Wishlist: What you would like to see in future versions of the game. All 'list' ideas in here.

[Unitedsi]

It's a great game but it could get better...

Some of the ideas that I have seen on the previous pages which I fully agree with/really like are:

Improve media coverage, don't make me say the same thing again and again in response to the same question. I really like the idea of press conferences if there was a way to get that in the game.

Job interviews when you apply for a new job.

Better team talks, sometimes the choices you get are rubbish.

More interaction with the board - a monthly meeting could be really good I think.

Improved transfers - prices do go mad after season 1. Also, irl chief execs are very often the people who negotiate transfers and contracts - I'd like the option of giving the board a list of positions and players I want and seeing what they can come up with. No manager gets a free reign on that and new contracts like you do in the game so it should be more a two-way thing with your board.

Ditto for your staff for the above with your coaching staff and scouts and physios. Doesn't have to be all about players either - Let your physios ask for new equipment, better facilities so you can take the ideas to the board meetings if you want.

Also, One thing that gets right on my nerves is that the Ass Man is always set to sort out new contracts for youth players and he seems to just offer deals all over the place. It's my fault for forgetting to turn it off as soon as I start a game but it's ridiculous that he offers deals to players but his report to you says offload him in the near future.

Finally, pretty much every decent sized club has a club doctor, this should be in the game.

[millwallrules]

I would love to be getting contact with agents before the season with them offering me players to sign like they do in real life. Would be very useful in lower leagues as well as leagues like the MLS and the A League who always sign obscure foreginers who offer themselves to the club.

[Mistryman]

I would love to be getting contact with agents before the season with them offering me players to sign like they do in real life. Would be very useful in lower leagues as well as leagues like the MLS and the A League who always sign obscure foreginers who offer themselves to the club.

That is quite a good idea but I think it would start to get annoying because many of the players would be constantly offered to the club but if there was an option like to say "I am not interested in this player you offering- please do not ask again" or something like that, it would become less annoying but great idea though

[LutonNil]

A Reject all enquiries button

[millwallrules]

I think also training should also play a bigger part in the game and it should also become more detailed. It would be brilliant if we could make a team excel in one area of their game by working on it. For example, you could get your team constantly working on set pieces or watching their previous games more, and therefore the side should be be better as set pieces or adapt quicker to your tactics.

I would also like to tweak small problems with players for example taking a player aside and getting him to work on his strength and he could take initiative to do so.

[Scotty Walds]

Please please please make games between lower league and premier league sides more realistic.

Often when I'm a League 1 or League 2 team, I'll play a friendly against someone like Sunderland, and lose 8-0. That wouldn't happen in real life, it would be close like 2-0, maybe 3-0. Yet if you're a League 2 team playing against a Rymans League team, you'll lose 5 times out of 10.

No offence, but are you sure you're not just a crap manager?

[Maccer40]

It's a great game but it could get better...

Some of the ideas that I have seen on the previous pages which I fully agree with/really like are:

Improve media coverage, don't make me say the same thing again and again in response to the same question. I really like the idea of press conferences if there was a way to get that in the game.

Job interviews when you apply for a new job.

Better team talks, sometimes the choices you get are rubbish.

More interaction with the board - a monthly meeting could be really good I think.

Improved transfers - prices do go mad after season 1. Also, irl chief execs are very often the people who negotiate transfers and contracts - I'd like the option of giving the board a list of positions and players I want and seeing what they can come up with. No manager gets a free reign on that and new contracts like you do in the game so it should be more a two-way thing with your board.

Ditto for your staff for the above with your coaching staff and scouts and physios. Doesn't have to be all about players either - Let your physios ask for new equipment, better facilities so you can take the ideas to the board meetings if you want.

Also, One thing that gets right on my nerves is that the Ass Man is always set to sort out new contracts for youth players and he seems to just offer deals all over the place. It's my fault for forgetting to turn it off as soon as I start a game but it's ridiculous that he offers deals to players but his report to you says offload him in the near future.

Finally, pretty much every decent sized club has a club doctor, this should be in the game.

love the idea of getting the board involve with the transfers ... just give a shortlist of players and the board should try n negociate themselves

basically better media coverage of matches and more business side to things example = what type of sponsor would you like, pick a feeder team yourself ...

[Juan]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm still playing FM2007 so I don't know if these have been established in 2008.

- Conditional farrows/barrows. These would allow to recover some of the flexibility of the old with ball/without ball screen , without sacrificing ease of making in-game changes. To explain with an example, if an MC has a conditional farrow to AMC, it means that if the team has the ball in the offensive half of the pitch, the player moves forward to the AMC position (likewise, an MC with a DMC conditional barrow would indicate the player to move back if the opposing team has the ball in your own half). I split the pitch in halves for this example, but if this could be made to work splitting it on thirds, it would be better.

- Weight average ratings according to the minutes a player plays each game.

- When I add new countries to the EU using the editor, EU players still count as foreigners in their leagues. Please fix this.

Plus the stuff that has already been mentioned. Specially taking charge of youth NTs without having to manage the senior NT as well, more team talk options...

EDIT: Something I just remembered, give us some incentive to take higher salaries.

[allanshearer]

i am hopeing that u can work as assistant manager youth team manager

[jod123]

Somethings I would like added include:

1. Changing Competition Reputation not static

2. Better International Game - currently cannot organise pre-tournament friendlies and sometimes cannot organise friendlies until September of year. Also better choosing of hosts for tournaments and get news items telling the countries bidding and what one was chosen to host.

3. Get news item knowing stadium to host Continental finals rather than only find out when the final is about to be played.

4. Be able to create competitions in editor (doubt this will be added)

5. Better training model

6. More variety in media

7. Possibility of randomness to maybe have changes in competitions in future e.g. maybe get a news item that UEFA has decided to expand Euros in future or a new rule restricting foreigners in Premier League. This is to make game seem more realistic and not have the same thing over and over again. (doubt this will be added either)

8. Better negotiations in transfers (if i offer 25m for a player and the club wants 40m, then i offer 30m the club should say they now want 50m) and stop clubs repeatedly enquiring about a player even though I set an asking price

9. For important games have a better build up (build up for champions league final should not be same as to blue square premier game)

10. Would love if the game could be made faster (doubt it though)

11. More interaction with board members and give directors of football an active role not just be there as a name

12. Possibly the addition of more leagues (would love Japan, and more African leagues and leagues in Middle East)

13. AI to make better decisions (stadium expansion rarely happens for other clubs)

That's all I can think of right now. I think it is enough though.

