The Most Comprehensive Football Manager 2014 Wishlist Online

The Most Comprehensive Football Manager 2014 Wishlist Online 5.00/5 (100.00%) 10 votes

There’s been a lot of talk around the web about different possible features and wish-lists for the coming release of Football Manager 2014 but I don’t know about you, I can’t be fuddled to trawl Google looking for them all just to see the same thing repeated on loads of sites. So I’ve done something about it.

I’ve done all the hard-word for you and created this ultimate guide to all the good ideas floating around the internet at the moment, there’s a few of my own but loads of others from all over the FM ‘asphere.

If you’re an FM virgin a lot of this might go over your head, if it does you should get FM 2013, it’s going ridiculously cheap at the moment, been as low as 6 quid. Thats about a penny for every hour of enjoyment you can get out of it before the next game is released.

You won’t be finding broad statements in this article either so don’t expect the obvious, ‘improve AI’ which for me is obvious, I have played 22 games with my recent Chelsea game and given away 22 penalties! Bitch please, that much is a-given.

Enough of the small-talk, let’s get started. I’ve put these in order of ‘genius’, a self-appointed model for how successful and creative I think each of these ideas would be if implemented.

Ditch player stats, completelyditch fm 2014 player stats

First up is one of my own (you never would have guessed it), I wrote an article about it recently titled ‘The Most Wacky Football Manager 14 Feature Idea Ever’, that Idea is to completely scrap player stats, you know those 1-20 numbers that start the game in shades of blue, ditch ‘em.

I realise this is slightly left-field but hear me out.

Every year the game itself is targeting and evolving in the same direction, that direction is of course reality, to try to realise the daily routines of a real-world manager into the game. Tell me this, do real managers have a spreadsheet with player’s ability marked in number from 1-20? Do real-world managers choose transfer targets based on them having a ’20′ for finishing?

No, they use form, ability, consistency and ability to ‘gel’ in there team based on personal and mental traits. After a player has signed or you have been managing a team for a few weeks, does anyone really use the players actual stats for anything anyway? Other than to see if a youngster is improving? They’re not needed in my book.

Give us that SI and you will create the best-selling and most historic management game ever.

Scouts that actually work please

Have you ever earned up to £10,000 a week and turned up to work, pretended to do your job, made a few crappy recommendations that are never up to scratch and kept your job for years? Me neither, but welcome to the world of FM Scouts.

Football-Manager-2014-Scouts_thumb

I am yet to find a scout that I can trust, as I mentioned here, but this article is about being constructive so lets to just that.

Scouts have to be improved in Football Manager 2014, they need to be able to do their job effectively and be trustworthy.

Surely this isn’t a big thing to ask for, don’t scouts just tell us what is on the player in questions’ file on the database? How can they get it so wrong?

I’ve had one scout tell me Will Hughes has the potential to be 2.5 stars and the next that he has the potential to be 5, thats the difference between him being a no-go and an English hero. Sort it out SI.

I don’t want to bloody play 4-2-3-1 every-game

4-2-3-1 football manager formation

For me, my love of any given FM save is all based on the formation and all too often I end up with a tight or wide 4-2-3-1 because I love midfielders but why am I constrained? I don’t want to play that but its the closest I can get to the formation I want to play.

I, like many football fans on this planet love the way Barca play and want to replicate that with my own ‘twist’ but I can’t.

How many people out there have owned Eden Hazard, Wayne Rooney or Mario Gotze, the players that you really want to put just behind the striker, not in midfield, but in a ‘Free Role’ to create. Trequarista does not cut the mustard.

Like many of my FM chums I have also grown increasingly frustrated about the absolute necessity to play 4 at the back, if you don’t you will get relegated, fact.

Customisable formations are the way forward, allow the user to ‘drag and drop’ players to exactly the spot where they want them on the pitch, problem solved and many FM addicts now have a new-found love with unlimited options.

I want that one!

I’ve had a few differing opinions on this idea and read several others mention it but in my opinion the ability to re-invest in the game would be awesome.

portsmouth-saleWhether that is buying a small club, becoming a shareholder in larger one or bank-rolling a teams signings, I want a reason to make as much money as possible during my career.

