This guide is basically about playing FM. It may be wordy but this is only a basic look at some things in FM. If you want more, check out other guides compiled by other FM players which look more towards different topics, like training etc. Also, this is part 1 of my guide, which mainly focuses on being a new manager.


Adjusting to FM

First thing you have to do before you play FM is adjust your preferences! However good you are; if you are getting some irritating things you don't want, you will probably stop playing FM. So go to options, preferences, and choose what you want FM to do for you.

Getting Hired

Remember this day, because it's the first time you're getting hired (I suppose you're starting a new game)! Check your inbox, and what you'll probably find is that the fans are worried that you may not be the "right person" to lead the club. You might see this news in the News section rather than in your inbox. In the news column, you will find news that may not be of concern to you, but is of interest to you. You should try to check it out regularly. To not care about the outside world will eventually make you a caveman which could lead to your downfall in FM.

Confidence and Board Expectations

Now, it's time to decide what you want to achieve at your time at the club. Don't aim too high; if you don't achieve it then you should pack your bags. Don't aim too low either. If your club has what it takes to achieve great things then aim higher. The main point is: aim according to your squad strength. Aiming too low will also give you a low transfer and wage budget, but will put you at a lesser risk of getting fired should you do poorly. You can also check the confidence page to see how you are progressing with your objective. Fans may be unhappy after any match or may think that a player at the club has done well and deserve praise and one should act accordingly.

Rewards

Trust me, this is important. The reason why I could achieve an outstanding treble in my first season in charge of Arsenal could well be because of this. I decided to give my players high payouts for all competitions as my club is rich. This resulted in a treble which I myself did not expect. For poorer clubs, put high bonus payouts for competitions you want to focus on, and low ones for those you do not want to focus and think that you have no chance of doing well. This would definitely drive them on, it sure did for me, especially the young and ambitious.(Just a small note you can check your club personality in the club information page)

Staff

After getting hired you would have received a team report on your team by your Assistant Manager, provided you have one. Read it, as this is the one of many things your assistant can do for you. Over the years, you will soon realize that you cannot run this club on your own, and you will need various other staff to help make your job easier.

Assistant Manager - Your right-hand man and your sort of advisor when you can't decide something. He can give player and team reports, handle team talks (we'll go through that later), give advice, manage your teams for you, select your team and even train your players. You can assign jobs for your assistant by going to your manager options. Assign him tasks which you don't want to handle, and at that point you will realize how important he is - doing jobs you would not want to do. So get one if you don't have one already, and get two if you're rich or if it's possible. The more the easier.
Coaches - You manage your club, but you certainly don't do the training. That's where your coaches jump in. They do the training, and however good you're at finding talents or managing your youth system, without these mighty coaches all the players you signed would not improve or even maintain their level. Get good coaches, and it doesn't matter if you get more than ten (providing you can afford it) - it's more beneficial.
Scouts - Your eye for talent. You may be able to tell and judge if a player's good or not, but most of the time it's your scouts that give you an accurate description of the players ability both current and potential. The two eyes of yours are never enough, and you don't actually need so many scouts; try to maintain less than seven or five. You'll only need one scout to scout a SINGLE player, which means you can scout numerous players simultaneously, providing you have the workforce. Make sure the scout has good player ability and potential judgment. For more info, you can check FM staff guide on finding the right staff.
Chairman/Owners - Last but not least, the chairman. Every manager's cash source and worst nightmare at times. They provide the cash, and basically they own the club. Some are good; they will let you spend and spend and not give a damn but most of them will interfere in the management of the club, such as selling the players you don't want to sell or not allowing something, such as two assistant managers or a "bad deal”. Suck up to them, worship them and obey them because, quite frankly, your job depends on them damn it!

Team Management

After reading your assistant's team report, it is time to decide the fate of the players at your club. Whether they will be a first-team regular or a backup to the team depends on you. Choose your players to appear in the next match. If you're not too sure then you can ask your assistant. After choosing your first-team, it's time to choose a formation. This is because there is one saying that is very important for tacticians: Choose a formation to suit your players; don't choose your players to suit a formation. Most of the time this works, so choose a formation that you think your players will work well with. After that it's time to set-up team and player instructions. Tell the team what you want them to do. Allow too much creative freedom and it will backfire. Wasting time too often will result in mistakes. For more info you can check out the Vertanno's Game Logic Guide or Ticking Boxes Guide . And finally, after all the tactical thinking, it's time to set-up priorities. You decide your free-kick takers, corner takers and more. But there is one which I want to emphasize on.