[LutonNil]

Ability to add playable leagues later in the game

No point in having top Euro leagues as playable when you are in the BSS or BSN but if you could add them as playable when you get to the Championship that would be great

[jod123]

Ability to add playable leagues later in the game

No point in having top Euro leagues as playable when you are in the BSS or BSN but if you could add them as playable when you get to the Championship that would be great

That is another thing I like. When you move to the Premier League after starting out at the bottom, I would like to not have the lower leagues playable.

[paduardo]

I dont know if this has been mentioned before but i'd like to see league reputation increase and decrease

[GillsMan]

A minor improvement I would like to see: let's say you're Arsenal and you're about to play Chelsea; you can click on the previous matches button to see the head-to-head record. Well, if you've had a nomadic career like the one I'm currently experiencing, this is fairly meaningless.

As well as seeing the head-to-heads, I'd like to see my own personal record against the team I'm playing. So, to take the Arsenal example above, I'd like to see all the matches involving teams I've managed (at the time I was managing them) against Chelsea.

The reason I say this, is that I'd love to quickly see what my record is like against Barcelona, because I remember beating them with both my PSV and Lyon sides, but I know I lost to them with Porto and Arsenal, but can't remember how I did against them when I managed Milan (or if I even played against them).

Not a major thing, but would be nice to see.

[toon army 06]

Forgot one other thing:

Top players rotting in the reserves when they get to around 33/34

In 2012 in my old game the likes of Drogba, Cavalho, Ballack, Lampard, G. Neville and Carragher were all stuck in the reserves.

In real life these players would have left to play for mid table Premier sides or good Championship teams


Probably due to the fact that attributes fall too sharply when a player hits 31/32 - IMO only physical stats should drop

technical stats should not drop - Beckham would still be able to take great free kicks when he is 40 but he wouldn't be able to last a full game

We will never see the likes of Teddy Sheringham playing in the top league in FM

you wrong mate technical stats should drop will messi be showing the same skill at 35 no physic stats are strenth in real life players lose some skill but get stronger ect shearer,giggs

[wakko jakko]

There should be an option under 'Team Instructions' for Service to strikers. Similar to that of target men but instead for both forwards.

So many times have I played two quick/ small strikers with a 'short' passing style yet I see over and over again long balls and service which they cannot do anything with.

I see this as a pretty obvious and basic team instruction which needs to be added.

[Maccer40]

in real life a player must do a medical in order to transfer to a club ... which in many cases happens in the game to be fair

but when a medical can be done within an hour an the player you want lives in spain, just a bit unrealistic
the assistant manager should tell you for example, if you want to sign a foreign player now is the time to do so or when you offer a contract the player has to fly to you

[toon army 06]

in real life a player must do a medical in order to transfer to a club ... which in many cases happens in the game to be fair

but when a medical can be done within an hour an the player you want lives in spain, just a bit unrealistic
the assistant manager should tell you for example, if you want to sign a foreign player now is the time to do so or when you offer a contract the player has to fly to you

but the player would have his medical at your club anyway.so even if he was from japan it can still be done in 1 hour as he has to do it at your club.

[chrismacq]

An idea I posted on susie:

Seeing managers talk with their assistents constantly, taking their advice. I think in the game, assistant managers should also give you tactical advice during the game and also while creating tactics. Ala "your a*s man thinks the player would exel in free role", "you should bring no. 11 on, he's eager to play and prove a point" etc.

Would make game lot more realistic and also would help out newbies a lot. And then having a good assistant manager actually is a great advantage.

Edit: I see an half-similiar idea on top of the page.

Totally agree with this idea, more in depth relationship with AM and other coaches, I also think there should be more of a career link with your backroom staff, for instance if you leave for another club most managers tend to take the AM/coaches with them ?
I would also like to see meeting with player agents for transfers, possibly trying to convince target player that XYZ club is the place to be etc etc

[Scotty Walds]

in real life a player must do a medical in order to transfer to a club ... which in many cases happens in the game to be fair

but when a medical can be done within an hour an the player you want lives in spain, just a bit unrealistic
the assistant manager should tell you for example, if you want to sign a foreign player now is the time to do so or when you offer a contract the player has to fly to you

Terms can be agreed over the phone/email, and local medical centres used...

[Juan]

Also, would it be too hard to make the game compatible with saved games from previous versions?

[Chris Ritchie]

That's definitely not going to happen.

[bws4lyf]

Rivalries with other managers and perhaps players which would be hyped up in the media before a match. ie Benitez v Mourinho

[5iver]

I think one of the best ideas I have heard to date in this thread are as follows:
-The bidding process should be tweaked, just as the introduction of wage budget imporved financial control considerably. Give a lits of players that you really want, or put forward a position you're in dire need and get your General Manager/Chairman offering players.
-Also, have extra ratings of chairman that will reflect his willingness to "break the bank" for big-name signings (ie. if Chairman likes big-name signings and I am trying to bring a plyer of much better reputation to my team, the Chairman will make an exception on putting a cap on that specific player's wage, or may inject enough money one-off to pay the transfer)
-Monthly meetings with board. Board are in real life much more involved in day-to-day affairs, especially teams that have only one major stock holder, as do lots of decent teams around Europe.
-Media interaction. Since FM has never got it right and the feature has been introduced a long time ago, alter it to a certain extent. You don't need to make the manager interact a lot more, but add more 'random' news articles, particularly from your League. Eg. Magazine/Punter x predicts that player y will attract the attention of bigger clubs if he keeps playing like that. Put such articles in much more often. Generally get more feedback from experts'/fans/old players on the way the team is playing much more often, with various viewpoints on problems and remedies being put around (Eg. should chanbge to 4-4-2, ball is not going fast enogh up to the attackers).

[lander]

I would really like the option to sign pre-contracts with staff.

I like to keep my backroom staff at full capacity, but when one of them retires I cannot sign a replacement until after he has retired. This means some days/weeks during pre-season when my players don't get the training they could have gotten.

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I don't have time to trawl through 29 pages.

[Hagi1978]

Idea for pre-match media coverage...

In the game just before a match takes place the media usually ask you how you think the game will go. Like "Do you agree your team should win comfortably?" You then get to answer with a few things like "I can see us beating them".

