FM2011 - A few questions as we approach the end

[Mike7077]

With FM2011 only a couple of months or so away from becoming part of FM past, I thought I'd ask a few questions of those who've been playing the game over the past year. It'll be interesting to see what people say.

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

6) Anything funny happen?

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

[mrstef]

3) EDEN HAZARD EDEN HAZARD EDEN HAZARD!!!

Absolute god and he'll forever be in my heart

[AcidBurn]

1. For me once it was fully patched FM11 was the best FM, although FM10 fully patched was extremely close.

2. My best save involved a career path of Auckland City, York City, Darlington, Bury, Mali, America(MG), Racing Club, Belgium, Man United, England, Al-Hilal, Puebla, Ivory Coast, Fulham(2 days), Sevilla, Zamalek and finally Granada. I moved clubs a lot due to competing in my own challenge to win every continents version of the Champions League which I achieved by 2030 after moving clubs a hell of a lot.

3. I took over Puebla who had an Ivory Coast international striker despite good stats for the Mexican league he accompanied me to Sevilla and was deadly on the left of a front three. He had quite low ratings for long shots but would cut in a smash the ball into the top corner so many times scoring a goal a game for me at Puebla and Sevilla. I also signed a newgen for Man United for £15 million and he was only a teenager. When I arrived at Sevilla I signed him for £120 million and he was pretty damn good but not worth all that cash. In a separate save at Crewe I signed a youngster for 600k from a club in the Ivory Coast and after building him into the best striker in the world I sold him for £100 million a first for me on any FM.

4. Several saves were a waste of time I did a 2 season Man City one that started well but got so boring. Also between 3 months and one season at many clubs Valencia, Fulham, Leeds, Shakhtar, CSKA Moscow, Ath. Bilbao. I also had a few with my club Sunderland that I wished I never bothered with.

5. Very unlikely I like to get stuck into the new game as soon as it comes out.

6. Not really I suppose Keith Millen continuously getting top jobs in every save was quite amusing.

7. Although there are several small bugs I feel this game gripped me as much as any other FM. Saying that I also found that this one was the hardest to get into from release and it took a month or two of frustration to get used to it.

I would be interested how you would answer your own questions?

[afced7]

1. Worse than 10, better than the rest
2. Man Utd, won CL 6 times in a row by 2024, only save I had/have that got beyond pre season
3. Wayne Rooney, kept him on wages of £115,000 even aged 37 just because I didn't want to lose a player who had performed so well and smashed so many records
4. Not really
5. Very Unlikely once I've bought 12
6. The odd stupid own goal, and playing Igor Akinfeev up front for a half in a friendly vs Billericay, he had a goal disallowed and went absolutely mental at the ref

[rancer890]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

Worse than FM10, better than the rest. The final patch ruined my career game that I started on release day.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

My current one. I just won the Champions League with Reading!

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

No one in particular. My best and favourite player is from FM09.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

None.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

I'll probably switch over to FM12 and not go back to FM11...

6) Anything funny happen?

Sadly, it's Toronto FC's performance in game, which is as realistic as the real life team...

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

Fix the minimum release clause bug and fix MLS for FM12! It was the most frustrating FM I've played.

[mackemforever]

With FM2011 only a couple of months or so away from becoming part of FM past, I thought I'd ask a few questions of those who've been playing the game over the past year. It'll be interesting to see what people say.

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors? - In terms of the quality of the game I would say that it is the best ever. I have had more enjoyment on other games, both CM03/04 and CM01/02 gave me more fun, but I think that FM11 is still pretty good.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go? - Either my initial save with Sunderland or the save I had with Lancaster City that I was posting up about on this forum.

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player) - This guy:

He was with my Lancaster City side for 7 seasons and in that time he played in 344 games and scored a completely daft 497 goals.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered? - Not really, if I don't like a save I tend to stop playing it very quickly.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out? - I don't know. I will probably keep it installed incase FM12 doesn't live up to my expectations and I want to wait for the first patch to be released then I will go back to FM11.

6) Anything funny happen? - Not that I can think of right now.

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

There you go.

[Cougar2010]

1) Technically the best FM to date but for some reason it seemed to be missing something, can't quite put my finger on what. I just didn't feel as connected to my save/team/players as I did in FM09/10, maybe that was my fault though.

2) Only had one save currently in 2019.

