Championship Manager 2 hints and tips

Or my life as a football manager, by Duncan Evans

THE first piece of advice I can give you is this - if you don't have a lot of free time, don't bother starting playing this game. It's so hideously addictive you will find that you miss your favourite TV programs, ignore loved ones, and dispense with such unecessary distractions as sleep. You could sit down one evening to play,  only to be distracted several weeks later as the police breaking your door down because you forget to go to work, your cat is now a pathetic skeletal figure lurching around the kitchen and you smell worse than an old folks home. Still want to play? Yes? Then welcome to the truly wonderful world of football management.

Which Division?
While this may sound like an extremely obvious question the choice of team and the division they play in have a large effect on the general gameplay. What may be a pressing concern to a Division 3 side simply does not come into the game for a Premier League side. This is what you've got to think about.

* <B>Premier League<D> - Avoiding being fired. Most large clubs will not accept a bottom third of the table position. I stayed out of the relegation zone and was still in the FA Cup 5th round when the board held an emergency meeting two thirds of the way through my first season and decided to kick me out. Now that's impatient.
 Europe. Besides winning a cup or the title you can also get into Europe by finishing between 2nd and 5th. This puts you into the UEFA Cup where the prize money to get through each round is £250k. But in European competitions there's a limit of two foreign players and three assimilated foreigners (generally this means the Scots, Welsh, Northern and Southern Irish). Ah but your entire back four are from Germany and your strikers are Colombian! Oh dear. A big squad is a must for the Premier League side with European aspirations.
 Cash. Yes you've got plenty of it. A bucket load in fact, and it doesn't seem to matter how fast you spend it there's always more, because with a decent size ground and full attendences your club will make money even if you don't do anything. And then at the end of the season there's often willing investors ready to put another £4.5million into the coffers. No worries about not being able to afford players salaries, you can bid for and buy the best. Or at least one of them. Expect to have around £12mil to spend. Unless you're managing Wimbledon of course, or one of the other smaller Premier League clubs.
 However, I really would advise against spending £10mil on one striker for two reasons. If he get's a knock you have nothing left to buy a backup, and secondly, their value is rated on their ongoing performance. Last years £10mil man could become this years £3mil bargain. So you have to be clever in the transfer market, not just wave the checkbook whereever you want.

* <B>Division 1<D> - The main priority is to get into the Premier League. Relegation is a sackable offence. There's the advantage that you start in the second round of the Coca Cola League Cup and the third round of the Littlewoods FA Cup, but you miss out on the Auto Glass Windshields Trophy and you can forget about Europe. It's also advisable to buy plenty of young good quality players now, because Premier League players cost more to buy and players you sign will expect to be paid more.

*<B>Division 2<D> - This is a good division to start in because you have some cash to spend on good players and your ground can be big enough so that if you fill it you can almost cover your costs. You can also afford the basic wages that most lower league players will ask for. You won't be able to afford some experienced players, but the free transfer market should provide rich pickings. You also get to play from the first rounds in both cup competitions, and as an added bonus there's the Auto Glass Trophy to play in, which can be a nice little earner.

*<B>Division 3<D> - This is tough. You don't have much money to start with, but then again you don't actually need much because the players you'll be able to afford to pay wages to will all cost under £25k. There's the same competitions as the Division 2 teams and it's certainly possible to have a good run in the Auto Glass competition.
 However, you have two big problems. The first is that unless you are managing a big club that just happens to be in the 3rd Division you will have a small ground. Even if you fill the ground you still won't generate enough money to cover your bills. As you get promoted up the divisions the problem gets worse because your wages bill will double and even triple. If you manage to take your team as far as Division 1 then you will have to find around £300k a year to cover your costs. That means selling players.
 This then is the main financial challenge of the lower league club. To find promising young players, let them play and improve for a couple of seasons and then flog them to a bigger club for £200k-£700k. What's galling is that if you were a Premier League side selling the same player you'd probably get £5million for him.
 The second major problem is being able to afford the wages for half decent players. You may have spotted a great free transfer signing, but if he wants £3k a week then carry on dreaming. The bottom of the barrel is that you might only be able to afford £500 a week for your players, but an average player will want a minimum of £700 and some of the better Division 3 players will want £800-£900. Unless a player is very unhappy with his club he won't sign for £300 less than he's getting now. The players wanting a minimum of £700 may agree to sign for £500, but it can be frustrating, and will prevent you building the kind of squad you want.
 However, there is a solution. Examine the wages of all your players by going to the Squad and then the top left viewing icon and select wages. Here you can see who is costing a lot of money and who isn't. Now, do you really need some of those people who you are paying £2000 to? No, you can pick up just as good a player for a couple of grand and they only want £700, so sell your existing player. Look to see who is never going to get in the squad anyway, and if they are only worth one or two thousand give them a free transfer - but watch out in case they have years left on their contract because you will have to pay compensation.
 By selling highly paid players, and by putting more money into the bank you will be able to increase the amount of money you can pay in wages, and then you're off and running.