Assigning Captaincies

Okay, not really that important but something I think you should know. A good captain is essential to your team's performances. Choose a good captain; first thing you have to look at is influence. See which team-mate in your team is a good leader. Then see his work-rate, teamwork, and determination. You wouldn't want a slacker to lead your team would you? But wait! Don't assign captaincy to him yet. Check every single player's profile in your team and see which player most of your players have good relations with. This will make most of your players happy. Pick the one with a majority of them having good relations with, and has high influence, work rate, teamwork and determination. Furthermore, make sure that he's not too young and inexperienced. There you have it, your captain who will lead your team to either success or failure.

Training

Yes, training is managed by your coaches, but at least you have some credit to claim when certain players have done well in training. It's because YOU make the training schedule. Wouldn't talk much about this, but just remember to check occasionally if you are on the right track for training. Just download Mikedadude's Ultimate Training Schedule and if you think it's not enough, you can make your own, which is what I did.

Friendly Matches

Friendly matches are like what the name suggests: "non- sanctioned” matches. Don't think because it's only a friendly that it's not important; some managers want friendlies everyday! They are opportunities for you to try new formations, give your fringe players a chance, and most importantly make your team fit. You will want to rotate your players often, and sometimes even sub all 11 players in a match just to rest them and make sure they don't get injured. Trust me, injuries during friendly matches are very annoying. Another advantage of friendly matches are that if you are at a poor club, competing with high-profile clubs will earn you a cash boost via gate receipts(if you keep them of course) and this cash may just help bring in a few vital signings.

Pitch Dimensions

Now, this is related to how your team plays. If in the team instructions menu you told your players to concentrate their attack in the middle, then it's suggested that play on a pitch with smaller dimensions. Using the wings? Then it is better to make the pitch wider. But most of the time I just use the standard dimensions. A long pitch suits a direct style, but can also mean if a team pushs too far up they will constantly get caught on the break. Long pitches create space behind defenders and may cause teams to defend deep, so you need fast defenders. If your team's defenders are slow and lack the speed but have the strength, you may consider playing on a narrow pitch.

As you can see this guide focuses on the advanced basics of FM�. Got it? Most of them are about after you are just hired, and when the real season just begins. So buck up, because the going will be tough.

Your First Match

Played the friendly matches and already tasting sweet victory? Well friendlies are nothing; they are just practice matches to make good relationships with teams�, so don't get cocky and start thinking you're ready for your first official match. Finished the friendlies and finally found a good tactic? Then lets move on to your next match.


You see in FM08 the guys at SI have decided to add a new feature during matches; the match flow. It's good and it's a step-by-step flow that will make sure your team is ready for the next match. Okay now here's the match flow and try to go with the flow; be systematic.