3) Only one that really stands out is a newgen called Denis Jerkovic. An Aussie MC with duel nationality of Croatian, I gave him his international debut at 18yo and then signed him for my Lazio team a few seasons later. Now my playmaker and most consistent player.

4) See 2

5) I usually carry on until the second patch comes out around Xmas unless the first patch is particularly good.

6) A few random goals, nothing stand out.

7) Nope

[heathxxx]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

Fine once patched, though I was happily playing saves from initial release. As with each release, found it better than previous versions.


2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

My Granada CF save, which I'm still playing. About to embark on my 5th season.



Has taken me a while to run through those four seasons. Attention to detail and whatnot.

Completely dominant with my team now and although I usually start getting bored at that stage, some little side "challenges" are keeping things interesting. I want to see how many more seasons I can play before FM12, how many great youngsters I can keep developing. I'm waiting to see if I get a new stadium built and a "son". Neither of which I've played a save long enough to see happen.

I'm also quite enjoying the "side game" of managing the Ivory Coast, especially having now won the World Cup with them. Interestingly, with dual English/Spanish nationality, I've been turned down for the England job once (Stuart Pearce got it), but was offered the England U21 job. I accepted but failed to qualify for the U21 Euro Championships and resigned immediately. My only failure thus far.

Laughably, I've been turned down for the Spain job three times! Pep Guardiola got it first time, was sacked after poor results in the Confederations Cup and replaced by Quique Flores (after I applied unsuccessfully again). After a poor World Cup (which I won with Ivory Coast), he was sacked and although I applied for a third time, Pep Guardiola was given the job again!

Needless to say, I'm not bothering with any of the "major" nations again. I'll stick with Ivory Coast, especially as they've got some very good young newgen players coming through.


3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

My particular favourite player at the moment is striker Miguel Medina. A Paraguayan striker who cost 325k from Sport Colombia in his home nation. Last season he scored 71 goals in 58 games (all competitions), with 50 of those goals in La Liga. His attributes have developed wonderfully. Other "real" players to develop well have been Croatian AMC Mateo Kovacic, a 1.7m capture from NK Dinamo third season in, Phil Jones (my record signing at 25m) and his centre back partner Alberto Botía, who joined my club at the start of our first season in the Primera for 7m. Paired as stopper/cover, they're outstanding. My best "bargain", was Patrice Evra on a free transfer. An old hand, but kept in the team, his attributes aren't dropping much, given his high natural fitness attribute.

I've lots of newgens, but one of the first things I do with any club is maximise my scouting network. Rarely do I miss a talented player anywhere around the world now. So I can cherry-pick the best that will suit my system and I think I can develop fully.

Here's my squad though, with red dots next to the newgens:




4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

No, not really. The only disappointment was not keeping a backup of my AFC Telford save, where having taken them from the BSN to League One, I decided to accept a job with Central Coast Mariners in the Australian A-League. I comfortably won the league, but there's only so far you can go in that league. One division, restrictive salaries and having to wait almost a full season after clinching your domestic title, to play in the Asian Champions League. It got very boring very quickly, so hopefully the Australian researchers will get their wish, for more detail in the A-League, certain rules and limitations to be "fixed" and working better (marquee signings for EG).

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

Probably not to be fair, even though I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Once I've got FM12 it's onwards to greener pastures!


6) Anything funny happen?

I'm often amused by the actions of my prolific striker Miguel Medina. He's prone to blatant diving and either gets valuable penalties and free kicks, or gets booked for "simulation". He's also got a bit of a fiery streak, which sees him occasionally pick up cards for bad fouls or elbowing opponents. Flawed genius? Possibly... but the amount of goals he gets is well worth me turning a blind eye to his "dark side". Indeed, it adds a little spice to games and always gives me a chuckle when he's diving as if there's a sniper in the crowd!

Other than him, my favourite named regen is my Danish midfield destroyer, Bo Koch. He scores some screamers from outside the box and so far, I've barely resisted the urge to give him the nickname "BO SELECTA!!" - just so I can see it in the commentary.


7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

Probably shared enough already here in this post. I've only played two saves, but I've written about them in more depth in the Tactics & Training Discussion and Good Player & Teams Guides forums.

