FM: A little bit of history

Hello again,

As far as I can see, I think I jumped the gun a bit by writing about Led Zep FC on my first blog post. My apologies, I was maybe a bit excited about reviving this blog and immediately writing about Football Manager.

Maybe you were thinking, who is this guy? What does he know about FM? Is he for real?

Point taken. Now, I pulled everything out of the vault to present you with a concise history of my Football Manager experience:

FM 2007: Managed Chelsea. Ah, the young naive days, when the transfer budget was meant to blown, not carefully managed; where the only players scouted were Fifa World Players of the Year; when the youth team was to be ignored and any division below Premier League was never played.

I can honestly recount to you that I played only half a season before my patience ran out; the main reason I kept playing was to sign Zinedine Zidane, and he never accepted any of my contract offers, even at 1 million pounds a week. I know. I tried.

A frustrating experience to say the least.

FM 2008: Chastened by my prior experience, I nonetheless took up the reins at Arsenal, determined to bring back winning ways to my beloved club (FA Cup in 2005, in Arsene we trust? Pah!). Playing seriously for the first time, I managed to win the league in my first season (although some shocking performances leading to our being knocked out in the cups suggested that I had not yet mastered the nuances of the managerial merry-go-round). After one season, found myself pretty burnt out: still quite the novice, I found myself despairing as to what I could do to further achieve glory short of throwing money at the problem. My lack of experience showed when I fired my assistant, the invaluable Pat Rice, after he gave negative (but useful) feedback on my first team line-up - assembled at the exorbitant cost of over 100 million. I was not amused.

FM 2009: It was this game that marked me out as an old hand at the series. Tired of the constant pressure that came with the elite clubs, I settled on Sunderland - they were relegation candidates at the time but I felt with some nuanced management they could reach the relative safety of mid-table obscurity. I becoming quite the experienced wheeler-dealer: I hadn't yet recognised the existence of wonderkids or best player lists, but I knew talent when I saw it. Snapping up relatively cheap yet quality players became my forte as we stormed within inches of silverware (business as usual in the cups I guess: never really wanted them anyway). I faced another problem though; the turnover rate of players was so high, at times I looked at my first team squad and couldn't recognise some names. Players became unhappy, form slipped, the board became concerned, the fans grew restless; it's a vicious cycle. It was time to go.

Perhaps you've noticed a bit of a pattern here: manage a Premier League club for a season, love 'em and leave 'em. Well I'm happy to disappoint you: as turmoil ripped through the Stadium of Light, Inter came knocking on my door. Being the astute businessman that I was, I kept a foot in both doors, soothing the Sunderland board by declining to comment on the Italian offer; keeping Inter interested by demanding marginal pay increases. As agents' patience waned and poor performances piled up, I made my move: goodbye pound, hello euro.

It was the first time I had changed clubs in-game. It was an eye-opening experience. Compared with Sunderland, Inter was a huge club in terms of stature and it reflected in the ambitious transfer budget: 87 million in my first season. Huge pressure.

Faced with these circumstances, I did what any clever FM hack would do: I bought my whole Sunderland team again and proceeded to tear up the Serie A. Faced with world class opposition, Tim Cahill & Co. proved themselves worthy (in fact, the Australian scored a wonderful 90th minute 40-metre free-kick to beat arch-rivals AC Milan in the Champions League semi-final that year. I can forget facts and figures, but that goal will live forever. This is why I play FM.) The story didn't end happily, however, as despite phenomenal success, the term as Inter boss came to an end after a contractual dispute - I wouldn't budge over 750,000 a week, while the chairman wanted to sign me to a paltry 500,000.

***

I'll possibly continue this for FM 2010, which I'm currently playing (in 2011, yes I know, cheapskate) but I'll stop for now since I'm pretty tired of this blogging gig at the moment.

Why don't you have a look at Blues for Peace instead? Driving myself mad trying to play like B.B. King ;)

Also, if you're a musician or a band trying to get your music out there, I wouldn't mind having a listen and reviewing if you leave your URL in a comment :)

Also, if you're a musician or a band trying to get your music out there, you'd be an even better musician or a band trying to get your music out there if you read this book:

The Musician's Handbook: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Music Business

Basically, if you're keen on this sort of stuff, this book will help you get successful doing it. Honest advice, this ain't advertising.

FM: The Creation of Led Zeppelin FC

Hello dear readers,

I was messing about on Football Manager the other day, trying to sign up some obscure Brazillian talents. Needlessly to say, geography and bureaucracy managed to thwart my attempts every time, with each meticulously scouted player having his passport rejected at customs. Well, my assistant manager did warn me.

In my frustration, as always, I took to the Internet.

With four words – football manager foreign permit – into Google, and three hours later, Led Zeppelin FC was formed.

How, you ask? Well, having scoured the FM forums for an answer, it appeared that some bright sparks had hit on the answer to pesky foreign permit laws: the FM editor.

My Computer -> (C:) Drive -> Program Files -> Sports Interactive -> Football Manager -> Tools -> Editor -> Editor (application).

Apparently, once inside the editor, you have free reign. Change the nationality of the player to an EU-national (if you’re playing in Europe). I won’t go into details; you’ll figure it out yourself. Or here. Hey presto! Pesky FA laws abolished in seconds!

Naturally, it was like being a kid in a candy store. You could build stadiums, boost player stats, create a new backroom staff… create a new club…

It was just a natural extension, really.

Now I had the idea, I needed a source to draw inspiration from. I needed eleven players. I needed a backroom team. Who would make up the board room? Where would the team play?

Then, I hit the nail on its head. Music. Or specifically, music I like (or at least can stand for the mandatory three minutes on radio).

On a totally off-topic note, have you read this book?

I think it’s pretty great, and I feel it’s a really in depth look at rock music industry in the 70’s. After reading this book, I became an authority on rock music, or at least, as knowledgeable as any other guy who read the book. On the contrary however, the book was pretty much panned by the band itself. Well, according to what Jimmy Page said about it:

“I think I opened [the book] up in the middle somewhere and started to read it,

and I just threw it out the window. I was living by a river then, so it actually found its way to the bottom of the sea.”

Bottom of the sea? Talk about harsh. Simon Cowell, are you taking notes?

As a casual reader looking for an inside dig at the world’s greatest band, the book really encompassed what the experience of rock stardom was like and so I chose Led Zeppelin as the name of the club. Obviously, four guys couldn’t make up a football team (whatever they say at the pub) so I drafted in a sort of dream team. After three hours, I still couldn’t decide so I’m open to suggestions. Please leave a comment if you want to see your guy out there on field with Page, Clapton, Beck & Co.

Currently I need suggestions for:

First team subs

Backroom staff (Coaches and scouts)

Boardroom members

If you have any concrete suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

Some ideas I’ve been floating around:

B.B. King -> assistant manager?

Bo Diddley

Chuck Berry

Robert Johnson

Prince

Richard Cole

And… Elvis Presley?

Here are a few teasers… the full version of Led Zeppelin FC hasn’t been created yet. It needs your input!

Remember,

Leave a comment and help build Led Zeppelin FC!