[Archived] Football Manager 2011

[Amo]

Does FM2011 have the PL badges? I always get fed up of having to download and install them for the unlicensed leagues.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Are there a lot of bugs on this version and do we have to wait for a patch to really get into it like in some previous versions of the game?

[sloth_frattelli]

Started out as an unemployed 25 year old former Sunday League footballer looking to earn his crust in the managerial world, got to February and was still looking...

Started again and took on Cheltenham Town, they were tipped to finish 24th in League 2 so I'm hoping to lift them to glory in the least possible time.

The Premier League badges aren't in the game, neither are the kits or club badges. Lower leagues have all of these.

The only bug I noticed was when I applied for a job and got two notifications in my inbox, then got rejected twice having only applied once..!

First impressions - 10/10

[brfcjon]

I can recommend using the offer via the dugout. FM11 for 26 quid is OK I think.

[SamTheShrew]

This is going to be my post-PGCE summer treat - Hopefully by the time I buy it in July the update will be out with our VH group cash!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Just bought the game.

What tactics are people using as Blackburn? Anyone found any good players?

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Just bought the game.

What tactics are people using as Blackburn? Anyone found any good players?

442 as always.

Top buys

Wilshire (loan)

Defour Standard

Kadlec Prague loan or Transfer

Lukalu Anderlect loan or Transfer

Adam Vass Transfer Ferencvaros

Tom Huddlestone Loan

Jo Loan Man City

Paulo Henrique transfer Santos

Vegard Forren Molde Transfer

If you have 10 million to spend

Eden Hazard Lille

Abel Hernández Palermo

[sloth_frattelli]

Started out as an unemployed 25 year old former Sunday League footballer looking to earn his crust in the managerial world, got to February and was still looking...

Started again and took on Cheltenham Town, they were tipped to finish 24th in League 2 so I'm hoping to lift them to glory in the least possible time.

The Premier League badges aren't in the game, neither are the kits or club badges. Lower leagues have all of these.

The only bug I noticed was when I applied for a job and got two notifications in my inbox, then got rejected twice having only applied once..!

First impressions - 10/10

How's everyone getting on?

As Cheltenham boss I've just entered the new year in my first season and we're sitting, proudly, in 22nd - whoop. It's so tough at the bottom, I've no budget or funds available at all to make any improvements. A draw against any other side feels like a hard fought victory and I'm constantly having to try and lift the morale of my players.

The board confidence is still good though and I haven't promised any miracles, only that I'll avoid relegation. Hoping to make some money in January through player sales and maybe pick up a bit of form and add to our 4 wins this season so far.

[Clitherover]

Started again as Accy Stanley with a pants team and not much wage budget to go on.

Brought a Man U kid Robbie Brady who is awesome for a loan move, a borough player and a dingle (both good on paper but not brilliant performers atm) on loan and signed a Fulham reject King Gyan ,(good stats for low league but a bit raw atm also) and Benedict Akwuegbu who can fair knock em in on his day, annoyingly every single manager i play against analyses his threat as a player and his morale is always rock bottom, never got this on earlier versions of FM so i'm hoping it's a bug which will be fixed.

Not setting the league alight in 18th position in November 2010 but hoping for better things next season when half of the deadwood's contracts have run out.

This is going to be my post-PGCE summer treat - Hopefully by the time I buy it in July the update will be out with our VH group cash!

I wouldn't wait that long, £5 Million and a KFC voucher is the most we could hope for.

[BigJackWalker]

whens the next patch out?

I want Venky money lol :")

[sloth_frattelli]

Has anybody else's game crashed on them? I've a bad habit of forgetting to save my game regularly and when it crashes I can't be arsed re-doing it all again. I found a glitch that made it crash when I made a board request with Woking..?

