The former midfielder will take charge of his first match in Saturday's derby clash with Espanyol after replacing Ronald Koeman during the international break, having embraced both a financial and sporting crisis at Camp Nou that sees the team ninth in LaLiga and more than €1.2billion in debt. It's been said before, but after trying other management games, going back to Champ Manager is a return to calmness and sanity.It had long felt inevitable that Xavi would return to Barcelona at some stage and the time has finally come. Buying a different one would only be cheating yourself. The irony is that for all the money other companies spend on securing official licences, Championship Manager s universally perceived as (he official management game. In the same way that you can only really support one team, you can only really play one management game, and you might as well have the best. They're certainly releasing it at the right time, as there are few better ways of enduring the ravages of another British Winter than shutting yourself in a darkened room and creating a footballing empire. Suffice to say it's a beautiful thing, and one that will have you bleary-eyed and uncommunicative for months to come. Old Red Eyes Is Backīut that's not even the half of it, and space prevents us from going into the minutiae of the numerous improvements. Don't worry though, the emphasis is still firmly on football.
Board interaction has been vastly improved upon, and requests can be made for additional funding, improvements to the youth and training facilities, or even expansion of the stadium, the first time the series has ever dabbled in such things.
Referees come under much greater scrutiny, with full statistical analysis of performances in different leagues, including red and yellow card count. The scouting system has been overhauled, and scouts can now be assigned to individual players, clubs or tournaments, as well as ordered to find youth talent. Errant players can now be fined for a variety of reasons, and will respond accordingly.įurthermore, players can now advise you of their reasons for accepting and rejecting transfer and contract offers. The media now get involved, sparking transfer rumours, agent approaches and dressing room unrest and players can even decide to leave the club in the lurch, or 'Do a Carbone' as it's known. Sixteen concurrent leagues will be playable - now including the American MLS - with competitions, awards, transfers and disciplinary rules updated to 1 October 1999, There's a quicker match engine with a greater variety of descriptive text, dragging out the tension further with debated penalties and so forth. Hardcore fans will only be interested to learn what enhancements have been made in this seasonal update. Hey Goo, What's New?īut you knew all that. Opening that blue box is a genuine commitment, and one not to be taken lightly.
Heavy users wear a thousand-yard stare and speak openly about events in the game as if normal people were interested, traditionally to be greeted by non-believers with a weary chorus of "It's not real!".įor those living in the twilight world of the Champ Man addict, it's real enough though, and many who once mocked soon find themselves worshipping at the altar.
It is chronically addictive, and relationships, sleep patterns, and ultimately sanity all take a back seat to the CM God. We're probably preaching to the converted here though, as anyone who has ever been sucked into the wonderful and frightening world ot Champ Manager will be only too aware ot the havoc it can wreak. That's almost how long it's been since Championship Manager 3 was released, shattering sales records and once more redefining the benchmark for football management simulation. If a week in football is a long time, then a year in football management games is a while.