Your favourite kind of FM save?

What is your favourite kind of FM save?

Answer the poll and also discuss the type of save games you most enjoy in this thread.

I've tried to cover most options but if there are any that I have missed out, please click on the 'other' option and state your preference in this thread.

I've also made it so that you can vote for multiple options, so if you have more than one favourite way of playing the game, or your favourite type of save covers more than one category, please feel free to select more than one option.

I'd also like to hear about your best FM experiences when playing your favourite saves.

I voted for Small club to big club challenge (e.g. Non-League to Premier League) and Pick my favourite team and stick with them until I win everything. This is actually the same thing for me, as my favourite club are also a Non-League team, so I have had some of my best saves taking them from the bottom of the English league system to the top.

I have tried a couple of Journeyman saves but they have never quite captured my imagination in the same way. I'm yet to have a really epic journeyman career, but perhaps I will someday soon.

I had a really excellent International management save on FM10 but I don't think it's quite up there with managing club football on FM. International management still needs quite a bit of improvement, in my opinion.

I haven't played many of the other ways I've listed in the poll.

I'm currently playing a save with my favourite club, St. Albans City. I think my next save, whenever I decide to start it, will be a journeyman actually.

I chose youth only challenge but im not sure if its the same as what you may mean it to be.

I usually play as Man Utd. I like to get youngsters in along with my own and try to build them up to the best they can be. I think you may mean only using your own youth setup to blood your team but I do buy in youngsters also but it was the closest description out of the choices.

I picked Pick my favourite team and stick with them until I win everything as winning the league with Liverpool is great

My other saves are either with big clubs in slightly obscure nations eg CSKA Moscow or Galatasaray etc and try and win something in europe. Or I pick teams like Napoli, Palermo, Sevilla etc and try and build them up to greatness.

I tend to run two games, one with my favourite club (Liverpool) playing until I win everything.

And the other I start unemployed with the lowest reputation and LOTS of leagues loaded (all of Europe and South America usually) and see who picks me up and build a career from there. So two extremes really.

I do tend to enjoy the latter more though.

So glad it's mulitple choice!

I've gone for pick my favourite team, small club to big club and other

I always start off by playing as Liverpool. Just done 7 seasons winning all the competitions at least twice, and am thinking of quitting this to start a small to big challenge on an edited database which has county leagues so I can take my local town all the way to glory. Also have an edited continental structure for this which has a massive world club championship to replace Euro comps.

But I also chose other as I am always involved in a multiplayer game with two mates. We've done it every year since 00/01, and the actual games we play vary each time. Sometimes it's an edited World League, sometimes we all go LLM, sometimes we spread out across Europe. This year we are just playing a straightforward game with all of us starting with big teams in the EPL.

I like to start low in the English leagues then play for as long as possible. I have about 30 countries running and tend to work my way through lower leagues, then head off abroad for a few seasons before landing a bigger job. So it's gradual. I think the game becomes something much more interesting and enjoyable when all the real players retire. However you need to play through that period otherwise you don't get the feeling of players coming through etc...

1. There's no FM to me without the mandatory Rosenborg save. So "I pick my favourite club and (try to) win everything with them" is my top priority every year

2. I've wanted to have a good "Journeyman Career" for a long time now, but it's been ruined by the poorly implemented AI manager mobility [ie. they change club only via resignation or sacking, never due to the contract expiring... so how am I supposed to have a credible career if every move involves me jumping ship during the season?!]. And let's just ignore the glaring Reputation Issue, preventing any non-English/non-Top Four-Nations based human manager to land a job at a Top Club before he has won more silverware than Capello...

3. I've had a couple of successful "from lower leagues to top leagues" saves, but always starting from level 3... I honestly don't have the drive to soldier through 4 o 5 lower leagues where a player with key attributes over 10 is regarded as a semi-god... LLM, be it the official "taliban" version or the lite one is too much work for my liking.

i either go unemployed, arsenal, or either of the previous 2 with no real players in the game

I play Liverpool now and when the last patch comes out then the mighty Birmingham city.

P.S, WE'RE GOING TO WEMBLEY

Results are pretty much as I expected so far, although I'm surprised that the journeyman career isn't the most popular actually. Lots of people in Career Updates seem to be playing that way this year.

