Back to FM2007?

I've been playing a career game for a bit in FM2008, but I really haven't been able to get "into" it. I've had to actually kind of force myself to play, which is unheard of for me in any of the games in this series (been only playing since FM2005, but it is by far my favorite game). Wondering if it was just the game I was currently playing, I tried several different things, such as changing teams, playing different leagues, etc, but to no avail, I still wasn't fired up about the game like I used to be.

Finally, I decided to check out my old career game in FM2007. I started playing again, and "that old feeling" came back. FM2007 seems more "alive" to me, where FM2008 feels like a computer game (hard to describe). I found myself getting mad at players wanting to leave, and cheering on young players to develop. Now I can't wait to play again, ready to hit the transfer market to improve my team and constantly thinking of ways to improve my league position.

So, what makes FM2007 feel more alive to me than FM2008, I got to thinking. Here are a few things I can point out:

1)The news being all in one place. I know I have harped on this before, but it was great to know right away that a player on another team was unsettled and wanting a first team place, so I can scout him and see if I can make an offer on him. Maybe comment on him to get him interested on my team. In FM2008, I would have probably missed this as it is on a totally different screen which I never go to, and when I do go, it is in some odd order and is mixed in with game results. Putting the news in one spot makes the game world feel more "real" to me.

2)The match engine. The FM2008 match engine after the patch just feels "funny" to me. Not sure why, and I can't put my finger on it. The FM2007 engine, although frantic at times, has a better feel to me. Also, no corner cheat is nice, as I don't have defenders scoring 20+ goals a season.

3)The transfer market seems more viable. There is a nice "ramp up" in December for the January transfer window, which is great. I don't get this same feeling in FM2008.

I hope FM2009 improves things a bit (especially #1, my pet peave). All in all, SI turns out a great product, but I really think FM2008 was a "dud", which happens from time to time and can be forgiven. Learning from mistakes is important, however, so bring on FM2009!

I prefer 08 to 07. More up to date and the latest patch has helped transfers improve. I offered like £8m for Quaresma and they wanted like 28-30m on the unpatched, now they demand 14m which is quite realistic

08 gets my vote.

Also, no corner cheat is nice, as I don't have defenders scoring 20+ goals a season.

Why are people still harping on about this? Just don't use it if it bugs you so much. I get plenty from corners without challenging the GK. For me, most people just attack from deep and have two decent long-shooters lingering on the edge of the area.

Agree about the news items, though. More updates about managers losing their jobs would also be nice. I know the British press might not pick up on the manager of Almeira getting the boot, but actual managers probably will -- especially those managers in career games.

I too prefer fm 2007. Made my own tweaks in the database and now I'm enjoying. Also fm 2008 has terrible interface.

FM 08s the only one that I've ever got further than 10 seasons and I'm loving it so it gets my vote

I have gone back to 07 too, I have harped on quite a lot about how I prefer 07 to 08 lol. I have downloaded the latest database update for FM 2007 and started a new career. Started unemployed and applied for the Huesca job who are in the segunda division b group 3 in Spain and by total surprise to me they offered me the job! lol

Just completed a season and the job they offered me was a 'survive relegation' one year contract and I managed to finish 14th and they offered me a new 2 year contract which I happily accepted After making a few pre -seaspon friendly cup competitions up and inviting fairly big names clubs to it, I managed to raise about 1 million pounds in the process from gate receipts and selling a few players. So the start of the 2nd season I have 1.5 million in the bank and the board are delighted with my running of the club and happy with the finances First 3 games of the new league season, won 5-0 2-0 and drawn 1-1.

Really into it and I have no complaints with the match engine or board confidence or scouting for that matter. Absolutely loving it!

I am currently playing fm07 ( in a marathon session because i am on holidays) .

It is overall much better from fm08 but since you mention the "corner cheat" , try to hit corners near post and have your CD "near post flick on" and if he has good stats in headings & jumping he will score +20 goals / season easily.

Yeah, the corner cheat just kind of bugs me is all (which is why I listed it last). Also interesting is that I am using an FM2008 tactic, and it is working well in FM2007. I actually like the looks of it better in FM2007. I'll probably play the current game until FM2009 comes out, just to see where I end up.

FM 08s the only one that I've ever got further than 10 seasons and I'm loving it so it gets my vote

At the moment, I keep switching between 07 and 08. 08 is the most immersive FM I've ever played and it's a real joy for me compared to the "click continue" kind of play I fall into with 07, and I've never gone so far into a career as I have with 08. The only problem is the match engine and grey teams still being a bit too strong - I know it must be my tactics but a lot of the time I feel like I'm guessing what I've got to do right rather than being able to learn and build on my mistakes and succeed. It feels a bit random and I don't know why.

If 08 had 07's match engine and grey teams, that would be perfect for me.

Why are people still harping on about this? Just don't use it if it bugs you so much. I get plenty from corners without challenging the GK. For me, most people just attack from deep and have two decent long-shooters lingering on the edge of the area.

Maybe he wants to be able to set a player to 'challenge keeper' without feeling like he's cheating? It's certainly been the first area I've looked at when setting up routines in previous versions.

Anyway, can we have just one thread with criticisms of 08 that you don't post in?

I am currently playing fm07 ( in a marathon session because i am on holidays) .

It is overall much better from fm08 but since you mention the "corner cheat" , try to hit corners near post and have your CD "near post flick on" and if he has good stats in headings & jumping he will score +20 goals / season easily.

No way, I have done a career mode up to 2021 on FM 2007 and I have my tall defenders with good jumping usually doing near post flick on or attack near post and they might score about 5 a season tops.

I rarely score from corners but if the corner taker gets it right on the head of my 6 foot 5 defender with 18 jumping then he usually wins the header and gets it on target or misses. Surely that's what would happen in real life too? If a 6 foot 5 defender who was great in the air won a header near to the goal at a corner you could be sure that 70-80% of the time he would get a header on target.

Matt Elliot at Leicester City about 5-6 years ago, amazing at heading and he scored about 5-6 a season from set peices. Same with Steve Walsh so I think FM 2007 replicates this well. It's not a corner big cheat, it's common sense and realistic

FM 08s the only one that I've ever got further than 10 seasons and I'm loving it so it gets my vote

Ditto - FM08 is the first game since the old Championship Manager games (under SI of course, not their latest horrible iterations) that I've managed to get more than 10 seasons into the game. I'm loving it! To the point where I might not buy FM09, just because I like FM08 so much!

Ditto - FM08 is the first game since the old Championship Manager games (under SI of course, not their latest horrible iterations) that I've managed to get more than 10 seasons into the game. I'm loving it! To the point where I might not buy FM09, just because I like FM08 so much!

Yea, I'm keeping 08 until I know 09 is good

Nah I know what I'm like I'l buy FM 09 as soon as it comes out (excluding the midnight shoppers lol