[simsy91]

1) Certainly as good a Football Manager as there has ever been

2) My best save was my very first game- two seasons with Vaduz, in the second season signed Gudjohnsen, Joetex Frimpong and Vonlanthen all on frees, stormed the Challenge league. Went to Modena, won Serie B, turned down Juventus at the start of the next season, kept Modena in the division after my best game, winning 3-2 away at Inter with a last minute winner. Went back to League 2 with several clubs, Leyton Orient, Southampton, Sheff Wed, then Derby, got them promoted then to the Champions League qualifying round. Won the FA Cup with Derby the year I won the Championship. Also Nigeria manager for 5 years at the same time.

3) Best player- regen Richard Okoli. Averages aroud 1.7 goals a game for Nigeria! He was great for Derby but Chelsea came in for him for £50 million, couldn't turn them down.

4) I tried an Eastern European adventure, loading about 7 of the Eastern Europe leagues. Been stuck in mid-table in the Ukrainian second tier for ages so gave up.

5) I don't plan to get FM12, I try to get them alternate years to save money, and so the changes look even more impressive after two years rather than just gradual improvements after one year.

6) I sent my keeper up for a last minute corner, and instead of him scoring, he caught the ball when it came into the opposition box and he got sent off. That was bizarre.

7) The graphics are already so much better than they were two years ago, but still have a long way to go. By FM13 I anticipate another leap forward. The database and knowledge is all exceptional, but the graphics just need a little tweak. Players do a lot of wierd things like sprinting on the spot with the ball at their feet, which is just bizarre. Once this is sorted I can have no qualms with FM whatsoever.

[simsy91]

My number 6 answer elaborated further- I was 2 down in a cup tie so I sent my keeper up for an 80th minute corner to nick one back to set up the last ten mintues. He didn't catch the ball, my mistake; he just tried to Maradona it in! I've never seen anything like the picture below before or since!

[CWind]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?
Good enough for me to put *hundreds* of hours into the game. I enjoyed FM10 but FM11 was on a completely different level.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?
I started a generic "Eastern Europe" save to try something different and started off with FC Krasnodar. Eventually got them promoted and spent some time in the Russian Premier League before getting offered a massively higher-paying position with under-achieving Spartak Moscow. I jumped on it and I've managed the same club for 16 seasons now. We've become the most dominant team in the world, to say nothing of the domestic league - which is a joke.

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)
A Russian regen striker who came through the Spartak Moscow ranks before I joined the club really stands out in my mind. He went on loan a couple times once I joined and in his early 20s he turned into an incredibly lethal force - but he's always been plagued by injuries. He scored six goals in one match, though - against CSKA Moscow! Now he's a coach. Failing that, there's a Ukrainian playmaker I pilfered from Karpaty Lyiv when he was 18. Also had problems with injuries, but has an amazing assist record. Probably the best regen I've seen in any of my FM saves - he has a ton of stats in the 18 - 20 range. Won the Ballon d'Or twice in a row.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?
I did a Glory Days of Oceania save where I tried to turn small Oceanic national sides into world beaters. It was a funny idea (I started with American Samoa, obviously) but it got a bit boring after a while. Oddly enough, I haven't really been able to have much fun with my Western Europe save either - but then it's hard to top the fun I've had behind the Iron Curtain.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?
I plan on keeping my Eastern Europe save around just in case I get nostalgic, but aside from that, I probably won't load it up. Gotta move on and pursue new challenges when FM12 comes out.

6) Anything funny happen?
Wayne Rooney became a youth coach with Dinamo Moscow before joining manager Dimitar Berbatov as a first team coach at Rubin Kazan. Also, Gianluigi Buffon became chairman of Metallurg Lipetsk (???) very early in that save - they played in Russia's second tier for a while before getting relegated.

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?
Some of my best gaming experiences ever have been on FM11, and I've been gaming since I could use a controller/keyboard (the late NES days, in other words.) It's been a great time (although a major productivity killer ) and I hope FM12 will be at least as good as its predecessor.

[roykela]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?
Very good when fully patched, but not as good as 10.3. Too many small problems, although very minor ones.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?
Only had/have one save, and i'm still playing. Most successful with Pachuca in Mexico, and Leςa in Portugal.

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)
A newgen named Disney. Was scoring for fun, for my Pachuca team.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?
N/A

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?
Not very likely. Will probably uninstall FM11 and install FM12 on release day.

6) Anything funny happen?
Nothing special at all.

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?
Never have i played one save so long. It's been very enjoyable

[Keyzer Soze]

1) FM2011.3 is, imo, by far the best FM ever! It had such great fixtures thar even the little bugs i dont think about them!