That is all cool...but after you have said those things, say for example "I can't see us winning today", you should be able to secretly tell your team that you were playing mind-games and we should win no problem.
I know this is similar to when you actually give the team talk but your players already have the 'PR' tag next to their name due to the talk you gave to the media.

There should be a function that allows you to talk to your players before the team talk and after the media cos in my opinion your players have already assumed what you told the media is really how you feel about the game, instead of what you really think. And there doesn't seem to be a way to change that, other than the team talk function which is pretty limited.

Anyone else think this is OK or a little long-winded, i.e. too many talks?

[Viking]

Here goes:

I´d like to see "old" players staying in the game longer. In FM08 players over 30 turn into useless and slow-running garbage in a couple of seasons, making it pointless to sign old players (unless they are VERY good from the beginning).

I´d like to see the game AI develope youth players better.

I´d like to see the the Wayne Rooney match engine bug removed.

I´d like to see more realistic transfers and free transfers in the MLS.


Yes, this was a rant.

Other than that, to see some of the rich arabian leagues playable would be nice.

[Frederico EJ]

Facilities:

Should be able to create facilities. Like Youth Academies all over the world. The big clubs in real life have academies all over the place and this helps them develop overseas talent.

Definently with this idea

[-JeZiFiCaTiOn-]

Agree with the guy talking about the Wayne Rooney bug....

He isn't THAT good..

[_Agalloch_]

Some of these things have most likely been covered but:

- Confidence system - I like its inclusion but it's obviously bugged at the moment. I think younger players with a squad role of youngster or hot prospect should be treated differently from senior players, it seem unfair that the fans are slating a young player when I want to blood him into the first team, for example, I let him (a striker) play the last 10 minutes or so but he's not had enough time to make an impact due to us defending a lot so he gets a 6, they could definitely be less harsh and on the flipside a key player would be expected to perform well, regulary. Another thing is the fans opinion against playing the bigger clubs (Man United, Chelsea etc.), as a mid-table or below club there would be no expectation to win against these sides IRL yet in the game whenever I lose to a bigger team my fans are usually disappointed despite us playing well, usually "disappointed with lack of chances".

- Match engine - I'll probably get slated for this but here goes...I think they should revert back to the 7.0.2 match engine, no, it wasn't perfect but it had a great balance to it, it was fun and most importantly I felt that I had control over my team and that they WOULD respond to the individual instructions I give them, with 8.0.2 (I actually thought 8.0.1 was very good btw, realistic but fun as well) I think it's a bit too realistic in some aspects and the some of the fun is lost, plus I do find it predictable. I don't feel as if my players do as they are told despite them "having a strong understanding" and there's too much emphasis on set-pieces and not enough of general play, rarely will I see an opposition player skin my full-back and then their team proceed to build some great play, ending in a goal, it tends to be deflections, or players dallying on the ball which cause goals in my opinion.

- Asking your Assman for advice on tactics etc. and possibly how to stop a leaky defence or get more goals, or whether certain players would be good in certain roles. This would be judged according to their stats so sometimes the advice could be rubbish or could help.

- The media - At the moment I think it's actually alright but as always, it can be improved. Firstly, in important matches I would like to see more build-up to the game, or just something that makes it stand out from a regular match. Also, the "this player played for you before" is very annoying in the lower leagues since I tend to trial a lot of players and I get this a lot.

- Finally, individual talks for substitutes - For instance the option to tell a player to do a certain role eg. "take the ball into the corner and waste time" etc.

[Frederico EJ]

Definently with this idea

More on the youth academy idea
Should be able to set them up in different countries, have players coming through there and training there, you should be able to have your scouts/coaches work with and review them, and even set friendlies up with them to see how they perform in matches, with the possibility of bringing players over for trials.

[James Clarke]

Not sure if these have been mentioned but here goes anyway:

First off the transfer market - When a season starts you shouldn't just be handed a wad of cash to flourish when you feel like it. Your chairman should say something like "We have somewhere in the region of £45m - £55m to spend on transfers this season and have set a deadline of 28th July for you to return a shortlist of potential signings to us." Up until your deadline you can spend the time sending your scouts out to help you find potential signings in the recquired positions (as is possible already), searching for potential signings, and talking to agents about the availability and costs of players that you are looking to sign, giving you a relatively good idea of whether or not it would be within your budget, and therefore possible to suggest the player to board. There should then be places to place the desired players, for example, you could have Striker A (valued at £35m) and Defender A (valued at £15m) as your first options. But if Striker A was unavailable for sale and your next option, Striker B was valued at £25m, you could have a second choice Defender (B) who was valued at £25m. Or, in another case, if the board found that they could sign neither Striker A nor Striker B, they could return to you and ask you for further suggestions, giving you a chance to alter the options you first gave them at the dealine.

Secondly Confidence - A new feature in FM08 that needs improving. There are three cases when board confidence really annoys me that could probably (not that I know anything) be fixed easily. The first is when a player, listed as a back-up or rotation comes on frequently at the end of a game to rest a player and plays 10 mins, only getting a 6, is then ripped apart by the fans for playing badly. The second is when I sign a decent player, for a big club, on a free, with low wages (< £20k p/w) and he performs averagely (Balotelli springs to mind for me), the fans become disappointed with my performance in the transfer market. Finally, the third is the match confidence. Having beaten some Liga BBVAVBVABAVBA cup team 5-2 with my Valencia reserves, I then had to play R Madrid away. I won 3-1, and went to see what my fans felt...They were more pleased by my win over the Liga BBVAVBVABAVBA team than my win over rivals Madrid.

Thirdly Friendlies - Rather than let your assistant find you 8 poor teams to play, or spend ages finding big teams and when they're available, you should be able to ask your assistant to find you teams of [slightly higher/similiar/slightly lower] [reputation/ability] to you who are available on certain dates, i.e you set a period (from early July to mid August or something) and he finds you X matches against similiar teams, so your friendlies will be slightly more competitive and help you to adjust tactics to suit the quality of teams you're likely to be up against.

That's all for now

[Reece]

you could have a button during the match to send ur subs out to warm-up see if it kicks the team into gear thinking they might get subbed ...

