Your favourite kind of FM save?

[ahyeahok]

I chose small club to big club and journeyman, i'm a mixture of the two. I like taking clubs into the top leagues, ensuring they'll be safe (Financially and in terms of actually staying up), winning things with them then moving on to another club to do exactly the same thing.

This is what i plan to do. managing afc Wimbledon, gonna win a few things and then try somewhere else. just said no to Sao Paulo so hopefully ill get a Brazilian offer again later on in the save.

[crouchaldinho]

Since starting this thread, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a small club to big club, one club, kind of guy.

I don't really like the journeyman game as it presents too much of a distraction when managing your current club (e.g. always looking to the next job). I always quite like the idea of it but in practice it never quite works out for me.

I also prefer the pace of playing with one country's leagues loaded and a smaller database.

[ManUTactician247]

I went for "other - please state" as I prefer unemployed saves (not necessarily club to club), I just try to work my way to the top and eventually manage a globally successful team.

[Cullen93]

i like my youth players too much to be a journeyman, favourite club and small teams.

[dafuge]

Since starting this thread, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a small club to big club, one club, kind of guy.

I don't really like the journeyman game as it presents too much of a distraction when managing your current club (e.g. always looking to the next job). I always quite like the idea of it but in practice it never quite works out for me.

I also prefer the pace of playing with one country's leagues loaded and a smaller database.

I think I'm the same. While I've enjoyed playing a journeyman save, I've missed all the long term stuff associated with managing a small club in the long term. I can't say loading more leagues has enhanced my game that much either, the only obvious advantage is that I can move abroad (which I wouldn't be doing if I stick with one club).

I'm actually already looking forward to my FM12 save where I can really give the DLR a proper test out.

[B. Stinson]

Career.

Never in my experience with Football Manager, have I manually picked a team to start with.

[Dune297]

I enjoy using a randomly generated player database for my teams. Real players get very annoying if you start a new save a lot and want to scout out some new talent or you want a "new" feel to the game. A few weeks ago I started a save with just randomly generated players, nobody real, and I've loved it since then. I started a new save a few days ago, in which I started writing a story about in the story forums . I'm an absolutely horrible writer but I can't stop playing this save. I've updated it a good ten times in the last two days.

[hrbfcrule]

I picked a few categories although my main one is "youth only". Also chose "manage in small nation to increase its rep" and "pick a random team and take them to the top"

[dbfinch]

I'm not sure exactly what category the way I play would fall into. My philosophy is usually taking a competent team in the Premiership, La Liga or Serie A, and turning them into world beaters. Teams like Everton and Villa are good examples, who have a solid base to build upon but don't have the financial might to compete with the bigger clubs. Clubs where I can't go out and buy proven, quality players, and have to look primarily for bargains/youngsters, or finance my purchases by selling the better players I already have. I'll more than likely only ever play that game, rather than starting another new save, and once I've taken that team to the top and had time to enjoy the success, I'll then start looking elsewhere, ideally in a country I've not yet managed in on that save. At some point later in the game I usually end up at a smaller club and attempt to take them up the leagues.

[wazup]

My best ever game on FM was on FM10 where I started unemployed and worked my way through various jobs winning the champions league with a few different clubs, winning everything with England, etc. But normally I take a small club to a big club. Just started a game at level 10 with the mighty Gillingham Town!

[slipknot67]

My best saves are always when I take control of my favourite team (Celtic) and try to turn them into CL winners, so I selected 3 diffirent save types.

small club to big club: as although they are historically a very big team I feel the financial constraints of the SPL makes 'cracking' Europe quite a big challenge.

Pick my favourite team and stick with them until I win everything. Have never actually managed this yet as the closest I've been able to get is the CL final several versions ago (FM08, I think) against Real Madrid, which we lost 2-1 aet.

and Manage in a small nation and try to increase the league reputation. In my FM11 saves I give myself the secondary challenge of trying to get the rep of the SPL on a par with the likes of the EPL, Serie A and Spanish top division. (best I've managed so far is top 10 leagues in Europe).

