[Suggestion] An In-Depth Manager Profile

[YKW]

One thing that means quite a lot to me when I play FM is the identity, personality and legacy of my manager character, and I've been thinking about this part of the game a lot. With the beta out and no real changes in this area (but great changes elsewhere), I thought I would go ahead and work on my suggestion for a more in-depth set of manager profile screens within FM. 

Quick Notes:

1. I'm really thinking about a long-term context here. Ideally with some of these "features" taking years or perhaps decades to unfold, people would be more encouraged to have really long saves in order to see what legacy they could forge and what fresh, secret events they could uncover.  

2. A really important factor is trying to include more tangible effects of your successes/failures over an entire career. The relationships you make will ideally be much more significant as well, with special interactions becoming available in certain situations.

3. There are 8 parts to this and one or two may be a little whimsy-heavy for your liking, but overall I hope there is something for everyone. 

So let me begin with this:

All of the following fits inside the 'Home' button on the sidebar. Within this, the current 'Home' sub tab remains largely as it is, showing relevant information about your current club (next fixture, league table, board confidence, etc). In addition to this there are tabs for My Profile (shown in this post), Reputation, Legacy, Agent, Social, History, Personal and Portfolio, all of which would contain largely new information. 

So today I have elaborated on the My Profile tab. Here is the screenshot, which takes place in a hypothetical save-game just two days before the retirement of my manager character, the previously mentioned German/Ghanaian Wisdom Konig. As you will see, he has had an illustrious, if somewhat controversial career. 

 

Firstly, in the middle of the screen, you have a picture of Wisdom (ideally dynamic, depending on the circumstances in my save) along with his basic details. His impending retirement is noted at the bottom. 

 

To the right of this you have his cumulative match stats, and below that a box showing a preview of his reputation.

What you can see is a visible representation of the World, Home, and Current reputations, and a linked subsection which shows where or by who Wisdom Konig is most loved/hated. In this example he is most loved in Ghana, where his successes have brought joy and pride to the people of his origin country. (Ghanaian characters generating into the game subsequently to this may have favoured personnel of "Wisdom Konig (idol)" for example.) He is most hated by fans of St Pauli who have a fierce rivalry with Hamburg, and who haven't had a taste of the bragging rights for the entirety of his reign and his 5 Bundesliga titles. 

Further information about countries or clubs where I was particularly loved or hated, and reasons why, could be found in the Reputation tab. 

To the left of the picture you have basic contract details and bars representing the faith in you by the Board, Players and Supporters. Below this is a new indicator called "Perception" which is heavily influenced by a very similar feature in TEW. 

The idea here is that my actions over the course of my save game would impact on my image and how people perceived my personality. As well as being a reflection of the choices and actions I have made, the orange dot (aka my "current perception") would also contribute towards determining my personality and therefore how other game characters would approach me and what they would expect to get out of it. (This is also why most of the mental attributes aren't shown below.)

So it's a simple compass with two scales. Democratic/Authoritarian and Loyal/Fickle. The text to the right of the compass gives some hints as to the causes and impacts of the perception. It says: "Wisdom Konig is widely regarded as one of the harshest taskmasters in football. His players expect to be dropped from the team or transfer listed if they do not perform well enough and do not expect any second chances. Very few players would be brave enough to confront him or go against his wishes."

So for example, when I do things such as: discipline players for poor performances, refuse their demands and drop them from the team, fine them etc I would shift towards Authoritarian. If I were to spontaneously sell players to make way for better ones, ostracise players from the squad, renege on agreed squad statuses etc I would shift towards Fickle. 

Now remember that this is "perception." So as Wisdom Konig's orange dot is in the bottom right, and as the last paragraph to the right hints at, the players are likely to be scared of me. On the plus side for me this may mean much greater levels of focus and many fewer complaints from players, however on the negative side I may be much less likeable and some players may really not enjoy playing for me.  In my opinion, alongside Wisdom Konig, this position on the compass would also suit Jose Mourinho. 

In contrast, the top left of the compass would suit Arsene Wenger (Democratic and Loyal), the bottom left Sir Alex (Authoritarian and Loyal) and the top right Harry Redknapp (Democratic and Fickle). Perhaps you disagree?

Further information on your Perception could also be seen on the Reputation tab.

Below this to the left there are two sections.

