Football Manager 2007

Ever wise to the ways of football, Football Manager 2007 made a big deal of using the media to send messages to players around the world. You don't like to talk about other teams' players... but that one is really talented and would fit in well here.

Of course, you could also use this facility to turn inward and praise or excoriate members of your own dressing room. Sometimes it lit a rocket, sometimes it expedited a change. FM07 went big on plenty of other aspects of player interaction, too, adding pre-match team talks and more in-depth youth squad management.

Scouting also received a revamp, allowing managers to inspect a scout's credentials before assigning them, while the addition of feeder clubs let managers establish mutually beneficial relationships with other teams, loaning players to blood them in competitive football, gaining first option on promising recruits, and playing in pre-arranged friendlies.

The console edition of FM07 also received a new user interface that brought on board feedback from Xbox 360 players to deliver a more refined, joypad-friendly experience.

Significant Innovations

Feeder Clubs - Hoover up young talent and then farm it out to your official feeder friends overseas before bringing the players back once they start to peak
Scouting Revamp - FM07 improved scouting in several ways, allowing you to take a more refined approach to investigating global talent than ever before
Player Interaction - For the first time, you could speak about players in the media, unsettling rivals and boosting or shattering your stars' fragile egos
Xbox 360 Tweaks - The successful console version returned with a new interface that tapped into feedback from the game's new generation of fans

WHAT THEY SAID

Eurogamer

9/10

"Far from being a lazy update to an already feature-rammed game, Football Manager 2007 is a revelation. It's no longer simply about displaying your strategic acumen and ability to wheel and deal in the transfer market, but a fascinating journey into the man-management that plays just as crucial a part in the role of the modern coach."

PC Gamer

88%

[December 2006, Page 104]

"FM 2007 remains a blinding mass of statistics at first sight, but they yield an intoxicating world of heartbreaking injuries, transfer coups, heroic defeats and the pursuit of glory. In short, it's football. No other game comes close."

Trusted Reviews

4/5

"If the previous games in the series appealed to you then Football Manager 07 will also, swallowing up hours of your time without you even realising it. If you’ve never encountered the series (what rock have you been under?) and you’re a football fan then you have to give it a try, provided you can afford to abandon your life for the ton of hours required to be a successful football manager. Come on Barnet!"

After winning over the fans during a strong first season in the dugout, Football Manager Handheld 2007 returned with a raft of new features to improve the portable football management simulation experience.

The new PSP instalment was a definite advance on its direct predecessor, adding new leagues and competitions, the ability to send out multiple scouts, and a new player search template, all of which made wheeling and dealing on the go that much simpler.

FM Handheld 2007 also introduced international management for the first time on PSP. Strong results domestically sometimes led to a national team job offer, and if you excelled in that role, then you could unlock International Management mode, allowing you to begin new games as a national coach thereafter.

One-on-one wireless multiplayer was another new addition, taking advantage of the PSP's built-in Wi-Fi, while a database editor allowed players to update the game with marquee transfers. Coupled with the text-based commentary, the whole thing had a delightful retro tinkerer feel that continued to keep armchair (and indeed bus-seat, train-seat, plane-seat) managers pleasantly sated.

Significant Innovations

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