Ive had it!!

Right I've been playing fm/cm since I had champ manager 93 for the Amiga but now ive had it!!

Ive been playing as middlesbrough done a few seasons restarted a few times, but no matter what tactic I try, or download from others, or what players, staff I bring in I just get beat ALL of the time.

I might scrape the odd draw with stoke, but otherwise every hame I play is 3 0, 4 0, 4 1 defeats. There's nothing I can do at ALL. The game is clearly too hard, or I have a deformed version!

lol it is hard, fire about the tatic forum and download a few there to help.

What did you expect when your Middlesborough??? But seriously that's the realism of the game. There are going to be games where Boro will get hammered in real life no matter who the manager is or what the tactics are.

Haha, I love how every ranting thread's opening post follows the exact same structure.

it is harder though, it took me a full season to get a tatic to work with spurs, and as we speak i am 3 nil up at the bernabeu before half time . All about patience and sticking with a formation and a settled side.

lol try harder then,ur tactics must suck lol

I have every sympathy with the OP. First and foremost the game is supposed to be fun, surely?

I struggled at first, and wasnt getting results! Because i wasnt getting results i was chopping and changing ever match to try and find the right tactic! I had enough to be honest so just stuck with one tactic and now after about half a season it works fine and my team are settled into it!

Just means that success cant be done overnight, it has to be built on from season 1 upwards. But now i can buy players to fit into my tactic and not build a tactic to fit round them!

I used my same tactic from fm08 and im gunning for back to back epl titles & cl with Liverpool. I think this fm is easier

I'm sick to death of these topics about people saying they can't win games/ win titles all the time etc.

The game isn't supposed to be easy, you should have seasons/ spells where you have a bad defence or don't score many goals.

I thought this FM seemed more realistic based on the demo. It wasn't easy to win games, but it didn't seem like you were being robbed either.

And I'm not very good at FM I've only ever won about 2 league titles lol.

I have every sympathy with the OP. First and foremost the game is supposed to be fun, surely?

Apparently, it's not much fun for a lot of people Serps. That is; I agree with you.

And yes, I know people are having fun with it just as much as people who have "had it" with it, before anyone has a go at me...

Graham, what tactics have you downloaded and how long did you try them. I suggest you try two 442 tactics since that would suit M'Boro.

RoleTheory 123 & Puds_3_09.

Also im wondering what kind of team talks you give and what kind of reputation you give yourself.

SO, pick up your dummy that you spat out and calm down about not being able to win. If you follow wolfsongs team talks along with the above tactics you should improve.

I find the first season of every new game that comes out always seems impossible, but once youve completed a season or two without worrying about results and being sacked and just use it as trying to work out the game and your players.

I wish you the best of luck my friend. Im sure you'll get Afonso Alves and Tuncay slamming goals past Sunderland and Newcastle any day now!

The fun balance has been a bit off for a long time in my book, but for me that has more to do with the loss of the ability to have quick ten minute sessions here and there while waiting for a cab, the missus to finish getting ready etc. Increasingly it seems FM is aimed at people who don't actually have a life given the time required to play even a modest five season career. This is the first version I've got into for ages, but that is almost certainly only due to being stuck in bed virtually 24/7 at the moment (FYI kids, when cycling falling off mountains is bad for your health... actually it is probably a bad idea under any circumstances, but it does give you lots of time to play FM.)

Honestly I was very surprised to see how many people are bemoaning how hard the new version is. My complaint lies at the other end of the spectrum; the injury bug kills the AI teams, the transfer system makes it far too easy to buy unhappy top players even at small clubs, selling is so easy you can make a decent sum for a turd and a fortune for a bit of mediocrity, and there are so many great regens squad building is a bit of a cakewalk. This last point is made even worse by how many regens can step straight into top level competition and hold their own. Combined these factors allow you to do an easy Arthur Daley job and rapidly take even the most mediocre side to success... in my case Rochdale have finished 1st, 1st, 2nd and 5th, meaning straight to the EPL and UEFA cup first time out (only lost the ECL berth on the last kick of the season) and that is with an average age of 21. Needless to say I'm of the impression the regens need to be toned down quite a bit, the transfer system has gone too far to the other extreme, and the injury balance has to be changed towards training rather than match based injuries.

My guess is most of the people bemoaning the difficulty are starting at bigish clubs and falling foul of the confidence penalty, and are then chopping and changing tactics and staff all the time to try and fix the problem rather than letting things bed in.

The annoying thing is by the time this game is patched it could be superb, but I'll no longer have the time to play the thing.

Am i the only one finding it a bit easy? Not much of a challenge once you get thru the first season and have a gelled squad who respect you. AI is complety inept in transfer market, and incapable of building a squad. Jus finishing 3rd season at Rangers, unbeaten and only 2 draws in 29 games (away at Celtic + home to Motherwell! for some reason) and semi-final of UEFA cup. beat Man City in quarters. taking offer of Sampdoria job at end of season for fresh challenge.

scotland was easy though, i found it harder going to england with a middle of the road team

Why do people always start a moaning thread by saying 'played since the Amiga days?!'

It's almost like they're saying 'please don't hate me, i'm a loyal CM/FM'er'.