One is a list of attributes as we have currently, minus the mental ones. To the right of this is a section called "Notable trophies." This shows Wisdom's five Bundesliga title's as well as his two Champions Leagues. A trophy cabinet as well as award collection and special mementos would be visible under History - Trophies & Awards.

The final section at the bottom right is called "Recent Messages" and is a little Overview style digest of any recent activity happening on a Social level. In the "Social" tab itself you could see a variety of things such as messages wishing you good luck or congratulations, or special interactions with Friends/Close Friends/Enemies.

So Wisdom has two recent messages. The first one is from Niclas Deusch who happens to be Wisdom's agent.

The text says "Hey Wisdom, I know you're retiring soon, but I've heard whispers that there could be a huge offer coming your way from China. Just one season; would you be interested? Let me know ASAP." 

In this case I would be able to then interact with my agent in response, with a big money move to China potentially on the cards. Depending on the agent that you have chosen to represent you (done through the Agent tab) you could see a variety of different messages or opportunities coming to you this way, which could kick of interesting and exciting new directions in your career. 

The second message is from Wisdomina Sane who is indicated to be Wisdom Konig's daughter. As a matter of fact, she is married to Leroy Sane, but that's for the Family Tree on the "Personal" tab. 

Her message says "Hi Dad, just thought I would let you know that the twins had an argument today which has led to complete breakdown of their fraternal relationship, as far as playing with Legos is concerned."

In this case there is no available response, it's just a silly, lighthearted inclusion of which there would hopefully be many. 

Thanks for reading, more to come soon. 

[kandersson]

This might be even better than your supporters suggestion. Amazing stuff can't wait to see more - and see it in FM one day too!

[月光下告白]

That's a good idea.I hope to achieve it in the future.

[RyanBrown]

Again, this is really amazing. So much detail and thought has gone in to this. I believe, like you said this profile should be developed over years and not just having a full in-depth profile after 3 months at a club.

[ferrarinseb]

The Effort you put to make FM a Much better game should be Applauded in a much greater scale , Bravo man  

 

[Jambo_]

 This is another brilliant idea that would just add to the enjoyment of the game, and presented really well.

 

Every idea this guy has should be included in the game!

[frenchdog93]

Not a fan of having family in the game. Starts entering the territory of Total Club Manager and becomes a bit corny.. FM should stay in the realms of management in my opinion. I do agree the manager profile could benefit from some tweaking though.

[CFuller]

While I too would rather not see FM delve into simulating private life stuff (which is best left to The Sims et al), the rest of this proposal is brilliantly written and well thought-out.

[YKW]

So here is the second part of this idea, showing the Reputation screen.

Bear in mind that Wisdom Konig has had a long career, and lots of the things shown would have taken many, many years to unfold. 

The first main section is the box on the right called 'Reputation." 

What you can see is a world map that is coloured to show my overall reputation and a set of bars on the right that show my reputation within each Continent. The dropdown at the top would ideally enable you to view a map of just a certain region, for example, with the component countries listed on the right, with your reputation in each. 

At the start of a save you would see a basically empty world map, and depending on how your career unfolded you would gradually see your reputation rising in certain areas. "Threshold" values could also determine when your reputation would logically spill-over to geographical or cultural neighbours, until eventually you become a household name like Wisdom has done.

Below this there is a section showing specific clubs and countries that have strong opinions about Konig.

Once again at the start of a save there would likely be nothing here (unless you had chosen a playing career history which gave you elevated status at a particular club, for example.)

On the Profile screen from the first post you could see the "Most Loved" and "Most Hated" status for Wisdom Konig. Loved and Hated would be only two of hopefully quite a few possibilities, and also suggested in the screenshot are the statuses of "Feared," "Worshipped" and "Ridiculed." 

Konig is Loved in Ghana and Worshipped by Hamburg fans. The first of these to appear would likely have been Ghana. At the point I reached a certain threshold in terms of trophies/reputation/etc, in comparison to other Ghanaian managers/players, I would see that I had become loved in Ghana. The worship from Hamburg fans is pretty self-explanatory and the hatred from St Pauli was mentioned in the OP, so I would like to focus on the two new statuses: Ridicule from CSKA fans and Fear from people in Germany. 

The text under CSKA says: "CSKA fans delighted in Konig's surprise relegation with rivals Spartak, and will never let their neighbours forget his time there."