[Rob123]

I don't know if this has been posted but actual one on one talks with players, chairman, staff etc

[lander]

Thought of another thing:

I'd really like to have the option to report clubs for tapping up my players. In my current game, the Barcelona boss is out almost every week, praising my star striker. Before the season started, he was also very public with his wish to sign nearly every one of my senior players. I'm sick of having him in the media, trying to unsettle my squad, and I wish I could report that greedy bloathead.

[Bragenca]

It would be great if you could co-manage a team with a friend or the computer

[terrierbull]

Well I know this would be suggested a lot of times till now, but I still feel the a** man has to do more. I agree with a suggestion given above with the a** man giving suggestions during match. It does happen in real life afaik.

And again, once he gives the suggestion, obviously, u r the one who will take the final decision about that.

At least that way it pays to have a good a** man.

[Her9]

in my opinion it is still somewhat difficult to get rid of your fringe players.

so apart from offering your players, how about "arrange a meeting" with the player's agent so that the agent can propose the player to other clubs as well?

in italy it is common practice that agents go around offering their players.

and when offering a mutual termination, rather than just refusing the player should come back with a counter proposal of how much he wants to leave.

[Nick_UK_84]

I think fringe players is a massive one - irl teams like Liverpool/Tottenham have dead weight and might not get rid of them for one reason or another but in my game they are eating up my wages and i can't stand the sight of em (I'm looking at you Taino) so coudn't care less if they went for a £1 - I just want rid of them - why is it so hard for a mediocre side to go - thats a good deal I'll buy him! for a quid! then I save £20k a week!!!!

[sixsecondsleft]

Graphics - Ability to assign balls to a competition. It might add more feel to playing cup games vs league games.

Training - I'd like to be able to be more specific when training a player, such as making him into a type of target striker, the kind of playmaker you want, etc.

Board - I want to be able to request the type of feeder club I want, e.g., a work permit feeder club.

Editor - I'd love to be able to create/edit competitions... I hate league swapping. (Unlikely, I know.)

Match - An option for the game to 'stop' when the other team makes a tactical change. Lots of times playing extended and quick, I don't see the message that they switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-4, for example.

Injuries (Match) - If a defender is hurt and on the sideline, the team should automatically fill in his spot while he is not on. You cannot make a tactical change in that short of time.

Player Interaction - Private and public would be nice... not everything public.

Tactics - Able to assign how each striker is played the ball. If I want one played to his feet and the other to run onto the ball.

Stats - I want to see Goalkeepers have a Goals Against Average, especially in the competition player stats. Also, the keepers conceded stat in the competition leaders should have a minimum games played.

Editor (again) - Ability to 'select all' or make changes to multiple items at one time. For example, if you want to clear a history, you have to delete each year one-by-one. Why not 'select all' and then just delete?

Media - Too much based on reputations... if I am near the top of the table towards the end of the season, and I am going to play a team with a much higher rep who is below me on the table, I should not get that my team "faces the impossible".

[Muncey]

Arghhhh, i'm FC Midtjylland.. a fairly poor Danish team. I'm in the 3rd season and i won the league last season meaning im in the Champions League. I beat Olympiakos 5-1 on agg to get into the group stage, i then got Madrid, Dinamo Kiev and Steaua in my group. Beat Dianmo 3-0, Steaua 3-0 and i just played Madrid and beat them an amazing 3-1! I'm such a small side and i have very few good players.. and my fans response to that game? "Pleased". The confidence thing is just a bit above the middle.. i mean come on, if such a small unknown side in real life beat the likes of Madrid 3-1 i think they'd be a little more than just "Pleased with the amount of chances we had". It's not even like Madrid wasn't trying, that result means their now 3rd in the group and if it stays that way they won't qualify for the knockout rounds.

It's the same with all the confidence, their never ever happy and even when they are they'll always find something to moan about. I went ages not losing and i was doing brilliantly, top of the league by a long way and the board said their please but the fans are very unhappy about the 2-2 draw against Kobenhavn and it will stay in their minds for a while.. or something like that. Nobody on the confidence is EVER happy, no matter what you do. Tipped to win nothing and end up exceeding hugely in everything and you still get **** on for something.

[Lucifer_kurt]

Just somehow make fm09 work faster with duo-core cpu, i had my q6600 oc 2000fsb but it's still works slow.....and i do wish there will be less genius regen but maybe 2 r 3 awsome regen player with good body once a few years.

[Muncey]

The regens are pretty random and i rarely get many really really good ones, infact the only ones with like PA of 190+ always start at 16/17 with a CA of under 100 or around that. Then you look at the likes of Sakho, Bojan, Saivet.. all very young and start with not only good PA but good CA too, around 140. I never get this with regens...

Another feature i'd love to see is the ability to change the rules in a league, for example Italian league you can't buy more than 1 foreign player each season. I know it makes the game more realistic but it really puts me off playing in the italian league especially when a foreigner has joined the season i join them so i can't buy any foreigners till the season after. Not only is this annoying on it's own but apparently Swedish, Russian and plenty of other EU countries/players are classed as "foreigner", i know Ibrah was when i attempted to buy him.

[Zico]

1) I agree entirely with the comments on the board's confidence in you. With two games to go in the first season, my Newcastle side were unexpectedly six points clear at the top of the Premiership, and my board was "satisfied" with my performance. That's it. In real life, they would have been delirious.

2) It should be much easier to buy the best players from sides who have just been relegated. In real life, teams who go down want to cut costs, and the best way of doing this is sellng the best players.

[leedsfan88]

I would like to see in manager(the player) information a record of reserve games and u18 games managed. Also for the game to keep a record of player states for when they player in the reserves and u18. Because when a new season starts there states for the previous reserve season are lost. I'm a man who plays all three of my teams as it helps me develop these players and also get a good look at them.

Also in terms of the irish league, there is a new division called the A championship. In this division every premier team has a reserve team in it and there is also a limerick reserve team in it too aswell as a number of other junior clubs in ireland. The winners win promotion i believe. Just thought i'd point it out just in case the irish researcher forgets, or if there isn't an irish researcher.

