[retired_kcarrier786]

I apologize in advance, this post does not contain any tips, ideas or criticism... In this festive season, I just wanted to share my little tale, and let the world know how much I love this game (I'm not paid by SI, but guys if you read this, feel free to make contributions)...and most of all how useful this forum has been

Once upon a time...
Even though I have been playing FM (or CM before) for many years, I have never been very good at it. I was kind of lazy, focusing mostly on signing new players and hoping for the best. I got some limited success from time to time (but only when I used ready-made tactics downloaded from forums and websites), but nothing great. Everytime, I try to use my own tactics, no matter how good the team, I would be trashed over and over, until I get sacked.

So this year, after I got FM08 (and installed the patch), I decided to adopt a more hands-on approach: look closely at training, player stats, finance etc... and most of all build my very own tactic. It was a complete disaster: not only I couldn't win any games, I couldn't score any goals! I would lose by 2/3 goals margin against teams two divisions below. Depressing!

I almost gave-up...then I thought maybe I don't understand exactly what's the impact of each little tweak here and there (English is not my first language). So I came to this forum and I realise that some FM experts spend a lot of time writing long explanatory posts about every aspects of the game, explaining each terms, detailing the impact of every action you take ect... god bless you guys!!

It took me a while to read all these posts (and even longer to understand them). It was tedious sometimes as I wanted to play rather than to read the posts. But then I realise, how deep and realistic this game really is. The number of things you have to take care of to be somewhat successful is amazing... probably quite close to reality.

So, with this new acquired knowledge, I started over (again) and took control of PSG (French 1st division), built my own tactic, fired a few players etc...well it was not much better: three losses and one draw in the first four league games. But there was a difference, I was starting to understand and see the impact of my little tweaking. I made some additional changes here and there and then the miracle happened: today I'm 4th in the league after 20 games and I can't stop winning (if you know a bit French football, you'll realise that with PSG, it is kind of a miracle).

Seeing my players follow instructions and react immediately on the pitch is a wonderful feeling. I'm trying to remain calm, as it may not last but I'm enjoyed every bit of it and having the best time ever since I started to play FM.

So I should probably end here and get back to the game... I just want to thank again all the guys who take the time to post the explanatory notes, extremely helpful...thank you SI for definitely improving the game over the last few year (Check your old CM versions, you'll see the difference.)

I read that SI is getting tired of this forum. Well personally it has helped me tremendously...so I hope the FM community keeps it alive!

Happy New Year 2008

[Emm]

And English isn't your first language.

Very impressive on many counts :thup:.