Who still plays FM08?

[crouchaldinho]

Having checked them both out in the past week, 08 processed much, much faster than 09 with the same amount of leagues/detail loaded.

Totally right. I remember running tests and 08 was ridiculously quicker than 09.

At least 10 managed to bring back some of the quickness in terms of processing. A much smoother and faster game than 09.

[Carmi88]

Been playing FM2008 for many a year (well 2 years) having never got into FM2009 and only played the demo of FM2010 before realising that I just preferred the fluid 2D Match View of FM2008 plus despite talks about poor regens, Im in the year 2039 and never noticed a problem really.

Started at Forest on 07.07.2007 with designs on making them a force to be reckoned with in Europe once again and in the first year I qualified for the playoffs. Come the second leg I was struggling and with the final whistle about to blow I was going out when I had a free kick on the edge of the box. My player curled it into the net and we had a reprieve. Extra time came and went before the match went to penalties and we won it!

Second season in and it was one of struggle but the main aim was to keep the team up and strengthen with the ultimate goal of Premier League football within 3 seasons. During the second season we punched well above our weight and despite being in contention for a play off place all season we missed out narrowly but hopes were high of a few more incisive signings to bridge the small gap that was left. Well that was the plan and things didnt go accordingly...struggled to stay mid-table and although we were never in any real danger and the warning signs were there. Fans had lost faith and so had the board. Went through the pre-season before jumping ship. Unsure if i was pushed or not - this is 30 odd FM years ago! hehe

Barnsley - 29.12.13 to 27.12.2018

Then had two ill fated spells at Dumbarton and Barnet before settling upon my last chance saloon of Barnsley. Struggling in League 2 they looked certs to go down and my FM career with it. Having done decent at Forest my reputation wasnt any good and I struggled to get these jobs. With a few games under my belt my team lost a few games and the end of the season was in sight. Managed a draw here and there and it all came down to the final day of the season. I needed to win and for games to go for me. It was pretty nervy but the lads did me proud and we won the game - the other went in our favour - and what followed was real hard FM management graft of finding that diamond in the rough. This came in the shape of a Ghananian who was purchased from Wigan but with a history of injury problems. However with quality games here and there we finished 16th the season after. After that we finished 5th - getting knocked out of the play offs at the semi final stage. But as with Forest we struggled to use this impetus for greater glory and then finished a poor 15th. However with lessons learned from the City Ground we then catapulted ourselves into League 1 by finishing 3rd. By Christmas of the following season though the Swindon job had become available and with the prospect of signifcant struggle with Barnsley, I jumped ship onto the next stepping stone with a Swindon team that showed promise and had a little money to spend.

Swindon - 27.12.2018 - 03.04.22

With a little extra cash but still keeping a wily eye on the transfer market I managed to create a peach of a team which played some terrific football and it was with Swindon that I managed to get those players who go on to other clubs and do just as well.

Finished 11th in my first season with the following year finishing 6th...however I then got knocked out of the dreaded play offs once again.

Not to be deterred we were runners up in the St. Johnstones Paint Trophy but the real achievment was finished 2nd and with it, promotioin to The Championship. After 5 months of keeping our head just above water, a test of my loyalty to this skilful team I had assembled would befall me. Everton offered me the job but this was a poor Everton, an Everton team that had got Relegated and struggled in the Championship - but an Everton team that could be my last job in FM. An Everton team where I could have the satisfaction of getting them out of the Football League and into the Premier League - then beyond!

With a heavy heart I packed my bags and headed to Merseyside. A massive highlight at Swindon was going to the Emirates and playing them off the park.

Everton - 03.04.22 - 26.11.24

They say the big teams have all the luck and so it came to pass at Everton. Despite a few signings here and there, the Everton team just didnt gell like the Swindon one had done. But sure as dammit we qualified for that last spot in the play offs. With a poor history behind me of this exciting end to the season I didnt have high hopes but with the team playing poorly we inexplicably got to the Premier League!

Now the real fun was about to begin and as with any long term game on FM, I was determined to take Everton places. The first season was as usual a struggle but with some signings showing real potential, we went into the next season with hopes of a respectable mid-table finish.

