I am finally going to buy FM this weekend.

I think I will start with Manchester City, but not be silly with money. I never like wasting money, but I do like the look of starting with some good players, and I will turn them into a bigger footballing power than Barcelona and Real. I'll try and buy Neymar at some point, and get rid of tevez.

Anyone got any hints or tips, or any suggestions of any other teams I could start with etc

Go for a decent, ambitious lower division side (Crawley would be a good shout), and then go with it and see how it goes.....Will be more fun and feel more of an acheivement when you get them into the Premier League.

I'm still doing FM11....Went with Chesterfield in League 2, now in 7th season and we are a solid mid table Premier side, with some good signings.

Best advice if you decide to go this way is look out for quality free transfers from the bigger clubs on the 1st July of each year.....You can get some really good (unrealistic!!) signings this way and they go a long way to having success.

Fleetwood. Your stadium holds you back quite quickly but you can still get to Championship level pretty easily. Good starting players, decent amount of money for the lower leagues etc etc.

Currently mid table prem with a new 18k stadium.

Think I might go with Boca Juniors or try and get River plate back up etc.

I presume a few of the Brazilian teams have quite alot of money to play with etc.

I heard a russian team has limitless amount of money practically.

I'll keep you updated who I decide to go with in the end.

A few of my players handed in transfer requests as they weren't getting in the side. I told them I would try and get them a move away but in January nobody wanted them. Not exactly my fault. They of course kicked up a stink which effected the morale of everyone else. Add to that a mini injury crisis and a few last minute defeats and voila - about as much morale as a Chinese sweat shop. 1 win in 15 and despite being in 14th place it was 'on yer bike'

They ended up being relegated and I've just completed the double over them as I sit top of the Championship with Swansea.

So, now folk have had time to digest it...

I've got FM11 updated to the end of the transfer window in August 2011. Is it worth moving to FM12 just to experience the new features etc, or am I better off keeping my money in my pocket and sticking with FM11?

i won the league with liverpool by 3 points results include getting beat by city 4-1 away and lost 4-0 away to spurs i tend to loan martin kelly jay spearing young jack flanagan out who are good barca seem to wanna buy jack robinson for some reason but wont sell tempted to get rid of carroll as he isnt scoring but gonna stick with him for now incase suarez gets injured and also won the olympics u23 games which was good

Get fm 2012. Move with the times Gilder.

We can play online. Can you still do that?
I will be Boca, you can be River Plate. We will send each other threats throughout the whole game, and make it as 'real as possible'. I will also throw anything I can get my hands on, and the riot police will be outside my house viewing the computer at all times just making sure the game passes off peacefully.

Anybody still playing?

Occasionally......I'm in my eighth season with Chesterfield, third season in the Premier League, semis of the FA Cup, semis of the Europa League, about to play Inter!!

Biggest problem is getting the real top players to join me.....Most won't even discuss a contract, never mind turn it down!!.....Any advice?

FM2010 and FM2011 were far easier than FM2012. In 2011, I managed to win the Premier League, League Cup, Carling Cup and Champions League in 2019/20, and I had the best squad in the world by far. Yet in 2012 I have really struggled to get into a game. I've been sacked a couple of times (my defenders can't seem to defend, which means that I ship far too many goals) and atm I am currently playing as Shorpe in League One. The chances of being sacked are once again pretty high due to the lack of available goalkeeper or strikers. I have a good midfield, and a solid enough defence, but my keeper is awful and my strikers can't score. After being so addicted to FM10 and FM11, I am very disappointed with 12.

Have you got that important Champions league spot yet? IMO, It's like the holy grail of getting top players to join you. Failing that, get some really good scouts and start developing your own. Get some newgens as soon as there countries intake is, should get a few potential wonderkids that also have the potential to become world class players. Hang in there.

On and off.

I won the Championship with Swansea with over 100 points and over 100 goals, and am currently 4th in the PL having won all but 1 of my opening 6 games which was a 3-2 loss away at Champions Man City having led twice.

Play the iPhone version a lot. In 2023 with Villa at the minute. Started with Liverpool and made a greeat eam,., but went through a rough patch and got sacked.
Won the Europa League in my first year with Villa and now currently top in the prem after 4 games. Winning 3 and drawing 1.

How big is the database on the iphone#?

Currently Huddersfield, 6th in Championship after 1st season promotion.

Playing a lot more now that I've got my new computer, it's definitely more addictive when the game is running faster.

In 2019 with Everton, just retained the Premier League so 2 in a row. I've got through to the Champions League Final (due to play At. Madrid) and FA Cup Final (due to play Man Utd) got to get revenge against United for knocking us out of the League Cup in the Semi Final.

Still got a lot of debt but while the going is good that is being reduced. Due to that debt I've needed to rely on signing promising youngsters and developing them, which has worked well. Of course I've had some that haven't lived up to their potential.

Unfortunately lost in the CL Final and FA Cup, oh well always next season and I'm sure the team will be better for the experience. Also turned down Chelsea who wanted me.

Stadium currently being expanded to 50,000.

Big enough, have pretty much all the leagues that the PC version does, it's just not got all the players from the foreign leagues.
Has all the Premier League players, all Championship and Leagues 1+2 and Conference leagues too.

Cool, shame you lost. Ive been reading a blog recently called footballmanager story and there is a guy on there that talks about something called a youth to gold system, it basically involves signing promising youngsters under the age of 21 preferably and grooming them into wonderkids and potential world class players. These should be ready to step up as 1st choice players are being sold, right in the middle of their prime, to guarentee maximum value from them. It's worked for him, he's got 120mil in the bank and he's just won the Champions League final with Scarbrough Town. Good reading, and I'm hoping to implement something similar with Huddersfield Town shortly. Need to get to Premier League and consolidate first though.

Currently in the 2013/2014 season with Basingstoke Town and have got them into League Two. Helps that Pablo Counago is willing to sign in Conference South and then bang in 25 goals a season.

Just lost out on b2b promotions, lost to Leeds on final day and Boro overtook me by 1 point. Beat them previous week too.

Love playing with the latest patches. Blackpool was easymode anyway, as they give you 15mil just after September so you can splash the cash on loans + Jan window, but the updates for the players means you can sign no-one and still go up easily.

Wilfried Zaha is a beast as well.

Gone a bit old school whilst i decide whether or not to buy FM12, I am playing FM 2009.

Thing is, i get impatient easily, so i create a new user as manager of Man City, buy all of my teams transfer listed players that dont get bids for lots of money, and then its easy! I cant help it!

Going to buy FM12 and start from the bottom and not cheat though

Lol. Thats funny. I hated FM09

Yeah i do at the moment, still really addictive though. Its just that I know all the decent players at the start:

Lewandowski, Mascio, Marquinos, Sakho etc etc

Do need a challenge, found the new one for £12.99 online so think i might just get it!