance that you can’t play as an existing manager on these.

Yeah, I'd love to be Oleh and do an even worse job

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

Started unemployed, got an offer from Inter Miami, tried to build a squad but MLS's rules really make the game not fun at all so ditched that after I kinda got the sense of how to use their fictional GAM and TAM, salary cap contribution and draft allocations.

[ScottishKopite]

Has anyone ever managed Man United or Everton ?

I done career mode on fifa few years back with Everton started to win everything had a outstanding team which included Allison in goals Got sick of it and ditched it.

Football Manager - I don't really go anyone in the premier league don't like the huge wage bill and seeing you on 100k a week done Chelsea and Arsenal never got to far the deleted the save.

I prefer a team in League 1 battling relegation or promotion to championship .

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

So....is this worth getting over FM19?

[ScottishKopite]

So....is this worth getting over FM19?

I don't have it I normally get them every couple years see more of a difference every 2 year.

[CheshireDave]

Has anyone ever managed Man United or Everton ?

God no

In terms of whether people should get this personally I am really enjoying FM20 but to be honest even if they didn’t change anything except the transfers I would still have got it. There is a few new features this year like Club vision (like a 5 year plan with year on year targets like for example win the league, only sign players under 28, stay within wage budget, improve club rep etc), tweaks to the youth development system and probably some other tweaks.

Re my Macclesfield save. I ended up winning League 2 in the second season. Quite easily in the end. The club gave me literally no extra wage/transfer budget and with a lot of my players on 1 year deals they all wanted a new contact but on league 1 money. Money I didn’t have! So we started the League 1 season with a skeleton squad and already over on the wage budget by a couple of grand! After 8 or 9 games I was 2nd or 3rd bottom with just 1 win and a draw or 2. The board were starting to get on my case so I decided I would walk. After 8 or 9 games into the Championship season Cardiff were struggling near the bottom of the league and had sacked their manager. So I interviewed and got the job. It’s a bit of a risk to be honest as personally I don’t think they have a squad to win the league but that’s what the board want/expect!! Only played 2 games so far. Beat Notts Forrest first up and then drew away to Bristol City.

[JerseyKloppite]

Got FM Touch for the Switch. Weird having played on PC my whole life but it's good fun!

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

The tactics is quite a bit hard having come from FM18 to be honest.

The amount of in-depth about it is a little bit more than what I expected especially when taking a lower league team with no budget, a terrible aging squad and an even worse backroom staff.

[Something Worse]

The tactics is quite a bit hard having come from FM18 to be honest.

The amount of in-depth about it is a little bit more than what I expected especially when taking a lower league team with no budget, a terrible aging squad and an even worse backroom staff.

4-2-3-1 gegenpress if you want to get some good results early, although you'll need the right type of forward.

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

4-2-3-1 gegenpress if you want to get some good results early, although you'll need the right type of forward.

I tried it with 1860 Munich, first three games were good but then once the league figured the press out and my defenders stopped functioning like humans, any long ball would beat the press and my defense & I would concede on average 6 goals per game which got me the sack as no amount of tweaking will help.

I have started a new one, starting unemployed and got the Hearts' job which is good. I read and watched a couple of tutorials on creating a tactic. Seems the best way is starting with a clean slate and then building the tactic depending on the team's strengths. My team is bad on dribbling and speed but are good with technique, vision, positioning, team work, aggressiveness, work rate & leadership. I am thinking of building a 4-2-3-1 akin to Rafa's 2008-09 system based on my assistant's report. We'll see.

[Fazak_Red]

Has anyone here done the Juve name fix and managed to make it work?

[CheshireDave]

Has anyone here done the Juve name fix and managed to make it work?

Yes. And it fixes the shortened Brazilian names and changes EURO Cup to Champions League etc. Can't remember if this only works on new saves though.

https://www.fmscout.com/a-fm20-real-names-license-fix.html

[wige]

I skipped FM19 after sinking hours and hours into FM18 and building a monstrous LFC that rarely bought any first-teamers and had a perfect youth production line, great times.

So, anyone else in same boat or at least able to articulate the major differences between 18 and 20? Alternatively, if anyone knows of a fully updated 19/20 database for FM 18 that'd be super!

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

I skipped FM19 after sinking hours and hours into FM18 and building a monstrous LFC that rarely bought any first-teamers and had a perfect youth production line, great times.

So, anyone else in same boat or at least able to articulate the major differences between 18 and 20? Alternatively, if anyone knows of a fully updated 19/20 database for FM 18 that'd be super!

I am.

It is much harder to build a proper side especially when I usually start with a weaker side and try to build them up. I looked into this video which helped a lot as it takes a top to bottom approach into how to build a tactic that suits your team but also not to far from how you want to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3wzBLEcXuI

On a sidenote, they need to fix:

A) Defenders freezing on long balls which results in a one v one with the keeper. Like literally stopping if a long ball is played behind them, even those with good positioning, marking, off the ball movement and awareness do it all the time. Very unrealistic.

B)Strikers missing absolute sitters 9 times out of 10. It is alarming how many times I get to the opponents six yard box only for my striker to shoot straight at the keeper or blast it way wide. It goes both ways too as the opponents striker misses a lot of their easy chances too but it is frustrating & unrealistic.