2) My current save it's being the better one! Playing with Benfica i0m now in year 2022 and counting! Really enjoy this save, and my team right now! And of course getting Benfica to be the better team in the world it's such a joy! It's my favourite team irl.

3) Milan Badelj! Sign him in every save i played! Such a great player!

4) no

5) I'm really enjoying this current save, but i know me! Once the demo is out, with all the new features it's gonna be hard! But i suppose i'll play this save untill the game is released.

6) Yeah, in my save Barcelona is currently in 8th in the European ranking!

7) Congrats to the OP! Really great post!

[milnerpoint]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

10.3 was very good but i have really enjoyed 11 since release, still playing the save i started the 1st day i got the game

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

only done three games on FM11, one with Aberdeen, my home town team which im still playing, one where i started at AC Milan and then Barca, but it got boring quickly, and one with my pal playing as Shalke he was Dortmund. My dons game has been my best ever FM save, took 7 years to win the league finally, now 22 years in i finally picked up a Champs League, had a hoast of club legends retire and come back as staff members and have a stadium named after myself, my first ever new stadium in FM i might add!
3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

It would have to be my regen striker Scott Dailly, signed him for £100k in the third season from Carlisle, oddly enough he was scottish and he has gone on to break all scoring records scottish wise, top ever club and Scotland scorer, 402 league goals for the dons and 75 scotland goals, club legend, won every national award possible, euro golden boot once, champs league golden boot twice, champs league best player as well, and ontop he has been there for all the real success. I think he is finally on his last season and i really will struggle to keep the game going without him.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

i started a Defuge challenge, but it wasnt for me, gave up 3 weeks into the season.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

Prob not, as much as i love my current game once i play the new version i wont go back. I just miss the new features when i go back and i guess there is a new dons challenge waiting for me!

6) Anything funny happen?

nothing that stands out appart from a lot of annoying the flat mate hogging her laptop and shouting at it periodically.

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

I think this FM has provided me with the biggest challenge so far, the first 2 seaons with Aberdeen were horrible as i got to grips with everything, the next few seasons spent repairing the damage i had done in the first two! Its had its crtitics for some bugs and whilst everyone has their own opinion on them i honestly have never really noticed any major problems, a few dodgy interactions at times, the inability to properly interact with other managers is annoying, but everything else has passed me by. A big thumbs up for me and i look forward to the next version.

[Kake3k]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?
I think every version gets better and better tbh. But then again, I've played so much that I kinda get them mixed up at times (which awesome savegame was with which version. I've had awesome saves with Tromsø IL, Shakhtar, Man Utd, Wolves and Sunderland at least, and I rarely remember which was 08, 09, 10 etc).
But I can inform you that according to my steam account, I have 800 hours played at FM10(62% achievs unlocked) and 600 on FM11 (40%).

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?
That would have to be my Sunderland-save.

I started with a United-save as always (Had a great one at FM10, won a lot of stuff, 100 games unbeaten in PL etc.), but partly because it was too easy, and partly because of some lame crashes, I started the Sunderland-save. In United I won PL each year, close but not really any danger.

Won CL first year with 3-1 over Real Madrid in the finale, 2 goals by Bebe(!), after beating Inter 6-2 total (0-2 away, 6-0 home) and beating Barca 1-0 total. Lost 4. round league cup against leicester and 4. round FA cup against Spurs tho.

Won CL second season with 2-0 over Porto in the finale, after beating Barcelona 5-1(Rooneyx2, Moussa Sissoko, Berbatov, Ahmed Khalil, Iniesta) at home and 6-0(Anderson, Evans x2, Ahmed Khalil, Rooney x2) away(!) (cba SS, but I can get them if you want). Also won the league that year by beating Chelsea 9-0 at Old Trafford! (Cech(OG 1 min), Welbeck x2, Vidic x2, Hargreaves, Rooney, Hernandez, nani), and won both the FA and League Cup.