Anyway, after the last crash I started again with Crewe who were expected to finish mid-table, so I took over and made no promises to aspire to anything better than that. I brought in my own staff including Dean Ashton as coach, and made a few excellent deals with freebies and loans. I brought in King Gyan, a young defensive midfielder that Fulham had deemed surplus to requirements and bought Ross Perry, a young centre back from Rangers for £10k. Also secured the services of Ali Fuseini, another centre/attacking midfielder, 25 year-old striker Koroma Toure and Ariel Jabulowski (RB/RM).

We struggled to nail down a decent formation for a while, I had to keep adjusting to find out what worked best. We seemed to be leaking too much at the back for any progress to be made so I went with a counter-attacking 5-3-2 and haven't looked back since. Come Christmas morale was high and we were on the brink of the play-off positions. I set up an affiliation with West Brom who were kind enough to loan me an attacking midfielder/striker called Reuben Reid (the headline said 'West Brom offer Reid loan' and I thought - 'not our Steve-o!?'), this guy Reid came in and did the business when Toure (our top goalscorer) broke his arm and helped to push us further up the table...

We went on an amazing run after January which seen us win 6 games in a row and into an automatic promotion spot, competing with the likes of Bury, Wycombe and Oxford. They seemed to be struggling against lesser teams who were scrapping for points but with my set-up it seemed the more teams attacked, the better for us as it fitted nicely with our counter attacking approach and by now we were well drilled in this set-up. The only thing I missed with the 5-3-2 formation was not being able to take advantage of 1 or 2 decent wingers we had in the squad, I had to loan these players out to save morale.

Anyway, the title race came down to the last day. I was top of the league by two points and home to 3rd placed Bury while Wycombe in 2nd travelled to Stevenage. We needed only a point, providing Wycombe didn't win by at least four clear goals, and the nerves were there after a 1-0 away defeat to relegation candidates Barnet. Bury took the lead early on and we replied just before half-time through Toure, who was making his first appearance back from his broken arm. Second half I brought Calvin Zola on to replace the knackered Toure, and what a substitution - up like a salmon to head in a corner in the 59th minute. A 2-1 lead which remained in place until the final whistle - Crewe are the champions of League 2!

Everyone, from the board (whom I'd promised and budgeted for a mid-table) to former managers and players including Dario Gradi, Neil Lennon and Seth Johnson came out in the press to sing my praises.

I'm looking forward to next season now and as we'll be the underdogs for most games I think I'll stick with our tried and tested 5-3-2 counter attacking formation. Also looking forward to a decent foray into the bosman market to snaffle up some more t'riffic bargains. And this time, I've got my finger on the save button...

[grizfoot]

How's everybody finding it?

Donwloaded the demo but the skin is outright awful and I'm not a big fan of the 3D Match engine to be honest. Last FM I had was 2008 and it seems they've added a lot of new features since then, don't know if this was just the skin but I didn't find it that easy to navigate myway through the menus and thus I never really played the demo. Was wondering if the real game is actually much better and maybe worth buying?

[Heldacarite]

Not worth buying for those who have yet to buy the game,you should wait till the winter transfer window is over and the updates are added,the current transfer system is bugged and the set piece creator is bugged as well

[Clitherover]

How's everybody finding it?

Donwloaded the demo but the skin is outright awful and I'm not a big fan of the 3D Match engine to be honest. Last FM I had was 2008 and it seems they've added a lot of new features since then, don't know if this was just the skin but I didn't find it that easy to navigate myway through the menus and thus I never really played the demo. Was wondering if the real game is actually much better and maybe worth buying?

There's a dark skin in the full game which is much more pleasing on the eye, also you can switch to 2D like in older versions (can't see why anyone would want to though personally).

[grizfoot]

There's a dark skin in the full game which is much more pleasing on the eye, also you can switch to 2D like in older versions (can't see why anyone would want to though personally).

I personally prefer the 2D match engine it gives a better view of players positionings, also there's nothing quite like seeing one of your little circles score a 30 yard screamer and then run to the corner as they inevitably always do. Good news about the dark skins, much easier on the eye left you side and generally just look better.