What this shows is that there could be a variety of contexts in which you could be thought of strongly. In contrast with the people of my home nation and the fans of the club I led to glory, CSKA fans like to ridicule me despite me never having managed them directly. In this instance the rivalry was intense enough, and the relegation embarrassing enough, that this event is something that will be remembered by the relevant sets of fans for quite some time.

The text under Germany says: "Having ruled for some years with an iron fist, it is known throughout Germany that Wisdom Konig is a dangerous man to cross."

This is another example of how you could be thought of without just being loved or hated. Think of this as being similar to the status of Sir Alex within England, of having both the trophy haul and personality required to instil fear in people. The trigger for achieving this particular status would be to have had a long and successful enough career within one league whilst also having a Perception biased towards the bottom. 

On the right you can also see a little arrow with "+7" underneath it, showing that Wisdom has had a long enough career to have even more statuses such as the ones shown. For example he may be Hated by Spartak fans. If he does indeed renege on his retirement as his agent is suggesting, perhaps he will be remembered differently at Hamburg? And so on. 

So what would be the impact of these? Well taking them order, for being Loved in Ghana I could see things like Stadiums being named after me, more children being born with my name (Wisdom is already Ghanaian but you get the point,) Ghanaian players coming through with me me as (Idol), and ideally some unique and secret Media Interactions, Personal Messages, Supporter Focus, etc.

For being worshipped by Hamburg fans: Stand named after me, Stadium named after me, Statue built in my honour, extra sway when making requests/issuing ultimatums to the board, fan boycotts/abuse of journalists that criticise me, unique messages and events etc.

For being ridiculed by CSKA fans: ironic cheers when I manage against them, mocking comments about me in fan focus, unique messages and events, etc.

For being hated by St Pauli fans: Boos when I manage against them, boos for players/staff who I am good friends with, reluctance of St Pauli favoured personnel and above to play for me, ability for me to say horrible things about their fans and club, unique messages and events etc.

For being feared in Germany: Greater respect and humility from other managers, extra compassion from referees, default large media interest if I fall out/have a dispute with someone, increased likelihood of my enemies leaving the country, unique messages and events etc. 

Below this is a section called "Perception" and it is the expanded version of the small piece shown in the opening post. 

The above is all dynamic and changes over time depending on the actions that you take, some of which I mentioned in the opening post also. What you have is the compass on the left with an orange dot to show what current perception of you is, and a series of descriptions on the right which focus on your preferred style in a variety of situations. 

Note: The personality attributes for a manager have been excluded from this idea in favour of using them behind the scenes to influence the above descriptions. Specifically I am talking about Motivating, Level of Discipline, Man Management, and Determination - you won't see these for your character. Instead these attributes combine with the perception to give you a description of the style that suits you best and/or which you most frequently use. When at the extremes of Perception or Styles you would have unique options such as a "Hairdryer" team talk or complete excommunication of a misbehaving player, etc.

For "Method of Motivation" Wisdom has the description "Fear." The text says: "Very few players would be brave enough to confront him or go against his wishes." Alternative descriptions could be "Inspiration" or "Encouragement" or "Incentives."

For "Man Management Style" he has the description "Boss." The text says "Wisdom Konig is regarded as one of the harshest taskmasters in football." Alternative descriptions could be "Leader" or "Father-Figure" or "Friend."

For "Disciplinary Style" he has the description "Harsh." The text says "His players expect to be dropped from the team or transfer listed if they do not perform well enough and do not expect any second chances." Alternative descriptions would obviously be things like "Lenient" or "Case by Case."

For "Negotiating Style" he has the description "Tough." The text says "Konig is known as a very tough negotiator who doesn't hesitate to walk away quickly if a deal doesn't suit him." Alternative descriptions could be things like "Compromising" or "Friendly."

As your career progressed I think this could provide an interesting and compelling context for decisions. In the short term you may have some issues if you move a player to the reserves as punishment, however you will subsequently be recognised as someone who is willing to take this step, so in the long term you could benefit. By consciously pursuing certain methods you could eventually get to the extremes of that Perception, thereby unlocking unique interactions and team talks etc, or even personal messages and in-game events. (For example kicking a boot at a players' head?)