[ToneLa]

January 2022.

Liverpool is managed by Carlo Ancelotti(!)

Here's their lineup:



VVD is still in the squad, so is Gomez...

But Ancelloti didn't win the league.

[OsirisMVZ]

Funny that, I've been doing an Arsenal-rebuild game and Klopp (who won the CL in first season! Beat Shakhtar of all teams who knocked out a big club in every round) also bought Grimaldo, Milik and Dybala.

[themightybeard]

Anyone played the Switch version of this or previous years? I sometimes get the PC version but ultimately always get either bored or overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options. From what I've heard the Switch version is the touch / classic version of FM which is slightly more basic, and this would suit well if this is the case, but if there are performance issues then I'd give it a miss. Any views would be appreciated!

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

Anyone played the Switch version of this or previous years? I sometimes get the PC version but ultimately always get either bored or overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options. From what I've heard the Switch version is the touch / classic version of FM which is slightly more basic, and this would suit well if this is the case, but if there are performance issues then I'd give it a miss. Any views would be appreciated!

I got FM2020 on the switch and yes it is very condensed! There's no in depth media interaction etc and tactics are relatively straightforward. In essence, you are picking a team and playing. The controls take a little time to get used to, but once you're up to speed its easy to navigate. Performance wise, I'm only running English leagues from League 2 upwards - its a small database of players and gave an estimated speed of 4 stars. As soon as you add any other league it drops to 2 stars - so if you're wanting multiple leagues and a huge database, this isn't the option for you.

[Garrus]

Anyone played the Switch version of this or previous years? I sometimes get the PC version but ultimately always get either bored or overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options. From what I've heard the Switch version is the touch / classic version of FM which is slightly more basic, and this would suit well if this is the case, but if there are performance issues then I'd give it a miss. Any views would be appreciated!

FMT on Switch restricts you to loading 3 nations with a 30 season limit. If you've got a solid enough PC (i.e., you were able to run FM 17,18 or 19), you can maybe look at getting FMT on steam for the best experience. The plus side is you can try the free demo to see if it suits you and works well on your PC. There are no season or nation limits on the PC version.

I can't comment on Switch performance as I only ever play the PC version but with an 8 year old laptop, I'm able to load 8 or 9 major nations with no troubles at all.

Like you say FMT is definitely more streamlined but the tactics module and match engine are the same as the full game so you will not be missing out there.

[themightybeard]

I got FM2020 on the switch and yes it is very condensed! There's no in depth media interaction etc and tactics are relatively straightforward. In essence, you are picking a team and playing. The controls take a little time to get used to, but once you're up to speed its easy to navigate. Performance wise, I'm only running English leagues from League 2 upwards - its a small database of players and gave an estimated speed of 4 stars. As soon as you add any other league it drops to 2 stars - so if you're wanting multiple leagues and a huge database, this isn't the option for you.

To be honest this sounds fine to me. Whenever I get FM I think 'oh yeah I'm gonna have the top 5 leagues and there'll be loads of players and it'll be fantastic to have all of this choice' and then I eventually end up going for an English club buying English based players anyway.

I'm not that fussed about having media interaction or complex tactics either to be honest so these wouldn't be black marks against it at all

Thank you - I will have a think about it.

[themightybeard]

FMT on Switch restricts you to loading 3 nations with a 30 season limit. If you've got a solid enough PC (i.e., you were able to run FM 17,18 or 19), you can maybe look at getting FMT on steam for the best experience. The plus side is you can try the free demo to see if it suits you and works well on your PC. There are no season or nation limits on the PC version.

I can't comment on Switch performance as I only ever play the PC version but with an 8 year old laptop, I'm able to load 8 or 9 major nations with no troubles at all.

Like you say FMT is definitely more streamlined but the tactics module and match engine are the same as the full game so you will not be missing out there.

Appreciate the response mate. I don't really mind those restrictions to be honest as I tend to revert to the same three nations, if not only one, anyway. I may check out the free demo though on Steam though. Thanks!

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

Funny that, I've been doing an Arsenal-rebuild game and Klopp (who won the CL in first season! Beat Shakhtar of all teams who knocked out a big club in every round) also bought Grimaldo, Milik and Dybala.

Us buying Milik and Grimaldo is recurring on every save I have seen this year almost like the game is scripted to have Liverpool pay obscene amount of money for these two.

[ToneLa]

The realities of a non-PL club: you develop a young player well, offer them a new contract with a release clause of 100m, then your board sell them for 10m as the offer was "too good to turn down" 

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

I started a save on the switch with Birmingham City - thought it'd be a decent challenge to get them into the Prem.

Board set the targets with promotion expected at the end of the third season - should be achievable! No money available for transfers, so looking to exploit the loan market and Mikey Johnston of Celtic is signed and hits the ground running with a hat trick on debut in a 5-0 thrashing of Den Haag.

Fast forward through the season - I've spent all season generally between 4th and 6th. A good end to the season saw me push up to the promotion places and a win on the final day coupled with West Brom drawing sees me crowned champions!