* Match Preview - A preview of the match. Who is injured, who is banned and one of the most important, the weather condition. Beware; playing beautiful football in bad weather conditions will be disadvantageous, so change your tactics if necessary. This page also shows who are the leading top goalscorers.
* Team Selection - Like I said, change when necessary. Some players may not be eligible as they are either cup-tied or injured, or even banned. After that, submit your team to the referee. Choose carefully as there's no turning back!
* Match Analysis - Seen your opponent's formation? Want to make a desperate change? Nope you can't. All is fair in love and war, but you can just change your tactics after the match starts, and for most competitions you can only substitute three players. So that's why scouting your next opponent is important (will go through that later on).
* Match Analysis - This place is sort of like the prediction menu. See what the experts think the odds of your team winning are, and who to watch. It also shows milestones, like playing in your 100th match or getting two more goals to achieve 100 goals of your career. This is one of the most interesting features of the match-flow, in my opinion.
* Team Talk - It's time for some motivation! This is the time to tell your players what you expect, or encourage them to do well. Anyway if you are at a loss of what to say, again ask your assistant. However, your assistant may not always be right! Again check Vertanno's Staff Guide to see what makes a perfect assistant.
* Opposition Instructions - Got some dangerman that would threaten your chance of winning? Then it's time to give him some special treatment. You can order your team to make tights marking, hard or soft tackling, closing down tendency, and showing onto foot. After dealing with all the dirty talk its time for kick-off.
* The Match – Yup, it's time for kick-off but it all seriously depends on you if you want to watch the whole match and whether in a fast or slow speed. You can adjust the match speed (I normally slide it to the fastest), the match highlights speed (Again, I slide it to the fastest). Then you can adjust which part of the match you want to watch, the whole match, the key events, or extended highlights (I watch only the key; wouldn't want to see the player pick up the ball for the goalkeeper. Just giving you some ideas, you know?). After some time you will stop at half-time and its time for some motivation again. But don't always say the same thing; you wouldn't want your mom to keep on saying “You can do it!”� just before every exam and you also wouldn't want your mom saying “Not a bad effort; keep it up!”� even when you are failing miserably and need to stay back for detention. Got the idea? Be sensible in your team-talks, say the right thing. When you are ready you can proceed to the second half. Now after some time of kicking the ball around, and perhaps you are finding that some players are exhausted or not having the best of games - it may be time to give them an early bath. At anytime in the match you can change your tactics by clicking on the tactics button. At the tactics screen during matches you will see that the match will still be going on and will be shown on a smaller screen at the bottom. Of course, the match gets slower. You can change tactics, make substitutions and many more features. If any of your players are tired or not playing well you can bring them to the bench at anytime, but most of the time you can only make three changes. So substitute at intervals, don't sub too early or too late since your player may get injured or be in serious need of a substitution.
* Full-time team-talk - After the match, based on your team's performances you can either praise them or criticise them. Remember, sensible is always the word when it comes to team-talks.
* Post-match Analysis - See what the plaudits say after the match, whether you should have won by a bigger margin or if you were lucky to get anything out of the game. See if you have completed any milestones, although I do not know if it will have any positive effects on player morale.
* Other Features - Besides the match-flow, there are some other things you can explore in the match menu. You can view the stats, see how many shots you are shooting or if the match was a physical or rough match. If you think the match is one to remember, you can save it for future viewing. It's always good to remember the good old times! You can also see the league table, to see what the match has just cost you in the league.


Dealing With Controversies

Realise that the winning goal from your first match was a penalty which shouldn't� have been given? Well that's what the others think. Or maybe to you it really wasn't a penalty and that you were just a lucky ass? Well tell the media what you think (they are going to be one of your worst enemies, or your best friend, depending on how you deal with them), and although many people say this, but in front of the media try not to make honesty your policy. If your team thinks that they really deserved to win the match, don't go saying that the referee's decision was really right. It will hurt your team, hurt your fans and make you a laughing stock. So again, same applies to dealing with the media, talk sensibly. And controversies are not the only time when the media will come interviewing you; they will ask you before every match (which is quite irritating) if you are expecting to win the next match or you just want your team to give their best shot. Your every word will affect the team's morale, so don't go around talking trash. You could always just decide to not talk to the media at all.

Dealing With The FA

FA. The Football Association. Regardless of the country, the FA is an annoying group of people who may be the only people to have higher power than your boss. Criticise the FA and face the consequences, either a fine, a warning, or a touchline ban, depending on the number of times you have offended them, the ban length will vary. But if you just criticized them and they are not making any noise, then something is wrong. And the thing that is wrong is that you are right! But who cares, seriously. The match is over, and no matter how much noise you make a 1-0 loss will always be a 1-0 loss. Too bad. But there are some benefits. If your players like what you said, and feel that you are right to speak up, then it will have a positive effect on your players, but it depends on your club personality (you can see your club personality in the club information page). Some of your players may think otherwise, and feel that you have stirred up unnecessary trouble.

