[Archived] Football Manager 2009

[Bazzanotsogreat]

I have played CM/FM for over 10 years and this latest instalment is the worst I have played on. It has so many bugs it makes the game virtually unplayable.

It has become so difficult to win against AI even with top notch players. Take strikers for an example- you can have striker with 18 + for finishing/composure yet they will miss ten good chances a game, yet the AI Strikers will bag virtually every chance with stats as low as 13 for finishing. Then we have the GK situation, it is not uncommon for me to have 12-14 shots on target ( without scoring) yet the opposition will have a couple and score twice. Yes this happens in the ‘real game’ but this happened every other game on FM 09.

Don’t get me wrong I love a challenge- but the game is far to unrealistically hard- I have played arsenal 4 times so far and in all 4 games I have yet to see Adebayer get tackled once even with 3-4 players after him.

If they don’t solve these huge problems then I for one probably won’t be buying the game next year.

[BlueWhiteDynamite]

Derbyshire - West Brom (4.3M)

Sold too quickly and cheaply, i've been able to get 11m and 9 mill + add ons on the 2 games i've played. Needs to be sold at xmas.

Replaced with van der vaart who becomes listed at real and will sell for 9.25 mill, bit unrealistic but i'm just using the latest patch and original database. for a decent wage he'll come.

[benhben]

Does sending your assistant to press conferences all the time have any negative effects on your stats or team? I cant be arsed with them anymore so always send my assistant.

The thing that is really starting to annoy me is the amount of outrageous goals I conceed when im winning in the last few minutes. Last two games, 4-1 up against villa and draw 4-4, with milner scoring from 30 yards and conceed an equalizer on 94 mins and 35 seconds out of 4 mins injury time. NExt game 1-0 up v everton, conceed another 30 yarder to make it 1-1 and conceed another in injury time. So annoying, seems so scripted.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I only go for big games. It bores me most of the time. I think as long as you've got a decent assistant then it's fine.

[benhben]

I only go for big games. It bores me most of the time. I think as long as you've got a decent assistant then it's fine.

I still have Mathis lol

[DE.]

FM09 is the best installment of the series since 03/04. However, it is a lot harder, you have to know what you're doing and continually tweak your tactics, just as in real life, to get something out of your games. Training is also very important. Bugs have not made the game 'virtually unplayable' to me at all, I'm very much enjoying it, and it is an improvement over 08.

Sold too quickly and cheaply, i've been able to get 11m and 9 mill + add ons on the 2 games i've played. Needs to be sold at xmas.

Replaced with van der vaart who becomes listed at real and will sell for 9.25 mill, bit unrealistic but i'm just using the latest patch and original database. for a decent wage he'll come.

Perhaps, but I needed the money there and then, and by christmas I ddoubt his value would have gone up as I would not have been playing him at all. Derbs isn't good enough for a successful team. he wouldn't get anywhere near my first team.

Does sending your assistant to press conferences all the time have any negative effects on your stats or team? I cant be arsed with them anymore so always send my assistant.

The thing that is really starting to annoy me is the amount of outrageous goals I conceed when im winning in the last few minutes. Last two games, 4-1 up against villa and draw 4-4, with milner scoring from 30 yards and conceed an equalizer on 94 mins and 35 seconds out of 4 mins injury time. NExt game 1-0 up v everton, conceed another 30 yarder to make it 1-1 and conceed another in injury time. So annoying, seems so scripted.

do you set your tactics to go defensive in the last 10 minutes? If not, you need to. The AI usually changes to a 4-2-4 tactic and bombards your team with attacks for the last 10 mins or so if they are losing. You have to adjust your team to combat that threat or you will concede goals.

FWIW, currently 4th after 23 games. Solid squad, pretty consistant, strikers scoring and defenders doing their jobs well.

[Amo]

FM09 is the best installment of the series since 03/04. However, it is a lot harder, you have to know what you're doing and continually tweak your tactics, just as in real life, to get something out of your games. Training is also very important. Bugs have not made the game 'virtually unplayable' to me at all, I'm very much enjoying it, and it is an improvement over 08.

Then they should release FM09 Lite.

[DE.]

Then they should release FM09 Lite.

Eventually, I've been able to get good tactics, but it's taken time. Tweaking of tactics isn't even that hard - when you're defending a lead it's basic stuff like asking your team to defend deeper, pulling your fullbacks back, playing more narrow, telling your team to close down, etc. You didn't have to do these things in the earlier CM/FM's, which was fairly unrealistic. It's cool that your changes influence the games at every stage, though I do think FM is gearing a little too more towards sliders and specific tactical pointers when it'd be more realistic to give players general instructions.

