How many people start unemployed?

I always do this when I buy a new version. I like to start unemployed and work my way up through (usually starting with the worst team in Conference North/South because they are the only ones who will hire me).

Of course I also play saved games where I am Chelsea, Arsenal etc, but I find starting unemployed makes it feel like a different game. Giving yourself the reputation of an ex-player helps too.

Anyone made it to the top? My best game was being in charge of Yeading for two years and getting them into the Conference Premier (predicted to be relegated). Then I got offered a Football League job.

Have a few times, but never got into it.

Have a good LLM game going on now, though.

Always, as I try to keep things as realistic as possible but have fun at the same time. That way when you reach the top flight clubs, it feels as if you've earned every right to be hired by one of them due to your success.

i do a switch between unemployed and picking my team, or in most occasions through FM 08 i played two managers, one for who i wanted to go and one to start off on the lower scale so i get the best of both worlds

I always do this when I buy a new version. I like to start unemployed and work my way up through (usually starting with the worst team in Conference North/South because they are the only ones who will hire me).

Of course I also play saved games where I am Chelsea, Arsenal etc, but I find starting unemployed makes it feel like a different game. Giving yourself the reputation of an ex-player helps too.

Anyone made it to the top? My best game was being in charge of Yeading for two years and getting them into the Conference Premier (predicted to be relegated). Then I got offered a Football League job.

Most success with LLM was this year's game.

Getting hired by Oxford after they became awful in the first 2 years. Took them to the premiership and am now comfortable mid-table. It only took 24 years

i have found FM much more enjoyable each time i start unemployed- you get a sense of yourself growing as a manager. i'm looking to go from Stranraer to England via any neccassary club in my save at the moment.

I do, had one of my best games as an unemployed manager. I like the way yuo often end up at random clubs/nations.

On 07 i went from NEC to PSV to Lazio to Roma to Denmark to Scotland to Reading and finally to valencia - was quite an enjoyable career

I normally choose a team but I have used the Start Unemployed option a few times. It's led to a lot of short lived, unimmersive games but a couple of gems too and it's a great change of pace if you're usually in the top leagues.

With each new version I typically start a game as Liverpool and play a couple of seasons as I find new features and learn new stuff. I think with FM09 this will be a brief game and I'll start an unemployed game.

I do. I prefer the variety in looking for that first job opportunity with whatever team will have you. Once started as Darlington (L2), once as Cardiff (CH), and most recently as Offenbach in the German Second Division.

Does the game actually offer you a job now? Last time I was unemployed went through a whole season with no job offer so havnt bothered to try it since.

If you start with a higher reputation, you'll more likely and more quickly get job offers. I would advise this, otherwise you might find yourself in that same situation that Dazza is describing. I know I've been there before.

I would suggest starting unemployed and then holidaying until the end of the first season. This will usually get you a job offer, often from the team that has been promoted into the playable leagues

I like to pick a starting date for a league thats in january when I do unemployed games, as quite often a whole bunch of managers will get sacked pretty quickly due to the league position that the game has generated for them, meaning that its not just a choice between the usual suspects (teams without managers at the start of the game)

I would suggest starting unemployed and then holidaying until the end of the first season. This will usually get you a job offer, often from the team that has been promoted into the playable leagues

Davestu is right. Just set the option that applies for all jobs, and the game will prompt you for responses.

Well i always start out with NUFC and end up unemployed pretty quickly (rip KK)

:-(

Always. Love to build up a career.

I often do, i have in my current game. This is my career game though.

I nearly always do. I find it hard to pick a club to manage to start with and then it would fee weird if I just jumped into a job without negotiating a contract or anything.

Just about every time I play, since it came into the game.

All my best career games have started out unemployed. I usually make to the top, sometimes fast, sometimes not so fast. Every now and then I can take a poor team to the top but usually I'm too impatient and will apply for jobs at clubs with more money.

I have done in the past. But if I am going to start from the bottom I mostly do as Harrogate Town (the closest team to where I live!) and work my way up, once got them into the conference and then got offered the chesterfield job did an aright job with them but was there less than a season when the QPR job came up who were in league one, then got them promoted into the championship then premiership, finished 14th and then 6th before landing the everton job.

Always start every 1st new game as my beloved Portsmouth though!

Well, I almost never move club so I prefer to choose my team and since the same clubs always have no manager at the start of every game it is utterly boring to start more than one game unemployed in the same country.

If there could be a random selection of clubs (lower league ones) without a manager at the start of a game when you select to be unemployed that would be more interesting.

Btw, starting unemployed is no more realistic than picking a club. If it were then you would never get employed at all - that would be realism.

I prefer to hit random rather than start unemployed, but usually I end up starting saves with the same club each time, the club differs with each new version.

I love starting unemployed, and every year I'll run at least one save where I do. Apart from that I'll just play the game as I normally would, without any of the self-imposed rules like you get on the LLM forum, but it gives me a greater sense of satisfaction when I do make it to the top flight.

I prefer to hit random rather than start unemployed, but usually I end up starting saves with the same club each time, the club differs with each new version.

I like to hit random in some games I start, but I keep hitting it until it picks a club I like the sound of! I'm fussy and will never manage a club whose name I don't like or a club I hate in real life.

