Author: Chris Fuller

Review: FIFA Manager 2025

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It’s March 2025, and after months of eager anticipation, FM25 has finally been released to the public! Well… kind of.

Of course, Football Manager 25 is dead and buried, leaving a huge gap in the market for this season. Could that gap be filled by one of Sports Interactive’s old rivals?

Although EA Sports’ FIFA Manager series was officially cancelled in 2013, the franchise has been kept alive by a devoted community of fans and creators who have been making their own updated databases for the past decade. So today, I will be checking out the 2024/2025 “season update” to see if it’s a worthy replacement for FM25.

This is my review of FIFA Manager 2025. Continue reading “Review: FIFA Manager 2025” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 9, Part 1 (2032)

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Welcome back to what’s guaranteed to be another exciting* chapter of my Football Manager 2024 series. This is my ninth season at Nacka FC, and it’s by far our biggest to date!

In case you missed it, the 2031 season was an unforgettable one at the Fisksätra, as a talented crop of attackers fired Nacka into the Allsvenskan for the first time in their history. We still can’t defend properly, but who cares?

So now the hard work truly begins. Can I build a team that can hold its own in the Allsvenskan… or will we be heading straight back down to the Superettan?

* Excitement not guaranteed. Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 9, Part 1 (2032)” →

FM Logic: Transfers & Development

Published on by Chris Fuller

Football Manager is the most realistic sports simulation video game out there. We all know that. But it’s not perfect.

In recent versions of FM, and especially on Football Manager 2024, there have been some wonky game mechanics that often lead to unrealistic player development and transfers. Whether it’s talented players being stuck in the job centre for ages, or their clubs refusing to send them out on loan, you can find loads of weird cases of ‘FM Logic’ on your saves.

Here are just some of the examples I’ve found on my current save with Nacka FC. Continue reading “FM Logic: Transfers & Development” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 8 (2031)

Published on by Chris Fuller

Welcome back to “Nacka’s Yard”, where it’s now Season 8 – The Ocho. Or perhaps we should say “Åttan”, seeing as we’re in Sweden.

I’m afraid that Season 7 was not a lucky one for us. We forgot how to score, our goalkeeper forgot what his gloves were for, and we also said farewell to our young Paraguayan hotshot Luis Mendoza.

There’s been a mini-rebuild and a tactical rethink ahead of the 2031 season, which will be our fifth in the Superettan. Perahps this is the year Nacka FC finally make it into the Allsvenskan? Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 8 (2031)” →

Retro Review: Lords of Football

Published on by Chris Fuller

We might have to wait until next season for a new Football Manager, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of football games on the Steam storefront.

A few weeks ago, I looked at a bare-bones Championship Manager clone that didn’t stray too far from the standard formula. The game I’ll be reviewing today is… well, let’s just say it’s VERY different.

For this Retro Review, I’m going back to the year 2013 (i.e. the last time Manchester United were any good) to find out what happened when some Italians decided to make their own FM… with blackjack, and hookers. Literally.

This is Lords of Football. Continue reading “Retro Review: Lords of Football” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 7 (2030)

Published on by Chris Fuller

FM25 might be cancelled, but my Football Manager 2024 save is still going strong. I’m just about to enter my 7th season at Nacka FC, making this the longest time I have spent with a single club in any of my Fuller FM blog careers.

After an encouraging end to the 2029 season, hopes are high that Nacka can push on in 2030 and get promoted to the Allsvenskan. If only it was that simple… Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 7 (2030)” →

FM25: The Game That Never Was

Published on by Chris Fuller

2025… bloody hell. What a rough year this has been already, and we’re not even halfway through February yet!

We’ve had devastating wildfires in California, unprecedented storms in the United Kingdom, ongoing war in Ukraine, Donald Trump starting his second reign of terror, and – worst of all – a young black man daring to make fun of Erling Haaland.

And now we’ve had confirmation – after months of delay and speculation – that Football Manager 25 has been cancelled. FM’s hotly-anticipated overhaul with the Unity game engine will not be happening… at least not this season.

After having a few days to digest the news, I will now deliver my thoughts on how the FM25 saga unfolded, where Sports Interactive went wrong, and why scrapping the game was the right decision. Continue reading “FM25: The Game That Never Was” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 6 (2029)

Published on by Chris Fuller

The year is 2029. Nacka FC have just survived the first major crisis of the Fuller era. After hurtling down the Superettan table in 2028, I now have to rebuild my squad, and assemble a defence that can… you know… defend.

Will it be third time lucky for Nacka in the Superettan? Will this be the year that we make it into the promised land of the Allsvenskan? Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 6 (2029)” →

Retro Review: Sven-Göran Eriksson’s World Manager

Published on by Chris Fuller

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It’s time for another of my Fuller FM retro reviews… and today’s review is particularly poignant.

Sven-Göran Eriksson passed away in August last year at the age of 76, after an illustrious managerial career with the likes of Benfica, Sampdoria, Lazio and (ahem) Leicester City. He was also the first – and, to date, best – foreign-born manager of the England men’s national team, leading the Three Lions to three consecutive tournament Quarter Finals.

I’m publishing this post on what would have been the ice-cool Swede’s 77th birthday. To mark the occasion, I’ll be playing a somewhat obscure football management game from 2002 which bears his name.

This is Sven-Göran Eriksson’s World Manager. Continue reading “Retro Review: Sven-Göran Eriksson’s World Manager” →

Nacka’s Yard: Season 5 (2028)

Published on by Chris Fuller

Welcome back to “Nacka’s Yard”, where my lower-league adventure in Sweden has so far been going very well… perhaps too well. If you missed our Superettan debut last season, Nacka FC didn’t just stay up – we came quite close to what would have been a third consecutive promotion!

Nacka’s incredible rise on FM24 has also come to the attention of the club’s real-life director (and co-founder) Salih Shala, who posted a lovely comment on my Season 3 summary a few weeks ago. As an FM blogger, it’s always a special and humbling moment when the club you’re managing in the virtual world shows their support in the real world – just like Lyn did on FM19, and Cambrian & Clydach on FM21.

This has already been a wonderful journey, and it has helped me rediscover why I love playing Football Manager…

…but now we get to Season 5, in which I rediscover why I HATE playing Football Manager. Continue reading “Nacka’s Yard: Season 5 (2028)” →