For me my wage in the game is meaningless, I negotiate the smallest contract possible with my club because it comes out of my own budgets. “You what? You mean the more I earn the less I can afford to pay Messi?” Yup.

The other aspect to this is longevity, in my opinion the game loses its magic as soon as you have more ‘regens’ in your team than real players, that’s the point when I usually start afresh. Adding the ability to invest in a club of your choice would give you extra motivation to carry on, drop down the leagues and get the might Cobblers to the prem!

“Numpties say what?”

Team talks, team meetings and post-match convo’s with your players are boring, monotonous and at best, crude. Though I do see the point, every player on this planet has 2-3 talks they say, every game, start, middle and end. For me it’s just another click that I have to do in order to get to the game.

The pre-game and in-game talks don’t work, its doesn’t matter if you’re 3-0 up to Local Crappy Club FC and say something that makes all your players ‘happy and motivated’ they still play like numpties in the second half and are at risk of conceding 4.

It doesn’t matter what you say when you’re 5-0 up at halftime, your team will 99% of the time either not score or only get 1 more in the second half.

The ONLY way to get a full-positive reaction out of your team during a team meeting is to say one thing, ask the room, then leave. As soon as you say you agree or that you was expecting a different reaction, reds, negatives and your confusion is imminent.

It’s all too confusing, all too monotonous and all too ‘samey’. Team talks should be like player interaction but with the ability to understand the players’ or teams’ mood, motivation and willingness to agree.

You should also have the chance to talk back if the reaction is bad, I can’t imagine Arsene Wenger being like “Zou Guyz Vere Terryble” and watching his teams focus, motivation and happiness fall through the floor, then to just send ‘em back out. He would follow a slaughtering with a motivational plea.

football manager 14 going nowhere team talks

What is training for?

Do you know why your assistant is telling you that Aaron Ramsey should be put on an individual training program to increase his speed rather than his passing? Do you know the benefit of it after 6 months? Do you know what difference telling Santi Cazorla to tutor Jack Wilshere did? Nope, me neither.

I want to know the difference my training is having, I want to know why I should pay £450,000 to get an awesome coach that is 4.5 stars rather than the dude i already have earning pittance on 4 stars.

This is probably too much depth for some but for me the story needs to be told.

When a recommendation is made that ‘xyz’ should be tutoring ‘abc’ I want to know what benefit it will have, when its done I want to know if little ‘abc’ has improved his dribbling and has become a more consistent player or if ‘xyz’ thinks he hasn’t got the potential to play for the club long-term.

Though this runs deeper than that I don’t want to be too complicated, the easiest way to sum this up is depth-of-story. There is huge amounts of ‘fluff’ with training and match-prep but no real targets to be had or reasoning behind certain choices other than a little bar that gets better the more friendlies you play.

Oh and while I’m on the subject, why the fudge does that little bar go down to like 25% just because my players have had a month off? Do they not recognise it’s the same tema as last year? An article for another day.

Cross the i’s and dot the t’s

I have to give credit to mypassionforfootballmanager.com for this one, it’s a great idea and one that needs ‘aring’ as well as deserving a prime spot on this wish-list.

manager contracts

Manager contracts, let’s have some more depth to them, let’s make them more real, lets give us the power like the real guys have.

Adding the ability to negotiate manager contracts with ‘bargaining chips’ deserves to be on the game, by this I mean saying to your would-be chairman that you will accept the contract offer if the club agrees to sign little Johnny Blogs or your favourite player from your current team.

You could also make board requests at this stage, requesting that the club upgrade its training, youth facilities or stadium to suit what you have in mind.

Taking what the guys said a little bit further, you could even be able to say “you know what Mr Abrohimazimmaaborvicharich I reckon I need £65m to win the league next year, fancy a pop?”. Now that would be a cracking feature.