If you want an easier game, on the other hand, it might be worth sticking with 07 or 08 with an update...

There's been far too much complaining about FM09 by spoilt fans. Play the latest Champ Manager to see a bad footy management sim. SI have done another good job this year, and I've enjoyed this FM the most since 03/04, which was an awesome game.

[benhben]

do you set your tactics to go defensive in the last 10 minutes? If not, you need to. The AI usually changes to a 4-2-4 tactic and bombards your team with attacks for the last 10 mins or so if they are losing. You have to adjust your team to combat that threat or you will concede goals.

How do you look at the oppositions in game formation (not the overview formation?) On the old football managers you could click on the opposition team to view updated tactics and ajust yours to suit. Cant seem to do that anymore.

[DE.]

How do you look at the oppositions in game formation (not the overview formation?) On the old football managers you could click on the opposition team to view updated tactics and ajust yours to suit. Cant seem to do that anymore.

Usually it will tell you in commentary whether or not the opposition haas switched to 4-2-4. Even if they haven't, if you're winning they will set to an attacking mentality, so it's aa good idea to go defensive in the last ten minutes anyway.

[BiggusLaddus]

The thing that is really starting to annoy me is the amount of outrageous goals I conceed when im winning in the last few minutes. Last two games, 4-1 up against villa and draw 4-4, with milner scoring from 30 yards and conceed an equalizer on 94 mins and 35 seconds out of 4 mins injury time. NExt game 1-0 up v everton, conceed another 30 yarder to make it 1-1 and conceed another in injury time. So annoying, seems so scripted.

Thats because it is. The game calculates the result before the match starts and recalcs a bit when tactical changes are made. This is why there are so many late goals (there were even more in '08) as the game needs a goal to give the result that it has already calculated. This is also why if you reload and replay the same match over and over you will usually get the same result over and over again.

Is anyone really struggling with injuries since the last patch came out? My game is almost back to demo levels of in game injuries. My strikers have also lost the ability to score, even one on ones and defenders still cannot defend and have not been able to since '08 first came out. It has taken two patches to make the 3d match engine usuable without the 30-40sec wait as it loads (gone completely now so obviously not needed in the first place).The random freezes when gonig to view previous match results are now gone, but I'm still getting occasional freezes when starting matches.

To top it off for me, when I installed the last patch the game decided to break itself so that it would not even load the main screen without crashing. There were other people with the same issue on the FM forum but no answer was coming from SI at all. The answer was actually buried deep within the forum and another member dug it out (it is an unresolved issue that affected '08 and had been answered back then).

I've been an FM and before it CM addict for years, but the last 2 releases have really turned me off. I'm sick of spending out money for a game that is barely more than a beta release of an updated database. I'm supposed to be a customer not a part of their testing team.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I'm considering getting this game this weekend after checking out the specs and it should run on my computer even though it’s not the newest.

Is it really as buggy as some of the forums for this game say it is? Am i better off waiting until some patches come out? Should i just stick with the previous version?

What's slightly worrying is that browsing numerous forums it doesn't look like there is any general consensus on whether the game is playable or not. For every post saying they can run the game fine there is another saying they have had all sorts of problems.

[BiggusLaddus]

I'm considering getting this game this weekend after checking out the specs and it should run on my computer even though it’s not the newest.

Is it really as buggy as some of the forums for this game say it is? Am i better off waiting until some patches come out? Should i just stick with the previous version?

What's slightly worrying is that browsing numerous forums it doesn't look like there is any general consensus on whether the game is playable or not. For every post saying they can run the game fine there is another saying they have had all sorts of problems.

Its had two patches already.

The first was an emergency one on release as the the demo had shown up a truly unplayable amount of injuries (3-4 per match) which had somehow not been noticed during testing... The second came out just before xmas and I've not had too much chance to play it so far as it ruined my installation of the game. My save game from the previous patch went a bit loopy with strikers refusing to score and defenders making unforced errors leading to goals every game so I'm just starting a new game now to give it one last chance to redeem itself. If this game has anything like as many problems as my previous ones then the game will be uninstalled and left that way for good.

With regard to the specs, you really should at least double the minimum specs that they quote, otherwise it will run very slowly indeed. THe 3d match engine looks ok on the highest graphics setting, but for an older pc it may look pretty choppy and jerky even on the lowest (matchstick men) setting. I started playing it on my old p4 3ghz with 1gb ram before I got a new pc and it was only barely playable on that.

