_______________________________ /\ \ \_| | | FIFA 06 Manager Mode | | v1.22 | | Guide by reno812 | | Based on the Xbox version | | reno812[at]gmail[dot]com | | Last Updated: 11/18/05 | | | | __________________________|__ \_/____________________________/ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ Hi there! It's been almost half-year since I finished writing my last FAQ for the FIFA 2005 Career mode, and now here you have me once again ready for another journey through the world with the same goal: become the most succesful manager around. Writing my FAQ for the FIFA 2005 was a nice experience, and that's why I'm doing this again. I want to thank to everyone who sent me an email after I finished writing that FAQ, I wish I could saved all their names, but unfortunately my PC seems to be angry with me and it's been giving me some headaches lately... Anyway, things have changed since last year... FIFA is no longer the best soccer game in the market, yeah, I know, it's the one with biggest sales, but sales doesn't always make the best games. And I thought that with the hit of the WE/PES series EA would make a great game this year, but it seems to me that they are focusing on just casual gamers and people interested in a game that offers arcadey-like gameplay, so they keep remaking the same game with the same old gameplay and FIFA's 2003 graphic engine over and over again... That's really sad =/ I want to state here that I'm not a FIFA fanboy, and I'm not a WE/PES fanboy, although I do enjoy playing both games, but I recognise that PES is a way too much better game, so I encourage to all those gamers looking for something more than just licensed teams and stuff, try WE9/PES5, you will be sticked to it really quick! So why I'm writing this guide if I prefer other game? Well, it's not a secret that PES has the better gameplay, but Master League is not as good as FIFA's manager mode. Well, with that said, just let me always remind you that I don't spend the whole day playing around with my Xbox, so the updates can take a few days, and I must warn you that replying your emails may take a few days too, since I'm in school (two more years for my engineering degree!), and have a beautiful girlfriend to take care of... Ok, that's it, keep playing! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ LATEST NEWS I decided to put this section, because it's easy for everyone to see whatever I put here because it's on the beginning of the document. [10/26/05] Is the first chance I got to work in the guide since the release, other than that I've been just replying your emails. Is just 3 weeks to end of school, so after that I will have time to spare, and of course, to write new stuff for the guide. Got PES5 three days ago, and it's amazing! I'm tempted to write a guide for the Master League... but I'm just thinking out loud... [10/27/05] Added the name of those who sent me an e-mail in the past three weeks, and of course, answered most of their questions in the FAQ section. Today I'm uploading the new version of the guide to gameFAQs.com and, and sending in to the other sites where it is hosted. [11/05/05] Well, after a month of the release of the guide, and a few days after the first update, the amount of emails has started to decrease, so that means more time for writing, because on the first days after the release there was no time for nothing else than replying mails... [11/06/05] Worked a couple of hours last night and I think I really did a lot with the career example, so I'm going to post it today. [11/16/05] Corrected a couple of typos that I found. Minor changes on few sections. Also probably someone may have found the way to play the 2 player mode in career mode! =p [11/18/05] Just confirmed that the trick that apparently allow to play the 2 player mode in career mode doesn't work :( Have a couple of days working on the "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" FAQ that I'm sending right now! But don't worry, I'm still working on this guide! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CONTENTS [1.0] Copyright [2.0] Version History [3.0] E-mail policy [4.0] Frequently asked questions (FAQ) [5.0] Walkthrough [5.1] Before you start your career... [5.1.1] Creating a new Manager [5.1.2] Selecting the starting region [5.1.3] Picking a team [5.2] The staff [5.2.1] Striker Coach [5.2.2] Midfielder Coach [5.2.3] Defence Coach [5.2.4] Goalkeeper Coach [5.2.5] Negotiator [5.2.6] Scout [5.2.7] Fitness Coach [5.2.8] Stadium Manager [5.3] The sponsors [5.4] Career Central [5.4.1] Next Match [5.4.2] Office [5.4.2.1] Calendar [5.4.2.2] Scouting [5.4.2.3] Staff upgrades [5.4.2.4] Sponsor details [5.4.2.5] Manager history [5.4.3] Team Management [5.4.3.1] Squad [5.4.3.2] Kick takers [5.4.3.3] Edit kit numbers [5.4.3.4] Player contracts [5.4.3.5] Contract alerts [5.4.3.6] Export team [5.4.4] Statistics [5.4.5] Transfer Central [5.4.5.1] Transfer Market [5.4.5.1.1] Buy/Loan a player [5.4.5.1.2] Sell/Loan a player [5.4.5.2] Negotiation history [5.5] Team Chemistry [5.6] Team Morale [5.7] Job Security [5.8] Fan Support [6.0] Career example [7.0] Final words To jump to a specific section, just use the search function on your browser ([Ctrl + F] on MS Internet Explorer) or text editor and write any of the numbers assigned to any section above. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ COPYRIGHT [1.0] This guide is for personal and private use. No part or whole of this guide can be reproduced in any way whatsoever. You can use this document as long as it is not used in any commercial purpose, and can not be altered or edited without the explicit permission of the author (that means me!). This are the only sites where this guide can be displayed: www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com www.ign.com www.fifa06online.com www.1up.com If you want to have this guide on your site, please send me an e-mail (see E-mail policy) and I will most of the times give you my permission. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ VERSION HISTORY [2.0] 10/1/05 - [v1.0] - 57 KB Just started everything from scratch. ASCII art and defined the sections in this guide. Also started with the walkthrough main section. 10/27/05 - [v1.1] - 76 KB Added a lot of common questions to the FAQ section, since I received a ton of emails regarding some issues I didn't have the time to cover in the first version. Expanded some sections with some more explanations because it seems that a lot of people is having trouble with transfers and specially with finnances! 11/06/05 - [v1.2] - 96 KB The last release answered the most common questions for almost everyone sending me mails, so now I can focus on starting the career example! On this update just corrected some typos I found spread around the guide, and finished first season on the career example. 11/16/05 - [v1.21] - 100 KB Just added some colaborations and few minor changes. 11/18/05 - [v1.22] - 96 KB Corrected info about 2 player mode in Career. By the way, the trick I provided in the previous version doesn't work! So don't even ask about it! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ E-MAIL POLICY [3.0] If you have a question, please read the whole guide. If you think that your question is not answered within the guide, I will be glad to help you out. Please note that I'm not a FIFA guru, and that this guide is based on the Xbox version, and some things may differ from one system to another, but still I'm open to help you if you need it. Please don't email me asking me to write you down some info from the game (eg. Squads, Line-ups, National teams), since this is not a general purpose guide, so I won't answer those questions. If you don't have the game, go buy it, I can barely answer all the mails I got with issues I still haven't covered here! Please write "FIFA 06 FAQ" in the subject! reno812[at]gmail[dot]com Replace the "at" with "@" and "dot" with ".", I just put it that way to avoid having my e-mail stolen by spammers. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ FREQUENTLY ASQUED QUESTIONS [4.0] Q/ Ok, what's new this year? A/ If you played the FIFA 2005 Career mode, you will pretty much get used to this one really quick. The "Career central" is basically the same, with the new features of course. Which features? well, there's a whole new Transfer system, an improved match simulation system, new ways of acquiring budget, etc, etc, etc... Q/ What's this "Team Chemistry" stuff everybody's talking about? A/ Well, finally EA did something with that. Past years you just had to pick a 5-star team and that was it. This time things have changed in a better way. Your players needs to know each other to play well, and the only way to do that is by playing several games together, just like in real life. One of the reasons why Real Madrid has a very low Team Chemistry this year in the game (the opposite from Chelsea). Q/ Why can't I sign X player to my team? A/ Having the money to afford one player doesn't mean he will go to your team. Actually, this is one of the first things that everybody seems to have problems with (this was the first thing that pissed me off when I started to play this game). I will explain more in depth this on the Transfer section, but for those looking just for an easy and straight answer, it has a lot to do with your club prestige, and of course, with YOUR prestige. So if you are starting career, no matter if you are playing with a 4 star team (even a 5 star team), if your prestige is not enough, almost any player won't sign with you. Q/ How do I use the scout option, how does it works? A/ This is a really nice addition to this year. I wasn't expecting it but I think that it is a really cool idea. I won't get too long with the explanation here, since it will be covered in depth on the walkthrough, but again, for those looking for just straight answers, basically you send this guy to any region on the world looking for young talent for your team. The success depends on the current level of your scout staff. Q/ My created player is not on my Career team! What can I do? A/ This is by far one of the most common questions I had to answer on my last FAQ, since I forgot to mention it. If you want to have a created player on your Career team roster, you need to create it BEFORE you start the Career itself. If you already started your Career and now you want to add your created player to the roster, I have bad news for you, because the only way you will be able to do that is by starting a new Career... Q/ Are you going to cover those "Reporter questions" or situations that the game asks you to solve? A/ No. I prefer not to cover them because it would be like spoiling the game for those who want to face those questions or situations by themselves. Also, the purpose of this guide is not take you by the hand on the game through every possible situation. The purpose of this guide is just to describe you how most of the options works. It's up to you what kind of manager you want to be and which path you will follow. Q/ Why I'm running out on cash after every match? Eventually I'm always getting fired, please help! A/ Seems that everybody decided to start with teams that are already in a very high level (say 4+ stars). The problem is that at the beginning of the manager mode you won't be offered with the best sponsors, this meaning in a very low per-game funding. This teams require high per-game funding to face high salaries from big stars, so there are very few options for those trying to avoid being fired. I would recommend sell or at least give on loan the most expensive players, to save you some cash on this players' salaries. And my other advice would be to choose a lower level team (1.5 - 3 stars), making the salaries more affordable according to your budget. Lastly, if you are wondering when it's the time to manage a 5 star team, I would say that when your prestiger is 7+ (those arrows next to your picture with the red number), which will be around your third season, or even more, depending on how good your results are! Q/ So, if it's hard to manage a 5 star team from the beginning, when is the right time to do it? A/ A very good question. There's not a certain amount of season before you are ready to face the duties of managing a 5 star team. It will depend on how quick your prestige grows. Better sponsors will be interested in you as you advance through seasons on low skilled teams, and when you become a success at those teams (eg. promoting a team), you will see that the sponsor list will be more populated than in previous ocassions. When you have sponsors offering you per-game funding around 6,500 - 7,000+ points, you are ready to manage almost any 4+ star teams. Q/ Ok, so I'm ready to manage a 5 star team, why they don't appear at the job offers at the beginning of the season? A/ If you are waiting for this teams to appear in the job offers, you are wasting your time. The only way you will be able to manage the best teams (say Chelsea, Barcelona, ManU and a long, long list...) you need to buy the "Career teams" option in the Fan Shop. It will cost you 5,000 well earned points, but it will be worth if you are willing to manage your favorite team! Once you buy that option and save your profile, next time you get into the "Pick team" screen those teams will appear among the others. Q/ How do I export my team? A/ Some people are having problems with this, so I'm explaining this in a couple of lines... You need to be in the "Career central", and in the SQUAD option you will find the "Export team" option. Hit it. It will confirm that you want to export, and once you hit yes, it will then save the team. Now, it doesn't mean that the team will be on the league that you are currently on your career. You have to go to the "Load" screen and there you will see something like "TEAM - your_team_name". Load it, and it will then inform you that the team was placed in "My League". But, what on blue sky is "My League"??? Well, if you go to "Kick-Off", "Create tournament" or "Situation", you can scroll through the leagues available in the game, and you will find then "My League", which will have all the exported teams you have! Please note that this won't work if you are thinking that you can import your current team and start a new Manager Mode with it! =p This has became a classic question for me... Q/ Are you going to make a Spanish version of your guide? Can I help you with the translation of the guide? A/ The answer for both is no. I really want to thank those that already asked this, but the answer will not change. I enjoy writing this FAQs but I'm not interested on translating it to my native language, because it couldn't be featured at gameFAQs.com (no In-Depth FAQs on a language different than english will be accepted...), and because I have work enough with just one guide, so that explains pretty much my reasons. But why don't I let someone do the work for me? I just don't think that I would feel comfortable with someone's else writing. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are better writers than me, but I want to have the satisfaction that this guide was made exclusively by me... yes, you can say that it is selfish, I actually think the same... Q/ Why my team can't use the third kit I bought from the Fan Shop? A/ I want to believe that this is a glitch, because I don't see any other reason. I was warned by some nice people after a few days the first version of this guide was released, and after trying in different ways I can say to you that there's no way you can use third kits on Manager mode, just on the other game modes in the game. A shame isn't it? Q/ Last year I used to play Career mode in 2 players mode, can I do the same this year? A/ I don't know why this option was removed, but definitely this was a plus on last year Career mode. The 2 player action is been left just for any other game mode except Manager mode, so this is an even bigger shame! =/ Q/ I like eating donuts while playing FIFA 06 A/ Good for you! :D Q/ Why when I'm trying to sell a player it always tells me that I must have at least 18 players? A/ You need to have 18 in-field players, so you need to have 18 players plus your goallkeepers. You won't be able to sell any until you get more players before selling the one you want. If you have a question that is not answered through this guide (regarding the Manager mode of course), you can send me an e-mail and I'll try to help you with that burning question that's on your mind! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ WALKTHROUGH [5.0] "You are just starting your 15 season journey as a manager of a football club. Your goal is to become the best manager ever, but there are many ways to get there. Will you negotiate with famous players to build an all star club? Or build your club of hiddem gems by scouting out youth players? Perhaps you will move from club to club until you find the best one for you. Dazzle the board of directors, sponsors, fans and players. Get to be known as the legend behind it all" This are the words that welcomes you when you start the brand new manager mode in FIFA 06. It's kind of exciting read this for the first time! As soon as you advance to the next screen you will see your laptop, which is basically just for e-mails from the team board, sponsor, or any member of your staff. This time is a little help with creating yourself as a manager... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ BEFORE YOU START YOUR CAREER... [5.1] Before you get your hands on any team, you must complete a few steps to fill up some information and create a manager, you of course. Too bad that it isn't like in "UEFA Champions League 2004/2005" by EA, where you can create the manager just like if you were creating a player... Anyway, the important here is not the way the manager looks, but how the team performs. Well, let's start. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CREATING A MANAGER [5.1.1] This is the first task you have to complete before you pick your team, and is just filling up some information. Here is the list of the things you have to provide with some information: - Manager Look (21 to choose from) - First Name - Surname - Nation (seems like every nation in the world is listed in here) - Born - Year - Month - Day I don't think there's too much to explain here... Funny thing is that there's some girls on the manager pictures... I was wondering how it would be to see a girl managing a team? That definitely would be interesting. Anyway, let's move to the next step. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SELECTING THE STARTING REGION [5.1.2] Again this year we have the world divided in regions (just like in real life...). Actually we have one more region than last year, so there are many options to choose from! As I stated in my previous FAQ, I never recommend a region to start with. What I do highly recommend you is to choose a lower division team, and make this team win everything, then move on to another region or league. Why? Because if you stuck in the same team your manager prestige will remain the same. If you move through the world and have good results with different teams your prestige will be better known in more regions of the world... Do you understand now? Anyway, you are free to choose which team or region do you want to start with. REGION 1 - FA Premier League - Football League Champ - Football League One - Football League Two REGION 2 - K-League - Brazilian League - Mexican League - MLS REGION 3 - Italian Serie A - Italian Serie B - Spanish Primera - Spanish Segunda REGION 4 - French Division 1 - French Division 2 - German Bundesliga 1 - German Bundesliga 2 REGION 5 - Austrian Bundesliga - Danish Superligaen - Norwegian Tippeligaen - Polish Ekstraklasa - Swedish Allsvenskan - Swiss Axpo Super League REGION 6 - Belgian League - Portuguese SuperLiga - Scottish Premier - Dutch Eredivisie _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ PICKING A TEAM [5.1.3] After you selected a region, you will see the list of the teams within that region that are offering you a job. This year you can start managing teams up to 4 stars from the beginning! But be aware that the higher the level you choose from the start the harder it will be to manage the team business... If you want to start with a 5 star team, you need to purchase the "Career teams" option in the Fan Shop. It costs 5,000 points and features almost all the teams most people are looking forward to manage. Be aware that selecting one of this teams from the beginning will cause you to have serious cash problems (99% of chances you will get fired before the season ends). I would recommend for everyone buying this option to wait until the quality of the sponsors make affordable this kind of teams... As soon as you picked your team, you will be again on your laptop with 2 incoming e-mails waiting for you. One is from the Board of Directors, telling you what they expect from you in the present season. And the other one is a little help regarding the way you must manage your staff. After you read those e-mails you will then see the local newspaper from the city your team is from. Is cool to read them the first time, though it gets repetitive after a while. Then you are introduced to your staff. I won't explain here what member does, since there's a section for it, just scroll down... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ THE STAFF [5.2] This is the group of people that will be doing the background job while you are on the pitch looking for the results. This year we have eight members again, but they have slight differences, maybe the biggest one is that this time you will pay them with your budget, the same budget that you use to pay your players. Each member has a 10 level system that you must fill up if you want your team to be the best. I've noticed that every time you start the manager mode, no matter which team you choose, each staff member will already be in level 3, so it makes a little easier when you are not used to the team and the first results aren't as good as you would want. Also note that when moving from one team to another, the level of the staff members will be reset randomly, so even if you got to level 10 on every member you will more likely have to start from level 3 (even less) when switching teams! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ STRIKER COACH [5.2.1] This coach will concentrate exclusively on your strikers. You will notice that the ratings for the players are not 'static' to say it that way, that number may differ from one match to another. This is because now the skill of a player depends on how good or bad is he playing on the pitch. If the level of this member of the staff is high, you will notice that your strikers will perform better and keep his rating higher than if you don't pay attention to this guy. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ MIDFIELDER COACH [5.2.2] This coach will concentrate exclusively on your midfielders. The same rule than last coach applies to this one too. Your midfielders are a very important piece of your team, I would say that they are the "engine" of your team, since their job is to carry the ball from defence to attacking, so don't take this staff member for granted when it comes to upgrades. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ DEFENCE COACH [5.2.3] This coach will concentrate only on your defenders. Just like the others, the higher level this member has, the better your defenders will develop and play when on the pitch. Don't focus all your points to your attacking force, give some points to the defence, since it will become critical when it comes to defend a valious result away from home! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ GOALKEEPER COACH [5.2.4] This is vital on your team. Having a goalkeeper in shape is very important if you are looking for something big! If you have a young goalkeeper, having a high level on this area will guarantee that he will develop nice and quicker than if you don't give much attention to this coach. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ NEGOTIATOR [5.2.5] This area becomes critical when it comes to bringing new talent to your team. If you want to be good in transfers, this is a must on your priorities, because a higher level on this area guarantees that more players will be "persuaded" by your negotiator habilities. However, don't expect bring five star players to your team if you are in a very low category, even if you have a high level on this area... Look for the "Transfer Market" section for more information about this. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SCOUT [5.2.6] This is a good option if you prefer gathering unknown but high skilled players. I will explain more in depth what this member does in the "Scouting" section. For now let's just say that the higher level this area has, the better players the scout will find when you send him on a trip looking for young talent for your squad. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ FITNESS COACH [5.2.7] This area is very important at the beginning of your Career, since you will be working with low skilled players, and they will have a very busy schedule, making them to get tired very quickly or injuring very easily. The truth is that until this area reaches 5 or 6, your players will need more time to recover when they are tired, or last a few more days injured. If you want a team in good shape, you must pay special attention here. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ STADIUM MANAGER [5.2.8] Now you have to invest on your stadium. It's nice that EA has taken care of this. If you don't invest on this, fans won't be happy and you will notice that on the incoming funds (low ticket sales...) Since there is no other area where I can explain some things about this area, I will do it here. If you choose a low division team, the stadium will be small and you won't have much money from ticket sales. If you have money enough and your team is being promoted to another division, consider buying a stadium upgrade, since it not only will look better, but you will also gather more money after every match. This is not a cheap upgrade option, since the last levels (7+) are really expensive, but trust me, it is worth to invest here. But, if you are about to move to another team and the end of season is near, don't buy any stadium upgrade, since you can't keep the upgrades from one team to another, and you will have to start from level 3 (I had to start from level 2 once, after reaching level 10 with my previous team!). _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ THE SPONSORS [5.3] Your team depends now on two things: ticket sales on your home games, and in your sponsor. This is one of the nice additions EA put in the game. Unfortunately you don't see your sponsor on your team kits, probably because of the licenses, so they don't get sued... Anyway, when starting a new career or when a season finishes, you can select a sponsor. You will be given with a list of 10 sponsor to choose from in the first season, and the list will gradually grow as you advance through the years. Note that this list will not be the same always, since it seems to be filled up random. There are a few things you need to consider before signing with a new sponsor, because every sponsor has their own contract, and details on those contracts makes every sponsor different from another. The sponsor details are: - Funding per game (The amount of money that the sponsor will give you after every game, no matter if you win or lose) - Loyalty Bonus (The amount of money that the sponsor will give you if finish the season on the top half of the table) - League Bonus (The amount of money that the sponsor will give you if you manage to win the league) - Domestic Cup Bonus (The amount of money that the sponsor will give you if you manage to get to the final rounds of the domestic cup) - Extra Bonus (The amount of money that the sponsor will give you if you manage to win the EFA or the ECC. Noter that some sponsors don't offer this) On the first release of this guide, I stated wrong that the key was getting in the first years a high per-game funding sponsor, but after reading hundred of e-mails, and by my own experience, I must correct what I said before. On the first years, the key is to get a low budget team (1 to around 3 stars, nothing higher), and any sponsor, since the difference will be only the cup or loyalty bonuses. As I said a lot of times before, once you start to be succesful as manager, at the end of the season you will have more sponsors to choose from and eventually you will be ready to manage better teams. Read the FAQ section (if you didn't), I already gave the answer to this situation there. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CAREER CENTRAL [5.4] This is the main menu of the Manager mode. Here you have control of your team and everything related to your team. So is very important that you get used to it and get to know where is everything so you can have control on every aspect of your team. This section needs to be divided into many sub-sections, so here we go... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ NEXT MATCH [5.4.1] This screen has changed since last year. Last year in this option you only could choose the kits the teams were wearing. The actions you can perform at this screen are: - Play Match (If you want to play the match, press A and the match will load) - Visual Sim (Remember last year match simulation? Well, it's back again, and you can intervine if you think your team is in trouble) - Quick Sim (Don't want to see that line-based simulation? Well, just use this option and you will have the game completely simulated within seconds) - Manage your team (Let's you modify your line-up, kick takers or markings, all with just using the right/left trigger on your controller to navigate through it) One of the msot common questions I've been asked about is where do you select sides so the 2 players mode can be accessed. I must repeat again that there's no such thing in Manager mode. Don't e-mail me regarding why EA has done this, it's a shame for all those that played last career modes in 2 players mode, but I won't contact EA for you! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ OFFICE [5.4.2] You can't be a complete manager without an office! Of course, you won't see your desk or the furniture, but that's what your imagination is for! (There's where "PES Manager" comes in scene! Lucky PS2 owners...) Anyway, there are many cool things you can control from here. Actually, I will need to sub-divide this section so nobody can get lost with all the options available at the office... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CALENDAR [5.4.2.1] Ok, the calendar is... ehhh... it's a calendar! You will see the current month and all the matches you have to face. If you place the cursor on a match day, you will see the list of matches for that day, or if you are looking for a past date, you will see all the results for that specific day. Navigating through this option can be done with left/right triggers. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SCOUTING [5.4.2.2] This option is very useful when trying to bring new players to your squad. Keep in mind that this option will cost you money, and depending on how deep you want your scout to search, the more money he will need. And sure, the more costs you the expedition, the better results you will get, so don't hesitate on spending big money here! I already stated that the higher the level of the scout staff, the better results you will get from this option. Here is when you will see if I'm telling you the truth or not. Here is how this works: - Location (where you want to search for players) - Europe - Americas - Africa - Asia/Oceania - Position - Goalkeeper (GK) - Defender (DEF) - Midfielder (MID) - Striker (ATT) - Duration (how much time the 'expedition' will last) - Quick survey - Good scout - Deep search After you set this options, the scout will be sent to the location you specified. The success will depend on more than one factor (scout level, duration) When you return from a match, sometimes you will be informed by the scout of some player that he has found. You will see his stats and bio. You can either contract this player or take him down, and the scout will keep looking for another players. The level of the players the scout founds will be according to the current level he has. If you are around level 3 (most common when starting with a new team), the players he will find will be around 58 - 63 on overall, and when you are on the highest levels (8+) could be 88+ on overall, so think about it, a young 18 year old player with 90 on overall! Wow! :o And keep in mind that you can send your scout at any time. You don't need to be in transfer window, this meaning that you can hire this players even if you are on December or March! Great isn't it? _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ STAFF UPGRADES [5.4.2.3] When you start winning matches and your budget starts to grow, it's time to think in upgrade some of your upgrade members. We talked about this before, so this screen is just like a shop, you come, select the member you want to upgrade and then you just exit. Simple and easy. No need for long explanations... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SPONSOR DETAILS [5.4.2.4] Did you forgot what was on your sponsor contract? Well, you can come back to this option anytime you want and you will see your contract again. Remember that there's no way to sign with another sponsor during the season, so don't look for that option, becuase you won't find it! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ MANAGER HISTORY [5.4.2.5] Yeah, the years can pass you by so quick... so if you don't remember exactly which cups have you winned or when did you stayed in a specific team, you will find all that info here. Also you can see your own bio here, and how many seasons have you advanced since you started the game. Really simple... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ TEAM MANAGEMENT [5.4.3] Ok, after that journey through our office, we are ready to start our main business here. Again, I will divide this into sub-sections, so I can explain in detail every part of this section. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SQUAD [5.4.3.1] This screen is divided by right-half and left-half. At the left-half you will always see your line-up, which you can navigate with the up and down buttons. Now, the right-half is where you can do the magic... To navigate through those options you can use the left/right triggers, and to modify those options use the white/black buttons. The right-half options are: - Formation - Comparison (To compare two players' statistics) - Chemistry (See how the chemistry is composed, and see how much a player can influence on the team chemistry) Note that in this screen you will always have in the top-right corner of the screen the team chemistry. Every change you make to your line-up will affect that bar (for bad or good). Pressing Y will assign capitancy to any line-up player. If you replace the captain, the best player on the line-up will take his place. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ KICK TAKERS [5.4.3.2] As you have complete control over your team, you need to decide the players duties. Note that if you replace a player with duties from the line-up, the game will automatically assign the duties to another player. - Left Corner - Right Corner - Free kicks (The second player is not assigned here) - Penalties _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ EDIT KIT NUMBER [5.4.3.3] This was one of the things that last year career was lacking. But now you can assign any number from 01 to 99 to any player. And the best is that you can assign numbers at any time you want, this means that you don't have to wait until the season ends to change it. You will see a chart with all the numbers from 01 to 99. The numbers in red are the numbers that are already in use. You can assign a number that is already in use, but the player that were using that number will then be using the next unused number. I haven't noticed any difference when a player is wearing the 10 in his kit, but I've heard rumors about it, so if anybody can prove that this in fact makes a difference please send me an e-mail! I wonder if anyone else experiences slow-downs on this screen? It is one of the things that bothers me... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ PLAYER CONTRACTS [5.4.3.4] If you want to know how many years remaining has a player in his contract, you need to come to this option. The information that this option will show you is: - Contract (years remaining) - Salary per game - Market Value (very handy if you plan to sell a player) - Renewal Cost - Per Clean Sheet (GK/DEF) or Per Goal (MID/ST) The Per Clean/Per Goal is given in percentaje (%). It means how much a player will receive (calculated over his current salary)if he scores a goal or if they help to keep a clean sheet. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CONTRACT ALERTS [5.4.3.5] If you have players that have just one year left on his contract, or if there's a player that is about to retire, you will be informed in this screen. If the player has just one year left, you can renew his contract here, but if the player is about to retire, there's nothing you can do. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ EXPORT TEAM [5.4.3.6] Want to use your career team against your friends? You can import your current career team and save it so you can use it just like if you were using any other team in the game. The way to correctly export a team and use it later on any other mode is as follows: - Save your exported team - Go to "Load" screen and select the save you just generated - Go to any game mode where you want to use your exported team - Cycle through leagues until you find "My League" - All your loaded exported teams will be there - Enjoy! =p Since I don't use the Xbox-Live, I can't tell you if you can use your career team there, but if somebody is kind enough to confirm me that, it would be really nice! =p _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ STATISTICS [5.4.4] This option is not as good as the statistics provided by WE/PES games, but at least this time we have more than last year! You can check here: - Leaderboard - Player stats (you can switch teams and see the whole league stats) - League standings - Cup information (it will vary depending on which cups are you playing) I'm still wondering why we have all this info if there are no such thing as "Best striker", "Goal assisting leader" and "Best Goalkeeper" awards at the end of the season, it seems pointless to gather all this info... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ TRANSFER CENTRAL [5.4.5] Probably one of the most important options you need to learn to use if you want to have success in this game. There are three options in here, so we need to use three sub-sections too. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ TRANSFER MARKET [5.4.5.1] At this screen you will see the current players available for transfer in your league. Sometimes it will be populated, sometimes it will be empty. To navigate through leagues you need to use the "Search" option, which can be accessed by pressing the black button. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ BUY/LOAN A PLAYER [5.4.5.1.1] Once you are in the "Search" option, you can be as specific as you want or you can just provide one or two fields to start the search. The fields on the search option are: - League (If you want to see all the players in a specific league, just assign the league you want to look, and leave all the other fields blank) - Team (Leave it as any if you want to see all the players, no matter which team they are from, or choose a specific team if you are looking for players on a certain team) - Min. Overall (Set this value to force the system to show only players above the value you provide here) - Max. Overall (Set this value to force the system to show only players below the value you provide here) - Position (You can use this option to force the system to only show players on a specific position, which could be GoalKeeper, Defender, Midfielder or Strikers) - Role (There are many kinds of roles a player can play into a specific position, and you can specify it here) - Status - Available for transfer (The team of the player is trying to get rid of him) - Available for Loan (You can buy this player only until the end of season, then he will go back to his team) - Free agent (Currently not part of a team, he's negotiating by himself) - Offer already made (Player that already have an offer from you) - Any After you filled those fields, there can happen two things. One, you have luck and the system found what you are looking. Or two, the search didn't find anything, so you can either leave the transfer market or try again, probably you will just need to change a few fields to find what you are looking for. If you find a player that seems to be what you need, place the cursor on him and press A. You will then be at the "Contract conditions" screen, which is basically the negotiation sheet. The fields here are: - Status (You can set this to Buy or Loan) - Transfer fee - Player Salary per game - Contract length - # of bids - Per Clean Sheet / Per Goal Note that if a player is listed for buy, probably his team is not interested on a loan, so don't waste your bids, but if you think that you might be lucky enough, then go ahead! Same goes for Loan listed players. Never tried myself, but you can try to buy players listed for loan, I think it depends on how good or bad your offer is. The transfer fee is already set when you try to make an offer for a player, so don't try to be smart and offer a fee lower than the one that is already made, because you will likely don't get any luck with that. It's always a good idea to offer a fee a little higher than the fee the team is asking for the player. The salary per game is also already set. Same rule, don't try to offer a lower salary per game, instead you should offer a few more points. The contract length is the amount of years that the player will sign if he accepts the offer. There's not a specific amount of years for any player, so you may need to negotiate a few times this. Remember that young players will sign for 3+ years, while older players will tend to sign for just a year or two. If you are interested on buying (or loaning) a player that is not listed, you can do it, but you need to offer a high transfer fee and per-game salary. Otherwise you will just be rejected by the player. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ SELL/LOAN A PLAYER [5.4.5.1.2] Do you have players warming the bench? You should consider selling them! Whatever the reason is, is always necessary bring new blood to your team, and in the process is necessary to let go a few players. You can either loan a player and get him back at the end of the season, or you can send him to another club for good! The process is pretty much the same though. The first thing you have to do is go to the "Club player list" option, and then you will have your team roster on the screen. Could be a few pages, so navigate through them with left/right triggers. Scroll to the player you want to sell/loan, then press A. The screen will fade a little and a dialog will pop up. There are just two options there, the status will already be set to "None" but you can change it to "For Sale" or "For Loan". Note that the player morale will decrease a few points (if not already in 0) when setting his status for Loan or Sale. Whatever your choise was, the player will have an icon when you return to the roster. For now there's nothing else you can do. You have to go back and advance to the next match. If there's an offer for that player you will be informed when coming back from a match. If no offer was made for your player you should then wait for the next transfer window and try again. The status for that player will again be set to "None", so if you still want to sell/loan that player you need to set his status to "For Sale" or "For Loan" again. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ TEAM CHEMISTRY [5.5] Seems like many people doesn't understand this, but actually is very simple (and very true this days on real football...) No matter what team you choose to start your career, the team chemistry will always be set to 39. You may think that it increases just like the job security and by the end of the season you will have the Team Chemistry bar (those two gear-teeth icon on the Career Central screen) completely full, but the truth is that you will be lucky if you reach 50! It may take more than you think to fill up that bar. But why? Because a team is not just gathering stars and let them play and win everything. A team needs that all his players know very well one to each other, and for that they need to play several matches together. So if you are one of those that by the end of the first season have sold almost every player of the starting line-up the team came from, you are on the wrong way. Every match will give a player (in the starting line-up) some "Team experience" points (you can track that in the Squad screen). At the start all begin with 0, by the end of the season it well could be at 35-40 if they played most of the games. There's not a magical formula to have this bar filled up quickly. The only certain and known way to do that is by keeping your team together all the time you can. Am I saying that you don't have to bring new players to the team? No, what I'm saying here is that whenever you need reinforcements you are very welcome to do that. But you need to keep your team structure almost untouchable, and players with more experience will make your team keep his chemistry. Keep in mind too that team morale will affect chemistry. If you are in a lose streak, the chemistry will go low. Winning streaks may rise the team chemistry a little bit. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ TEAM MORALE [5.6] There's nothing like a player with high morale to improve the team performance! But it's not easy to have a team with high morale, or at least most of your players. Let's face it, is impossible to have everyone happy on the team, because everybody wants to play and there's only 11 that will do it through the starting line-up. So what can be done to increase the morale on your team? Here are a few hints, if you have more, just email it to me, you will be credited for it of course! - Renew his contract No matter if he has just one year remaining or if he still has 2 or 3 years, you can renew his contract, and you will see a great boost on his morale, but if you don't give this player more minutes on the pitch it will be useless after a few weeks. Keep in mind that this will cost you money, so don't go renewing all the contracts or you will run out on cash very fast! - Put him on the starting line-up There's no better way to increase a player morale than puting him on the starting line-up. But be sure to put him for several games in a row, or at least every two or three matches. If you fail to do so, the result will be a complete failure. - Give him a few minutes on the pitch Using a player as a regular substitute on the last 15 or 20 minutes will mean in a slight increase of morale. This could be an option if you already have a star player but want to have a substitute ready for any emergency, and better yet, with a decent morale! - Sometimes the answer is in the way you manage the off-pitch issues! After some matches you will have to solve a situation. Some of those issues will involve the reserves, and depending on how you manage this situations, you will be rewarded with a morale increase! Sometimes it will include all your squad, and sometimes just the reserves. Still after doing this hints you still can't make certain player improve its morale? Maybe you should consider sending him on loan to another team, it sometimes results in a great boost to his morale and when he comes back his experience and morale is better than you would ever expected in your team! But also sometimes there are players that seems to never increase a single point in morale. No matter how hard you try, they just doesn't seem to be happy with anything. What to do with those guys? Sell them, you don't want that kind of bad influence in your squad. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ JOB SECURITY [5.7] This is an easy topic. Your job depends on your results, just like in any club in real life. The job security bar is the one below the Team Chemistry bar. When you start your career your job security will be 50. Winning matches will raise 1 or 2 points, while losing will lower your job security a few more points. You will get fired if your job security goes down to zero, and then the game will fast forward to the next season, and you will start a new season just like you did before, but the job offers won't be the best... Many people asked me in my last FAQ why they never reached 100% in their job security. Don't bother trying to reach the 100%, the higher your job security will reach will be 99%, no matter if you never lose a single match in your 15-year career! Be aware that when you have a question or a situation and have choices to answer or solve them (those that appears after a match), sometimes they will affect your job security. Sometimes it will rise your job security and of course sometimes it will lower it. _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ FAN SUPPORT [5.8] Clubs are nothing without his fans, and you need to keep this on your mind. The Fan Support bar is the bar with the Flag in the Career Central screen. On this game there are more ways to keep your fans happy than just win game after game. And of course, there are more ways to make your fans angry than losing games! Your fan support will be at 50 when you start your career, but it will increase a little bit after every match you win. And it will decrase in the same way when you lose a match. Also upgrading your stadium will make your fans happier and that means that you will have more incoming funds from the tickets the fans buy! Now, fans are aware of almost anything you do, so be careful when answering questions or taking decisions, because you will be inmediately informed about their reaction. Just try to think what would make you angry or happy if you were a club fan when answering a question or making a decision. Finally, when deciding the ticket pricing for every match, consider a few things: Low price tickets are when you play league matches against teams that are on the bottom of the table. No matter if the team support is at 99%, if you play against this kind of teams not many people will go to the stadium if you set the price too high. Medium price tickets are when playing against average teams. This works fine too when playing group stage matches on the EFA or ECC. High price tickets are perfect when you play against teams in the top of the table or Cup matches (specially if you are in the final rounds). Just use common sense and you will do fine. After all, after every match you will see if you were right when you see how much money you raised, and if aren't good news, you can then make the right decision for the next matches. Remember, the clubs are nothing without his fans and if you don't want to be in trouble ($$$), you better keep your fans happy! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ CAREER EXAMPLE [6.0] There's always a need for making an example on how to manage the basics on any team. Probably most of you don't need any explanation on a lot of things regarding managing your team, but there's always someone needing to see how to do a certain thing, so that's what this example is for. I always encourage anyone to don't start with a 5 star team, so you can guess that in this example I won't do that. Actually I'm going to do what I always recommend: start with a lower division team. Please note that for this example I won't play any single match, I will use only the "Quick sim" feature. The difficulty level will be set to "Semi-Pro" and I won't use any created player, since sometimes it can spoil the experience of building a team (creating a player with 99 on everything and then use him on a team with 1.5 stars is cheating, no matter how you want to look at it!) I will do pretty much the same than the Career example on my last FAQ, so I will inform you of every match and relevant news. I do will cover the reporter questions and the team situations I will face with this manager, and of course, injuries, transfer window updates and everything. Ok, with that said I think we can start right away! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ Last year's example we picked up a name for our manager, and this year we'll do the same... He will be named "Isaak Asimov". Where did that name came from? Well, I'm a sci-fi novel fan, and right now that I was thinking about a name I looked to my shelf and there was that book I'm reading right now, called "Foundation"... it was an obvious decision. He will of course be from Russia! Just for the record, I don't know when the real Asimov was born, but I choosed for "my" Asimov to be born on March 27, 1960. Now comes a tough decision. Where to start Isaak Asimov's career? I was thinking that probably Italy would be a nice country to start, so I'm picking a team from Italian Serie B. We'll let England for later... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ YEAR 1 Team: MANTOVA League: Italian Serie B Manager Prestige: 1 Board expectations: Get a top-three by the end of the season Current Staff level: - Striker coach: 3 - Midfielder coach: 3 - Defence coach: 2 - Goalkeeper coach: 3 - Negotiator: 3 - Scout: 3 - Fitness coach: 3 - Stadium manager: 3 List of sponsors: - Tesco - T-Mobile - Sportbladet - Sport1.at - Radio 538 - Grandiosa - MetroXpress - Maxima FM - Los 40 Principales - Sport Magazine I choosed Sport Magazine as my sponsor because of the funding per game, since it was the higher offer and it will be critical to finish the season without being fired because of trouble with salaries. The sponsor details are as follows: Funding per game: 4,250 Loyalty bonus: 13,000 League Bonus: 3,800 Domestic Cup Bonus: 5,300 Extra Bonus: 6,000 Bonus Requirements: - Become the league champion - Win the Domestic Cup Extra Bonus requirements: - Win the ECC/EFA Loyalty Qualifier: - Get to the semi-finals in the domestic cup The squad I found in this team was: Formation: 4-4-2 List of players: GK - P. Brivio 49 M. Bellodi 60 DEF - L. Lanzara 60 D. Mezzanotti 62 D. Pellegrini 57 G. Cioffi 55 S. Sacchetti 57 M. Notari 43 MID - S. Bentivoglio 47 M. Brambilla 70 A. Doga 59 G. Volpe 51 V. Sommese 55 S. Mondini 55 G. Caridi 51 M. Spinale 46 E. Tarana 49 C. Grauso 41 ST - A. Noselli 69 P. Poggi 75 G. Graziani 41 I'm writing this directly from the screen, and my first impressions are that this is not a well balanced team, so I'm going to need a lot of work to get the right players in order to have a functional team. Right now my hands are tied with budget, so I will need to find out how to do that. There are good players in the team though. Brambilla has a bronze "10" icon, so that means that he has one of the special skills on this game, and I believe that he will be a fundamental piece on my team, but I can't put the team on his shoulders since he is already 32 years old, so probably by the end of the season I will need to get a better player to replace him. Poggi and Noselli has both a bronze "boot" icon. They will be my star strikers. Poggi has more skill than Noselli by looking at their stats, but Poggi is older than Noselli. He's 35, and Noselli is only 25. Probably I will need to replace Poggi by the end of the season, but I don't have to worry about that right now. The thing that worries me about is that I have two contract alerts, and both are from my goalkeepers. Bellodi and Brivio are retiring both the same year, so I need to quickly get a new goalkeeper. Since buying new players from the transfer window is not a good option for a starting manager I will choose to upgrade my scout with my 13,377 available points of budget and then send him to get me a good young goalkeeper. Now here's how I will set the tactics for the present season: System: 3-5-2 (I have plenty of midfielders on my squad =p) Kick takers: - Left corner: V. Sommese - Right corner: A. Doga - Free kicks: P. Poggi - Penalties: P. Poggi Captain: M. Brambilla And the last thing I will do before starting the season, I will mess a little with my staff! * STAFF UPGRADE * - SCOUT Level 3 ---> Level 4 (5,000 points) Right after doing that, I'm sending my new scout to a deep search of a goalkeeper. I'm sending him to America, and the journey will cost me 3,267 points. That hurts, specially because my budget is so limited right now, but I don't want to hurry at the end of a season, because I know that I can't keep my goalkeepers... THE SEASON: Well, we had to do some work before getting here, but finally we are here, and there's just a few things I need to write before starting simulating the matches. Team Chemistry: 39 Job Security: 50 Fan Support: 50 I will keep track of this three things after every time one of them changes, so is easy for everyone to see how it evolves! Now, let's start with the season :D 08/21/2005 MANTOVA - MODENA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-0 League Position: 7th (3 pts) Team Chemistry: 41 Job Security: 56 Fan Support: 54 08/28/2005 ALBIN - MANTOVA Result: 0-1 League Position: 5th (6 pts) Job Security: 61 Fan Support: 55 09/04/2005 MANTOVA - CESENA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 3-1 League Position: 3rd (9 pts) Team Chemistry: 44 Job Security: 64 Fan Support: 58 * SCOUT REPORT * GK - D. Altamirano - 64 Signing fee: 2,485 Wage: 115 Contract length: 3 years Action taken: I decided not to sign this player, I want to see if my scout can found still better players! 09/11/2005 CREMONESE - MANTOVA Result: 0-2 League Position: 2nd (12 pts) Job Security: 69 Fan Support: 59 09/13/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) CREMONESE - MANTOVA Result: 1-3 Job Security: 73 Fan Support: 61 "How are you adjusting to things with your new team? Given today's win, I'd say things are progressing just fine for you and Montova!" -> "The team has really been a nice fit for me so far." Fan support: +5 09/18/2005 MANTOVA - ATALANTA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-0 League Position: 2nd (15 pts) Team Chemistry: 48 Job Security: 78 Fan Support: 68 * SCOUT REPORT * GK - C. Hahnemann - 58 Signing fee: 1,625 Wage: 84 Contract length: 5 years Action taken: The game is kidding, right? =/ 09/20/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) MANTOVA - CREMONESE (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 0-1 (agg: 3-2) Cup standing: Mantova advances to second round Job Security: 73 Fan Support: 65 * STAFF UPGRADE * STADIUM MANAGER Level 3 ---> Level 4 (8,000 points) 09/25/2005 VERONA - MANTOVA Result: 1-0 League Position: 3rd (15 pts) Job Security: 69 * SCOUT REPORT * GK - D. Borgetti - 52 Signing fee: 1,180 Wage: 85 Contract length: 2 years Action taken: This can't be true, seriously! 10/02/2005 MANTOVA - BARI (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 0-0 League Position: 3rd (16 pts) Team Chemistry: 50 Job Security: 70 Fan Support: 63 10/09/2005 AREZZO - MONTOVA Result: 1-1 League Position: 2nd (17 pts) Team Chemistry: 51 "Fans have started to demand more access to the players. They want to be able to watch training sessions, and see more of the day-to-day workings of the club" -> "Provide more seating and accommodate those interested in watching training sessions." Fan Support: +2 Substitute Morale: +5 10/16/2005 MANTOVA - BOLOGNA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-1 League Position: 2nd (18 pts) Team Chemistry: 52 Fan Support: 65 10/23/2005 BRESCIA - MANTOVA Result: 0-0 League Position: 4th (19 pts) Team Chemistry: 53 Job Security: 71 * SCOUT REPORT * The scout returned from the search... Ok, this was one of the things that I think that this example was made for, and as you can see, I wasn't satisfied with the results of the search at all, so I didn't sign any player. I'm looking for another staff upgrade and then send my scout on search again, and this way we can check how the staff upgrade option works. * STAFF UPGRADE * SCOUT Level 4 ---> Level 5 (7,000 points) 10/25/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) TREVISO - MANTOVA Result: 0-1 Job Security: 77 Fan Support: 66 Assistant: "I know you've just promised the team a rest after such a win, but we were supposed to make an appearance at a special fundraiser by giving a youth football clinic! Should we cancel?" -> "No, inform the players of the commitment. We must keep our word." Fan Support: +2 Team Fatigue: +1 11/08/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) MANTOVA - TREVISO (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 0-0 (agg: 1-0) Cup standing: Mantova advances to 3rd round Job Security: 78 Well, again I'm sending my scout. This time I'm sending him to Europe, probably we'll have better luck due to the recent staff upgrade. It will be a deep search of course, that will cost my team 3,861 points. Let's cross our fingers! 