Stopped in the third season, cruising through all tourneys, leading PL with 10 points after 24 matches (Everyone except me and West Ham have 25 matches tho). Ok, that was an awesome save, and at times extremely fun (huge results), but the Sunderland save was more challenging:

10/11: 8. PL, lost 0-1 to Walsall 2. round League Cup, lost 0-1 to Wolves FA cup Semis. 1-0-1 vs Arsenal, 0-1-1 vs United and Chelsea, 1-1-0 vs City, 2-0-0 vs Liverpool

11/12: 9. PL, lost 2-3 to Liverpool League Cup Finale and 1-3 to Chelsea FA Cup Finale. 0-0-2 vs Arsenal, 1-0-1 vs United, 0-1-2 vs Chelsea, 0-2-0 vs City, 0-0-3 vs Liverpool

12/13: Won PL 1 point ahead of United. Real thriller too, where Uniteds 0-3 loss to Liverpool towards the end made the last game count (I had to win), and I beat Liverpool 2-1 (Torres(3), Onuoha(72), Julio Baptista (82). Also, Kilgallon was sent off after 21 minutes!). Lost 2-3 combined against Monaco in EURO qualifiers, lost 0-1 to Arsenal in League CUp 4. round, lost 1-2 to Blackburn in FA CUP 5. round.
0-1-2 vs Arsenal, 0-0-2 vs United, 1-1-0 vs Chelsea, 1-1-0 vs City, 2-0-0 vs Liverpool

13/14: 2. place PL, SAME amount of points as United, but +39 goal diff vs their +54! Had a sweet winning streak at the end of the season, after United had been 10 points up.
Won the FA Cup with 1-0 over Nottm Forest in the Finale, and lost 1-4 against Newcastle in the League cup quarter final after beating Chelsea 2-0 and City 6-3 earlier in the tourney. Also won Charity Shield against Man Utd on penalties (2-2 after 90 mins). Won the CL-group against Dynamo Kiev, AC MIlan and Spartak Moscow, but lost 1-5 combined against Napoli after that.
0-0-2 vs Arsenal, 1-0-2 vs United, 3-0-0 vs Chelsea, 1-2-0 vs City, 1-0-1 vs Liverpool (lost 5-0!)

14/15: 5. place PL, lost 0-1 after extra time against United 4. round League Cup, lost 2-4 against Bristol City 5. round FA Cup. In CL I came second place in the group vs Bayern Munich(1), Rapid Wien and Sevilla. Beat Porto 4-2 over 2 matches, then met Bayern again, which had beat me twice in the group. We played 5-5 and I won on away goal rule. Then beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 combined, but lost 0-1 against Lyon in the CL Finale.

15/16: At this point I stopped playing for many reasons. After 8/9 matches I'm at 8. in PL, played no FA Cup, lost 0-1 against Aston Villa in League cup 3. round, and after half played group I'm 3 points ahead of Bursaspor (6p), with Feyenoord (3p) and Beroe (0p) behind.

10/11 and 13/14 3. place manager of the year, which I won in 12/13. Lots of players almost winning prizes, but Moussa Sissoko won young player of the year in 13/14
Playing 4-3-2-1 and 4-1-2-1-2 (no wingers in any tactic).

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)
Hmm. Def. Christian Benitez. Bought him for less than £2 mill first season, around 20-30 goals and about 10-12 assists each season (depending on tactic), and his value got to 10 times purchase amount. Probably also Boyata and Uysal. And Ahmed Khalil from the United-save. Honorable mentions to great players I signed for free like Danny, Julio Baptista, D'Agostino, Serge Aurier and Danny Welbeck.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?
Not really.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?
None. I play from it's released, and play on and off until the next one.

6) Anything funny happen?
Well, Bebe scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the CL Final was pretty funny, considering he played OMS and was only on the team because of injuries.
Also, strangely enough, crushing Inter 6-0 at OT with Man Utd the first season was damn funny at the time. Not to mention beating Barcelona 5-1 at home and 6-0 away, which is some of the most fun things I've ever witnessed, although getting beat 0-4 by Liverpool between those matches was a bit lame. Made the 6-1 beating at Anfield the next season a nice revenge tho.
And of course, after beating Barca 11-1 over 2 games, securing the PL trophy with a 9-0 stunner against Chelsea, now that's a funparty!

Last, but not least: Tottenham manager Joaquín Caparrós won the price as manager of the month after 3 victories on 4 matches, 250 points in front of Villa manager Gareth Southgate and Bolton manager Dennis Wise. HE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE PRICE! o.0

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?
Not as FUNNY as the wins mentioned above, but thrilling to boot:
Beating Arsenal 5-4 after being 1-3 down at half time, and 1-4 after 51 minutes was awesome as well! It was a real thriller, with Hazard scoring 45+2 (2 min overtime first half), and then twice again just before the end (85 and 89).