Any of the top three but currently doing the random team to the top challenge with York City and loving it.

1. Journeyman

2. SC2BC

I love journeyman saves, and love managing in Asia to start off, since no else seems to manage there in Careers forum (till this year ). SC2BC because I'm one of the challenge creators and my fondest memories have come from my own challenge. I prefer journeyman more this year because of my epic career game.

My favourite game has still got to be the small club to big club challenge type. This year I'm trying something different with a long term journeyman career game but although I find the moving between clubs interesting, I really miss the long term development of the club like stadium expansions etc.

The low rep league approach still interests me, and that is something I may start to incorporate into my career game.

Usually I pick one team (most often a favorite) and stay with them. If I get sacked, I start anew.

Pick my favourite team and stick with them until I win everything. It's the type of save that ties me the most to the game.

I voted for 'pick my favourite team' but i would like to do a long journeyman save i just don't have a computer atm that could run enough leagues to make it worthwhile.

Pick my favourite team and stick with them until I win everything. Basically because If I play as anyone else but Man Utd I start getting really annyoed with them not winning things and buying rubbish players. Saying that I also kind of ammalhamate the youth reliant kind of game into it just beacause that is the way I like to play.

I've tried them all and enjoyed most of them, but leading the team that you love to victory is the best feeling I can get from the game.

I voted for 'Small Club to Big Club' and 'Favourite team' due to the fact that I support Telford United so I always manage them.

Journeyman, if only because I don't often last more than a few years (sometimes only 1) at any one club, last year excepted. It could turn into a few of the above, especially favourite club to glory (as Ipswich was my starting point from 07-10 and even took up all of 09 in a true example of that sort of save) and trying to take a random side (either one of the many I end up with or due to the random method I use of getting a starting club) to success as well.

My favourite game has still got to be the small club to big club challenge type. This year I'm trying something different with a long term journeyman career game but although I find the moving between clubs interesting, I really miss the long term development of the club like stadium expansions etc.

The low rep league approach still interests me, and that is something I may start to incorporate into my career game.

I wondered if you might be missing your usual 'small club to big club' save this year Dafuge!

Going back to what Dafuge said, I have to agree actually. I love the long-term element of a small club to big club save.

Switching around in a journeyman save can be fun but it's quite short-term all of the time and it can result in not having a strong narrative. Meanwhile, managing the small club to big club save has a clear narrative that gets stronger with each passing season, as does the 'emotional attachment' to your chosen club.

Plus, the small club to big club or one club saves run really quickly as you don't need to load many leagues!

i like to pick the team i support which is Arsenal i just can not play with anyone else

Small club to big club challenge (e.g. Non-League to Premier League) is what I went for.

This is probably the only release of FM that I've only played one save so far. That's my AFC Telford United save and I've just managed consecutive promotions from the BSN to League One. I think it's going to get tough for me in League One, unless I can drastically improve both the club finances and the squad. I'll keep playing this save to see how far I can take the club though.

My next save will probably be with Granada C.F. in the Liga adelante, Spain. Haven't felt the urge to start it yet though and will probably wait until the final patch.

I've usually at least played a few seasons with Manchester United by now, but haven't had the urge to do that yet either.

Small club to big club challenge (e.g. Non-League to Premier League)

Currently with FC Santa Claus (previously unplayable team in Finland) try to make them a powerhouse. 9 seasons in and starting to be a constant mid table team, building a solid core and signing/releasing fress around them.

Small club to big club challenge (e.g. Non-League to Premier League)

Currently with FC Santa Claus (previously unplayable team in Finland) try to make them a powerhouse. 9 seasons in and starting to be a constant mid table team, building a solid core and signing/releasing fress around them.

Just one question...

How do you cope with the busy schedule around Christmas?

Just one question...

How do you cope with the busy schedule around Christmas?

luckily the season finishes in November!

1. Journeyman save from some small club, trying to jump around and better myself until I get the keys to Old Trafford, last accomplished with Gil Vicente > Blackpool > United

2. Taking small local team to the top (Oxford United, etc)

luckily the season finishes in November!

no coincidence then that your free in December

I would like to say taking my home town/fave team Bradford up and winning everything but as in real life they are rubbish on fm. So will after say taking over a lower team like my other team Gateshead and taking them all the way up the leagues.