THE SQUAD
This is the heart of the game and the challenge is to not only put together the best squad you can, but also one where the players work together well. This is particularly relevant to the strikers. It's no good having superb ball control and passing strikers if you're midfield can't get up to support them and you are playing a long ball from the back. If both (or however many you have up) of your front men have similar skills then they will not make chances for each other.
 Of course if you start in the lower leagues then simply getting players who do the basics well is challenge. Then the fancy stuff can wait. For lower league footy you want big blokes you can knock the ball up to. Best of all is to put one hulking centre forward who can play the ball around and create chances, and a speedy little bloke who can stick it in the back of the net.
 There are two ways to look at how you're going to create your squad. Either go for the best players you can find and adopt the formation and style that suits them best, or acknowledge the limitations of the players you'll be able to get and pick ones for a type of formation.
 Each player has 20 attributes, and in buying players you often only specify the basic requirements for that position, because otherwise you'll only get £5mil rated players. This is fair enough when you are happy for what you can get, but when your budget improves you should look for some of the <I>secondary<D> stats that make for a great player. Aggression for example is useful for all types of player in winning the ball, while Determination ensures that he keeps hold of it as the tackles come flying in. Creativity and Flair are very handy for midfield and forward players in making opportunities, but are a luxury for your defenders.
 While I wouldn't let a poor Stamina rating put me off buying a player, you should take note and be prepared to bring on a substitutate later on in a game as a flagging player can let you down.
 Your two wide midfielders - if playing 4-4-2, can play holding roles, or you can let them loose up the wings. If you use them in this role they should be fast and good passers, as well as creative. If you can also get a player that can shoot as well he can contribute as many as one goal every third game, which is a huge bonus.
 The two players who invariably see more of the ball than anyone else are your two central defenders. It's important to watch their performance average during the season because if it is under 8.2 a game then you really should look for new players. Speed isn't particularly important for these two, the prime attributes are Tackling and Heading, but you should also try to get players that have high Marking and Aggression ratings.
 For the two blokes at left and right back Speed and Tackling, as well as Marking and Aggression are the main attributes. When you have the luxury, also look for someone who can shoot. These players often get up from the back and can knock in 15 goals between them..

Hidden Attributes
Yes indeedy, your players have skills you don't know about, just to add a little mystery and to give a player a character all of his own. There are five hidden attributes which largely deal with the player's personality and can affect performance to varying degrees.

Big Occasion - Whether he rises to the occasion in big games, play-offs, top of the table clashes, cup finals, etc. If your star player constantly let's you down this may be why. Also, keep an eye for a second string player who always plays a blinder in the cup and think about playing him in such situations.
Character - Whether the player reacts badly to on or off field events. On the field this could be whether he reacts to provocation, off the field whether he reacts to being dropped, transfer listed etc.
Consistency - Whether he normally performs to his ability and rarely has an off day. Watch your goalkeeper in particular. If he isn't consistent and has more than the odd off game look for a replacement.
Dirtiness: The amount of bad fouls, bookings and sending off a player is likely to commit/get. I had a Portugese midfielder who was an absolute beast, but he was worth playing for the skill and ball winning ability he had. He also used to send the other team's star players to the hospital with wonderful regularity.
Ability and Potential Ability : This is an overall rating of how good the player is now and how good the player could become. You will occassionally see a 17 year old player getting a lot better until he reaches about 20, and for this reason it's worth having a couple of these youngsters even if only as backups, because they may develop into very good players. Don't bother with poor players though because a donkey will always be a donkey. At the other end of the scale you can see old players deteriorate as the end of their career beckons. This is particularly applicable to their Speed, which may be 12 one season, and 4 the next when basically they keep going beyond the point when they should hang their boots up.