Probably sounds a bit basic but the Tactical Theorems Framework has so much in it that it can't fail to help!! Tweak some of the tactics in there to suit your players and you'll do alright!

It's hard and i love it!

i was feeling supreme when i finally clicked things with tactics after a long and painful task of finding the right balance for my team.

Tactics are Team specific. Remember that young Jedi.

Oh, you've played since Amiga days, scrap that young jedi thingy.

Alright I've slept on it and I'll give it another go.

Thanks to those who gave me some suggest, tips and formations.

Bit suprised by the amount of hostility from some of you though

lol go for it

so you've had 30 minutes since your last post, any updates ?

Yeah doing a bit better using the role theory formation, had to tweak it a bit focussing more on flanks, but drawing the games that I used to be losing

In my original post, I didn't mean to say the game isn't good or this version isn't technically superior in any way because it is.

It was just out of sheer frustration that everything I was trying wasn't working, and I wasn't having fun playing a game, which at the end of the day is what its all about.

Thinks are starting to look more promising now though

say your sorry Graham, and everything will be ok!

I used my same tactic from fm08 and im gunning for back to back epl titles & cl with Liverpool. I think this fm is easier

Take over my Bognor regis team and say that again.

Sign a couple of players in key places, no more than 4 (at the very most), then choose one tactic and stick with it. Keep a consistant selection and then the results should come. The more settled your selections and team the better they will perform.

Im sorry... I should have known better

Haha, I love how every ranting thread's opening post follows the exact same structure.

Lol I was thinking the exact same

I think the fact that there have been as many success stories as disaster stories just shows that this game is more about tactics than every previous release. FM 2009 is perhaps exposing those who usually coasted through a game playing formations alone. Time to start thinking outside the box!

Hahaha

Ive just beat Man Utd 2 1.

I take it all back! I love this game

Right I've been playing fm/cm since I had champ manager 93 for the Amiga but now ive had it!!

Ive been playing as middlesbrough done a few seasons restarted a few times, but no matter what tactic I try, or download from others, or what players, staff I bring in I just get beat ALL of the time.

I might scrape the odd draw with stoke, but otherwise every hame I play is 3 0, 4 0, 4 1 defeats. There's nothing I can do at ALL. The game is clearly too hard, or I have a deformed version!

try this one out its done wonders for me.

i use a 4-3-3 usually but it got pwned by the ai in the 3rd season.

nothing worked until i went back to basics..

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=67047&page=2

i use this with a few changes at home and made an away version to play for draws.

i got this kid petrucci from utd's reserves for 1m and he's on fire as playmaker.

Reading some of the posts by wwfan in the tactics forum and at http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/ should help you out.

I definately prefer this FM. I had some fun on FM08, especially when I was MK Dons...but I only managed to seesaw between League 2 and League 1 for around 15 years before I gave in haha...

On this game I went for Middlesbrough too and I did okay. First season I finished 10th, dead in the middle of the league, was given an extention and around £30m to spend. I brought in quality players who I can't remember (Rafinha or something was one...the right back?) and after a rough start to the season was 9th come January...but I was only around 5 points away from the European spots, it was a close league. I think I'd have got a high-midtable position had I continued, but Lazio came calling from the bottom of Serie A so I've decided to take up that challenge

I'd like to offer some advice though...don't try and build 'Boro around Downing. I tried and I tried but I found my team was too open. The most successful tactic I had was a diamond attacking formation taken straight out of the standard tactics menu, then in the 70th minute or so getting rid of a striker and the AM and creating two wingers - Downing being one of them.

I'm by no means an expert at the game, but I don't think its one where the average player (which I consider myself) has to go getting all involved with little sliders and worrying about training. I like to sign players, set a formation then decide who comes on at certain points of the game...then obviously handing the press and moral.

Just have fun with it, seriously...experiment with the standard tactics and then change them a little to suit yourself. If you're a gamer like me then visiting the tactics forum will make you feel very confused then when the goals start coming you'll feel detached from the victories in front of you...it's like going to the editor and giving yourself all the best players - you won't feel chuffed if you win anything.

Sorry, mates, but the lad's right. I've already tried to perform two completely different seasons in two completely different teams (both playing the Champions, two of the finest clubs on earth) and if previously I was most probable to succeed, now it looks I'm managing Shrewsbury!! And the tactics are the same I've always used, same team talk, the media even praise me and it's constantly said that the team will love my press conference... There's gotta be something wrong, because I lose with teams that no one would tell.

I'm not expecting it to be easy, but does it have to be impossible? Or stupidly difficult?

Lol I was thinking the exact same

me too! its actually kinda funny...no offense to anyone anywhere...

What's the point in supplying the user with a few dozen standard tactics if none of them work and instead you need to read an in depth mathematical theorum so that your defensive midfielder bothers to be defensive and your strikers actually score some times?

I have to say the game over all is better than ever and I enjoyed the toughness of the game at first. But now I've put in 5 days of game time and yet my better than average team are rooted to the bottom of the division - for the first time in the decade ive been playing c/fm, it feels like i have no control over results, none whatsoever. I've put bloody hours into building up a youths system, scouting network and feeder clubs, signing great prospects; yet my senior team refuses to win a game.