[DE.]

Thats because it is. The game calculates the result before the match starts and recalcs a bit when tactical changes are made. This is why there are so many late goals (there were even more in '08) as the game needs a goal to give the result that it has already calculated. This is also why if you reload and replay the same match over and over you will usually get the same result over and over again.

Where did you hear this? It's wrong. That's not how the match engine works. By reloading a match over and over again and playing with the exact same formations, generally you will get the same result, won't you? FM isn't a totally random game, but the ME does not set a score in stone at the start of the match.

Is anyone really struggling with injuries since the last patch came out? My game is almost back to demo levels of in game injuries. My strikers have also lost the ability to score, even one on ones and defenders still cannot defend and have not been able to since '08 first came out. It has taken two patches to make the 3d match engine usuable without the 30-40sec wait as it loads (gone completely now so obviously not needed in the first place).The random freezes when gonig to view previous match results are now gone, but I'm still getting occasional freezes when starting matches.

I'm not having any of these problems. Sounds like your tactics need work? They're notoriously difficult on 09.

I've been an FM and before it CM addict for years, but the last 2 releases have really turned me off. I'm sick of spending out money for a game that is barely more than a beta release of an updated database. I'm supposed to be a customer not a part of their testing team.

I've really enjoyed FM08 and 09, and haven't experienced half the 'bugs' most people report. None of my friends have these issues either, it's just the normal FM annoyances - late goals, strikers missing easy chances, defenders losing focus - that have been there since 00/01. However, it happens in real life, too, and FM is miles ahead of the next closest competitor (Championship Manager). The whining about the game is more tedious than any bugs the game itself has.

I'm considering getting this game this weekend after checking out the specs and it should run on my computer even though it’s not the newest.

Is it really as buggy as some of the forums for this game say it is? Am i better off waiting until some patches come out? Should i just stick with the previous version?

What's slightly worrying is that browsing numerous forums it doesn't look like there is any general consensus on whether the game is playable or not. For every post saying they can run the game fine there is another saying they have had all sorts of problems.

I honestly don't think the game is as much buggy as people just unhappy that it's not as easy as it used to be. Buy it and give it a go - if you don't like it, take it back. I personally think it's the best SI have done since 03/04.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

It doesn't calculate the score before you play because you can put out a normal team and then half way through the game you can put your GK and everyone else in the opposition half and then your team will be thrashed into double figures. Which is surely proof that it doesn't know the score before you start.

I've started a new game with Rovers (I've been Saints since I got FM playing negative football) and i'm enjoying total domination and banging goals into the net. Since i've played FM09, it's took time to adjust to different teams tactics and adjusting my own for most games and it's all about adapting to different situations to get the best result for your team. It's very enjoyable playing FM at the moment and it's great fun!

[Mc Love]

Aye wait til you start losing Tim

[DE.]

Finished 5th in the end with Rovers, would have snatched 4th if not for a pretty awful run at the end of the season. This season has started off poorly, but I suppose some new signings need time to gel...

[BiggusLaddus]

Where did you hear this? It's wrong. That's not how the match engine works. By reloading a match over and over again and playing with the exact same formations, generally you will get the same result, won't you? FM isn't a totally random game, but the ME does not set a score in stone at the start of the match.

The game is calculated upto half time based on your tactics, players ability, morale, weather, media etc. This is recalculated for the second half and also if you make any substitutions or tactical changes. How else could the game know which parts of the match to play back to you? The reason you lose 10-0 if you move your keeper up front is because it recalculates based on your new tactics (setting up the match, or whatever its called). There is a random element built in as well, but all of the above is true. Sorry. To be fair, the effects of this seem less pronounced in '09 than they have been in previous versions. In the past other players have experimented by replaying the same match upto 40 times and continually getting the same result. This is fairly established knowledge on the SI forum and I believe it has been confirmed by SI themselves.

I'm not having any of these problems. Sounds like your tactics need work? They're notoriously difficult on 09.

Sorry but that is just the lazy, stock response. How can my tactics tell a striker whether to shoot straight at the keeper or not? This is another known issue since the second patch and is being looked at for the third. It seems to be something to do with defenders not being good enough to stop through balls, so to keep the score lines realistic they have nerfed the strikers. I'm not having a problem winning games, I took Rovers to 4th in the first season with a 21game unbeaten run so I'm happy with my approach to tactics.