Do what Matthew Budd says

Whilst having a quick chat with Matt over on this article he came up with a couple of cracking features that deserve a place on here and in the game.

take young players under your wingFirstly Matt suggested improving the ability to ‘mould’ youngsters in to the player you want them to be. Now, this could take many forms but it’s definitely worth looking in to. Henry played on the wing as a kid, but Wenger knew he was going to be a CF, I bet his training regimes followed that process, I bet his training involved a personal approach that befitted the future role Arsene had in mind.

Maybe you could train players personally, using those stats that you build up with experience, maybe you could take him under your wing and nurture them in to your next star.

For me training youngsters is a large part of my happiness in any given game, after the first season I fill the under-18′s and reserve teams with youngsters, often signing 30-40 players on a few hundred quid a week to train and ‘groom’ their progression. 1 in 5 makes it, tops but that player is well worth it as like I said above, you can’t trust your scouts to pick you the best around, do it yourself.

Another point that Matt picked up on was the ability to select and ‘earn’ sponsorship deals, I like this a lot. I’m sure an old LMA Manager game gave you this detail and is was the highlight of that game. After-all, do you know how much money you earned in extra shirt-sales you got from signing a ‘big name player’?

The only problem with this is I am unsure what impact a real-world manager has on this process, but he is definitely a contributor to earning bigger or smaller deals each year and could be given some form of decision in the process.

long grass for matches on football manager 2014

Long or short Sir?

Another idea that has come form the MyPassionForFootballManager.com site is the addition of a groundskeeper. A vital person in the way the team performs, plays and the tactics selected, an un-sung hero of the game.

Arsenal and Barca couldn’t play the way they did if the pitch was not slick and watered before the game with the grass cut to the exact millimetre  it aids quick one-touch passing and is a vital differentiator.

You could even, as a lower stature team, keep your grass long and dry for when Arsenal come to play, give you an advantage!

bad-decision

Proper opinions not reports

When looking at signing a new player, we know not to trust our scouts 100% but what I would definitely trust much more than a star rating is an opinion of his mental and performance at the time.

Something like: “This dude is playing out his skin at the moment but it probably won’t last” or “He is really growing and flourishing in a team that plays quick, possession football” or even “Luis is a great skilful player but has the temperament of a 5 year-old and is likely to clash with xyz player”.

That sort of stuff would be gold-dust.

How much for this 10-year-old?

youth scouting networks and teams

I love youngsters, I realise that isn’t a statement I should be making with the current climate but on FM young players are where it is at for me but I want to be able to create youth teams, under 15′s, under 12′s or even under 10′s, that would be awesome.

Imagine scouting the grass-roots games on saturday and sunday amongst the school teams and picking up some kids that would go all the way to the top.

This would not only add an awesome extra level to the game but would take away that annoying point in time when regens take over your team, if you have bought them through from a 10-year-old, they will like your own kids!

Let me see those red-tops

Personalised-The-Sun-Football-–-Wins-the-League-NewspaperThis one is from a great wish list article over at IntellectBuff.com, I recommend checking it out as they have a few good points but my favourite is this one.

They call it the ‘display of information’ in other words the way in which results, stories and news is displayed, making news more visually enhanced is another way of looking at it.

A snapshot of a red-top tabloid with all the latest news could be a good way to sum up the days stories or to speculate on transfers. Rather than tell me I have a leak and my potential transfer has got out, show it on a newspaper snap-shot.

Legends games in classic mode

This idea came from reading a post by the guys over at footballmanagerblog.org but I think its worth its weight.

I would love to have a dabble playing as a legendary team of old, loading up all the old-school teams that we know and love. The Arsenal invincible’s would be a particular highlight of mine but maybe even the 1966 World Cup Squad or the Treble winning Utd team.

One of our readers Mark Clawson agrees:

I would like to see fm bring out the older games, like the 1970`s 1980`s era, something like: FM1971, FM1972, FM1973 etc, etc, etc till you reach the date the first FM started with, call it the golden years.

This has to be worth an addition to the classic section.

Send me back home boss

Carlos-Tevez-of-Mancheste-006One feature that I’m sure will come in the 2014 edition of the game is the ability to loan back players that you have just signed to the club you bought him from, the inspiration for this came from footballmanagerblog.org and others.