The season started and although we hadnt lost many, we wernt winning either and our points were mostly from draws but this was only our second season back in the big time with a team that had never really gelled so surely Id have the advantage of being at a big team with plenty of time to grow into the role right? Sort of. Unfortunately a new owner came in and with the entire club engulfed with indecision, a few results didnt go our way and the faint hope of promise and a big cash injection were washed away when i was given my P45. I thought rumours of my impending departure were a new 'feature' to make the news items more interesting but alas it came to bite me. With my ego bruised I wondered where I'd go next. I managed to get the Spurs job who were in a similar position to Everton but after a few days it was a clear case of 'been there, done that' and decided to jack it in. Unsure of my repuation I decided to nurse my wounds away from England - if i was lucky enough to get it - and applied for the job of Roma manager who much to my suprise accepted my application and so began my Italian adventure.

Roma - 14.03.25 - 12.06.32

Now this was the big time. After spending season upon season at Barnsley, Swindon and an average Everton side, this was like managaing Man Utd and the players were quality. With the team really struggling I saw out the end of the season and finished 12th. The early days at this club typified the nature of the Italian game with progression, albiet a little slow and ponderous...but enthralling and a job that really drew me in. In my first full season we finished a disappointing 7th but with a few healthy buys in pre-season we finally did it the season after and got that 4th place. My first ever journey into the Champions League would see us getting knocked out after the group stages. A disappointment but the cash coming into the club was healthy but we had to maintain it...and maintain it we did with a 3rd place position!

The giants of Italian football were always jostling for the top spot. Milan and Napoli were the main suspects but we were slowly breaking into it. The Italian football season was a strange one. You'd play teams for weeks where you'd no doubt win - although you had to keep on top of this and not become complacent but the real events were when you faced up to the big guns and every season seemed to dwell on these big games - they were literally like cup finals and used to really make the league more enthralling with a knockout style atmosphere encapsulating the league.

Season after we finished 4th again but we were still in the mixer - reaching the semi final of the Italian Cup in the process. Season after this it was 4th again. All the while creating a fantastic team which i couldnt fault really but just needed the confidence to go a few places better. One gem of a find player wise was 'Donadoni' a fantastic regen whom I had to purchase from two clubs who owned him but having scouted him for a long time I knew he had potential and with both fee's combined, it was only a paltry £3.5M from what I can remember. Always striving for the core of the team to be build around players of the countrys origin, this fantastic forward was the talisman for the team and with about 6 or 7 other Italian players within the first team the shift from a predonimantly Brazlian team to an Italian one was a reality - armed with a big name signing from Spain...a fantastic Striker who would compliment Donadoni perfectly, the following season saw my players overcoming an inital struggle to finish 3rd. Win the Italian Cup and to become Runners Up in the Champions League despite leading Juventus 1-0 at half time in an all Italian tussle.

The season after would be my last. Getting knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage was very disappointing, as was finishing runners up in the Italian Cup. We did finish runners up in Serie A - my best ever position but we never seemed in a position of domiance and at time, it seemed like we may well as finished 4th.

Rehabilitation had completed and my journey into the realm of Italian football would be over - it was disappointing to leave but I felt I had achieved all I could and with the opportunity of managing my beloved Birmingham City, I headed back to the Britsh Isles...

Birmingham - 18.06.2032 - 05.02.2033

...which turned out to be a total disaster! It felt like a case of 'after the lord mayors show' when arriving at St. Andrews. The team had already won the Premier League twice and so I'd never have this sense of achievement at winning this for the first time. But despite the Board Living in the recent trophy filled past, the reality was a transfer budget which whilst average, was totally inadequate when half the squad had left or was too old to play! Birmingham needed heavy investment as opposted to one or two 'marquee' signings and so with expections of winning the league in my ears, I fashioned an attractive team which scored for fun - only problem was they let in for fun too. After a 4-4 draw with Leeds the Board informed me that i would be sacked. Slumped in my seat I pondered whether I should go back to the safe haven of Italy but then a job came into my path...a job which i was in two minds of taking. That of Manchester United.