Now to prep for the Prem...I've raided liverpool for Herbie Kane and Chirivella for a total of £2.5M and signed Hoever on loan. Mikey Johnston is back on loan again after a cracking season last year.

We start with a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, a home win against Burnley, another draw against West Ham and defeat to Norwich. After 4 games we're 10th on 5 points. Then disaster - 12 straight losses, including thrashings away to Bournemouth, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

I cannot buy a point anywhere and no tactic seems to rescue me

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

I started a save on the switch with Birmingham City - thought it'd be a decent challenge to get them into the Prem.

Board set the targets with promotion expected at the end of the third season - should be achievable! No money available for transfers, so looking to exploit the loan market and Mikey Johnston of Celtic is signed and hits the ground running with a hat trick on debut in a 5-0 thrashing of Den Haag.

Fast forward through the season - I've spent all season generally between 4th and 6th. A good end to the season saw me push up to the promotion places and a win on the final day coupled with West Brom drawing sees me crowned champions!

Now to prep for the Prem...I've raided liverpool for Herbie Kane and Chirivella for a total of £2.5M and signed Hoever on loan. Mikey Johnston is back on loan again after a cracking season last year.

We start with a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, a home win against Burnley, another draw against West Ham and defeat to Norwich. After 4 games we're 10th on 5 points. Then disaster - 12 straight losses, including thrashings away to Bournemouth, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

I cannot buy a point anywhere and no tactic seems to rescue me

If they're OK with you being a yo-yo club then that's fine. You can build something like what Sean Dyche did with Burnley before establishing yourself in the PL.

[ToneLa]

Oof, top in the Championship now. One of my youth players got a bid in from Barca.. and I rejected it, and he wasn't arsed 

That's what I want. Fuck Barca in this game as well as in life. Can't wait to batter Everton in the PL. Got my tactics spot on, beating teams 4 nil and the like right now, with a 10 behind a complete forward, and inside forwards rather than wingers; midfield is a deep lying playmaker and box to box midfielder, high tempo, not afraid of long balls!

[Something Worse]

I've caved and bought this. Was gonna hold off but couldn't

Started with Sunderland to try and get them back to PL. Currently done preseason and 3 games in the League. 2 draws and a win has me in 6th and a win against Bolton in the LC has given me a game against Newcastle in the 2nd round to look forward to

Picked up Brewster, Jones and Lewis from Liverpool on loan until the end of the season and they have come in and helped straight away. Brewster with a couple of goals and Jones playing well. Brought Anton Ferdinand in as an emergency backup CB as well as we were a bit short. Hoping to get them to the PL in 3 years and then see what the future brings

Any updates on this? Started a Sunderland game last night and got Brewster. Miles better than any other player in the team.

[Elzar]

I started a save on the switch with Birmingham City - thought it'd be a decent challenge to get them into the Prem.

Board set the targets with promotion expected at the end of the third season - should be achievable! No money available for transfers, so looking to exploit the loan market and Mikey Johnston of Celtic is signed and hits the ground running with a hat trick on debut in a 5-0 thrashing of Den Haag.

Fast forward through the season - I've spent all season generally between 4th and 6th. A good end to the season saw me push up to the promotion places and a win on the final day coupled with West Brom drawing sees me crowned champions!

Now to prep for the Prem...I've raided liverpool for Herbie Kane and Chirivella for a total of £2.5M and signed Hoever on loan. Mikey Johnston is back on loan again after a cracking season last year.

We start with a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, a home win against Burnley, another draw against West Ham and defeat to Norwich. After 4 games we're 10th on 5 points. Then disaster - 12 straight losses, including thrashings away to Bournemouth, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

I cannot buy a point anywhere and no tactic seems to rescue me

Just go simple with your tactics again, bring in a few squad players to the team, maybe a talented youngster. Keep it fresh.

[ToneLa]

Yess!! In the Carabou Cup we've drawn...

EVERTON

  may as well be a bye!

[ScottScott]

Any updates on this? Started a Sunderland game last night and got Brewster. Miles better than any other player in the team.

Just seen this. Update as of the 1st week of February (in-game)

Currently sat in 5th in the league. Very inconsistent form with a few wins, few draws and a couple of defeats over a 10 game period really stopping me from pushing into the top 2. I've taken some big scalps in the League Cup and FA Cup so far. League Cup I beat Newcastle, Villa and Fulham before getting beat by City. In the FA Cup I beat Palace in the 3rd round and took City to a replay in the 4th round before getting beat 4-2 away at the Ethiad. I'm still in the Checkatrade or whatever it's called as well

Player wise I brought in Brewster, Jones and Lewis from Liverpool at the start of the season. Brewster and Jones have been crucial so far and Brewster is the best player in the league, currently on 15 goals for me. In Jan I brought in Max Kilman from Wolves to bolster my CB/LB position and I've just brought in Herbie Kane to give me some more in the DM slot. He's played the last 3 for me and has been excellent

Aim is for automatic promotion but would obviously take going up in the playoffs. Lots of deadwood to get rid of come the end of the season through not renewing contracts and I've got my eye on a few players from the PL who will be released who will be able to help me move forward