All the best

[leedsfan88]

Another thing that just crossed my mind is the premiership clubs keeping onto loads of the reserve players till there are 24. These players don't play senor games just reserve games. Like in my Lincoln game Man Utd have signed Eckersley to a new one year deal and he hasn't played one senior game and his 23 or somthing. All the top clubs do it. its very unrealistic. I mean Liverpools reserves in my game are all good enough to play championship and some a good enough to player premier. Will this be address

[Andreas HN]

FM 2008 is missing one important future. I don’t know how common it is in the UK, but we’ve seen it happen a couple of times in Copenhagen, where I’m from. Imagine:

A player X has contract expirement on the 30/6-2008 with his club Y. He signs with club Z on bosman rule on the 3rd January 2008. Now, in FM 2008 this would mean that player X will join club Z for free when his contract is to expire in the end of June. And that’s all fine. But now a days it is often seen that the club Z tries to negotiate a cheap transfer fee with club Y, in order to already take over player X in the January transfer window. Club Y gets a little cash for a player not included in the clubs future plans and with his thoughts already on club Z. The club Z gets their player 6 months before and everyone is happy.

Example: Theres this highly reputated midfielder that i'm chasing. On one of the first day of the January transferwindow i succeed to get his signature on the bosman rule in front of a whole lot of clubs. Among the next week i get an offer on one of my midfielders that is to good to refuse. I sell him. But now my squad is one midfielder down untill July. Here you should be able as manager to try and negotiate a here-and-now transfer with the players club in order to keep your squad in balance.

I know that players transfer fees tend to get lower in a window before a player can leave on bosman, but it has annoyed me for quite some time now. Bottomline: FM 2008 leaves this option completely out and that’s a shame I think. I know jack **** about how you can program such a detail, but for ex. you could imagine that the players club would tend to sell for around 20% of his normal market price.


Furthermore I haven’t experienced that theres been any impacts to the game, considering the Andy Webster case. What are your thoughts on this? I find that SI will have to do some serious impacts concerning the Webster-case to keep track with time.

[max-riot]

With the changing way we play the game, it seems now to be successful in this game you need to have a few variants of the one tactic. Most of these being attack, defend, balanced, shut up shop & all out attack. What about having a "shout box" so to speak somewhere on the screen were if a player decided to create a few tactics these could be dragged and dropped into these slots, so instead of having to go to the tactic screen very time. Its one click and the next break in play the new tactic is loaded?

[Hagi1978]

I would like to see an improvement in the pre-match report from the Assistant Manager - I usually get the "Didn't seem to be listening" malarkey. That just so wouldn't be the case in real life - that your players were not taking any notice of you at the beginning, half-time, or end of game!!!

[DB1]

I would like to see.
Team Talks - Some more realistic options. They seem too general. I may be winning two - nil and be pleased but i still want more from you, without having to "Disappointed"
Sub instructions - Want you want E.g. Tighten it up, You can win it for us, Enjoy the run out (For youngsters)
Cup Competitions - Be able to say to board league cup is for youth so may not reach final of every cup.
Specify what feeder teams you are looking for

[kevinep]

I would like to see in FM 2008:

Joining a new club - if they have sacked a manager due to underperformance and are languishing below pre-season predictions, and you take the job, they should create new expectations for you based on their current standing...ie get us out of the relegation zone and in to a safe position.

Manager expectations - lower league clubs should always consider how far you have taken them up to now before sacking you when relegated from the Prem League with say Southport. Making it challenging is one thing, but overall achievement ( ie Wenger at Arsenal ) at a club should be taken in to consideration.

Being knocked out of cups - linked with manager expectations, if you are a lower league club and are knocked out the league cup in round 2 by Man Utd, the board should take in to account the opposition that defeated you before getting to peeved about not getting to round 3 as per expectations.

More team talk options - as I really like this side to the game and it could be spruced up a bit.

Modification of the media options - at the moment I don't go there as the results of media talks are not that beneficial for my team in general.

Other than that, great game !

Kev

[Kertiz]

I would like to see in FM 2008:



Being knocked out of cups - linked with manager expectations, if you are a lower league club and are knocked out the league cup in round 2 by Man Utd, the board should take in to account the opposition that defeated you before getting to peeved about not getting to round 3 as per expectations.

Agreed, annoys me when I get a tough draw and I know the board are gonna be angry.

I'd like to see a better player rating system. It is far too heavily reliant on goals. On previous versions, I've seen goalscorers get 5/6, but I've never seen that on this. Just because a player scores a tap-in, doesn't mean he's had a good game.

Also Wayne Rooney needs to be deleted from the game

[无门冰箱]

Better to have a career mode...

[Jimbokav1971]

The English structure salary cap.

[rinso]

just a couple of little things... the ability to filter offers for players.. i find trawling through a lot of loan offers tedious and kinda time-consuming.. why not have something where we could, for example, accept all loan offers from premiership clubs?? a similar one would be to "reject/accept all part-exchange offers" seem to get a lot of these from clubs when im offering out players who are transfer listed, and there's no way in hell i want one of their players!

[AndyKane67]

The ability to provide direct quotes for the media when you choose which type of media comment to release.

The ability to have friendly and unfavoured clubs - not direct feeder clubs or full-on rivals, but clubs whom your support generally like to see you beat or don't mind as much when you are beaten by them, as well as the ability to comment on the great friendship or dislike between the clubs.

[Michael Barker]

The booing of Gareth Barry yesterday got me thinking that theres nothing like this on FM. I'd love to see more interaction between fans, club and players e.g. they express a desire to hold on to someone!
Would also like to see a more in depth pre season including tours and transfer speculation! I'm bored of being asked the same question about all players on my shortlist! And what do my fans think about these possible transfers? And it seems pretty pointless doing a tour because you never find out about the benefits! IRL theres quite a lot in the media about Man United, Chelsea, Barca etc touring countries.

[Ranjith]

Players with ambition may perhaps learn the languages of the league they would like to join in the future. The kinds of players that would do this ought to be discussed. It shouldn't be that too many players do this. It needs to be limited.

Those players with ambition/professionalism could also start learning a new language if they have a future transfer agreed to a club in another country too. I reckon this would be relatively easy to impement (in the general scheme of things)? It would be a nice enhancement.

[LutonNil]

Leagues to be able to change format in the future

e.g. News Item - "The Premier League, under pressure from UEFA, has announced that the top division will be reduced to 18 teams in 3 years time"

So one extra team will be relegated per season



Also things like the play-offs being scrapped and the old 3 up 3 down being implemented again. Champions League format changing again etc

And more playable feeder leagues would be nice (although it took me 10 years to get out of the BSS this game)

[Richard76]

More interaction between the chairman and manager.

Especially when he accepts transfer bids over your head. The longer you've been at the club/higher reputation the more weight your opinion should carry.