The final section to the bottom right is a report card style of the Perception compass which will hopefully help you understand how it would fit within the game. (Again, this would likely be empty at the start of a career, taking some time to even show mild Pros/Cons. The brightest colours of green and red, indicating the "strongest" factors, would take a whole career to achieve.)

The first three Pros are fairly self-explanatory - as a result of your perception and actions you could have less discipline problems, better results when scaring the players, and an easier hand in negotiations. 

The final Pro says "Your effectiveness is increased in the following training categories: Physical."

There are two cons, both with new elements to them. The first con says "Some players may struggle with the pressures of playing for you." The second con says "You may build positive relationships much slower with certain types of people." 

There would be no "right choice" when it came to dealing with issues etc, and there would be benefits and drawbacks of being extremely positioned at any edge of the Perception compass. There are no "perks" so to speak, just an increased ability of the game world to respond to you and mould around you individually based on the actions you take over time, hopefully with unique and rewarding experiences. 

Thanks for reading once again. 

[月光下告白]

8 小时前, YKW说:

So here is the second part of this idea, showing the Reputation screen.

Bear in mind that Wisdom Konig has had a long career, and lots of the things shown would have taken many, many years to unfold. 

The first main section is the box on the right called 'Reputation." 

What you can see is a world map that is coloured to show my overall reputation and a set of bars on the right that show my reputation within each Continent. The dropdown at the top would ideally enable you to view a map of just a certain region, for example, with the component countries listed on the right, with your reputation in each. 

At the start of a save you would see a basically empty world map, and depending on how your career unfolded you would gradually see your reputation rising in certain areas. "Threshold" values could also determine when your reputation would logically spill-over to geographical or cultural neighbours, until eventually you become a household name like Wisdom has done.

Below this there is a section showing specific clubs and countries that have strong opinions about Konig.

Once again at the start of a save there would likely be nothing here (unless you had chosen a playing career history which gave you elevated status at a particular club, for example.)

On the Profile screen from the first post you could see the "Most Loved" and "Most Hated" status for Wisdom Konig. Loved and Hated would be only two of hopefully quite a few possibilities, and also suggested in the screenshot are the statuses of "Feared," "Worshipped" and "Ridiculed." 

Konig is Loved in Ghana and Worshipped by Hamburg fans. The first of these to appear would likely have been Ghana. At the point I reached a certain threshold in terms of trophies/reputation/etc, in comparison to other Ghanaian managers/players, I would see that I had become loved in Ghana. The worship from Hamburg fans is pretty self-explanatory and the hatred from St Pauli was mentioned in the OP, so I would like to focus on the two new statuses: Ridicule from CSKA fans and Fear from people in Germany. 

The text under CSKA says: "CSKA fans delighted in Konig's surprise relegation with rivals Spartak, and will never let their neighbours forget his time there."

What this shows is that there could be a variety of contexts in which you could be thought of strongly. In contrast with the people of my home nation and the fans of the club I led to glory, CSKA fans like to ridicule me despite me never having managed them directly. In this instance the rivalry was intense enough, and the relegation embarrassing enough, that this event is something that will be remembered by the relevant sets of fans for quite some time.

The text under Germany says: "Having ruled for some years with an iron fist, it is known throughout Germany that Wisdom Konig is a dangerous man to cross."

This is another example of how you could be thought of without just being loved or hated. Think of this as being similar to the status of Sir Alex within England, of having both the trophy haul and personality required to instil fear in people. The trigger for achieving this particular status would be to have had a long and successful enough career within one league whilst also having a Perception biased towards the bottom. 

On the right you can also see a little arrow with "+7" underneath it, showing that Wisdom has had a long enough career to have even more statuses such as the ones shown. For example he may be Hated by Spartak fans. If he does indeed renege on his retirement as his agent is suggesting, perhaps he will be remembered differently at Hamburg? And so on. 

So what would be the impact of these? Well taking them order, for being Loved in Ghana I could see things like Stadiums being named after me, more children being born with my name (Wisdom is already Ghanaian but you get the point,) Ghanaian players coming through with me me as (Idol), and ideally some unique and secret Media Interactions, Personal Messages, Supporter Focus, etc.

For being worshipped by Hamburg fans: Stand named after me, Stadium named after me, Statue built in my honour, extra sway when making requests/issuing ultimatums to the board, fan boycotts/abuse of journalists that criticise me, unique messages and events etc.

