Reviews// Championship Manager 2010

I thought that, with a small squad and a very limited budget, the men in suits who run the club would maybe have lower expectations than the boards at say, Eintracht Frankfurt or Viking Stavanger. But no. Upon losing my first away fixture - a difficult trip to JIPPO, Finnish football fact fans - KooTeePee's directors virtually rounded on me and intimated that things had to improve, despite the unavailability of injured first choice strikers Shesterkov and Raanti, and attacking midfielder Ruuskanen, whom the stats screen informs me is tired and needs to rest - after several weekends of faint praise for convincing home wins and tough away points gained. Just like having a real job!

And therein lies the appeal of Championship Manager 2010: it's a full time pursuit. Games writers with greyer hair and worse eyesight than yours truly will tell you in no uncertain terms that football management games can take over your life if you let them. You can say goodbye to 'spare time' and there's no such thing as 'the early hours' anymore if you let a game like this get to you, and being a football fan (why else would you play something like this?) you probably will.

Anyway, despite the ominous noises coming from the KooTeePee boardroom (more likely in reality a prefab hut just beyond the tree-line - we are in Finland remember?) at the time of writing this review, your author has resisted the temptation to resign (it's an in-game option) and has guided his decimated first team squad to third in the league.

Thank heavens for the option to promote players from the reserves and youth teams. Of course, if your club's budget will allow for it, you can always dip your toe in the transfer market, and this is where your scouting network really earns its corn. As I said earlier, you can't do everything yourself, and scouting assistance is a must. Depending on how much you can splash out on looking for that next gem of a defensive midfielder, the network can look as far across the globe as you can imagine. In KooTeePee's case, we're looking over the border into Sweden: such are the financial constraints of being at a small club.

But, as I suggested before, what is the point of going large from the start of the CM2010 experience? Choose to take charge of the Tesco of football - Manchester United - and you might feel on top of the world for a short while, but the only way is down, innit? If you want to be recognised as doing a good job in the north-west which, who knows, may lead to bigger offers in the same region, go to Bury or Accrington Stanley and learn your trade there. This is not mere fantasy football, this is a management simulation.

Conclusion:
Pros: Too many to mention, and there's probably more than just eight hours of play has yielded so far. CM2010 doesn't just have a little bit of everything - it has a LOT of everything! The number of clubs and players featured rivals SEGA's Football Manager series, perhaps for the first time; the tactics and team talk screens are thankfully intuitive (there was no manual with this review copy); the match progress is mildly diverting (I realise this sounds like faint praise, but it's better to see a representation of 'on the pitch' action than to watch tickertape text); and the inclusion of the ProZone feature, where you can go back and watch your performance in full, helps you spot any weaknesses in your team's make up.

Cons: Not much to report here. The day-to-day management screens progress slowly, but when you take into consideration just how much data the game processes to provide that sense of immersion in the wonderful world of football, you'll forgive it its sluggishness. Go put the kettle on.

SPOnG Score: 85%