This article does not represent the views of The Gaffa and is only the view of the author.

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2005 

It was Christmas 2004 when I got my first Football Manager game.  I had heard all the pro's and con's about it and I really thought it was going to be a great game.  I had also got an X box but I went straight upstairs and put in Football Manager 2005.   When it loaded I was amazed by how different it was to the earlier versions of Championship Manager.  The first thing that struck me was that you could actually what was going on in the game!  All be it, they were all dots kicking another, smaller, dot.  Still, I thought it was amazing.  I couldn't wait to tell all my friends that I'd got THE best football simulator around.  I think Pc Gamer summed the game up by saying that they were "The indisputable kings of the genre."

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006

November 11th 2005.  My birthday.  I would have another slice of the Football Manager cake.  It was going to take a whole lot of jam to beat the last version.  Boy, did it bring the jam!  Smoother skin, faster save/load system, up- to- date teams and better match engine.  It was another great game.  I couldn't get enough of it.

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2007

I couldn't wait for the next Football Manager installment so I went out and bought the game myself.  Queued up for about an hour in HMV.  Got home and put it in my laptop.  Now, I don't know if it was that I had set my standards too high but I was largely disappointed.  The new 'team talk system' was a poor addition.  Apart from the odd 'Seems slightly interested' there was no difference.  When I didn't have a team talk they got angry.  Another addition was the 'scout reports'.  These were ok, but were never accurate even with a attribute of 20.  The new skin was the best addition.

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2008

With another year of Football Manager coming up I was preparing myself for "The greatest football management sim".  I'd seen the adverts on telly from Sports Interactive saying "In what other job do 50,000 fans scream your name?" So I was expecting something spectacular, breathtaking.  I had ordered the game on the GAME website to come on the day it was released.  And, I'm sorry to say, that it was a load of poo.  Why when you say "Man Mark player X" do your defenders who sometimes have an above 17 attribute on marking do they group around the ball and not do as there asked.   Wayne Rooney is one on one with David Brill (exactly, you know how poor he is) can he score?  NO! He can't he shoots straight at him.  Why is it when you have 80% possession and 25 shots ON TARGET to you lose 1 - 0 or draw 1 - 1?  How many regens do I have coming through the youth academy? In five years I got two good regens come through. TWO!

THE COMMUNITY FORUMS

The forums, for me, have really lost all credibility.  A few years ago there were hardly any rants, no flaming or spamming.  You might be saying "Well, he's ranting now!" Correct.  I am, because I am sick to death of hearing some little spoilt child complaining "I can't win a game! I blame it on the match engine! It's not my fault!"  .There is just no respect anymore.

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