For being ridiculed by CSKA fans: ironic cheers when I manage against them, mocking comments about me in fan focus, unique messages and events, etc.

For being hated by St Pauli fans: Boos when I manage against them, boos for players/staff who I am good friends with, reluctance of St Pauli favoured personnel and above to play for me, ability for me to say horrible things about their fans and club, unique messages and events etc.

For being feared in Germany: Greater respect and humility from other managers, extra compassion from referees, default large media interest if I fall out/have a dispute with someone, increased likelihood of my enemies leaving the country, unique messages and events etc. 

Below this is a section called "Perception" and it is the expanded version of the small piece shown in the opening post. 

The above is all dynamic and changes over time depending on the actions that you take, some of which I mentioned in the opening post also. What you have is the compass on the left with an orange dot to show what current perception of you is, and a series of descriptions on the right which focus on your preferred style in a variety of situations. 

Note: The personality attributes for a manager have been excluded from this idea in favour of using them behind the scenes to influence the above descriptions. Specifically I am talking about Motivating, Level of Discipline, Man Management, and Determination - you won't see these for your character. Instead these attributes combine with the perception to give you a description of the style that suits you best and/or which you most frequently use. When at the extremes of Perception or Styles you would have unique options such as a "Hairdryer" team talk or complete excommunication of a misbehaving player, etc.

For "Method of Motivation" Wisdom has the description "Fear." The text says: "Very few players would be brave enough to confront him or go against his wishes." Alternative descriptions could be "Inspiration" or "Encouragement" or "Incentives."

For "Man Management Style" he has the description "Boss." The text says "Wisdom Konig is regarded as one of the harshest taskmasters in football." Alternative descriptions could be "Leader" or "Father-Figure" or "Friend."

For "Disciplinary Style" he has the description "Harsh." The text says "His players expect to be dropped from the team or transfer listed if they do not perform well enough and do not expect any second chances." Alternative descriptions would obviously be things like "Lenient" or "Case by Case."

For "Negotiating Style" he has the description "Tough." The text says "Konig is known as a very tough negotiator who doesn't hesitate to walk away quickly if a deal doesn't suit him." Alternative descriptions could be things like "Compromising" or "Friendly."

As your career progressed I think this could provide an interesting and compelling context for decisions. In the short term you may have some issues if you move a player to the reserves as punishment, however you will subsequently be recognised as someone who is willing to take this step, so in the long term you could benefit. By consciously pursuing certain methods you could eventually get to the extremes of that Perception, thereby unlocking unique interactions and team talks etc, or even personal messages and in-game events. (For example kicking a boot at a players' head?)

The final section to the bottom right is a report card style of the Perception compass which will hopefully help you understand how it would fit within the game. (Again, this would likely be empty at the start of a career, taking some time to even show mild Pros/Cons. The brightest colours of green and red, indicating the "strongest" factors, would take a whole career to achieve.)

The first three Pros are fairly self-explanatory - as a result of your perception and actions you could have less discipline problems, better results when scaring the players, and an easier hand in negotiations. 

The final Pro says "Your effectiveness is increased in the following training categories: Physical."

There are two cons, both with new elements to them. The first con says "Some players may struggle with the pressures of playing for you." The second con says "You may build positive relationships much slower with certain types of people." 

There would be no "right choice" when it came to dealing with issues etc, and there would be benefits and drawbacks of being extremely positioned at any edge of the Perception compass. There are no "perks" so to speak, just an increased ability of the game world to respond to you and mould around you individually based on the actions you take over time, hopefully with unique and rewarding experiences. 

Thanks for reading once again. 

Very good idea, this will make the game more interesting and more realistic, I hope to achieve these in future versions.

[YKW]

Thanks for the comments guys, here is my interpretation of the 'Legacy' sub-tab. 

There are three main sections to this page. The first is called "Career Impact" and gives you an overview of how exactly your career will be remembered and which parts of it play the most significant part in your legacy.

At the top you have a pie chart which shows how you are likely to be remembered in terms of which stages of your career are most significant. For Konig you can see that the vast majority of his legacy will be judged by his time at Hamburg, the blue segment. The red segment represents his time at Spartak Moscow where, as mentioned on the Reputation tab, he suffered an embarrassing relegation. 