I like to hit random in some games I start, but I keep hitting it until it picks a club I like the sound of! I'm fussy and will never manage a club whose name I don't like or a club I hate in real life.

Same here, I wish there was a way to set it to pick randomly from a certain league though. I load Portugal and France, but hate playing in them and sod's law means that they are the leagues that a majority of my random clicks land on. It always seems to pick Newcastle as well.

For me it always seems to pick a disproportionate number of national teams and usually cycles through Argentina at least once every 5 clicks.

I think FM should be strung up for trying to let you loose on Newcastle though!

I always start with a poor team, never unemployed

How dare you! My first ever game on CM was with Newcastle and the mighty Barton, Albert, Peacock defence, I say I hate Newcastle, but I do have a very small soft spot for them because of that. I did alright, but came 2nd to Man Utd

Yes the national teams is another one, I thought maybe it took into account your previous games because it usually selects Germany every few clicks, but probably not.

I started unemployed in my game, but with international player experience. I actually got offered a job at Wigan...

On FM09 I think I will start with F.C. United of Manchester in Conference North, but not unemployed because then I won't get them.

I always have 2 games going.

1) A start unemployed career game. In my current one on FM08 this is the path I've followed Unemployed, Stafford Rangers, Rotherham, Sunderland, Bolton, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid

2) A Southampton game

I've never thought of doing this before but what I like to try is start with my hometown Alloa Athletic, Scottish Division 2, and also have English, Spanish and Italian leagues loaded up so that I can work hard with Alloa and give them a solid financial and footballing foundation and keep at it until the Celtic job comes up and I'll try and get that (I won't move clubs until I take over Celtic as that's the team I support) and then I'll do the same with them and make them a dominating force domestically, again focusing mainly on youth players as I don't like spending millions on players, then once they are also in a great way I'll wait for a top job abroad coming available and then move and do the same there, etc and try and win as many of the major trophies in the other 3 leagues that are running for a good decade or two before moving back to Celtic to try and better their 9-in-a-row record...

Unfortunately I've never got much further than just having left Celtic to take a top job in another country, due to time constraints but I'm determined to do it in FM09 and am just in the middle of purchasing a new PC to help my cause.

Might need to try starting off unemployed although I think that would be easier than starting with Alloa

I usually have an unemployed game and a Norwich game, although I'm now considering dropping the unemployed game in favour of a game as Kings Lynn.

I always have 2 games going.

1) A start unemployed career game. In my current one on FM08 this is the path I've followed Unemployed, Stafford Rangers, Rotherham, Sunderland, Bolton, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid

2) A Southampton game

i have two games like you too...

1) Unemployed> Stranraer > Burton > Forgot to Save <<<<<Stranraer

2) Arsenal (got a bit boring after 4 years)

I started unemployed in my game, but with international player experience. I actually got offered a job at Wigan...

On FM09 I think I will start with F.C. United of Manchester in Conference North, but not unemployed because then I won't get them.

F.C United of Manchester are not in the Confrence North.

If you start with a higher reputation, you'll more likely and more quickly get job offers. I would advise this, otherwise you might find yourself in that same situation that Dazza is describing. I know I've been there before.

I started with no experience and got offered about 20 jobs within a week. I did load about 30 different leagues though.

F.C United of Manchester are not in the Confrence North.

Whoops. I guess I'll have to edit them in...

I always start unemployed.

I reckon for the sake of realism that everyone should have to start unemployed, that you should have to deludedly take your CV full of tottaly irrelevant "skills" to lots of job interviews in your attempts to "live the dream" of being a manager, only to get rejected from every single one, find yourself homeless and selling The Big Issue and then die in a ditch somewhere in a drunken stupor years down the line, having refused to give up on your unachievable dream. I think that would make a fascinating football management sim

yeah I think it is a good idea for people to start unemployed but can see people not being happy with that. the old premier manager games used to make you start at the bottom...

The best I have ever done was on CM 01/02 were I started as a national manager for 2 seasons. The, I gave up to live the life as a club manager. I applied for numerous jobs till I was offered one by Luton, after they had sacked there manager for getting them relegated to division 3. And here's how it went :-

1st Season - 1st in Division 3

2nd Season - 1st in Division 2

3rd Season - 1st in Division 1

4th Season - 17th in The Prem

5th Season - 1st in The Prem

Plus, I never had much money to spend because of the local council constantly stopped me from expanding my ground beyond 10,000 people. My best transfer budget was 8mill. What is the best anyone else has done?

Whoops. I guess I'll have to edit them in...

Wait a season and there will be a chance of them being promoted to the Conference North in game, they're now in the league below it.

I tend to go for a big club in a big league with my first game for a bit of exploration.

Then I settle down for my long term Newcastle game.

I have always gone Liverpool as a first game but this time i might go with the unemployed route as theres much more satisfaction. I sometimes go Southport as they are the team closest to me and i managed to get them into league two in an older version. The best i have done though is with Hull, i really cant remember why i went them, i think i just picked a team at random. I think they were either league one or two at the time and i got them to the premiership after a while and signed raul tamudo for 8m or something!! :O

I've never picked a team. Always unemployed starts for me.