Not worth buying for those who have yet to buy the game,you should wait till the winter transfer window is over and the updates are added,the current transfer system is bugged and the set piece creator is bugged as well

Probably going to get it in January but don't usual play it much till summer, hopefully they'll have fixed all the aforementioned bugs by then.

[eddiewac]

Well without any warning, apart from the club saying they were going to withdraw transfer funds, and despite selling 3 players, my club went into bloody administration! Could not believe it! I was 4th in the league with 44pts from 22 games and now i've got a 9pt deduction so I'm now 9th! Unbelievable!

[snatchymcsnatch]

Well without any warning, apart from the club saying they were going to withdraw transfer funds, and despite selling 3 players, my club went into bloody administration! Could not believe it! I was 4th in the league with 44pts from 22 games and now i've got a 9pt deduction so I'm now 9th! Unbelievable!

Could be worse, you could have found out your club had been taken over by chicken farmers and got the sack without any warning whatsoever.

[RoversSG]

Well without any warning, apart from the club saying they were going to withdraw transfer funds, and despite selling 3 players, my club went into bloody administration! Could not believe it! I was 4th in the league with 44pts from 22 games and now i've got a 9pt deduction so I'm now 9th! Unbelievable!

What was your bank balance at that time?

[Hughesy]

Got this on order so should have it early next week. £15 now on play

[The Gull]

Got this the other day, after 7 games bottom of the league and on the brink of the sack with zero points.

I changed the formationfrom 4-4-2 and I then went on a run of 7 games unbeaten, winning six, then lost one and drew one before having another 6 game unbeatem streak which sees me at 10th in the table. To be fair I have managed to avoid the big boys in those unbeaten runs but a win is a win.

No major signings made, Jenas came in on loan and has been pretty good.

I'm playing a 4-2-3-1 formation with mostly the following players:

Robinson (GK)

Emerton (RB)Wing Back

Olsson (LB)WIng Back

Samba (RCB)

Nelsen/Givet (LCB)

N'Zonzi (CM)Defensive

Jenas (CM) Box to Box

Dunn (AM)

Holiett (RW)

EH Diouff (LW)

Kalinic/MB Diouff (CF)

I have just got rid of Benjani in January, and had got rid of Grella, Andrews(loan) and Roberts at the start.

I have brought in a couple of strikers to supplement Kalinic and MB Diouff and an italian CM on a free. Jones, Linganzi, Goulon, Doran all acting as back up with Pedersen who was poor as LM but gets a game when needed in the CM or AM.

I am still trying to get to grips with it really but it seems the match preparation and all the training setting and stuff are a little more important in this versions, which means it takes a while to get it right,

The minium expectation for me is to finish top half but I was given very little money and even when I managed to go on the first unbeaten run I was very close to going apparently.

[RoversSG]

Anyone else got problem getting out of a slump? I started the season like a house on fire, got to 40 points by mid-dec, unbeaten and was in the top 3 then after i lost to Man City, went on a run of 8, 9 games without a win. I'm now in mid Feb and the news says that another bad result will result in my sacking!

Fyi, i sold Andrews, Roberts and Grella at the start then sold Benjani, Givet and Hitchcock in Jan. Bought Modise, Masilela (a south african left back), Tom (a bulgarian AM), Hodson and Annan. Playing a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with 2 wingers.

[dazmaz]

Anyone else got problem getting out of a slump? I started the season like a house on fire, got to 40 points by mid-dec, unbeaten and was in the top 3 then after i lost to Man City, went on a run of 8, 9 games without a win. I'm now in mid Feb and the news says that another bad result will result in my sacking!

Fyi, i sold Andrews, Roberts and Grella at the start then sold Benjani, Givet and Hitchcock in Jan. Bought Modise, Masilela (a south african left back), Tom (a bulgarian AM), Hodson and Annan. Playing a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with 2 wingers.

you used the same formation and tactic throughout? if so its worth bearing in mind that the AI adjusts its playing style, tactics ext based on the ones you have used. switch it up a bit and see if that helps.. also if in first season go to the board and ask for more time to build team as they will generally accept.