Below the pie chart you have an expandable list of clubs (or nations) that comprise part of your manager history, along with a brief summary of how your time there will be remembered. You can see that Konig's legacy is rated as "Epic!" which is the highest level available. Part of the text says:

"Having led Hamburg to fifteen major trophies, "King Konig" has permanently solidified his status as a club legend. Konig's haul of five Bundesliga titles is also enough to make him one of the most iconic figures in Bundesliga history." There are two new elements here. The first is my nickname "King Konig," which I will come back to. The second is that Wisdom Konig has become an Icon in the Bundesliga - competitions should now be able to have favoured personnel/icons/legends of their own. These could also be teams such as Arsenal's Invincibles perhaps being Legendary within the Premier League.  

Below this there is a list of major points that relate to Konig's legacy at Hamburg. These include being their longest ever serving manager and most successful manager of all time, as well as having a statue built and stand named in his honour at the Volksparkstadion. The final point on the list is stating that the fans affectionately know me as "King Konig." There is already some alliteration and wordplay in the database so this could be an interesting outlet for that. 

If your time at the club wasn't so successful then you would see negative points in this list. For example you may be remembered for the longest losing streak in the club's history, or for famously falling out with a star player, or for failing to qualify for a major tournament as a national team manager, and so on. In this situations you would also have a legacy rating of something like "Embarrassing," which is how people remember Konig's time at Spartak Moscow. 

The next section is to the top right and is called "Influence Tree."

A previously requested feature in these forums was for some kind of adaptation of the "coaching tree" used in NFL (I think.) The basic idea is that when players or staff that you have coached or worked with go on to become coaches themselves they get added to your "tree." This "Influence Tree" that I am suggesting is similar but just shows a selection of my strongest relationships who also now have notable careers of their own as non-playing staff. Ideally there would be unique interactions or events that could happen with individuals in my influence tree, such as them coming to me and asking for advice on their next career move. It would also be reasonable to expect them to be similar to me in some regards, whether that was personality or tactical style. 

There are four characters in Wisdom Konig's Influence Tree all of whom he worked with at Hamburg. Sharon O'Sharon was a first team coach who now manages Zaragoza. Rico Ladron was a pacy hitman who now manages Sochaux. And Max Fuchs was a midfield destroyer who now manages Preston. 

The most interesting character, and the only non-new character, is a guy called Cameron Stringer who you may remember as the exciting newgen from 2024 with maximum Commercial Potential and a "Cult of Personality" Media-Handling Style. Sadly his career was cut short due to injury, however he now (somewhat predictably) has a successful career as a pundit. In this example he works for Global 24/7.

There are also some ex-players who become agents, which could be an interesting extra status for this. I also remember an old FM future save in which Yaya Toure had headed up a consortium to buy Hull, and so 'Chairman' status could also be an interesting one for an ex-player (again with interesting unique events which could happen.) Obviously if you look at the cases of Vinnie Jones and Eric Cantona, "Actor" could also be a funny, rare status. 

The final section is called "Tributes."

This section would keep a record of any major that tributes or commemorations etc that had been made in your honour. There is one specific new thing hinted at, but alongside this and the other suggestions there would hopefully be a variety of random and surprising things that could pop up during the course of a save and appear on this screen.

The first thing shown is that when you finally manage to get the news item talking about a statue being built in your honour you would also have permanent visual confirmation of that in this section. (Ideally you could also see it in 3D on match days but that might be greedy.)

The second thing shown is that Wisdom Konig was on the cover of FM36 (an offer I would have had to accept from Miles personally, in an FM style interaction.)

The final thing shown is that there is a youth academy in Ghana named after Konig. As I've mentioned in previous suggestions I would love to see the youth-intake area of the game see some major updates, and an increased number of independent football schools around the world could be a cool thing to include. 

Thanks for reading once again!

[YKW]

The next tab is the "Agent" screen. Hopefully this could introduce some new ways to evolve and progress your career, both while employed and unemployed. 

There are three main sections, all of which contain new elements. The top section is labelled "Your Agent" and gives you a summary of their status, attributes and opinions. 

In the editor Agents have attributes for Agency Size, Business, Touting to other clubs, and Patience, as well as a "scope" or region that they operate in. This has obviously influenced how I've chosen to represent the Agent attributes. 