Now that's a lot of sharing tbh. I sometimes find it hard to stop once it gets going

[BigHairyAndy]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

Match engine worse than 10.3; everything else better than any previous version.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

My best save was when I imported my club from FM Live into FM11. It definitely softened the blow of FML closing down, and I loved seeing players (all newgens) I'd had in FML prosper in FM11. I still have the file, though I haven't touched it in several months now. I spend more time in the editor nowadays.

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

Real player: Nico Kranjcar
Newgen: An Ivorian named Siaka Ouattara who was phenomenal for me in the second-longest save I played.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

One where I took over Queen's Park for the challenge of an amateur club, but didn't make it past the first season for boredom. I'm looking forward to the changes to amateur contracts for FM12.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

Very unlikely.

6) Anything funny happen?

Fabian Delph naturalised as a Hungarian and won the European Championships with them, while England went out in the quarter finals.

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

I love the progress the editor made between FM10 and FM11. It's the main reason I couldn't go back to FM10, and another massive reason I'm looking forward to FM12.

[tom_numbers]

1) I very much enjoyed it. Most fun yet, and no major problems that affected me.

2) Middlesbrough. 21 seasons and counting, one EPL title to show for it (plus two OCE Nations Cups with NZ)

3) Danny Lowe, Will Glass and David 'Nobby' Clancy. Signed very early on, and were the spine of my time for almost 15 seasons.

4) I tried with Man City. I don't know why.

5) Very unlikely, but I'll keep the save to hand just in case 12 stops working for any reason.

6) I'll go for me and Big Al trading places for the England job for 11 seasons, neither of us achieving any success, but no-one else was ever considered.

7) It's the first game I've managed to buy a world class keeper without having to pay the Earth for him

[Jme10]

1) I think fully patched it was the best FM I've played.

2) Ajax - Epic. Took 5 years to win Champs League and kicked on from there to become the worlds dominant team. Won everything a ridiculous amount of times (in 2036), got a lovely stadium, richest club in world (£1.76billion value at mo) etc.

3) I have to pick two players as they defined two generations of my team. Number one was the real-life Babacar (the original god, 361 goals in 400 games) who spearheaded the rise to becoming a world power. The second was a newgen called Zeinstra (the god of gods), a dutch striker I got for £35mil from Liverpool at 18. At the close of last season, he had scored 510 goals in 494 games for me and has led all out dominance of everything.

4) Not really.

5) Unlikely. I usually get the new game on release day and that gets all my attention.

6) Can't think of anything.

7) Just really enjoyed it. I definitely found it the hardest FM to do well on from the off but I really liked that, it made the breakthrough successes better. I also think it was generally a harder game than previous versions and for me, that was a good thing.

[stabwest]

2) Only had the one save currently on season 35/36 (online game)

3) Too many to mention with over 16 humans over the past year.

5) NO it's straight into FM12

6) Yes one human bankrupt Man City and had the 9 pts deducted(twice) and another done the same with Man Utd and lost the league due to the 9pts being deducted

7) Online side of the game is awesome try it!!!!

[Fernando Davis]

1) Technically the network game I play in was still running on 11.0 as that's what we started on so not all changes were implemented and I didn't play enough single player to really judge it

2) Well my main game is the EUC Network game that is just starting season 2035/36, after all starting in Scotland's lowest leagues we have worked our way up to the big clubs in England and are now dominating in Europe with an all human champions league final in the last 5 seasons. My single player games I've started don't last more then 2-3 seasons as i grow bored after a while, its all about the network aspect for me !

3) as we all started in the lower leagues there wasn't much talent about, i did manage to sign Rooney for Newcastle in the Championship and also brought back an ageing Andy Carrol, Most of the big name players we will remember are regens now (and regens are now changing to staff we have played that long) Pepe, Leo, Somma, Moran, and my personal favourite... Jamie Robertson !! Liverpool Legend.

4) yes, every single player game i played.

5) The Fm11 game will end just before we start our new venture on FM12 on the 1st Sunday after the release.

6) Every session is a funny session in a network game using microphone we bring the clan together and have some fun! Game-wise we have seen a lot! Alex moving from Manchester United to Manchester City then bankrupting them as the chairman sold the club and 2 seasons running he was deducted 9 points. I managed to finally get my dream job at Liverpool and lasted about 18 months before being sacked and I took a lot of abuse for that by the other clan members, only the be sensationally re-hired and have won 7 cups (including 1 Champions League) and 1 premiership title. there is to many things to share! find more at website below

7) Yes, Find out more about our FM11 game @ the European Union Clan Website http://www.euc-fm.tk

[wwfan]

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

Very good. Although there are some issues with Cover/pressing defence styles/actions in the ME, its balance is the best ever. No formation has an inherent advantage over any other, resulting in logical tactical decisions working more often than not.