TACTICS
Matchday tactics can profoundly affect the outcome of a game, and the bad news is that the opposition isn't averse to changing two or three times a game. Unless they use a substitution when they do it you will not be told that they have changed. They only clue you'll get is if you suddenly find your goal under constant barrage. Quickly press the mouse button to take you to the players and tactics screens and see if anything has changed when this does happen.
 Intially any variety of  the 5-3-2 formation is a good one to play in the lower leagues. Play Direct football unless you really have got poor players in which case Long ball football is the only answer. The difference is that Long ball calls for the ball to be heaved into attacking areas and let the players chase and compete for it. The Direct tactic call for the ball to be played - sometimes from the back - to a specific forward player. Until you have a superb squad you are wasting your time trying to play Passing football.
 The basic 5-3-2 allows a good deal of flexibility in dropping players back or forwards from the midfield, and you can easily switch to a 5-2-3 for more attacking prowess. In the top half of Division 1 and then the Premier League you may find the 5-3-2 is no longer effective. Certainly in the Premier the 4-4-2 is the standard, but it is susceptible to being overrun by certain types of alternative formations when played against you.
 There are three basic variations to use when playing 4-4-2. The first is the standard formation itself which has your two wingers belting up the field and your central midfielders making modest runs upfield. Here's a hint. To change where the player run click over the player with the right mouse button and hold it down. Now move the pointer to where you want him to run to and let go. A new dotted line will now appear. To cancel any runs simply click once on the player with the mouse button.
 Back to the 4-4-2 then. The first variety is an aggressive forward pushing 4-4-2. If you single right click on the central midfielders they will hold position. now if they are very good tacklers and ball winner you can take control with this formation. However, if the opposition plays Direct football or goes to a 4-3-3 or a 5-3-2 Attacking you may find them being by-passed. In which case you will need to go to the aggressive formation or drag the players back to just in front of the central defenders and give them a run forwards movement to the midfield. This is the defensive 4-4-2 and can not only shut down the opposition, it will also fend off a 4-4-2 Attacking or All Out Attack formation. It's a very good formation to play away from home, even more so in cup competitions. If the opposition comes out and plays 4-3-3 or ultra defensive you should shift to the 4-4-2 aggressive formation or even a 4-3-3 yourself. When playing at home the onus is on you to go forwards.
 The key is to find out what formation the other team is going to play in the first place, counter it with your own formation so that the teams compete on an even footing, if you have the better team, or may give you a defence if your team is inferior. Then watch the game carefully (but press Space to get the game to run at fast speed otherwise it takes forever to complete a season. Press Space to slow it down again) and if you aren't getting anywhere change things around. And watch the stamina ratings of your players. There's nothing worse than conceding a late goal because your back four are all knackered.

GENERAL HINTS
 Money in the bank - It's important to know how much cash you have in the bank, particularly if you are running out and need to sell a player. Select Squad from the main menu, the your team. Now click on General Info in the top left and a screen showing all your records will come up. On the bottom right is a big bar marked Financial Information. Click on that and you will see how you are doing this month as well as over this year and the last year in total. Check out your current balance. If it's under £1million then most smaller clubs wil moan about it. If it's under £3million and you are a Premier League side the board will complain. If, as a lower league side, you are down to your last £300k it really is time to sell someone.
 Daily calendar advance - Clicking on Done using the right mouse button when in the main menu will advance the calendar on a daily basis. This will be helpful when you want to avoid missing transfer deadlines or buy new players.
 Home & Away table - Click on the Overall Record at the top of the league table with the right mouse button to see the Home Record. Click again to see the Away Record, and one more to take you back to the Overall Record.
 Team Progress Graph - Click on the position number of a team in a league table to see that team's progress in the form of a graph. It works for all teams not just yours.
 Match Stat - Click on the score of of any completed game in a season to see all the stats for that game. Yes really, there is that much match data in this game.
 Manager History -  Go to Managers Info from the main screen. Select Reputations. Click on your own name to access your career screen. Alternatively, you can click on your name any time you see it and that will also take you there.