Dealing With Other Managers

Sometimes, before a match, your opponent's manager may just make a comment about you. He may criticise you, praise you or be neutral. But in FM there is free speech, so you can respond to the comments. He thinks I will get my team relegated huh? Then what about you?� You can choose to make negative comments, or you may choose to go the other way, thinking that you are interested in one of his players. So you decided to give respectful or positive comments. Or you can even be sly and witty; making mind-games comments. Like I said every comment you make, every word you say in public will affect your players. Praising other managers too much, especially rival managers, will result in your players thinking that you are bootlicker and thus lose their trust in you.

Parent/Feeder Clubs

What are parent/feeder clubs? Simple. I always use this theory when it comes to parent/feeder clubs:

Parent Clubs (Father) - You are the bigger, richer person in the family. You feed your son, and sometimes although you are at a disadvantage (small gains), a son, is still a son, and regardless of whether you like it or not, you gave birth to him (signed a contract for the small benefits), you promise your family that you will nurture him (the board's instruction), feed him (give the feeder club the gate receipts), and heck you have to take responsibility (fulfill the contract terms).
Feeder Clubs (Son) - You are the weaker, less rich of the two. You listen to your father, and until you come of age you cannot have your own freedom. You need to listen to him and make sure he stays fit (friendlies), so you train him personally and in return you get some cash (gate receipts). You are born and you are your father's responsibility until you come of age (contract ends), and while you are still growing (contract still running) you have to help your father in his footballing business (give the parent club benefits such as work permits).


Not going to talk so much about this. Check out Triple L's Parent/Feeder Guide instead.

The Boardroom

Time to face the board. Every month they will make a summary of your management and if you think you have a matter to discuss, go to their office and say it. There are a few things you can request:

* Feeder/ Parent Club request - Need an extra father? Want an additional son? Request it here and if you are well trusted, they will allow you to choose the type of affiliate.
* Improvement of Youth or Training Facilities - Think that your club has the cash and would rather they use the cash on facilities instead of expenditures? Tell them but if they think it's already top-class then they may not necessarily agree.
* Stadium Expansion - Fans complaining that the stadium is occasionally full and that there are not enough seats in the stadium? This may just be a good thing as more fans mean more money. But firstly, if you can't fit the fans, then what money is there to collect? Yes, expand your stadium before thinking too far ahead. If your club does not own the stadium or when it constantly gets filled up, then you are a major candidate for stadium expansion.
* Extra Time to Rebuild the Squad - Oh no. Not doing well? Need more time? Tell them, and you better turn things around, fast.
* New Contract - Oh yes. Doing well, and feel you deserve a new contract? Of course it is your choice to either wait for the club to offer you the contract or you requesting it. Whichever way, it is best to confirm your future quickly. If you are not even sure if you are staying at this club, then why bother spending time leading them?
* Increase of Transfer or Wage Budget - Feel that life is hard and lacks sufficient cash? Tell them, but it's up to your chairman to decide whether to give you the dough. But with more cash comes higher expectations. So get the money, but remember to show the board good results in return.
* Budget Adjustment - Have loads of wage money and not using it (this always happen to me when I was managing Arsenal)? Have too little transfer cash to spend? Then tell them and I'm sure they would be glad to transfer some wage budget to your transfer's.
* Issuing an Ultimatum - Request for better training facilities got turn down? Fed-up and want to tell the board it's either make the facilities better, or I make them worse. Well remember to do it wisely. Trust me. Eight out of ten times you will fail, and when you get the sack, it's too late to look at the facilities and say, “actually the facilities aren't that bad after all!”


Your Second� Right-Hand Man

Basically it's your notebook, and although not as useful as your assistant, they can do something your assistant can't; remember things for you that happened many years ago! If you feel any info will do you good by remembering them, then go ahead and write it in you notebook or alternatively you can save any messages from your inbox as notes. Well for me I use it to remind myself to sign players or sign players whose contract will be running out at a certain time. And another thing is I use it to remember good things about myself, like a player thanking me for his first caps. Smiley

Manager Overview

In this screen (it's the default home page) you can see your managerial career in one simple screen view. You can see your finances, fixtures and all that stuff. If you feel that some things are irrelevant you can change the things shown.

Coming soon is part 3, which focuses on the New Year (that's when the transfer season starts, for most country. Just an example). Stay tuned!