Manchester United - 16.12.33 - 29.04.34

My FM managerial career was fast becoming a nightmare. Despite making a few signings to try and energise the woeful squad, the team just didnt have it in them and I ended putting them on the fast track for relegation! One shining light was a 70k signing from Denmark who would end up being worth about £30M.

I jumped ship before the inevitable happened (they would then become relegated from The Championship too before stabilising in mid-table in League 1 - along with Man City!

In the Managerial wilderness for the first time since my sacking at Forest a beacon of hope came into my path once more and Birmingham City appointed me as manager for the second time.

Birmingham - 25.05.34 - Present

ok, ok it's probably because I put them as the team I support and so this is the reason why they had me back but in an alternative FM world, I'd also like to think it's because the team - which was now jostling with 6th/7th and 8th was essentially the one that I had fashioned on the cheap without any notion of slowly bringing in new players to gell.

However with the main nucleus of the side now set, I had a chance to really win some trophies with my boyhood team. First season back garnered a 5th placed finish but a win in the FA Cup Final. The first time I managed a team in the greatest cup competition of them all. After winning the Charity Shield we went one better and finished 4th. Now I had a chance to emulate my 'slowly but surely' approach that did me so well at Roma to the English game.

Only problem was the English game was/is more volatile. You dont get the home bankers you got in Italy and every game was a battle and this is something i learned again during these first few seasons. But with the promise of a season in the Champions League, I only had one wish transfer wise and so I spent £24M - a figure id never got near before - on a MRC who would combine the qualities I look for in my midfield (battler, good tackler) with someone who had panache, good pass the ball and show lots of creativity. All the time I was looking to blood in youngsters and at the start of the season I had a choice of 4 strikers. With an Italian regen (who cost me £5M to activate his release clause) as my last choice.

This season of all seasons certainly didnt start like it but it was adequate league wise but the Champions League Group Stages proved a real test. I only went through after beating Bayern Munich 1-2 away after Rangers failed to win their game. This happened on the last game of the stage and despite Rangers equalising in Injury time they couldnt find the winner and somewho we got through.

Suddenly there was a sense of self belief, this was now the real deal! The real test of Rangers and Bayern had been overcome and the players suddenly played with a freedom never seen before. My MRC scored a peach to get the ball rolling in Germany and would become a real star in the 'must win' games. Eventually we made it all the way to the final to play Inter Milan. A fixture which always had me quaking in my boots in Italy and my second appearance in the Champions League final would once again be against Italian competition but unlike my time at Roma, my B'ham City - perhaps seeing the benefit of more competitive games in the calendar season - saw the game out and won! For the first time ever, Birmingham City were European Champions in addition to yep...you guessed it! The League title!

I'v gone off at a canter with this post but you could say this is my epitaph to my fantastic FM2008 game. Had some fantastic moments but with the ever involving 3D Match View now prevalent in FM2011 and the 3 editions worth of new features which I have yet to feast my eyes upon, the demo for FM2011 confirmed for me that it's time to bring myself into 2011 and whole new career worth of magic moments.

Just to add...I finished 2nd the season after with B'ham after getting knocked out of the Champions League first knockout stage. Season after I finished a poor 5th! But won the Champions League so snuck in through the backdoor.

Real quality how after winning the league you'r not guaranteed years of dominance. Also have a healthy contingence of English players too with about 6 in the first team and a few more banging on my door demanding selection.

give us a list of all your accomplishments? and any ur thinking of going for in future xD

[Steve1977beyond]

give us a list of all your accomplishments? and any ur thinking of going for in future xD

Well despite playing it a fair bit I'v only ever won the league once lol. But I do take pride in the small victorys such as finishing an unexpected 2nd in Serie A, going all the way in the Champions League or simply improving upon last season and doing better against a team who may have thrashed me last time. or purchasing a promising player from the lower leagues and sell him for £20M. This happened very recently and they bid even more for the player who I replaced him with a few seasons later!