11/13/2005 MANTOVA - PERUGIA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-2 League Position: 7th (19 pts) 11/20/2005 AVELLINO - MANTOVA Result: 1-1 League Position: 7th (20 pts) 11/27/2005 MANTOVA - CROTONE (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-2 League Position: 8th (20 pts) Team Chemistry: 58 Job Security: 72 Fan Support: 63 Assistant email: "The players played a spiritless match and need to have some sort of wake-up call. Please have a post-match talk with the lads." -> "You tell them you are disappointed and walk away knowing these words will stick with them." (No effects) 12/04/2005 CATANIA - MANTOVA Result: 2-1 League Position: 10th (20 pts) Job Security: 69 * SCOUT REPORT * GK - Y. Arshavin - 69 Signing fee: 2,660 Wage: 120 Contract length: 3 years Action taken: Looks better isn't it? Well, I will sign this player... * TRANSFER UPDATE * <--- Y. Arshavin (GK, 69) Age: 21 From: SCOUTED PLAYER, Russia (pure coincidence, I swear!) Signing fee: 2,660 Wage: 120 Contract: 3 years 12/06/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) MANTOVA - JUVENTUS (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 1-0 (!) Job Security: 75 Fan Support: 68 12/11/2005 MANTOVA - TERNANA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 0-1 League Position: 10th (20 pts) From PR Dept: "One of our players was recently expelled from a charity event due to repeated use of profanity in front of children at the event. The player's refusal to refund his appearance fee has angered his fellow team mates!" -> "Refund the appearance fee to mantain a good public image." Job Security: +1 * SCOUT REPORT * GK - J. Branch - 68 Signing fee: 2,100 Wage: 119 Contract length: 4 years Action taken: Even though we still need to hire a second goalkeeper, I'm sure the scout can found someone even better! 12/13/2005 (COPPA NAZIONALE) JUVENTUS - MANTOVA Result: 7-0 (!!!) Cup standing: Juventus advances to next round Job Security: 67 Fan Support: 65 12/18/2005 TORINO - MANTOVA Result: 2-0 League Position: 16th (20 pts) Job Security: 63 12/25/2005 MANTOVA - RIMINI (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-0 League Position: 13th (23 pts) Team Chemistry: 59 Job Security: 68 Fan Support: 68 *** TRANSFER WINDOW STARTS *** * OFFER MADE * DEF - G. PAGANOTTO - 68 Transfer fee (set/offered): 1,350 / 1,506 Salary per game (set/offered): 99 / 105 Contract length (set/offered): 1 year / 2 years # of bids (set/offered): 1 / 2 Per clean sheet (set/offered): 0% / 0% Status: Rejected (He doesn't think my team is prestigious enough...) 01/01/2006 TRIESTINA - MANTOVA Result: 0-4 League Position: 10th (26 pts) Job Security: 73 Fan Support: 69 "Isaak Asimov, one of your top players was quoted by reporters as saying 'we should have rested our premier players more'. Would you care to comment?" -> "No comment. You people try to get us to turn on each other, but it won't work this time." Team morale: +1 * OFFER MADE * MID - T. SOARES - 62 Transfer fee (set/offered): 3,630 / 4,026 Salary per game (set/offered): 158 / 165 Contract length (set/offered): 4 year / 4 years # of bids (set/offered): 1 / 1 Per clean sheet (set/offered): 0% / 0% Status: Rejected (He doesn't think my team is prestigious enough...) 01/08/2006 MANTOVa - SALERNITANA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 0-2 League Position: 13th (26 pts) Job Security: 69 Fan Support: 66 Team Chemistry: 61 01/15/2006 PIACENZA - MANTOVA Result: 0-1 League Position: Job Security: 74 Fan Support: 62 * INJURY REPORT * DEF - S. SACCHETTI (Hamstring strain) Expected return: 01/28/2006 * SCOUT REPORT * The scout returned from the search... * OFFER RECEIVED * MID - M. BRAMBILLA - 71 (Not listed for transfer) Buyer: TERNANA Market value/offered: 4,680 / 4,680 Action taken: My best player? no way! And look at the fee, this must be a joke! 01/22/2006 MANTOVA - GENOA (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 2-1 League Position: 6th (32 pts) Job Security: 77 Fan Support: 70 From PR Dept: "Isaak Asimov, a popular mobile phone company has contacted us expressing interest in featuring our entire team in their forthcoming print and TV ad campaign. It will take approximately three nights of work (above and beyond training). How should we respond?" -> "Let's only do the print ads." Bank Account: +500 01/25/2006 PERUGIA - MANTOVA Result: 0-0 League Position: 7th (33 pts) Job Security: 78 * INJURY REPORT * S. SACCHETTI is declared fit to play 01/29/2006 MODENA - MANTOVA Result: 1-0 League Position: 9th (33 pts) Job Security: 73 *** TRANSFER WINDOW ENDS *** 02/12/2006 SALERNITANA - MANTOVA Result: 0-1 League Position: 8th (36 pts) Job Security: 78 Fan Support: 71 Assistant: "Some of the players have approached me to ask about getting more playing time on the pitch. I know we can't afford to gie some of our lesser players any time, but... please have a talk with the team." -> "Invite the players into your office, and tell them that each will get a ton of playing time in forthcoming games!" Reserve Morale: +7 02/19/2006 MANTOVA - TRIESTINA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 2-1 League Position: 7th (39 pts) Team Cemistry: 63 Job Security: 81 Fan Support: 74 02/26/2006 RIMINI - MANTOVA Result: 0-0 League Position: 7th (40 pts) Job Security: 82 * STAFF UPGRADE * DEFENCE COACH Level 2 ---> Level 3 (4,000 pts) GOALKEEPER COACH Level 2 ---> Level 3 (4,000 pts) FITNESS COACH Level 3 ---> Level 4 (5,000 pts) 03/05/2006 ATALANTA - MANTOVA Result: 2-0 League Position: 8th (40 pts) Job Security: 74 03/19/2006 TERNANA - MANTOVA Result: 0-3 League Position: 7th (43 pts) Job Security: 83 Fan Support: 75 03/26/2006 MANTOVA - CATANIA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 2-2 League Position: 7th (44 pts) * STAFF UPGRADE * STRIKER COACH Level 3 ---> Level 4 (6,000 pts) MIDFIELDER COACH Level 3 ---> Level 4 (6,000 pts) 04/02/2006 CROTONE - MANTOVA Result: 0-2 League Position: 5th (47 pts) Job Security: 88 Fan Support: 76 04/09/2006 MANTOVA - AVELLINO (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 1-1 League Position: 7th (45 pts) Ownership email: "The club's website needs a major overhaul! The graphics look like they are straight out of the 90s" Bank Account: - 1,000 04/16/2006 MANTOVA - BRESCIA (Ticket price: MEDIUM) Result: 2-0 League Position: 5th (51 pts) Team Chemistry: 65 Job Security: 93 Fan Support: 79 * STAFF UPGRADE * DEFENCE COACH Level 3 ---> Level 4 (6,000 pts) 04/23/2006 BOLOGNA - MANTOVA Result: 5-1 League Position: 5th (51 pts) Job Security: 90 04/30/2006 MANTOVA - AREZZO (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 1-0 League Position: 5th (54 pts) Team Chemistry: 66 Job Security: 95 Fan Support: 82 05/07/2006 BARI - MANTOVA Result: 0-1 League Position: 4th (57 pts) Job Security: 99 Fan Support: 83 * INJURY REPORT * MID - M. BRAMBILLA (Groin strain) Expected return: 05/16/2006 05/14/2006 MANTOVA - VERONA (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 4-2 League Position: 4th (60 pts) Fan Support: 86 * INJURY REPORT * M. BRAMBILLA is declared fit to play. 05/21/2006 MANTOVA - TORINO (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 1-2 League Position: 4th (60 pts) Job Security: 96 Fan Support: 85 *** TRANSFER WINDOW STARTS *** 06/04/2006 MANTOVA - CREMONESE (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 2-0 League Position: 4th (63 pts) Job Security: 99 Fan Support: 88 06/11/2006 CESENA - MANTOVA Result: 0-2 League Position: 4th (66 pts) Fan Support: 89 * STAFF UPGRADE * GOALKEEPER COACH Level 3 ---> Level 4 (6,000 pts) 06/18/2006 MANTOVA - ALBIN (Ticket price: HIGH) Result: 1-0 League Position: 4th (69 pts) Fan Support: 92 06/25/2006 MANTOVA - PIACENZA Result: 0-0 League Position: 4th (70 pts) Team Chemistry: 68 Fan Support: 90 07/02/2006 GENOA - MANTOVA Result: 1-3 League Position: 4th (73 pts) Fan Support: 91 Well, and that way the season ended. Is a shame because I draw with Ternana at 3rd place with 73 pts, but the difference was that my goal difference was +17, and theirs was +19, so I will need to spend another year at Italian Serie B, and probably I'll get promoted... _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ FINAL WORDS [7.0] Well, probably from now on there will be very few updates to this guide, because I'm starting a new FAQ (for those starting to play "Need for Speed: Most wanted" you will see me around), so that will reduce my time again. That doesn't mean that I won't make any kind of update to this guide, because I'm interested on finishing the career example before I can say that this is a finished work. Well, ok, thanks for reading 'til the end of the guide! _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ __/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\__/\______\ /\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/\_\/______/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/ \/_/