Football Manager Series Catch-All

Yeah, I think the biggest club I ever did a FM game with was Leverkusen. I find it exponentially more fun to start with a team where you have to wheel and deal, and end up making heroes out of players you've never heard of before, rather than being Real Madrid and just running down the list of players everybody already knows is great.

Don't get me wrong, there's a hell of a challenge to being the best for years in a row (I've never even sniffed winning a single-season Sextuple in England [Premier League/FA Cup/League Cup/Champions League/Club World Cup]), but there's nothing like building a team from nowhere to knock the big boys off their f**king perch.

Dammit.... now my LLM-itis is flaring up again....

Prederick wrote:

Y'know, I've said this before, but after the last week of watching Messi utterly annihilate everything in front of him, I'd like to repeat again that FM Messi (at least when the AI is in control of him) literally isn't 1/3rd as good as real-life Messi.

and I get why they do that, SI probably wants to maintan a sense of in-game balance, and properly showing how head, shoulders and torso above everyone else Messi is would probably throw off the Game Engine somehow but....

...Good God, it's just so insane. I've played about 6 or 7 FM seasons now, and Messi has never cleared 30 goals in all competitions. Ever.

Real-life Messi hasn't scored fewer than 38 goals in all competitions since 2008. He's scored less than 30 league goals in that time frame three times.

It's the same thing with Ronaldo, where the players are so good in real life, they genuinely risk breaking the game by accurately modeling him. Because an in-form Messi/Ronaldo are literally unplayable.

Old farts might remember Tó Madeira (and/or Kabba Samura).

Believe me, though I found Tó Madeira on my own strength without the spoilers of internet. There is no fun after 2 seasons. IRL possibly the reason why Neymar left Barca - it didn't matter what he did, cause Messi was already there.

In FM, where every skill is measured on a scale of 20, they would need to scale everyone except Ronaldo (on every athletic/mental ability) and Messi (on every technical/mental ability) back to like 13 or 14. Which would compress everyone else in a much smaller spectrum. Players in my team (Anderlecht) would than have like 7-8 technique and dribbling, Hazard and Neymar would top out at 15 maybe...

Now I want a mod that does this.

If you're an old enough fart you'll remember when a certain player was in the database as "Sulzeer Campbell."

What a great find he was - could play central defence or up front and would mature into a ridiculous player in almost every save. If you acted fast he would jump from Spurs reserves to some really low teams. I managed to get him in at Telford, I think.

I don't remember that one, but I remember some Icelandic (?) youth called Sigthorsson, who I never seemed to be able to find because the 'th' was actually a different character that looked like a pregnant woman (or fat bloke) that I couldn't replicate. And searching by part of the name just brought up loads of hits.

I also remember the legendary Kennedy Bakircioglu, although for some reason he never played as well for me as he did for others.

Andri Sigþórsson!

I actually learned the ALT code for þ (0254) back in the day so I could refer to him correctly.

Nerd points to all of you!

I'm impressed.

Sigþórsson!

Last name I will drop before we get whipped into FM19..

Peter Prospar

I came in on CM 01/02, and all I remember is Julius Aghahowa was an AMAZING signing because back then, high physical statistics basically made you unplayable.

My favourite "I found him before anyone told me" moment was Marko Pantelic.

Not only was he a really great forward who'd bang in goals anywhere who was happy to sign for some penniless dirge in the Croatian Potato Farmer's Fourth Division (North), but because of the lower-league habit of nicknaming players he immediately gained fame as "The Pantylicker."

Mr Bismarck wrote:

Andri Sigþórsson!

I actually learned the ALT code for þ (0254) back in the day so I could refer to him correctly.

That's the badger !

Also reminded me of another in the list of 'CM hidden gems that people go on about but were less than stellar for me..', the underwhelming Tommy Svindal Larson (FM08 sort of time ?)

It's astonishing whenever I watch League 1/2 highlights now and the only people I recognise are the managers, the list of ones signed by me in CM98 onwards is quite terrifying. I do have problems reconciling the over-exuberant ginger ball of barely repressed anger that is Neil Lennon, Celtic manager with the 'quick, get on the phone and sign him in the first week' legend that was Neil Lennon, Crewe AM.

A Real-Life FMing!

Bolivian club Nacional Potosí hosted Venezuelan club Zulia last night in a Copa Sudamericana match, South America’s equivalent to the Europa League. Nacional had 79 percent possession of the ball and popped off a staggering 54 shots. Zulia took just six shots all night and completed just 47 percent of their passes. Somehow, Zulia won, 1-0.

I hope Nacional's manager went home and immediately made an angry post on the SIGames forums.

SortitoutSI !!

Still, we've all been there, haven't we ?

I swear Jussi Jääskeläinen did that to me every time when he was at Bolton.

Well, in my current game as Celtic I've managed to scrape out of the CL group (Bayern, Man Utd and CSKA), getting 9 points from 2 wins over Man U and an away win over CSKA to finish a distant second to Bayern - who only beat me 1-0 on both occasions. Last game was a bit nerve wracking though - home to CSKA and threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1. Thankfully United were away at Bayern and also got beat, so that's us through to the next round.