[onyxx]

i would like to see something like a 'Tactic Board' where i have an complete overview about my tactic(s). it allows me to set player positionings for offense and defense and it should also show each individual instructions directly.

i would also like to have the possibility to give more detailed intructions on penelties and free kicks.

ie 'shoot the penelty always in a high angle';
for free kicks their should be an option that ie if the ball is layin 20m from the goal try always a direct shoot or some other specific instructions depending on the distance to the opponents goal

possibility of founding youth camps all over the world

in-game shouting; ie a defender makes a horrible failure that cost you almost a goal
and u have the option to scream ' c'mon u can do it better ';'concentrate more' or 'show anger' or something like this

and the biggest problem i see in the footman is the visualization/presentaion.
i've looked for example at some FIFA manager screenshots and i must say that it's the only thing that EA really can do fine.
the interface is so user-fiendly and well designed that u want to explore the whole world in all details.maybe take a look at them for some inspirations like they did it

[Blitz-Matt]

Having some sort of 'head-coach' who has a certain amount of PPMs he can teach the players at the club. Obviously, better head-coaches would have a wider range of PPMs, and a higher number to distribute amongst the players.

Ex-Players with certain PPMs would have more PPMs that they had while playing to pass on could be a possibility.

EDIT: To give you an idea of what i'm getting at, one could look for a head coach who has the right sort of PPMs relating to how your team plays.

[wakko jakko]

One problem is team talks when playing the second leg of a game in the uefa cup/champions league. The only realistic options are 'wish luck' and 'I expect a win'. Even the assistant manager chooses 'none' when asked for his opinion.

I believe that an option for service to strikers also needs to be added for both forwards instead of just a target man or the team as a whole. E.g Balls in to feet- particularly a problem when using small strikers who are constantly supplied with hopeful lofted high punts which they fail miserably to win.

Lastly, praise for a great season I think needs to be included. I know that confidence from the board has been mentioned but on top of this the only kind of praise you receive is larger prize money and a better media prediction for the following season. Something like praise from a football legend or special thanks from players could be added just to increase that good feeling instead of having to create it for yourself.

[pehul]

I'd like to see that a player for example from brazil is willing to move to your club ie. AC Milan because Milan have a lot of Brazilian...or because they're move because they're friend with the player at the club...

[Man U King]

Training camps would be good for club and international

[Wings69]

Ability to watch two games at once. I'm sure we've all been in that situation at the end of the season, where we can win the league but only if another team playing that day draws or loses. Heck it's a regular occurence in the Champions League. Being able to watch a game simultaneously as opposed to having to sit there staring at the latest scores/goal updates screen would be brilliant, and it would also be a nice time-saver when it came to scouting opposition.

[calvin]

Guess this was mentioned before but I really would like:

-the possibility to express your objectives when renewing contracts or buying new players, so that a star player would be tempted to join you because of the clubs ambition

[Jakey_q]

more involvement with your staff

[Scotty Walds]

Ability to watch two games at once. I'm sure we've all been in that situation at the end of the season, where we can win the league but only if another team playing that day draws or loses. Heck it's a regular occurence in the Champions League. Being able to watch a game simultaneously as opposed to having to sit there staring at the latest scores/goal updates screen would be brilliant, and it would also be a nice time-saver when it came to scouting opposition.

Managers don't watch other games whilst in the dugout, they concentrate on their own match whilst receiving updates. It would be nice if important updates came through on the commentary...

[Juan]

I've read around that league reputation remains constant during a game. If that's true, then that's one thing I would like to see changed. Maybe the calculation of league reputation could be done similarly to UEFA's league coefficients.

[rmfarey]

Only a little thing but I'd like to see the leading scorer of Premier League goals of all time included. Like at the moment its Alan Shearer with 260. Obviously this could be done for all the leagues not just the premiership.

Would be a nice touch.

[jase19]

Instead of having drop down boxes for player instructions (marking, closing down, tackling, showing on to foot) it would be easier to just have tick boxes.

For me, I often mess around with them a lot and it's basically double clicking everything when it's really uncalled for. I know I might be greedy as it only takes a couple more seconds... but it would be a lot easier.

[grade]

I've read around that league reputation remains constant during a game. If that's true, then that's one thing I would like to see changed. Maybe the calculation of league reputation could be done similarly to UEFA's league coefficients.

I completely agree with you. It is not the first time that my team Befica is one of the best clubs in Europe and the other Portuguese clubs continue to be knocked out in first round in European competitions.

[Wings69]

Managers don't watch other games whilst in the dugout, they concentrate on their own match whilst receiving updates. It would be nice if important updates came through on the commentary...

It's a game, not real life. It'd really add to the gaming experience IMO. Also, never heard of portable TVs?

[Geordie.Jez]

I'd like for them to fix the fact that every touch Rooney has is a goal...I mean EVERY touch.

He isn't THAT good.

Fix it or i'm switching to CM

[Scotty Walds]

It's a game, not real life. It'd really add to the gaming experience IMO. Also, never heard of portable TVs?

It's a simulation, not a game It should be as realistic as possible. Yes, I've heard of portable TVs, I have one. Ever seen a manager watch another game during one of his own?

[Wings69]

Ever seen a manager pause during a match so he could spend 20 minutes readjusting his tactics? Seriously this game/simulation stuff is annoying - this is a wishlist thread so just let people post their wishes and let SI decide what should be included or not. If I wanted a whole big discussion it I'd create a thread asking for everyones opinion.

[mmmdonuts]

might of been mentioned already but theres 16 odd pages to read.

the ability to reallllly work your way up, ie. starting as a young coach in charge of a tiny clubs under 18s, and progressing that way...

[David Ashworth]

Media is starting to get annoyingly repeatitive at the moment. I am sick of the following:

1. Did that goal look offside or was that penalty dubious and then getting asked what I thought about that decision after every game.

2. A media comment about players playing against their former team. After a few seasons it gets really boring.

These two sets of comments need to be toned down.

[bridport_pouncer]

Please please please make games between lower league and premier league sides more realistic.

Often when I'm a League 1 or League 2 team, I'll play a friendly against someone like Sunderland, and lose 8-0. That wouldn't happen in real life, it would be close like 2-0, maybe 3-0. Yet if you're a League 2 team playing against a Rymans League team, you'll lose 5 times out of 10.