When I won the Champions League with Brum I ended up winning the Super Cup and then the Club World Championship against Sao Paulo. Prefer to purchase players from the country of origin too so when in Italy, Id spend more money on an Italian of equivalent ability. I enjoy the journey rather than trying to win everything in sight at all costs.

If FM2011 wasnt coming out then my ultimate last season would be to try and win everything but thats been put paid to this season due to an unexpected defeat in the League Cup and naturally, the impending release of '11

[comfortablynumb]

lotta is not a real word

It is if you like Led Zeppelin

[crouchaldinho]

Time to resurrect this thread again...

... So, is anyone still currently playing on FM08? Feel free to share details of your game here!

[whilewolf2]

Still playing.

I am having my worst ever game in terms of success. Started with Coventry who had a lot of debt, a high wage bill and some good players so I only made a few free signings, sold some fringe players and tried to build slowly. It started badly and carried on that way we had no pace in the team and I was battling relegation by the midway point of the season when I was sacked. I was out of work for a few weeks before Colchester offered me a job helping them battle relegation. I turned their defense into a sieve and on the last day of the season we faced Scunthorpe who were also in danger. All we needed was a win to stay up. thirty minutes later we were three nil down. A few half time subs say us fight back to four all at the final whistle. Despite being level with Scunthorpe on points and goal difference we went down on goals scored.

[crouchaldinho]

That's pretty harsh whilewolf2.

[grade]

I'm playing FM07 and started a new save where I play few seasons with Benfica, then I was hired by Man United half way point in the season to save them from relegation. All the stars of Man United were pretty much sold and with only 10 million plus hire some players from my Benfica team since they weren't expensive and using loaning old players of other english teams that were sitting on the reserves. I barely made it with one point of diference however I went to the final of FA Cup, since I lost to the league winner, i was able to guarantee a place in the Euro League, bringing some extra cash.

[Danielos]

Time to resurrect this thread again...

... So, is anyone still currently playing on FM08? Feel free to share details of your game here!

I do, but not of protest of the newer versions or anything. Just a combination of FM08 being cheap, my computer old and that I only buy a new FM game with several years in between to get an entirely new experience with it.

[Daniel.M]

In 2013, is anyone still playing FM08 ???

After visiting these forums for years, I have registered just to make this post!

I am still playing a long-term game, similar to !Steve1977 and the legendary Wijnand fens (he had +70 seasons at one club!)

With +1 billion people, why have India never played in the World Cup?

That was my mission 5 years ago, to eventually get India into the knockout stages of the World Cup.

Some challenges about managing in India:

- Indian clubs have very little money, so arranging friendlies with foreign clubs is necessary to get any cash,

- the youth setup is terrible, only one club had a 'youth academy', which massively affects the number of quality regens!

- tactics are vital, both to survive in the Indian 4-4-2 league with a rubbish team, and to thrive as the underdog in the Asian Cups!

India has been my most challenging LLM experience:

1. after holidaying the first season, then added myself as the manager of the newly promoted (and terrible quality) team.

2. spent 10 years in "HASC", struggling for 3 years, challenging for 3 years, then dominating India & Asia for the last few years.

3. after 10 seasons, raising 30m British pounds selling to foreign clubs, and developing a youth academy (!), it was time to move on.

4. now have spent a few seasons with the mid-table "Churchill Brothers", working towards building a great young team with an academy.

5. the future plan is to keep moving clubs every 5 years, to continue building youth academies across India.

6. and just keep going until I get the India national team job and take them into the World Cup!

One very "communist" / "socialist" move was to spread 10m pounds across the league (using transfers) before I left my first club.

This would allow each of the other clubs to have some money, to (hopefully) improve their finances & youth facilities/!

I bought FM2010 and FM2012, but keep coming back to FM08 as I really enjoy this game & these players who've developed with me.

Also I visited India last year for an Indian friend's wedding (what an experience!) and knew more about Indian football that the locals haha!

So far this is a medium term game (am in 2019/20), but this "India in the World Cup" objective will take me at least another 10 FM years I think :-D

Is anyone else still playing FM08? - tell us about your game!

Daniel

[d d]

I really want to play 08, but windows 7 will not let me. It just loads and loads with no end product. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank You