Football Manager 2010

[Brian Shanahan]

As some of us undoubtedly know, the next update of the FM series, imaginatively titled Football Manager 2010, is coming out at the end of October. Having downloaded the demo for Championship Manager 2010 and found it utterly Big Rigs :Over the Road, to my sorrow, I am living in hope that the FM team at SI will pull of the big one this year.

FM 09 was a good game but as it introduced a load of new details it was a bit lacking by FM standards (though that doesn't stop me playing it almost non-stop), so a big release is what I'm hoping for this year.

 

[steviejay]

Lacking how so?

The main problem with 09 as far as I know was due to the fact that alot of the development 'muscle' went into the 3D engine. It's been stated by the people working on it that this release is very much a 'tidying' release rather than an 'innovative' one. It'll look nice a pretty, might have a few subtle features but nothing on a par with the 3D engine that came with the last one.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

Lacking how so?

It was lacking in FM standards, but you have to remember that those standards are ridiculously high. It was nevertheless really addictive despite some easy ways to exploit it(such as for example selecting all players from South Africa, playing as some small team in a major European league and then harvesting all those great youngsters popping up in South Africa).

 

[PhroX]

IMO the match side of FM09 was far and away the best yet, but things like the press conferences and so on were just tedious. Still, they were new additions, so with some polish, they should be good for '10. Throw in the new tactical wizard, and it's gonna be one hell of a game

 

[t0mme]

I will buy FM2010 the moment it hits the shelves. FM2009 was great. I never thought I would use the 3d match engine, but it really adds to the game. And by the looks of it, you can create and manage your tactics much easier know. I do hope the new interface won't trow me off to far, but that'll never be too big a problem

 

[Brian Shanahan]

I know that FM standards are very high, thats why I'm playing it now, but it didn't have the same wow factor for me as when I had FM2005 as anew game, just a few things off. I feel 2010 just needs to be an improvement iteration rather than a seachange iteration, as FM09 was in some ways.

I am very optimistic about the game from the SI boards, especially Miles Jacobsen's blog posts.

 

[steviejay]

Bought it yesterday after work. Started my Rangers game. No money.... fun.

 

[Dell19]

I didn't buy 09 so I might buy 2010 at some point although I'm waiting to see whether it will need a number of patches and for the price to drop.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I shall be getting it on Sunday and starting my usual first game as Celtic before getting utterly confused about the whole thing and wishing we still had Nakamura.

 

[PhroX]

I'm playing my usual first game as Southampton, and so far it's great. Love the tactical wizard - I could just about understand the sliders, but this makes it much simpler and intuitive to set up tactics.

Press conferences still suck though

 

[steviejay]

I shall be getting it on Sunday and starting my usual first game as Celtic before getting utterly confused about the whole thing and wishing we still had Nakamura.

I'm halfway through a season man and I must admit it's kinda........ bugged.

The game's brilliant but when I talk about bugs I mean that, when playing as Rangers, after the Champions League draw the Rangers board suddenly go 'hey, we've got all this Champions league money, here, have some' and I just got 8m to spend. hmmmm.

Drawing with Celtic on points (1 OF game apiece, both routs for the home team) but I'm drawing more games than they are.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I'm halfway through a season man and I must admit it's kinda........ bugged.

I'm sure I won't notice for the first season as I'm too busy wondering what everything does. Hopefully some patches will sort it out.

Game is installing. Consider the battle met!

Edit: Seems there was already a patch released. Steam quite happily auto-updated.

Spoiler Patch notes :

Football Manager 2010 v10.1.0
-----------------------------


General
=======
- Stopped youth players being created at and increased recruitment Glenn Hoddle Academy.
- Fixed hair colour issue with some rare newgens getting grey hair.
- Increased the percentage of local names for newgens from Wales and Ireland.
- Adjusted some attendances.
- Tweaked fan day feedback based on match final score.
- Fixed acceptance of international jobs not working.
- Turkish player names now shown in full instead of just first name.
- Stephen Carr no longer is retired when a new game is started.
- Fixed bug where homegrown players at a B team weren't being treated as homegrown for the A team.
- Adjusted ability calculations for older players generated at empty active clubs.
- Fixed player listed as 'Unh' no longer will have no evidence that they are unhappy on their personal section.
- Improved national team selection for minor nations.
- Improved selection of feeder clubs offered.
- Fixed a problem with the days in Britain for players who have played in England and Scotland (e.g. Mark Viduka).
- Goal awards no longer given out for basic detail matches - so you don't get news items where you can't actually view the winning goal(s).
- Fixed a data corruption in the contract offer screen that occasionally caused strange low wage requests.
- Adjusted retirement dates.
- Adjusted generation of newgens for Liechtenstein clubs playing in the Swiss leagues.
- Adjusted newgen starting attribute levels.
- Adjusted goalkeeper ability development.
- Adjusted quality of newgens produced in both active and inactive leagues.
- Fixed highest and lowest league position records not updating properly after team has moved between regional divisions.
- Turkish player of the year award will now only be given to players with Turkish first nationality.
- Fixed crash when going to squad screen after retiring

Match Engine
============
Keepers
- Made keeper hoof bobbly ball clear when dangerous to try to control it
- Made keeper first touch on backpasses a little safer
- Reduce number of unrealistic keeper fumbles and failing to hold slow moving ball
- Fumbles now recognised as mistakes
- Fixed keeper spending too long on ground after fumbling ball on the deck
- Fixed keeper who tries a save a fraction after opponent gets to ball performing illogical dive action
- Fixed keeper trying to head clear silly backpass rather than let it go out and being able to organise for corner
- Fixed keeper not using 6 seconds and hoofing ball clear while holding it under pressure
- Fixed wrong type of mistake being reported when keeper fumbles ball
- Added commentary for keeper fumbling ball
- Made keepers slightly more likely to dive when unable to save ball
- Fixed a couple of errors in keeper positioning that could leave goal exposed
- Improved chances of keepers making point blank save
- Fixed occasional instances of keepers leaving it too late to attempt a save

Other ME changes
- Encouraged passing ball around in own half a little more when tactics allow for it
- Fixed dodgy angle being passed into function causing assert and potential score divergence
- Midfielders getting ball deep a little less liable to play it long when under moderate pressure
- Try to reduce instances of players heading ball that they could run onto
- Fix to prevent 2 players going for one slow moving ball that is coming into their own area
- Made sensible passes to playmaker more attractive for his team mates
- Fixed wide play over-ride in tactics creator not being utilised properly
- Stopped all but the most blatant offsides being called before any player has "interfered" with play
- Stopped defender leaving ball to keeper if he isn’t sure when attacker will get to the ball
- Made players stick a little closer to their man especially when defending quite high and wide
- Made defenders more likely to step up to D-line when playing the offside trap
- Fixed players not getting goalside of opponent with ball in no brainer situation
- Improved behaviour of deep lying forward type players in terms of where they look for space to move into
- Reduce strikers running wide when team mate already close to that destination
- Players less likely to move onto a simple pass at unnecessary high speed, which should generally improve their first touch
- Another check against player first touch taking ball dangerously close to own goal
- Increased chance of players trying overhead kick shots
- Stop players trying ridiculously ambitious passes at free kicks unless set to all out attack
- Reduced unnecessary long backwards passes caused by v807 change
- Toned down number of pointless hopeful through balls
- Toned down directional error on clearances when ball on best foot
- Reduced number of panicky clearances especially behind for corner
- Fixed a loophole that could still see players clear towards own goal
- Slight reduction in blocked shots and crosses to improve goal count
- Fixed player display positions incorrectly set up
- Removed old code that stopped an AMC playing directly behind a lone FC by shifting one left and one right
- Implemented goalies rolling ball out underarm
- Reduced number of panicky clearances slightly
- Small tweak to basic pass choice
- Fixed overuse of pass to lurking player at corners
- Tweaked AI strategy choice slightly
- Made AI teams set full back roles to wing back in narrow formations
- Fixed incorrect variable being used to regulate speed when moving back onside
- Made midfielders in teams without wide midfielders or wingers shift across better when defending the flanks
- Slight increase in technical ability at higher levels
- Players more likely to choose safe pass ahead of risky first touch
- Further small tweak to pass choice AI
- Aimed crosses slightly further back from goal, to make harder for keeper, mainly for good crossers
- Fixed players attempting overhead kicks when facing the goal they are aiming at
- Reduced pointless long shots when run or pass on
- Boost header power for players with good heading ability
- Try to improve long shot aim variation rather than just straight at the keeper
- Fixed bug that could cause player going to meet cross, corner free kick to pull out at last minute
- Reduced fairly rare bug causing players to miscontrol ball for no obvious reason
- Reduced number of risky dribble attempts when other options available
- Made marking of nearest player slightly more lax when player tired
- Fixed bug that could cause player to fail to stop pass coming towards him, potentially causing back pass own goal
- Fixed overly zealous offside calls on players not close to interfering with play
- Made 811 change "more likely to choose safe pass ahead of risky first touch" more dependent on flair and run with ball instruction
- Encouraged players to put a few more tackles in, mainly when set to tackle hard against the relevant opponent
- Small tweak to marking of opponents in own area, to try to prioritize those closest to the goal and unmarked
- Made show onto foot AI a little more robust
- Fixed bug that could cause no keeper to be selected if current one is injured and no subs left on a depleted bench
- Fixed team selection bug that could conceivably see goalkeeper played outfield when side has 10 men
- Fixed small issue regarding defenders leaving ball for keeper before safe to do so
- Fixed issue causing players to sometimes hesitate when moving to head ball clear
- Fixed small marking issue that caused defenders to allow attacker to get goalside too easily

Interface
=========
- Added option to switch off reversing of titlebar colours.
- Added tooltips to graphics rating stars on Preferences screen.
- Latest scores, goals updates and live league table panels on the competition screen now update correctly.
- Stopped team and competition logos from showing on buttons when the user has switched logos off in the preferences.
- Under 18s match preview now doesn't tell the user about the number of players ineligible from the first team for being too old
- Unticking 'Start Unemployed' will now revert the user's selection to their favourite club if it is a valid one to manage.
- Fixed player's training panel not displaying any info if club did not have a physio.
- Fixed issue with training options not being available when right clicking on multiple players when one is on loan.
- Fixed bug during a hot seat match where more than one manager shout panel could be opened at once.
- Enabled logos on scoreboard in TV view.
- "No specific instructions" option can now be selected in the Target Opposition Player shortcut panel.
- Added Wide Play option to player list view menu on the tactics screen.
- Ensured coach reports aren't available for unattached players that have been scouted.
- Fixed captain icon being duplicated on the tactics screen when substituting your captain.
- Ensured coach reports aren't available when making an offer for a player that isn't attached to your club.
- Enabled logos on match titlebar
- Extra-time and penalty wins now indicated on team fixture panel
- Added frosty pitch to 2D Classic match view
- Match overview screen now displays kits rather than club badges
- Various small user interface fixes

Backroom Advice
===============
- Stopped staff advising to scout players that teams in Malaysia are not allowed to sign.
- Stopped staff contradicting themselves when suggesting removing offers for players even though they gave them a good scout report.
- Improved the second opinion advice.
- Stopped fitness coaches offering advice on tactics unless they also have a preference for a normal coaching role.
- Stopped second opinion always disagreeing with team attribute comparison pre-match advice.
- Clicking Tactics button no longer causes advice to be dismissed before being actioned.
- Using the Training button now links to the teams training section correctly.
- Advice no longer re-appears if you have dismissed the advice by going to the screen via the news item and then going by the menu link.
- Improved the recommended players’ advice AI.
- Stopped Assistant Manager disagreeing with possible opposition instructions and then suggesting them himself pre-match.
- Scouting recommendations for immediate signings only recommend players the team can currently afford.
- Backroom advice section now hidden for international matches because there was never anything to show.

Media
=====
- Fixed 'interested in job' news item not always knowing whether the job the person is interested in is currently filled or not.
- Ensure that non-relevant competition round-up news items are not sent to humans for competitions split geographically e.g. Conference League Cup.
- Toned down over-the-top news strings for winning friendly competitions.
- Stopped news item stating player "popped up again" when describing his first goal.
- Toned down exaggerated praise after qualifying from domestic cup with group stages e.g. Second Round group of Portuguese League Cup.
- Variable no longer appears in news item linking staff with vacant position.
- Players no longer complain about been unable to speak to another club when a transfer offer is negotiated rather than rejected.
- Players no longer complain about been unable to speak to another club if the buying team keeps delaying the transfer.
- Fixed %string#1 appearing in some comp news items for progression in major tournaments.
- Club variable no longer appears in stadium improvement news item.
- News item reagarding international injury tally has now learnt how to count.
- Fixed "Consortium pull plug" news item stating consortium pulled the plug when it was actually the club.
- Fixed player's bio blaming manager for club's season under-performance when manager has only just joined and is doing well.
- Fixed rare instance of player transfer speculation news being generated for news where the buying team doesn't have a manager.
- View Injury Table button in physio report news no longer occasionally taking you to the wrong page for an international manager.
- Ensured 'linked to job press statements' can only be responded to from the inbox and not from the news centre.
- Fixed news items which were incorrectly using a nation's nationality instead of its name e.g. "Venezuela in good display against Peruvian"
- Can now appeal straight red card when a player was playing for a different squad to the squad he is currently in.
- Fixed award voting news "vote" button disappearing a few days after the news item is first issued.
- Stopped media speculating about managers signing rubbish goalkeepers.
- Pitch dimensions news item only sent if there are more than one pitch size to choose from!
- Fixed occasional non player bio referring to club join date as 1. Jan. 1900.

Finances
========
- Adjusted Finnish finances.
- Adjusted non-player wages.
- Adjusted ticket pricing for smaller English cups.
- Tweaked English lower league youth wages.
- Fixed really small teams generated with big debts.
- Adjusted clubs going into administration.
- Adjusted player wage demands.
- Adjusted wage budgets for very small teams.
- Fixed players on very high wages requesting a lot less when renewing contract.
- Adjusted African ticket prices.

Transfers
=========
- Stopped occasional B Club player from being given first team wages due to being a key player in the B Club
- Prevented board from stepping in and accepting bids just over the basic value of the player on behalf of a manager when player was transfer listed.
- Disabled transfer decision deadline option of 'Today' when current game time is later on in the day and not possible for clubs to respond in time.
- Stopped the ability to sign Institute players on bosman style deals.
- Changed label for the 'Offer to Clubs Asking Price' to make it clearer that it is a percentage of the players displayed value.
- Loaned out players no longer kept in first team and demoted to reserves upon return to club.
- Removed duplicate news item when a youth player’s contract expires.
- Further fixes to ensure Australian teams keep their squad depth many years in the future.
- Altered contract decision code to prevent low league key players from getting early pay rises.
- Fixed occasional first team player being put in reserves and listed for loan in first season.
- Prevented big clubs from actively looking to replace their terrible third choice goalkeepers
- Spanish based players no longer demands really high relegation release clauses, due to already having really high mandatory minimum fee release clauses

Subscriptions
=============
- Improved selection of subscriptions by personal assistant.
- Fixed issue where certain record news items would be sent to subscriptions unnecessarily.
- Should not be allowed to subscribe to virtual/grey players.
- Fixed personal assistant recommending a national manager unsubscribe from World Cup.
- Removing a player from a shortlist should not unsubscribe him if he exists on another shortlist.
- Auto-subscribe humans to matches category for international comps e.g. World Cup to improve immersion.
- Stopped human getting two match reports for the same match if subscribed to a comp's matches.

Press Conferences
=================
- Fixed journalist asking about signing a compatriot for a new signing when other club team already contains a player of his nationality.
- Fixed press conference crediting user with multiple cup wins despite this being user's first.
- Fixed follow-up question about balancing books appearing in the wrong context in new signing conference.
- Miscellaneous text and press conference question fixes.
- Fixed press conference questioning team's form due to poor morale when team morale is actually very high.
- Improved selection of the main talking point of press conferences.
- Give precedence to team-mates of the same nationality over shared language when looking for a team-mate who can help a new signing settle in.
- Fixed wrong stadium name being shown in some new signing conference questions.

Board Takeovers
===============
- Stopped non-players who dislike a club from leading consortium's that are interested in taking them over.

Network Game
=================
- Now cannot join manager chat until you have completed adding a manager.
- Fixed blank stage in add manager wizard when "Assign Random Clubs" has been ticked.
- "Disconnect" action is now shown again on the game status screen for network clients.
- Fixed a problem where the next fixture details on the manager overview panel would not update for network clients.
- Fixed other managers watching a match being able to view the playing manager’s feedback widget.
- Fixed and improved user idle time counts.

Competitions
============
- Fixed bug where user-named friendly competition gets its name changed to Friendly Cup after saving and reloading.

Australia
---------
- Updated Australian A-League kick off times.
- Fixed discipline rules to correspond with specifications.

Belgium
-------
- Tweaked Belgian Second Division TV coverage.

Brazil
------
- Fixed issue of Brazilian national First and Second Division games being played during the World Cup.

Chile
-----
- Chilean First Division B clubs can sign/sell unlimited number of players in summer transfer window

Croatia
-------
- Fixed Croatian sides not arranging any friendlies during the winter break.

Czech Republic
--------------
- Tweaked Czech First Division TV coverage.

Denmark
-------
- Fixed period when Danish teams can start playing friendlies during the winter.
- Fixed Danish Cup draw rules.
- Danish Work Permit rules now check the wage offered to a player.
- Updated TV prize money.

England
-------
- Fixed Blue Square Premier and Blue Square North\South playoffs being shown on TV when there is no TV deal in place.

Finland
-------
- Updated Finnish Premier League to award teams with TV money beyond 2012.

France
------
- Fixed issue of French Coupe De La Ligue being set up after the first round draw.
- Updated TV revenue system for First and Second Division.
- Fixed Coupe De La Ligue kick off times and TV viewings.

Germany
-------
- Fixed issue with German Cup's first round clashing with other German leagues due to the German Cup using the 2008 first round date.
- Fixed scheduling for First, Second and Third Divisions in Germany.
- Updated German kick off times.
- Updated German Cup TV prizes.
- Updated German first division to coincide the recent move of the penultimate game to a Sunday.
- If one or both teams that have qualified for the German Cup final also take part in the relegation for the German First/Second Division then the two relegation legs should be rescheduled.
- Included international days, where matches are not played.
- Fixed issue with match times after the New Year

Greece
------
- Fixed a problem with Greek youth team full time player squad selection rule.
- Changed Greek Superleague cup schedule to finish a few weeks earlier.
- Updated Greek Superleague to give out TV prize money to teams to coincide with the recent contract.

Hong Kong (China PR)
--------------------
- Added Hong Kong League Transfer Windows.
- Stopped teams not in Hong Kong First Division participating in reserve league.

Holland
-------
- Matches are now played at 1630 every three Sundays in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Israel
------
- Fixed issue with Israel Premier and National league games playing during the play offs.
- Israeli Cup winner now takes 2nd Europa League seed after 2nd placed league team

Italy
-----
- Serie A league schedule improvements.
- Games no longer take place on Easter Sunday.
- Foggia 1 point deduction added
- Removed Gallipoli point deduction.

Norway
------
- Fixed Norwegian Cup's geographical drawing during the preliminary stage.
- Fixed issue with second division teams occasionally being drawn into the preliminary stage.
- Tweaked how Third Division teams are selected for promotion to Second Division.
- Removed the nation trial day.
- Norwegian squad selection rules changed.

Portugal
--------
- Updated League Cup TV prize money.

Romania
-------
- Fixed issue with games being played during the Romanian Second League winter break.

Russia
------
- Tweaked Russian Premier League schedule.

Scotland
--------
- Fixed issue where the final day Scottish league fixtures not being held on same day due to Scottish Cup Final.
- Updated Scottish Cup prize money.
- Fixed issue with Scottish Cup finals not taking place.
- Scottish U21 players now need to be younger than 21 on the 1st of January of the season start year.

Spain
-----
- Fixed issue with first round of the Spanish Cup being too late.

Sweden
------
- Fixed incorrect fixture rule for Swedish Super Cup.

Switzerland
-----------
- Lower League teams can now playing at home in Swiss Cup.
- Fixed Swiss sides not arranging any friendlies during the Winter Break.
- Fixed scheduling for First and Second Divisions in Switzerland.

Turkey
------
- Turkish Premier Division Schedule tweak.
- Updated Turkish Cup Prize Money.
- Added a check for foreign non-homegrown players in the youth leagues.

United States
-------------
- Toronto FC now pursue more Canadian players in the Superdraft.

Uruguay
-------
- Updated Uruguay's transfer windows to be different for First and Second division.

International
-------------
- World Cup teams are now drawn in order of highest seeds first.
- Yellow cards are no longer carried on from the qualifying rounds to the World Cup.
- U20 World Cup now takes place in 2009.

Match Experience
================
- Stockport home kit colours now match the titlebar/commentary colours for friendly matches.
- National teams in international finals now use 1-23 for virtual player squad numbers instead of 23+.
- Injury icon now no longer appears above a player in a match if the match is rewound to before the injury.
- Pitch textures are now consistent between 2D and 3D view.
- Fixed bug where playmaker and target man roles were not being setup correctly in the match.
- The first team now always uses the first kit when playing in the intra squad friendly.
- Crowds tweaks for penalty shootouts
- "Dead time" now skipped when players retrieve ball for set pieces

Editor
======
- When using specific teams in competitions, the "Could not find competition -1 in the database" message doesn't appear when testing the rules.
- The scroll buttons on the tab strip now works correctly.
- Can now add national team achievements for people in the editor.
- Hitting the window close button X now brings up confirmation dialog if changes have been made.
- Adding new clubs, competitions, etc to the database now applies the same changes to network clients as well.

Misc
====
- Made some updates to the Game Credits

 

[Ozbenno]

Haven't played any version of this since FM2006 (having played every single one since the first CM). Saw it in the shops the other day and was tempted to give it a go.

Does it go OK with the new patch?

 

[Brian Shanahan]

I started this thread and haven't contributed in months, but I got the game Saturday, and haven't come up for air since. It is a big improvement on 09 frankly, the 3d looks good, the UI is intuitive and of course they've kept the best things about the game i.e. the database, and the ME (naturally all my opinion).

I find the game went well before patch (except for the light shade/dark shade problem where two teams with similar kits would both wear their home one small bug really), although it seems to have a lot of crashes on Macs, and I would suggest manually upgrading all drivers pre installation.

I am currently running two games one as Fiorentina (which will turn into a mini career) and other as Sao Paulo (I like playing Brazilian football).

Well that's enough air for now.

 

[TheLastOne36]

I'll make sure i check the demo than. Or buy it off the street for 50 cents as a ripped off copy.

 

[Captain2]

just bought the game moreso because I like the idea of managing a team than playing soccer.

I hope however that I'll overcome my Canadian genetics and actually be halfway decent at this

 

[steviejay]

Captain, I didn't really like football when I first started playing, but it's addictive. It's got a good strategy element of trying to make sure you use the team as best you can.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

You've taken your first step into a larger world. I never knew a thing about football when I got Championship Manager 2000/01, I just saw it was a good strategy game. Pretty much learnt everything about the game from it.

Remember - Rangers are the enemy, regardless of which team you play as

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Okaydoke Stevie, finished my first season as Celtic. I did better than last time, though nowhere near as good as I wanted

Spoiler :

Also:
Champions Cup: Knocked out by Olympique Lyonnais in the Qualifiers. We don't like to talk about that.
EURO Cup: Knocked out by HSV in the 2nd Knockout Round. That was a bit better.
Scottish Cup: Obliterated by Rangers in the Semis. We really don't like to talk about that.
League Cup: Won! Yay!

I also got 14 Steam Achievements, but I think that might be scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit


All in all I've enjoyed this version of FM. I missed last years, so the 3D match engine is all new to me and I rather quickly loved it. The UI is very intuitive, and I got the hang of it far quicker that I normally would. I love the amount of information and support in-game - I normally do my own thing, but I like the amount of back-up advice the rest of your staff gives you to fall back on

 

[TheLastOne36]

FM2010 sounds fun indeed...