A prominent feature in todays transfer saga’s is the ability to loan back a player, Wilfred Zaha for example. This has been going on for a while now and I think it’s a great thing to have in the game.

I often buy players at the start of a season but select to move clubs at the end of the year, I reckon adding an extra year on as loan would be a good thing too for some youngsters.

A final note…

Now I realise that most of these are pretty wacky but I feel, as an avid FM fans since its first release, there is a massive need for change. Though the game is brilliant and at the top of its game so far, it could be a lot better and I reckon the ideas above are the best of the ideas I have found online.

What do you think? Have you got any to add or seen another idea online that you like? Give us a heads-up in the comments below and we will add it in if we like it!

 

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  • mark clawson

    I`m a converted champ manager player, due to not knowing if any more games after cm2010, I enjoy your site, find it helpful, I would like to see fm bring out the older games, like the 1970`s 1980`s era, something like FM1971 through to FM1979, THEN FM1980 through toFM1989, even maybe do the same for the 90`s?

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Hi Mark, Awesome Idea!

      I’m going to include your comment in the article, check back in a few minutes under the “Legends Game” sub-heading.

      I would love to hear your opinion on the difference, good and bad between CM and FM.

      Dan

  • Hans

    Hi,

    I once played a game that had some awesome features for training. You could schedule every day, from morning to evening. Including types of training. So you send 6 weaker 18 year olds to the gym after 1,5 hours of training, while your best headers are doing some corner practice etc. This must be easy to put into the game don’t you think?

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Nice one Hans,

      I actually think I have played the same game, can’t for the life of me remember which one it is though!

      Sounds like a good idea to me, I would love to see that included and more training features but the BIG thing for me has to be some form of acknowledgement in the game that shows you what you are doing is correct and what the net result is. Green or red arrows isn’t enough!

      Thanks for the comment Hans!

  • Winno

    Hi,
    Some times in the game I get bored half way through a season and just want to sign players. I think a great addition to the game would be the ability to be a Director of football; I would like to sign players and let the world’s best managers manage them to be stars.

    Also I think players contract negotiations need to be looked at, I can not show a player mine and the clubs ambition by sticking him on £50k a week and paying his agent 2mill! I want to be able to talk to him and promise him things or better yet tell him other players i’m close to signing. What do you think?

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Hi Winno, I like your thinking!

      But what would you do when you run out of money?

      Love the contract idea, its similar to the managers contract thing above, mind if I add it to the list?

      • Winno

        Hopefully the DOF’s job will be a bit more sophisticated then just buying players, there is the options of selling 1st/reserve players, Manager sending you out too look at players, meetings with other clubs boards, Sponsorship, Club Affiliation, Club Development, TV deals, Look for new manager i.e. holding interviews or making a move for a manager before the current one has been sacked!

        I think this is a new online game in on its own :)

        Yes please feel free to add to the list.

        • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

          Fair point, why didn’t I think of that!

          If it were me making the game I think I would have it as an option to be the DOF yourself as well as being the manager or you could assign someone just like you do with news conferences etc.

          I would love to be able to discuss advertising deal, TV deals and have a bigger impact on youth/club development!

          Director of Football Manager 2014 here we come.

          • Winno

            You Look at games like Half Life which then spins off with counter strike and other online games. The Sims and how many other add ons, patches etc….. Could this open up a whole new world for football manager??
            Stick with the cd game but via steam download new content or add ons where you can play as DOF, then another add on to be a scout. Another add on to be the kit man, haha the list is endless!
            We could be making SI alot of money here

          • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

            You’re spot on, its certainly a market that SI are missing out on. Pretty much every PC game worth its salt has loads of add-ons and extensions, maybe they should start charging for updates?! Shhh.

  • Robert Gray

    What are my wages actually for?

    Wages are a pointless part of the game and they should really address this.

    My wages could be used for different attire such as the suite or tracksuit I wear at a match etc

    Or the money could be used to pay for courses to earn my FA and UEFA Badges. Badges could be earned by undertaking quizzes about football each badge getting progressively harder and set up so you may not pass the first time.