Completely agree there FA Cup loses a lot of magic too, you know that if it is Grays v Southampton or something like that, no matter what, there will not be a shock, it'll be 8-0 to So'ton or something. Shocks are very very rare on this game, they do happen but not often.

I dont know if this has been mentioned before but i'd like to see league reputation increase and decrease

Another good point! If this is implemented it'd make me a whole lot happier to manage in other places, yes.

I'd like for them to fix the fact that every touch Rooney has is a goal...I mean EVERY touch.

He isn't THAT good.

Fix it or i'm switching to CM

I think SI will fix this, they can't risk losing you to CM.

For me going back onto friendlies, please, Neutral grounds! I've seen Northern Ireland travel to New Zealand for a friendly in the mid-season on a Saturday! Surely this game should be played in Europe? And at club level, when creating tours you should be able to play not only clubs from the country you are touring, but other clubs, for example Man Utd this evening are going to play Portsmouth in Nigeria. We should have that, would be brilliant, it is becoming more and more common these days too.

And one other thing - let's give this game an atmosphere. Rather than a few words before a derby match for example, let's have a real indication of the rivalry, perhaps a look back a past games or something. Whatever it is - Roma v Lazio, Arsenal v Spurs or Dorchester v Weymouth, these games have little or no difference to any other games.

Thank you!

[SteveDM]

My own personal bug bear is the lack of decent player interaction. I want a player to know why I've chosen to reject an offer for him, especially if it's a really good player and an unrealistic offer.

On a similar subject, I'd like to see an option (just a tickbox) when a club has made an offer for one of my players to tell the player or not. There's no way in real life a player would know every single offer that had been made for him but if I wanted to get rid of him, he could be told an offer for this club has been accepted.

Firstly, in important matches I would like to see more build-up to the game, or just something that makes it stand out from a regular match.

I've said that before. I won the league on the last day of the season over Chelsea then, my next game was Champions League Final against, that's right, Chelsea.

I would have liked it if the game had said something like "Chelsea will be looking for quick revenge after losing out to West Ham on the last deay of the season" but, because we hadn't met in the Champions League before, there was nothing and it was treated like a normal game.

A minor improvement I would like to see: let's say you're Arsenal and you're about to play Chelsea; you can click on the previous matches button to see the head-to-head record. Well, if you've had a nomadic career like the one I'm currently experiencing, this is fairly meaningless.

As well as seeing the head-to-heads, I'd like to see my own personal record against the team I'm playing. So, to take the Arsenal example above, I'd like to see all the matches involving teams I've managed (at the time I was managing them) against Chelsea.

The reason I say this, is that I'd love to quickly see what my record is like against Barcelona, because I remember beating them with both my PSV and Lyon sides, but I know I lost to them with Porto and Arsenal, but can't remember how I did against them when I managed Milan (or if I even played against them).

Not just that but perhaps head to head against the manager for both of you at all the clubs you've managed.

And, of course not forgetting, against the manager(s) you've replaced at these clubs who, we assume will always find another job!

[davidoff21]

Does anyone remember Ultimate Soccer Manager 98? I loved the graphics and backgrounds of your offices and various rooms it really made you feel involved even if other areas were poor.
I think it would be fantastic if press conferences and media relations were firstly overhauled and much more detailed in terms of what can be said, but also say when questions are put to you its like you're looking out first person with a background of hundreds of journos and cameras it would just be so much more immersive. Or even post match just on the touchline with a background of a couple of local reporters quizzing. Loads of cool possibilities.

[rogier1985]

More realistic regens!!

[richburman]

Something I would really like to see would be being brought in to manage the reserve time of a club. For example, if I could apply to manage Man Utd reserves, and communicate with Fergie, saying who is doing well, and should be considered for a first team chance. You could build up your rep, and get offers from other teams, and all sorts. I think it would be brilliant!!

[lawd]

I pretty much like FM08 but their are one or two things I would like to see.

1.I know everyone says it but regen quality must be boosted.

2.Un-realistic transfers a player with a 2mil value shouldn't cost the the human controlled club 11mil nor should players like corluka go for 40mil.

3.I like the idea of a more hands on assistant, IRL Fergie said allot of the success in recent years was down to Quieroz and his ideas.

4. One thing that really annoys me is what I dub the 'Pro-Ev touch' basically its when a player is near the line and instead of putting his foot on the ball or his touch knocks it out of play usually for a corner, it happens on pro-ev when you try to control a ball whilst running at the by-line. It's such a little thing but it ***ks me off so much lol.

[jase19]

I'd like for them to fix the fact that every touch Rooney has is a goal...I mean EVERY touch.

He isn't THAT good.

Fix it or i'm switching to CM

work on your tactics mate. I have more problems with Ishmael Miller than I do with Rooney.

[Warrenwwr]

fm08 has been a joy

things that i think need fixing/adding:

1) players shouldn't complain after i negotiate an offer for them when the initial offer is just too close to their actual value.

2) players should recognize/remember recent club triumphs and let those memories cool their desire to move (the coding might be intricate for this one :-) )

3) mentors for youth players should be presented in say an order of compatibility or at least some preliminary means of selecting a mentor should be in place such as...ask assistant manager if ballack should tutor "the next beckenbauer," or even in the scout report for the youth player, a list of mentors he would work with should be displayed.

4) more options for scout assignment..an auto scout if you will. if there is a part of the world unknown, a scout witht he auto setting will go there..etc

5) feeder club problems, where the board says you should make do with what you have...i just hate this just give me a feeder club bishes

6) can't remember

[5_is_better_than_3]

The ability to be able to give players month to month contracts,although this wouldn't happen in the premier league you see it all the time in the lowers leagues and its vital to some clubs. Also 3mth contract 6mth contract happens alot in the lower leagues and i also agree with the emergency loan system.

[coldkohmew]

A converter to convert games from 07 to 08,etc...

[Jonnieboy]

Somebody's probably suggested this before...

...but wouldn'n it be great if - when you're asking your staff-members to pick the team - they chose players based on their preffered playing mentality (defending, attacking, etc). I.e. a defending based coach chose defensive full-back's, while the attacking coaching choses attacking oriented full-back's.

Today the coaches all tend to come up with the same team - if they variated, I probably use the feature more...