[crouchaldinho]

I think I'm the same. While I've enjoyed playing a journeyman save, I've missed all the long term stuff associated with managing a small club in the long term. I can't say loading more leagues has enhanced my game that much either, the only obvious advantage is that I can move abroad (which I wouldn't be doing if I stick with one club).

I'm actually already looking forward to my FM12 save where I can really give the DLR a proper test out.

Not tempted to give the DLR a test on FM11 then? There is still plenty of time before FM12 Dafuge!

[jayahr]

I ticked journeyman, though I don't knwo if that really describes my playing style properly.

I pick a club at the start and then try to have a realistic managerial career, i.e. move to better clubs when I have reached a ceiling or a great offer comes in or stick with a club if that what's left to achieve there seems more appealing than moving on.

Whenever I try a different concept, I always find myself not sticking to it as I just have most fun this way.

But is this the journeyman style? Or does that imply moving for the sake of it? And what does it tell about rl football if that is what I perceive as the realistic way of doing things? ...

[crouchaldinho]

Journeyman style, to me, means exactly what you have described there Jayahr. It means starting at the bottom and having a realistic career, where the game is focused on you as a manager, and where you might take a club as far as you can before moving on, the idea being to reach the top by moving through different clubs (as opposed to just staying at one club for your whole career).

[ommerson]

I picked journeyman-career as I play FM for it's realism, and in real life managers tend to be at a club for a limited time. There are exeptions like Fergie, but on the average a manager skips clubs every 3 to 5 seasons. So I try to do likewise.

I always start unemployed with automatic rep when a new FM comes out, and then play that save until the next FM is on the market. I think starting at the absolute bottom is the most realistic, as I have no experience as a manager in real life and as a player I had my glory days in the 8th tier (that's pretty much as low as you can get in holland, while in the best eleven of a club), I guess there's 10 tiers in all in our pyramid.

So I start unemployed with no experience and try to work my way up, loading as much lower leagues as my netbook can handle. FM11 is proven to be a hard nut to crack. 10 seasons played and still at the absolute bottom (4th club). I'm doing quite well without many prices to show for it, but no interest from other clubs yet. Resigned a couple of times, unemployed for a whole season, got sacked once for applying to other jobs (which is not really realistic if you think about it, is ManU kicking Fergie out if he shows interest in the Barcelona-job? I don't think so)..

The thing I miss in FM is a board just not extending your contract because they feel it's time for a fresh face (when you're at the club for some time but make no real progress anymore). I also miss clubs of lower stature than your own (with ambition) trying to get you to manage their team to glory. Like Eriksson with Notts County for example. The interest of other clubs for human players is far too low in general in my humble opinion. If I am praised for my financial handling of business, clubs that are in financial trouble should be interested in my services for example. I feel there is much room for improvement in that department of FM.

Why no jobinterviews, setting goals (promotion in x-years, consolidate, attractive football, getting the club out of debt, such things) and if you don't reach them your position is questioned. And if iyou dont reach goals but do other good things for the club (no promotion but financial health or top players and a full stadium), that might alter their view on sacking you. A more dynamic manager-board interaction and expectancy would make a journeyman-career much more realistic and challengeing.

[ac13]

Taking Elgin from 3rd division to challenging and beating Celtic and Rangers was probably my most fun fm experience (i think it was fm 2008). Also tried startin unemployed in south africa but there only 2 tiers so not got too into it.

Problem with journeymen careers as I see it is you not going to bother too much about bringing youth through if you only going to be there a couple of years and that's a big part of the fun.

[crouchaldinho]

That's true ac13.

[dafuge]

Not tempted to give the DLR a test on FM11 then? There is still plenty of time before FM12 Dafuge!

I've been very tempted, but I just don't think I've got the time left this year to really do it justice. I really want to do it properly and give it something like 70-100 seasons, so I'll hold off and wait for FM12.

[crouchaldinho]

I've been very tempted, but I just don't think I've got the time left this year to really do it justice. I really want to do it properly and give it something like 70-100 seasons, so I'll hold off and wait for FM12.

Typical Dafuge. I'm proud that I've managed 20 seasons on my FM10 save and I call that a long-term save but for Dafuge? Nah, 70-100 seasons is a proper long-term game! :o