Football Manager 2006

Regularly meet with the chairman of a rich West London club, then deny it ever happened. Make your assistant manager hold press conferences because you really can’t be bothered. Turn grey jackets into the must-have item of the summer, even though they’re actually cheap numbers from Matalan. Sign Eastern Europeans who are nicknamed Dave by the club’s marketing department because their real surnames won’t fit on the shirts. Make passes at the club secretary and hope to God that it doesn’t end up in the tabloids. Or hey, maybe hope that it does! That, dear friends, is the charmed life of a football manager – as told to us by the tabloids

Sadly, Football Manager 2006 doesn’t feature any of the above and if you read News Of The World on a weekly basis, you’d think that’s all there was to the job. Apparently not. Apparently there are these weird things called ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy’ to be considered too. Football Manager 2006 does both ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy’ very well. Continuing where the PC series left off and split down different pathways, this is Sports Interactive's classic Championship Manager in console clothing – the same ridiculous in-depth tactics, the same vast array of options, the same ability to lose weeks of your time organising your team before a ball is even kicked.

If you want depth, Football Manager 2006 has plenty of it. Tactics go from the obvious (setting formation) to the absurd (you want throw-ins taken quickly and all corner kicks from the right-hand side to be aimed at the far post). Buying players also goes from the obvious (expired contracts) to the absurd (checking MK Dons reserves or Norway U-21s for a left-footed fullback with good mental strength). Even injuries go from the obvious (leave it to the physio) to the absurd (give the player injections so he plays through the injury). Basically, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Football Manager 2006 covers everything from the obvious to the absurd. You can even scream at your team at half-time, belittle the manager of the opposing team you’re about to face, make players train with the youth team just because you can and make private enquiries about players public to try and embarrass the club asking after them.

It’s tough too. Unlike the LMA series, where success lay in simply trading players until your bank balance bought you the title, Football Manager 2006 relies on several factors that can’t easily be influenced – motivation, team chemistry, playing to your team’s strengths. You can’t ride to the top of the league off the back of wheeling and dealing. Football Manager 2006 is the anti-Chelsea. If you want success, you’re going to have to work for it. That just makes the victories even sweeter when your plans come together.

… continued