[roversfan99]

How do you set up an online game with a friend?

[RoversSG]

you used the same formation and tactic throughout? if so its worth bearing in mind that the AI adjusts its playing style, tactics ext based on the ones you have used. switch it up a bit and see if that helps.. also if in first season go to the board and ask for more time to build team as they will generally accept.

Yep, same formation but with some tweaks like pushing up the defence, changing to a counter-attacking style over the season. In any case, just started a new game with a 4-2-2-2 formation (2 wingers) and pre-season seems to be going great with Kalinic scoring 5 goals in one game!

[BangkokRover]

Has anybody else's game crashed on them? I've a bad habit of forgetting to save my game regularly and when it crashes I can't be arsed re-doing it all again. I found a glitch that made it crash when I made a board request with Woking..?

Anyway, after the last crash I started again with Crewe who were expected to finish mid-table, so I took over and made no promises to aspire to anything better than that. I brought in my own staff including Dean Ashton as coach, and made a few excellent deals with freebies and loans. I brought in King Gyan, a young defensive midfielder that Fulham had deemed surplus to requirements and bought Ross Perry, a young centre back from Rangers for £10k. Also secured the services of Ali Fuseini, another centre/attacking midfielder, 25 year-old striker Koroma Toure and Ariel Jabulowski (RB/RM).

We struggled to nail down a decent formation for a while, I had to keep adjusting to find out what worked best. We seemed to be leaking too much at the back for any progress to be made so I went with a counter-attacking 5-3-2 and haven't looked back since. Come Christmas morale was high and we were on the brink of the play-off positions. I set up an affiliation with West Brom who were kind enough to loan me an attacking midfielder/striker called Reuben Reid (the headline said 'West Brom offer Reid loan' and I thought - 'not our Steve-o!?'), this guy Reid came in and did the business when Toure (our top goalscorer) broke his arm and helped to push us further up the table...

We went on an amazing run after January which seen us win 6 games in a row and into an automatic promotion spot, competing with the likes of Bury, Wycombe and Oxford. They seemed to be struggling against lesser teams who were scrapping for points but with my set-up it seemed the more teams attacked, the better for us as it fitted nicely with our counter attacking approach and by now we were well drilled in this set-up. The only thing I missed with the 5-3-2 formation was not being able to take advantage of 1 or 2 decent wingers we had in the squad, I had to loan these players out to save morale.

Anyway, the title race came down to the last day. I was top of the league by two points and home to 3rd placed Bury while Wycombe in 2nd travelled to Stevenage. We needed only a point, providing Wycombe didn't win by at least four clear goals, and the nerves were there after a 1-0 away defeat to relegation candidates Barnet. Bury took the lead early on and we replied just before half-time through Toure, who was making his first appearance back from his broken arm. Second half I brought Calvin Zola on to replace the knackered Toure, and what a substitution - up like a salmon to head in a corner in the 59th minute. A 2-1 lead which remained in place until the final whistle - Crewe are the champions of League 2!

Everyone, from the board (whom I'd promised and budgeted for a mid-table) to former managers and players including Dario Gradi, Neil Lennon and Seth Johnson came out in the press to sing my praises.

I'm looking forward to next season now and as we'll be the underdogs for most games I think I'll stick with our tried and tested 5-3-2 counter attacking formation. Also looking forward to a decent foray into the bosman market to snaffle up some more t'riffic bargains. And this time, I've got my finger on the save button...

I have had the game on my mac a while but not fired it up. I was just wondering how you were getting on with your Crewe team? If you could also tell me how long it takes to complete a season that would be great I have not really played the game since CM03/04 and I you could easily play a season in 12 hours. I am guessing as the game has got more complicated the time sink has increased.

Cheers

BKR