I've really enjoyed FM08 and 09, and haven't experienced half the 'bugs' most people report. None of my friends have these issues either, it's just the normal FM annoyances - late goals, strikers missing easy chances, defenders losing focus - that have been there since 00/01. However, it happens in real life, too, and FM is miles ahead of the next closest competitor (Championship Manager). The whining about the game is more tedious than any bugs the game itself has.

Congratulations, I'm happy for you. But just because you have not experienced the bugs does not mean that many others haven't either. They didn't put out an emergency patch on release day for a laugh. The mad amount of injuries was not picked up in testing but were noticed immediately by everyone who played the demo.

I honestly don't think the game is as much buggy as people just unhappy that it's not as easy as it used to be. Buy it and give it a go - if you don't like it, take it back. I personally think it's the best SI have done since 03/04.

Disagree about the bugs, on that score I think it is the worst they have done that I can remember, but agreed about giving it a go to see if you like it or not. I'm sure it will be a great game in march, after the third or fourth patch, just like last years version was. Its just extremely annoying to pay out for a game that isn't finished. And I think SI accept this, which is why they are having a big recruitment drive on beta testers for next years release.

[DE.]

The game is calculated upto half time based on your tactics, players ability, morale, weather, media etc. This is recalculated for the second half and also if you make any substitutions or tactical changes. How else could the game know which parts of the match to play back to you? The reason you lose 10-0 if you move your keeper up front is because it recalculates based on your new tactics (setting up the match, or whatever its called). There is a random element built in as well, but all of the above is true. Sorry. To be fair, the effects of this seem less pronounced in '09 than they have been in previous versions. In the past other players have experimented by replaying the same match upto 40 times and continually getting the same result. This is fairly established knowledge on the SI forum and I believe it has been confirmed by SI themselves.

I thought you meant the ME calculates the entire score at the beginning of the match. That explanation makes somewhat more sense.

Sorry but that is just the lazy, stock response. How can my tactics tell a striker whether to shoot straight at the keeper or not? This is another known issue since the second patch and is being looked at for the third. It seems to be something to do with defenders not being good enough to stop through balls, so to keep the score lines realistic they have nerfed the strikers. I'm not having a problem winning games, I took Rovers to 4th in the first season with a 21game unbeaten run so I'm happy with my approach to tactics.

Players miss one-on-ones in real life, too. It's a bug in FM, but it's been that way ever since I can remember ? Maybe I'm just used to it.

Congratulations, I'm happy for you. But just because you have not experienced the bugs does not mean that many others haven't either. They didn't put out an emergency patch on release day for a laugh. The mad amount of injuries was not picked up in testing but were noticed immediately by everyone who played the demo.

The demo WAS awful, probably put more people off buying it than vice-versa, but 9.2.0 seems to have cleared up a lot of the major bugs, except the ones that plague FM pretty much every single year. I don't think it makes the game unplayable by any stretch of the imagination, as some have suggested, it's just a bit of an annoyance (that, and randomly going on runs where you cannot score a goal to save your life despite having 100's of chances... but again, has been there since FM05).

Disagree about the bugs, on that score I think it is the worst they have done that I can remember, but agreed about giving it a go to see if you like it or not. I'm sure it will be a great game in march, after the third or fourth patch, just like last years version was. Its just extremely annoying to pay out for a game that isn't finished. And I think SI accept this, which is why they are having a big recruitment drive on beta testers for next years release.

Didn't FM08 only have 2 patches? 8.0.1 and 8.0.2? This game will liekly have 3 or 4 patches, but the main problem is not so much the match engine as the commentary making you think there are ridiculously easy clear cut chances (you would have put money on him to score, that was a sitter and he knows it, etc etc - reading those does my head in...) than there actually are... a lot of the chances aren't as clear cut as the commentary suggests. It badly need s a revamp, it's not really changed since 05 and with a reworked match engine the commentary has become unrealistic in how it describes the game.

obviously there are one on ones in the game which you'd expect your strikers to score... but if SI haven't been able to fix it in 4 years, why would they start now? They clearly don't think it's a big problem (even though it clearly is).

The only thing about FM09 that bugs me majorly is that sometimes I'll be winning, but unhappy about it. My team play terribly, create no chances, but still win... the players get match ratings of 7 and over, making it difficult to critisise them despite the fact they've played terribly (and this can continue on for a number of matches).

Also, with the same squad and tactics, my assistant is atm getting far better results than me ? My players will shoot at the goal all day and not score when i'm in charge, but when he takes charge, it's not a probem anymore... shame i'm on the 26k contract and he's on the 6k contract

Oh, there is one other problem with FM09. Arsenal. Far, far too good. They're bringing out an FM09 Arsenal Edition apparently... Arsenal's form, combined with the general poor form of Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool in this release suggests they've already got an Arsenal Edition. Where can I pick up a non-arsenal edition?