[dankrzyz]

How about a history screen similar to the club history screen for the manager so you can see in one easy screen what you have won / finished runners up in etc after playing 20+ seasons you kinda forget what you have achieved and is a bit tiresome going through the long winded achievements

1.) That would be a great, useful, and easy idea to implement. It will be a very quick way to show your history from team to team and how well you did in league and in cup competition.

2.) I echo those who have said that a manager, when moving to a new club, should be able to bring some or all of his staff with him. Perhaps that could be based on how long they've been with the manager or something.

3.) Pre-season friendly competitions (those friendly 4-team leagues, cups, maybe even tours) could have some element of history recorded. For example, if every season my team hosts a 4-team friendly cup, it would be great to make that a true annual event, keeping a simple history of participants, winners, and records (see also: FML-beta does this). I know SI would probably shy away from creating custom cups, but this is a friendly feature that would add some fun and realism.

4.) Another echo: after a few visits from a former player, don't ask me what I think about him. We've crossed that bridge before, it's no longer a story.

[dankrzyz]

Have it more like it is in real life with the manager giving the team a list of player he wants and then the board going out and getting them, giving you a price and asking if you still want him. Major part of football missing and a chance to replace probably the worst part of the game.

This has been mentioned a few times and an effort to include this would add to the club management realism that FM strives for.

[Ranjith]

When bidding for a player, having some indication of the criteria for a player to get a work permit.
Perhaps also a percentage chance displayed if it is touch and go if requirements are not quite met.

[Ranjith]

When you are told of a rival bid for a player in a news item, then tell detail of bid and your bid in the news item.

There is space for it in the news item, and saves extra clicking to the players transfer info, where you can garner the bid info there anyway.

Would save loads of clicks in total.

[Ranjith]

Being able to filter staff on percentage capability of role.
e.g. only seeing those staff who are 100% comfortable being in a coaching role. (the green bar being full in their profile).

Would save many clicks.

[BenMRowe]

I am sure that these things are already in hand, and have been discussed, but it's tricky to go through nearly 3000 replies!

1) Number of coaches/scouts, etc - it seems silly that the board actually sets a limit on this - surely we should have our wage budget, and choose to spend it accordingly? I've never seen the board say: 'Oh, you shouldn't have more than 17 players' - surely if we want to spend 10,000 a week on 10 top coaches instead of one decent(ish) player, that should be our prerogative in running the playing-side club however we decide? Yes, I know there are work arounds (the ass-man thing) but I don't want to feel like I'm exploting some loophole in the code in order to achieve something which - to me - should be achievable anyway. Nonetheless, I'm sure SI have their reasons for having limited this in the way that they have, I just hope that, perhaps, they may take another look at this in time for 09/10, and maybe (if I'm a very lucky boy) reconsider their decision from previous games.

2) I know that scouting was greatly imrpoved for 08 - but I can't help but feel that there's more to come. At the moment, scouts seem to stop scouting a country as soon as they hit 100% knowledge (that may not be the case, but it's my experience having played through the game a hell of a lot). Now, to me, that seems a bit silly - when a scout hits 100% knowledge that's exactly the time that he should START scouting properly, not leave the country. On top of this, it'd be nice to be able to say to a scout (in game terms) 'find me a replacement for' or 'find me an equivalent of' - when you know that a player is retiring, or something similar.

3) With respect to transfers - frankly it should be easier to offload players. After a relegation I quite often want to offload some of my highest earners, and will offer them out to clubs. Even if you offer them on a free, quite often you'll get 50 responses saying: 'We didn't consider this deal value for money'. It just seems a bit bizarre.

[Ranjith]

The costs of scouting would be nice to have in the game. It would stop FMers wasting so much time clicking on scouting every player in the database.

In multiplayer careers, this would have most benefit.

[Ranjith]

FMers shouldn't have an advantage from searching club to club rather than using the regular search function when playing a network game.

Its really frustrating when playing against others who gain advantage by doing this. Some people have time to do this while others don't so its not a level playing field.

It would be nice to fix this.

[isuckatfm]

For 'View defending corners etc' show the jumping attribute in the same way decisions appears when you view 'creative freedom' settings.

[Giantplaything]

There is some really good ideas in this thread. Good work.
Just hope that some of these eventually get included.
Heres a couple of ideas I like from above and my own:

1) More interaction with backroom staff - how players are doing, holes in the team, tactical changes or even just the mood of the players in training (are they happy, focused, tired, fed up etc).

2) Change in the transfer process to better match real life - been mentioned a lot so i wont.

3) Changing pitch sizes - possibility of adding an option to make your pitch the same as a curtain club or even the average size for the league (premiership pitches are slightly bigger than lower leagues. Taking a team up from BSS I want them to be equal to other grounds)

4) Interaction with general manager/Director of football/a*s man - on eastside hockey manager you could see your general manager about the strength of your team in each line and future prospects. I thought this was quite comprehensive and a good aid.

5) Interaction with playing staff - other than during matches you only get to talk to players through the media or with warnings. Maybe you think the player could push a little harder in training or maybe his bad attitude towards another player (like when players training together goes bad) is unproffesional. I'd like to think I could have some impact on a players mentality other than just through a first teamer helping them when they're young.

6) Pre season friendlies - should not just be handled through A*s man but with help from others e.g chairman. They are just too much of a money maker for smaller clubs for the chairman not to be involved.

7) Sale value Vs. Player value - (This ones a biggun!) everyones probably aware about a players value might not be what you could actually get the player for in a transfer and that theres a hidden value you can find out through your scout. This is all fine for the AI clubs who can automatically change this value from week to week but I just cant be bothered with constantly changing this. What I would like to see is a hidden value set by your chairman (not just an amount an interferring chairman would accept a bid for) so that you stop getting offers that are just a waste of time (I feel an example coming on): Player X plays for an AI team. Scout report says he's valued at £5m but the club think hes a good player and wont sell for less than £8m. I like this feature in the game but the fact is if the same player plays for your team and is same value. The only thing you will see in your inbox is offers for arround (or more likely below) £5m. I would like to see in the player info what the chairman actually values the player at and it go some way to the actual offers you recieve for the player. (depending on how interferring the chairman is) if the offer is too low he "leaves an unpleasant message on clubs/agents answerphone" or about the value and the boss saying you should think about accepting it as a good deal. Hopefully this stops the "stool sample of an offer" ever reaching the need to regect it.

p.s. sorry for the fairly big post and cant wait for FM 09