Where we draw....Man City. Who are currently top of the Premiership.

Ah well, getting to the knockout stage was all the Board expected.

/bursts into flames

So I started a new game with Red Star FC in Paris, and our first season has been going great. We're 3rd in Ligue 2, just a point behind the team in 2nd with a genuine shot at promotion this year, but that's not what I'm talking about right now.

We managed to get all the way to the Coupe de la Ligue Final (the French League Cup equivalent), against of all teams, f*cking PSG.

So 90 minutes pass, and despite being outshot 20-9, we're holding our own and it's 0-0 headed into extra time. Then, in the 110th minute, Yura Movsisyan, my infurating, temperamental dickhead striker I signed to lead our attack and who, prior to today, has three goals in 13 starts and has been almost entirely disappointing, heads home from a corner to put us 1-0 up.

Then PSG come forward looking for an equalizer, and my winger manages to catch them on a counter, having his header saved by Buffon but putting in the equalizer. 2-0 after 114 minutes.

Then, in the second half of extra-time, PSG turns the ball over in attack, leading to yet another break, and Movsisyan, who I genuinely have loathed this season for his inability to play well consistently, turns in a cross to make it 3-0 after 118 minutes and turn us, Red Star Paris FC, a team that has not been in Ligue 1 since 1974-75, into Coupe de la Ligue winners and Europa League contestants.

3-0. Over PSG. And I'd like to make clear, I checked their schedule: This is literally the worst defeat PSG had suffered all season long. They'd only lost 3-0 once before, and that was a Friendly to Koln.

I am literally post-coital right now. Even if we don't get promoted, Red Star Paris FC is in the Europa League next year, and we won the first Coupe de la Ligue in our history by beating motherf*cking PSG.

I have half a mind to quit this save now and just leave it, it can't get better than this.

EDIT: Did I listen to this like 5 times after winning? YOU BET YOUR ASS I DID.

One of those moments that make FM what it is - well done Pred.

My Celtic save has ground to a halt, largely because (as usual) I have fallen out with the clique of players at the top, largely because I recognised that Craig Gordon wasn't good enough and replaced him. Cue the whining of the usual suspects (Griffiths and particularly Brown), who got my usual response...demotion to the reserves and a spot on the transfer list. Time for a new challenge.

And I'm thinking...Hertha Berlin. Never really won anything, and judging by the outcry at their sponsoring of a polar bear cub at Berlin zoo, about as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip. Apparently they were even voted 'Bundesliga team you hate most' by their own fans - which I find difficult to believe in a league that contains Bayern Munchen, but that's what it said on the BBC website

I've got to be honest Pred: until the very last, I expected it to end with "and then PSG scored four goals in three minutes, two undeserved penalties and an own goal. When my captain sustained a three year injury the referee blew the final whistle. "

Nice win Prederick! I saw your screen capture on Steam and was trying to figure out what was going on.

dejanzie wrote:

I've got to be honest Pred: until the very last, I expected it to end with "and then PSG scored four goals in three minutes, two undeserved penalties and an own goal. When my captain sustained a three year injury the referee blew the final whistle. "

My friend has a better story. He got FC Dinamo București all the way into the Champions League knockouts, where he drew Manchester City. He figured "screw it, we're going to get obliterated", so he let his Assistant take control of the first leg.

He wins 5-0 at home, takes control for the away leg, loses 3-1 but goes through 6-3 on aggregate.

Dinamo București. Over Manchester City.

Mine was a one-off, he literally beat them over two legs (even if his assistant manager took control of the first game).

EDIT: I also got my comeuppance in the next game against Sochaux, when we outshot them 18-2 and lost 3-1.

I think I just saw the most infuriating FMing in history, and it didn't even happen to me.

Mainz were TWO POINTS behind Frankfurt on the final day of the Bundesliga season (Yes, 1 and 2 are Frankfurt and Mainz, anyway).

Frankfurt was playing Bayern Munich, so all Mainz had to do, was hope Frankfurt lost and beat Hoffenheim.

Frankfurt lost 3-1.

And Mainz.......

Only a 7.2 for the keeper seems wrong somehow...

Ouch.

Fifteen shots on target and the lone striker got a 6.3 ? I'm thinking that the bulk of the shots must have been from long range.

THEY HAD FIVE CLEAR CUT CHANCES!!!!!

All fell to the midfielders.

And don't blame me, I don't control your save's RNG.

Probably

Ah, it's always nice when real-life throws up a FMing.

"Weaknesses - were poor at finishing".

47 shots, 18 on target and no goals. You might be right there, Sherlock.

Empoli - 3 shots, 1 on target, were "effective at creating goalscoring opportunities from counter attacks.". Must have been in some other match.

Yeah, the long list of positives and the one "were poor at finishing" weakness is good humor.

47 shots and no goals. That would almost be hard to accomplish if you were trying to achieve it.

Goalkeeper got a 10.0 though.

Not sure if this belongs anywhere else, but is anyone interested in backing this Kickstarter for a board game called Counter Attack? I'm tempted to give it a go.