First you have a description of the agent's "Network" and "Influence." These would largely be influenced by Agency Size, Scope, and personality attributes. A small network and influence would limit the effectiveness of your agent in finding and pursuing new opportunities, and vice versa. 

You then have "Negotiating" which would reflect the Patient/Impatient attribute. Followed by "Touting" which would reflect the Touting to Other Clubs attribute and be ranked in terms of Proactive/Passive. The last one is "Focus" which I'm linking to the quite mysterious "Business" attribute. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to indicate how good a person is at business, or how much they view football as a business i.e. how much they prefer to get as much money as possible, but this is basically a reflection of how much the agent focusses on money compared to client happiness. 

Below this you then have a set of comments by your agent in terms of your current contract, current club, potential future clubs, and personnel who you are linked with through his agency. In this example the text says:

"The terms of your current contract are appropriate for a manager of your reputation and legacy. You are the second most highly paid manager in Germany and the sixth most highly paid manager in the world. 

Your current club have the reputation and financial resources to compete at the highest levels of European football. 

I believe that with your reputation and my global network I could get you a job at any of the top clubs in the world. Due to your impending retirement I am not investigating any future transfers on your behalf.

I also represent a number of the world's top players and staff and may be able to use my influence to help broker a deal. The following names would be particularly interested in working with you: Custódio Lobo (Manchester United), Marvin Behles (Barcelona), Manuel Neuer (Coach), Mesut Özil (Director of Football)"

These comments would vary depending on how your career has unfolded and the agents personality. They may suggest that you are being underpaid, or that your current club should not be a long term project, or that you should consider applying/declaring interest for certain jobs, etc. 

You then have buttons allowing you to look for a new agent or to warn your current agent about replacing him, in which case you would have conversation options relating to his network, scope, or failure to create any interest in your services, etc. 

On the bottom left is a preferences button which would let you control the extent to which your Agent would deal with negotiations on your behalf, or the sorts of clubs (in terms of facilities or finances etc) that you want him to focus most on courting. 

The next section is called "Career Plans."

The first thing you might notice is the dropdown menu labelled "Career Status" which is a near equivalent to a players' "transfer status." This is not a public status, it is just between you and your agent, but could provide a good way to begin drumming up interest for the next chapter in your career. 

To the right of this is a section labelled "interest" which is self-explanatory. 

Below this you have a section labelled "Short-Term Plans" and "Long-Term Plans." These are customisable, allowing you to communicate to your agent (and in some cases your team or prospective employers, etc) exactly how you would prefer your career to progress. This could be by indicating a preference to manage in a certain country, certain league, or even a certain team. You could also do the opposite and indicate where you would not want to manage. 

The final section is called "Agent Messages" and shows recent communications from your agent, some of which may require action by you.

In this example there are three messages. The first two messages have the topic "Interest in Manager." One relates to Hamburg being unsuccessful in finding someone to replace me and therefore wanting me to reconsider my retirement. The two options are "Reconsider Retirement" and "Decline." Clicking Reconsider Retirement will kick off philosophy and contract talks handled by me, or if I have chosen otherwise in the preferences, negotiated by my agent and presented to me as a yes/no choice.  The second message also with the topic "Interest in Manager" is the same one that appeared on the Overview screen - an as yet unknown club from China may be making a huge offer for me. My choices are to either decline it or to allow my agent to investigate it further. It could end up being a legitimate offer which I could consider, or perhaps its a Fake Sheikh style media sting, which leaves the fans furious with me after I get exposed bragging about being able to bring Hamburg's star striker with me to China. Etc, etc - who knows. Ideally there could be all kinds interesting interactions and choices with interesting possible outcomes. 

The final message has the topic "Favour for Agent." He says:

"Rumour has it that Manchester United are preparing a large big for Andreas Hinterberger, one of my other clients. You're good friends with Zinedine Zidane - is there any chance you could have a word with him and help move the deal along? I would really appreciate it."

My options are either to decline or to "Discuss issue with Zidane." What this shows is that there could be new benefits to having good relationships with other characters in the game, specifically in the form of new interaction options (explained better in the Social Tab.) This example shows that I have the ability to recommend signings to other managers that I am good friends with. In this case my agent wants me to take advantage of this in order to help him out. 

Thanks for reading once again. 

[Neil Brock]

Reviewed so locked.