Free transfers??? Is it basically cheating??

Why is it so easy to stock pile your roster with good free transfers. I play FM08 and im about to finally make the switch to FM09 but i was getting a bit annoyed with how easy it was for me to get really good players so easily. I played with Roma and i was about 5 season in, i had won a champions league so i obviously players wanted to come to Rome but its like highway robbery that i was about to sign guys like Bojan, Lansbury, Mancienne, Drenthe, Marveaux for nothing. I basically never need to make a transfer offer again. If i had the roster that was given to me at the start and just free transferred, i would still win all the time.

My question is does is get a bit more realistic in FM09, I mean im definitely still gonna sign whoever I can but I just wish the other clubs wouldn't make it so easy for me to grab a star player. I mean Bojan, Lansbury, or Mancienne probably will never be offered on a free transfer in real life.

It's the power of the player now days after the Jean Marc Bosman ruling was put into place in 1995. Players are going to want to move to bigger clubs and if that means waiting until their contract runs out then that's what they'll do. I'm surprised at players like Bojan leaving though but were Barca unsuccessful on your save? If you was winning everything it's only natural for the best players to want to move to the successful clubs.

I only played 09 for several months but found that players whose contracts ran out still left for bigger clubs if their current club was under performing. Also, the lack of AI ambition is another factor as to why the free transfers are so easy to come by.

Raware is right about Bosmans, but the unpatched FM09 has the notorious 'Bojan bug' whereby too many wonderkids like Bojan were being released and could be snapped up for free. This was fixed in the patches, so if you play FM 9.3.0 you'll be fine.

Just play with an unknown team. Transfers at the big teams isn't any fun.

I think theres no were near the amount as previous versions tbh.

What year was it when you could approach to sign players who's contracts were unprotected....for example Lampard for £9mil who was worth say £14mil

It is called the 'Bojan bug'. Young, potentially world-class, players are easily signed on free transfers. I thought it had been removed in the 9.3.0 patch, but maybe I was wrong.

It is called the 'Bojan bug'. Young, potentially world-class, players are easily signed on free transfers. I thought it had been removed in the 9.3.0 patch, but maybe I was wrong.

He's talking about FM08.

The Bojan bug only existed on 9.0.2

I was able to take a league 2 team to the the Prem on free transfers half of them weren't even looked at by other teams.

Bojan Bug also existed on 9.0.

Why is it so easy to stock pile your roster with good free transfers. I play FM08 and im about to finally make the switch to FM09 but i was getting a bit annoyed with how easy it was for me to get really good players so easily. I played with Roma and i was about 5 season in, i had won a champions league so i obviously players wanted to come to Rome but its like highway robbery that i was about to sign guys like Bojan, Lansbury, Mancienne, Drenthe, Marveaux for nothing. I basically never need to make a transfer offer again. If i had the roster that was given to me at the start and just free transferred, i would still win all the time.

My question is does is get a bit more realistic in FM09, I mean im definitely still gonna sign whoever I can but I just wish the other clubs wouldn't make it so easy for me to grab a star player. I mean Bojan, Lansbury, or Mancienne probably will never be offered on a free transfer in real life.

09 is much better than 08 for realistic transfers.

Suprised you're deciding now to go for 09 not long before FM10 is due out.

09 is much better than 08 for realistic transfers.

Suprised you're deciding now to go for 09 not long before FM10 is due out.

Yeah, as CP says, as FM10 is out at the end of October you may aswell wait in my opinion.

I haven't managed to get a single quality free in 6 seasons on mine. Tried to get vela from arsenal but he went to Barcelona

but I don't see many top players moving on frees in fm09. The clubs make sure they tie then down

09 is much better than 08 for realistic transfers.

Suprised you're deciding now to go for 09 not long before FM10 is due out.

Yea i was thinking about waiting for FM10 but I've tried to find info on it and it seemed like its not very different from FM09. The only thing i read was that the 3-D was going to be better. That doesnt matter much to me....i'm considered watching the 2-D anyways. I've always enjoyed the strategy/management aspects more than Gameplay. Which is obviously a huge reason why this is my favorite type of game to play instead of FIFA. I always have rather played simulation strategy games, especially on the computer. My favorite game/s were always the Command and Conquer series.

Command and Conquer is synonymous with Football Manager anyway.

The only thing i read was that the 3-D was going to be better.

You need to read more then

Yea and also I get so wrapped up in playing these games that I usually play them for well over a year before I get sick of them so I tend to buy them every 2 years. Unless a newer version was so much better that I had to play it.

You need to read more then

Well what else is so much better that I should choose it over FM09??

FM10 will feature a new Match Analysis tool. You will have chance to see where you went wrong.

Not to mention that it'll take an additional few months b4 a patch is made and the game is actually playable. So i could wait another 4 months or so or play FM09 for a while than maybe buy FM10 for cheaper around Christmas

Speaking of Patch.....whats the best patch for FM09????

FM10 will feature a new Match Analysis tool. You will have chance to see where you went wrong.

I dont know man.....it still sounds like a more fine tuned FM09 and not a drastically better game. I guess im kinda waiting for a game to come out thats definitely way better than the previous, kinda like how FM08 was way better than FM07. The true reason why i'm switching to FM09 is because of the Free Transfers and Im a Roma fan and im sick of seeing Jeremy Menez on a different team. And I want to see Mancini off the roster without me having to move him out.

sometimes there are some real quality players available on frees, sometimes not, its just luck. I find there are less superstars available on frees (aside from 09's bug) every version, which is nice.

I'va had a quick look through this thread and I can find no mention of Michael Owen.

He is still one of the best English strikers in the game and joined Man Utd at the beginning of the season ON A FREE.

If you were selecting an England team, you might conceivably put Rooney & Defoe ahead of him, (I would), and the likes of Crouch, Heskry and Cole are of a different style. Next up in my opinion is Owen.

So if we can assume that I have just demonstrated how highly he should be rated, then doesn't his free transfer, in real life suggest that if it happens in real life, how can it be classed as cheating if it happens in the game?