    Once earned these badges could earn you privileges in games and features that where previously not available before earning the the badge.

    These badges should then be shown on a CV and a Trophy Room, which I believe needs to be visual images as apposed to written words.

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Good ideas Robert!

      I like the idea of having a trophy room or some kind of interactive CV rather than just a few numbers.

      I think that buying suits etc would mean a big game change though, do you really need to see yourself on the pitch-side? I suppose you could have some kind of dressing room which showed your own character.

      That said I definitely think there is some potential with money and something needs to be done so you’re spot on with that!

      In terms of the badges, if I were SI i would create a challenge section that forced you to go through your badges and start from the bottom, I don’t really see a need for them in the main game. Think we would just be sitting here this time next year saying “why do i need my badges if i can get any job I want anyway?”.

      Thanks for the comment Robert!

      - D

      • Hugh Jameson

        pretty sure spending managers wages is something miles jacobson said he would never do, and those that ask will never get their way. #nohope

        • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

          Yes you’re right Hugh, doesn’t stop fans wanting it though!

  • Jake

    There will be a time in your management career when you get sacked, or perhaps you resign due to things not going the way you would have liked. Then follows the most tedious part of the game….. days(if your lucky), weeks, months(most probably), years?? of unemployment. I feel a good addition to counter this would to become a TV pundit for instance.

    This would obviously be depending on your overall reputation as it would be pointless doing so while covering the Manchester derby having previously been sacked by Hyde. Unless!!!! the addition of your managers playing history was attached to your manager profile so if i generated a 20 year playing career in which i spent my most successful years(as a player) at for instance Man City then the game would recognize this etc etc. Doing this however would essentially scrap the in game rep at the start of the game or at least limit it to two choices of pro footballer or international footballer.

    I feel this would be a good way to building relations with the media(as you will essentially be the media) and also relations both good and bad with players/managers as well as planting seeds for potential rivalries in the future.

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Hi Jake,

      I’m not sure how this would work, do you fancy putting it into an article and mapping out your ideas/process of how it could work and we can publish it on the site?

  • Joe Fizzy Camish

    Ermmmm… I play a 3-4-3 at Porto and that hasn’t got me relegated. In fact I’ve won the domestic treble in my first two seasons…

  • Anders Bore

    It’s no problem at all playing with a 3-back line. In fact, if you love midfielders so much I am really puzzled that you don’t use it. 3-5-1-1 has been my preferred formation when playing Udinese.
    Agree to the other stuff. What would be cool is to add more of “negotiations” in the game; agents, sponsors, etc. Also should be able to tweak the club fasicilities a bit. Why praise the training grounds when you take over a big club if it doesn’t make a difference at all to training attributes or to actual get players….

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      You’re spot on with the last bit. I have just never had it stick (3 at the back) though I imagine I don’t give it enough time to work properly but losing game after game makes me cry so i switch back lol.

  • sirviejo

    Let me add my own
    FEATURE REQUEST: I’ve been playing this game for a few years, played several version. There is a greate feature missing. The ability to Construct and Remodelate the stadium, and also set the tickets price, etc.. se how this can be done in and old but incredible game PC FUTBOL 5.0http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UAZ4nlNEcl4/TU4QD6PVPgI/AAAAAAAAFPg/NusPNvEzkJ0/s1600/004+-+Aforo+Mestalla.png

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      NICE, I like it, Unsure if the game developers will feel the same but for me it could be a worthy addition!

  • Terry Rytz

    One way they could improve the DOF or Chief scout is if you tell your chief scout what you want and how much you need it he can then assign scouts accordingly.

    For example, I’m desperate for a left back to go straight into my team and I’d quite like back up keeper, I have 15 scouts and can’t be bothered going through them all and changing their assignments. So if I just say to the DOF or CS I want a new left back concentrate 70% of our efforts on this, he has to be better than the current option to improve the first team and concentrate 20% on finding a back up keeper who will be happy to play back up and 10% general search.

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Sounds awesome, I really like this Terry! Any more great ideas?