2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

Only had one save. Took Havant and Waterlooville to the BSP and left them with a squad that stormed to promotion the season after I left. Took Crewe from the BSP to the Premiership is successive seasons. Spent 1.5 seasons and Wolfsburg, winning the Bundesliga. Moved to Arsenal and built a dynasty, having won 8 EPLs and 10 domestic cups in 10 seasons. Just moved into a stadium named in my honour, corresponding with Arsenal becoming the richest and number one ranked club in the world. Also won the World Cup with Portugal. Only blot on my copybook is a 1 in 5 winning record in CL finals.


3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

Roert Rodriguez, right back for Arsenal. Bought from Real Madrid by my predecessor, has played over 400 games for Arsenal and won 31 trophies. According to my scouts, he's the best full back in the world. However, he's the only one of my current back four, and two of a previous back four, not to have won the Defender of the Year award. He's also not an Arsenal favourite, nor in their best eleven!!


4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?
N/A


5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

Unlikely.


6) Anything funny happen?

Not really funny, but in ten seasons I've never hard a single striker get the EPL top goalscoring award, despite consistently leading the goals scored records as a team. I imagine this is quite unusual.

[Mike7077]

Suppose I ought to answer my own questions! It's been interesting reading through everyone's responses so far.

1) How good do you think it was once it was fully patched? Where does it fit in with its predecessors?

I'm one of those people who generally things the game is better every year. This time round, it didn't feel like there was much difference from FM10. But, I would say FM11 scrapes into 1st place of the FMs so far released.

2) Who did you have your best save with? How did it go?

I've had problems this time round with a computer virus and also just finding time to play, so I never got that far with any save. For me, getting five or six years into the future is relatively long term. I suppose my best save with this one is with boring old Man Utd, who I manage at some point every year. I'm in February 2015 and I'm getting very frustrated with the lack of decent English players on the game, especially as I'm managing England as well. I enjoy managing United because I always find it great fun developing the squad, re-building, then re-building again. Summer 2015 will be interesting because I'm not renewing the contracts of Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, who are still key players, or of Park Ji-Sung, who remains a useful squad player. Vidic will be 33 when summer comes, Evra 34 and Park 33. With Michael Carrick having left last summer, the shape of the squad is changing. It's been a blast so far!

Special mention must go to my save with Bromley, which is progressing slowly due to my immersion in the Man Utd save, but has been a rollercoaster two seasons so far!

3) Which player(s) shone for you this time out? Who will you forever associate with FM11? (Newgen or real-life player)

With Man Utd, I have a host of consistently brilliant players and I couldn't pick between them. The players worth mentioning are Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, David De Gea, Phil Jones and Gareth Bale. As I'm managing England as well, Ryan Shawcross has become crucial. Worth noting that Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard have both passed Peter Shilton's caps record - Gerrard is on 127, Cole is on 128. Gerrard is 34 and Cole is 33 and both remain regular players for my England team.

With Bromley, it's easy - Tommy Amos, an Irish striker. He left Wigan in summer 2010 and happily signed for us. Best striker in the BSS, easily. It's unrealistic that nobody from a higher level has bought him from me, in my opinion.

4) Did you have any saves on the go that were a waste of time and made you wonder why you bothered?

Right at the start, I had a save with Annan Athletic on the go in Scotland. Spent more time on it that I should have because it was no fun at all.

5) How likely are you to carry on with FM11 once FM12 is out?

It's 50/50. I want to continue both my Man Utd and Bromley saves, but the lure of the new game will probably be too strong. I can't wait to satisfy my Anzhi Makhachkala urge!

6) Anything funny happen?

Dunno if it's funny but Man City managed to produce a newgen called Ray Wright-Phillips. He doesn't list either of the real-life Wright-Phillips brothers as favoured personnel so I'm guessing the game isn't pretending he's related to them in any way! The fact he's called Ray makes him sound like their dodgy uncle or something! In fact, newgen names in general make me laugh every year. What's with all the 15 year olds called Geoff or Ron?

7) Anything else you feel like sharing about FM11?

It was good and I liked it. End transmission.