I prefer playing with my favourite teams. There is nothing better than becoming emotionally invested while playing FM, thats what makes it a truly awesome game.

Rotherham, PSV, Real Betis.

I prefer playing with my favourite teams. There is nothing better than becoming emotionally invested while playing FM, thats what makes it a truly awesome game.

My favourite teams are REAL MADRID, Hajduk Split and West Ham. But i play with others clubs, a few season by club, most frequently with club which has a big tradition and history

Start at the bottom and see what happens. Usually a rollercoaster ride.

add a team to the database and add me and my mates as players. as i want myself to be brilliant i set the players as high-end prem players (CA 150 PA 165) but start in the championship. only add 7 players so the rest of my squad is empty. chairman to be fair and balanced, club rep high for the championship but low for the prem (4500). 20k stadium not owned with potential to expand (so i need the board to fork out before we can iincrease the seats. above average training and youth facilities.

as i have more of an attachment to the players and the club these games always last me a long time. but for alternative saves i like to switch things about.

in FM11 i've played as arsenal, man city and blackpool in the prem, rangers in the SPL, ajax in a dutch save and had a few seasons LLM style with the mighty knockbreda

The small club to big club and favourite team choices are way ahead.

I'd love to try more journeyman games but my laptop can't handle it really as that needs quite a few leagues to be loaded.

Mine's kind of a cross between picking a random club, youth challenge and club and country. I'm doing it with Hibs. My plan is to dominate Scotland, hopefully make Scottish football strong in Europe again, whilst signing only U19 players at the start of the second season, and getting younger by 2 years every season until I'm self reliant. Then I'll manage Scotland.

small club »» big club

I like the first 3 options and tend to play one of those types of games. My 2 favourites saves of all time was in fm05 taking Norwich into global giants and unearthing (well sort of) a young Fernando Torres, and on 07 having a great journeyman save which took me to 10 countries over 3 continents.

Looking forward to 11.3 where I will try and do both and take Norwich into global domination before going on a global tour of clubs to manage.

Journeyman save, but nothing too high

.... voted "Small club to big club challenge", but this option is not 100% correct for me... I'd prefer "Wait for uncle ron's expansion pack, choose Corinthian Casuals and take them to glory"

I usually play small club to big club challenges when i play single player games. If I don't, it gets boring too easily and too quickly.

In multiplayer games, I rather take mid-table teams in the top division and try to make them world giants.

To pick my favorite team in FM is the only way I have to see them scoring a goal. sigh, sigh, sigh.

I went with Alfreton in the Conference North in my first save and got them to the Premier Leauge in straight seasons. I then got relegated and went back up again and after 2 more seasons scrapping through I got fed up with it and called it a day.

I normally go for the small club on my first save and usually take them all the way to world domination but I really didn't enjoy it that much this year.

So my new save is the polar opposite, I've started as Man Utd and I'm trying to top SAF in the hall of fame as quickly as possible. It's quite fun after the grueling nature of my Alfreton save. THis is the first time in years I've done the big club thing though, I normally do a save each year with my team Everton but didn't have the usual urge this year. Maybe it's becuase we have been so crap IRL....

.... voted "Small club to big club challenge", but this option is not 100% correct for me... I'd prefer "Wait for uncle ron's expansion pack, choose Corinthian Casuals and take them to glory"

Do they ever stop being amateur?

When I first buy the game I usually take on my club for 2-3 seasons (Liverpool) then do a long save of about 10-15 years (in game years that is) with a random BSS/BSN/BSP team taking them to the top.

I use database edits to take over teams in the lower leagues (below BSS/BSN), and take them as far as I can. Once I've taken them what I feel is a limit for me as their manager, I start at the very bottom again

I enjoy taking charge at a fallen giant and trying to restore them to their former glories. This year I chose Hertha Berlin after their relegation to Bundesliga 2 last season. Picking a former giant usually ensures a decent size stadium which makes the transition to being a top club a little easier.

I chose small club to big club and journeyman, i'm a mixture of the two. I like taking clubs into the top leagues, ensuring they'll be safe (Financially and in terms of actually staying up), winning things with them then moving on to another club to do exactly the same thing.