Ever since I was a young meerkat, I’ve taken to play football management sims. Down the years these have brought entertainment, stress, heartache and joy. I go through periods where I step away from them, because they can prove greatly aggravating, but I eventually end up returning to the fray, so to speak. I certainly have issues with some of the mechanics of these games, which have a tendancy to draw me out of my immersion, but I find the pull hard to resist for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also fair to say that some sims are easier to master than others. The original Ultimate Soccer Manager<\/em> (which featured the earliest years of the Premier League) was so easy that I won 10 consecutive league titles, and paired those with nine consecutive Champions League titles. It was in many respects too<\/strong> easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimate Soccer Manager 98\/99 edition<\/em> was a more detailed game, and somewhat more tricky, which meant success was more satisfying. I have some fond memories of guiding my Liverpool team to eight league titles across a spell of 12 or 13 seasons, including a run of five consecutive titles, with three Champions League titles woven into that run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flash forward a few years, and I would get into the Football Manager<\/em> franchise, which has since become the premier (heh) franchise for this sort of sim. A lot of developers working on it moved over from the popular Championship Manager<\/em> series, and the franchise has seen regular releases for two decades. I enjoyed some success at FM07<\/em>, albeit with added players, as I aimed to recreate the team that had proven so good on USM 98\/99<\/em>. I then hit a few frustrating roadblocks, until FM12<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t know what it was about FM12<\/em>, but here, I found something of a sweet spot. With the right tactics (which I freely confess to having downloaded rather than created), and by signing and developing the right players, I was able to enjoy a lengthy and successful managerial career, the likes of which I have not come close to repeating, despite various efforts. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I can reshare this story, and perhaps add a few additional touches along the way. Here is how Ben Berwick became a legend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part One: Prepping, and Winning<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Two: Inconsistency<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Three: Bowing Out and Moving On<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Four: Answering the Call<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Five: The Italian Job<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Six: Going Down, Going Up Up Up<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Part Seven: Domination<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n