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Aye wait til you start losing Tim

To be fair though, it took a good few seasons to get the team I wanted with Saints. I lost a hell of a lot of games in my first two seasons by the odd goal as I had a very young side and no money to spend, so I played a defensive game in the style of George Graham Arsenal. Once all my youngsters got into their 20's, they became better players and my team played some excellent passing football and they didn't have to play the negative football anymore, Arsene Wenger style!

Now i'm Blackburn i'm hoping to be a bit of adventurous as they've got some great players and a bit of money to tweek my team.

At the moment i'm sitting 5th in the Premier League after 3 games. I beat Bolton away, Tottenham at home then got thumped by Arsenal away.

Players signed - Total Spent = £15.5m

Gianluca Palmiteri - Free

Michael Morton - 50k

Thando Mngomeni - £250k

Ryan Taylor - £3.8m

Thiago Silva - £4m

Oscar Cardozo - £7.5m

Players sold - Total Gained = £10.25m

Keith Andrews - £100k (loan)

Andre Ooijer - £900k

Jason Brown - £1.9m

Jason Roberts - £3.4m

Zurab Khizanishvilli - £4m

[benhben]

I got sacked as blackburn boss after finishing 13th! Not great but hardly worth the sack!

My team was so inconsitent it was infuriating. I drew with Man Utd 1-1, then got thumped 5-1 by portsmouth the next game, then next game beat chesea 2-1 away then game after that lost to Middlesborough 5-2. Next game beat wigan 1-0 then lost 5-1 to Spurs in the last game and got sacked. Mental.

[DE.]

After a good 5th placed finish on 08/09 my squad finished 10th in 09/10... very disappointing, we played awfully pretty much all season. I'm currently 5th with Rovers in 10/11, but I have no idea how, as we play pretty terribly in every match. We've just had more luck this year so far than last year. I ideally need to ship out some players and replace them with better ones, but the board only give me around 10 - 15M max each year, which is about 2 decent players. As a result, I have quite a few loans.

Out:

Lauren (Free)

Benni Mac (Free)

Eduardo Costa (2.2M)

Carlos Villanueva (6.5M)

Gally (Free)

Jason Brown (1.4M)

Glauber (3.5M)

Zat Knight (Free)

In:

Juan Arango (Loan)

Duda (Loan)

Ever Banega (Loan)

Ignacio Gonzalez (3.5M)

Didier Zokora (5.5M)

Lewin Nyatanga (500k)

Pablo Contreras (3M)

Ibrahim Toraman (4.5M)

Laurato Acosta (Loan)

Jaime Gavilan (5.75M)

Ever Banega has been awful, and Zokora, who I thought would solve my right back problem, has also been terrible, leading me to put Zebina back there despite his now being 32 and nowhere near as good as his first season current squad lines up as:

Leo Franco

Razvan Rat

Pablo Contreras

Ryan Nelsen

Jonathan Zebina

Jaime Gavilan

Willians Santana

Gerardo Torrado

Laurato Acosta

Marquinhos

Santa Cruz

They should be performing better... my problem is both Rat and Zebina are getting old (though Rat is still excellent), Nelsen and Contreras make countless mistakes, whilst Santana and Marquinhos are still young and getting used to the premiership. Plus Santa's form has as usual been on and off. Just sneaked a lucky win at home to bottom placed QPR onto Anfield next to get crushed.

[benhben]

Reloaded my game and managed to avoid the sack this time. Just sold Santa Cruz for £24m to Man City. There buying everone on my game. Dont know who to get to replace him. My squad is thread bare as im a tightass and enjoy making money off back up players. Just missed out on Saviola.

Bought Vagner Love as a younger replacement for £8m.

Need a right back and a good creative midfielder now.

[Guest Kamy100]

Oscar Cordoza (sp) and Pavel Prygabank (sp) are both very good strikers, you should be able to sign both for £8-£10 Million each. If you are looking for a midfielder then italian called Polombo is excellent.

I have uploaded my shortlist, it has most of the really good players on it.

Download it, go to shortlists, in the bottom right click shortlists, import and then import my shortlist.

Kamys FM2009 Shortlist

[benhben]

Sodding hell. Just noticed Vagner Love didnt get a work permit but I signed him anyway. So ive paid £8m for a striker I cant use!