Championship Manager Season 01/02 (PC) > Reviews (3)

Fan of football?

Would you like to step into the shoes of Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Martin O'neill? Ever played a game that you end up dreaming of?

A game that make times fly by?

A game that makes you lose years in your lifetime?

Maybe not?

Im guessing you havent come across the fantastic championship manager then? This game was developed by the Collyer twins, Everton fans - its sad to hear. They like all football manager sims were fed up with unrealistic, predictable football sims. They decided to embark on an adventure, an adventure that is Championship Manager.

The game basically allows you to take charge of the affairs and running of your favourite team, might be Man Utd , may be Scarborough.

There are numerous leagues to choose from (16 in all), ranging from England to Brazil. Each club starts with a playing staff, coaching staff and a transfer budget ranging from 0 to millions. Its your job to please the fans, the players and the chairman, building a team capable of competing with the best there is.

The game follows the traditional season of the club you are managing and allows you to compete in the league and the cups there are. You can prepare training programmes, tailored to your preferences. You change tactics, obviously trying to use a formation which would bring out the best qualities of your playing staff. You can even have your scouts hunting out information on your next opponent or scouring the leagues of the world to find the next Ronaldo.

At the beginning of each season you are given expectations from your board which you are expected to meet - if you want to keep your job, and a transfer budget to improve the playing staff. There is also the facility to arrange friendly matches in order to get your players fit and ready for the competitive season ahead.

When playing a match the screen gives you constant commentatory on the front screen, telling you what is happening etc. You can stop the game and make the usual subs, basically following the usual game. So much involved in this game though and it is highly addictive.

There have of course been 2 more recent releases since but i feel this is the most user friendly and now i kno the game inside out, i kno the best players to sign for my teams. I

f you are into manager sims and havent tried this version of Champ Man, then give it a go, you can get updates to the current teams staff at the DUGOUT website.

Give it a go guys!