  • Paulwbafc

    I would like to be able to browse my game on my I-phone so when not on my computer I can browse thru statistics, players etc and add to short list. Not play actual matches etc. would be useful when I am out or at work on lunch. Now game is on steam I am sure it is easy to do. Just to have your save game on line so from any computer, smart phone you can log in and browse your game.

    • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

      Awesome idea, in fact I love it.

      Thats something that would definitely be enough to give a player their FM-fix while sitting at work gagging to get home and press spacebar.

      Nice one Paul!

      • Paulwbafc

        A lot of players spend a lot of time just looking trying to find players worth scouting etc. looking at general statistics of there team and other teams working things out. To do this away from your normal lap top or PC would save bit of time and probably feed your hunger to play even more. Would be even more addictive. I like many others when away from the game are probably thinking about how they are going to play against there next opponent. To look thru and study that team on your phone work out weaknesses etc would be useful. They say nessesity is mother of invention. I have a nessesity to check my fm game at work on the bus and waiting in that doctors waiting room lol

        • https://footballmanager14.co.uk/ Danny Chapman

          You’re spot on, I wonder how much money FM is costing employers each year? Probably more than Arsenal’s transfer budget.

  • Anthony Hernandez

    I’m a fan of the simple additions, e.g. sending players back to the club from where they were bought, as let’s be honest, FM is already a superb football simulation game anyway. On that note, I have 3 ‘simple’ ideas that I think would benefit the game (I had more but forgot most of them!)
    1. Filter results by ‘previous clubs’. I am bemused why this isn’t included in the game at all. It would enable you to buy players that for example may have previously played for the club, or perhaps may stop you buying a player if you found out they played for rival teams
    2. At the end of the season, have an ‘awards ceremony’, where you could select your personal player of the year, as well as having players player, supporters player etc. This obviously happens outside of FM all the time at most clubs, so it would definitley reflect the football environment as a whole. It could have the benefit of boosting morale of selected players, the managers being the players favoured personnel etc.
    3. Stronger affiliations – I have had numerous affiliations with parent clubs in the game as well as feeder clubs and found they do little, if any real good to the game apart from sending out players to the feeder clubs as well as recieiving 1 (at most) player a year from parent clubs. I would like to see more players sent to the club from the parent clubs, and more in depth affiliations, e.g. maybe for feeder clubs to send players on trial at the club who they think are good enough to get a contract there, and thus receive a transfer fee for said player. Another idea would be for out of contract players to maybe have the option to trial at the affiliated club once their contract is up. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe a similar practice happens with Liverpool and Accrington Stanley, and in my opinion, would be a cool and realistic option to have on the game.

    Let me know what you think, thanks.

  • John Scott

    I like the idea of new kits and sponsors. Hype surrounding the new kit release, linking it to revenue and clearly see how popular your teams kit sales are and that way be able to see the increase if you actually sign big name player. The new kit will be new colours new designs etc, been Notts Co for 15 years had the same colour kit for 15 years not realistic, especially away and third kit.

  • Giannis

    the game needs to improve in order to simulate the every-day life of a football manager.
    - Training is currently laughable. the game needs big investment in this area, especially in tactics and movements training. The manager should be able to teach his players his preferred movements, set-pieces tactics and general tactics in the training ground (in 3D).
    - show to players the video from the last game and tell them how they should have reacted to avoid conceding a goal, during an unsuccessful counter attack, ect.
    - i totally agree with hiding the attributes. the players form, history and his performance in the training (given that you can see him in training) are enough to sign and pick a player for the start.11.

    To my opinion, the game should be generally improved in the areas where it is really poor. Improvements in the areas of – for instance – contracts are, to my opinion, unnecessary (since it is already a good system and quite close to reality) while areas such as training, media (newspapers, tv shows, articles and conferences) and tactics planning are really very poor.

    and last but not least, the opponent pc managers should be a little bit more competitive. currently the game is too easy, since the concept is too easy, i.e. find the best players and you will win, no matter how good in training or tactics you are. (i mean, in real tactics and not just in clicking 4-4-2 or 4-3-3)

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