Tiger Fan's SI Test Drive - An EHM & WWSM dynasty

[rangers85]

TF, I'd like to thank you for getting me back into CM. 03/04 is the latest I have though,I had planned on buying WWSM, but never could find it in stores and now I figure I might as well wait until the end of summer and try to find the next version.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

I am torn right now thanks to TF on which game to get back into - EHM or FM. Think I'll get back to my ECHL game on EHM though. I still have a Northern Irieland 2nd division game going on FM, bottled it at the end of the first season and finished 3rd just missing out on promotion

Keep it up TF! How all-out attacking are you? Could we trouble you for a screenie of your team instructions?

Oh, and as you are doing a small "World Watch", how are Canvey Island doing in the Conference National?

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

Oh, and as you are doing a small "World Watch", how are Canvey Island doing in the Conference National?

I must not have selected to include the Conference as my lowest league in England is league two. However, Canvey Island has advanced to the FA Cup second round following a 2-0 win over Grantham.

As for my team instructions, I will get a screenshot posted tonight.

Finally for your EHM vs FM playing debate. Hope I don't throw you off but I will be concentrating heavily on EHM as soon as the digital download comes out. I will need to get it caught up to the same point in time (late Nov 2004) that my soccer sim is in.

For EHM, which hopefully we have the DD tonight I am also going to start unemployed if possible. I will then likely take the first job I am offered in the Canadian Major Junior Leagues.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

How all-out attacking are you? Could we trouble you for a screenie of your team instructions?

Here are the team instructions. I do give my two defensive midfielders instructions to stay back so that it is really just the defensive wingers who really push forward.

[Tiger Fan]

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23
Another day of Champions Cup action.

In Group E Valencia and Paris both clinched advancement.  
Paris beat PAOK 2-0 while the Spanish side topped 
Anderlecht 1-0.

GROUP E
TEAM	 GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Valencia  5  4 1 0  10  3 +7  13 
Paris     5  3 1 1   7  6 +1  10 
Anderlecht5  0 2 3   0  3 -3   2 
PAOK      5  0 2 3   2  7 -5   2 

Milan is through with a 2-0 win on the road against
Rosenborg while Olmpiakos is in good position after
topping Deportivo 3-1.  The schedule concludes on
December 8th with Olympiakos visiting Milan while
Deportivo is hosting Rosenborg.

GROUP F
TEAM	 GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Milan     5  4 1 0  8  0  +8  13 
Olympiakos5  2 1 2  8  8   0   7 
Deportivo 5  1 2 2  5  7  -2   5 
Rosenborg 5  1 0 4  3  9  -6   3 

With Chelsea and Shakhtar already thru the 
remaining games in Group G have little meaning.
Shaktar beat Chelsea at home 2-0 while Leverkusen
and Ajax played to a 1-1 draw in Germany.

GROUP G
TEAM	  GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Shakhtar   5  4 0 1   8  2 +6  12 
Chelsea    5  3 1 1  10  4 +6  10 
Ajax       5  0 3 2   4  9 -5   3 
Leverkusen 5  0 2 3   3 10 -7   2 

Only Dinamo Kiev is eliminated in Group H after 
losing 3-0 to Manchester United.  In the other 
game Roma moved to the top of the table with 
a 2-0 home victory over Werder Bremen.  
The final games in two weeks should be full of 
intigue as Manchester United needs at least a 
tie on the road against Werder Bremen to 
advance.  The other has Roma at Dinamo Kiev.

GROUP H
TEAM	  GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Roma       5  2 3 0   7 3   +4  9 
Man Utd    5  2 2 1   6 4   +2  8 
WerderBrem 5  2 1 2   4 4    E  7 
DinamoKiev 5  0 2 3   2 8   -6  2

[Tiger Fan]

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24
We get defender David Van Zanten back from Dumbarton, where my predecessor had sent the 22 year native of Ireland on loan. He appeared in 10 games for the Scottish Second Division club and had an average rating of 6. Van Zanten felt it was a complete waste of his time playing for a Second Division side and he returns to me with very low morale. I would have considered listing him as a sub for Saturday's game but he has to serve a 1-match suspension for a booking in his last Second Division match.

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP
Rangers beat Dundee United 4-2 in a League Cup third round match. The win moves the Glasgow side through to the Quarterfinals were they will play Motherwell next month.

CHAMPIONS CUP
The other 4 groups were in action as Round 5 of the 6 match Group stage was completed.

In Group A FC Bayern blanked Juventus 4-0 to guarantee 
advancement.  Defending champion Porto beat Sparta
Prague 5-0 to make the game between Porto and Juventus
in Italy in two weeks time extremely important.

GROUP A
TEAM	 GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
FC Bayern 5  3 2 0  14  6  +8  11 
Porto     5  2 2 1  10  5  +5   8 
Juventus  5  2 2 1  11  7  +4   8 
Sp. Prag  5  0 0 5   0 17 -17   0 
            

In Group B Barcelona joined Inter Milan as
the two qualifiers for the next stage.  Barcelona
beat Club Brugge 1-0 while Inter topped French
side Lyon 3-2

GROUP B
TEAM	 GP  W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Inter     5  5 0 0  11 2  +9  15 
Barcelona 5  3 0 2   6 6   E   9 
Lyon      5  1 1 3   4 6  -2   4 
Clb Brugg 5  0 1 4   1 8  -7   1 
   
Liverpool advanced from Group C with a 1-0
win over Panathinaikos.  In the other game
Feenerbahce and FC Kobenhavn played to a 1-1
draw.  FC Kobenhavn hosts Liverpool while
Feenerbahce visits Panathinaikos in the final
match-up in 2 weeks time.

GROUP C
TEAM	    GP W D L  GF GA DIF PTS 
Liverpool    5 4 1 0  10  2 +8  13 
FC København 5 2 1 2   4  6 -2   7 
Fenerbahçe   5 1 2 2   8  8  0   5 
Panathinaikos5 1 0 4   1  7 -6   3 
            
Arsenal is through after earning a point in a
3-3 draw at home against Real Madrid.  Celtic
rallied to beat PSV 3-2 and stay alive in the
battle for second place and a berth in the next
round.  The Group play concludes in 2 weeks with
Celtic visiting Madrid while PSV entertains
Arsenal.

GROUP D
TEAM	 GP W D L  GF GA DIF PTS
Arsenal   5 3 1 1  12  6  +6  10 
R. Madrid 5 2 1 2  10  7  +3   7 
PSV       5 2 0 3   6 10  -4   6 
Celtic    5 2 0 3   6 11  -5   6

[jtb]

I would like to try SI's Demos of EHM& WWSM but I don't have much understanding of Hockey and even less of Soccer (Football). I am completely confused on how the leagues interact and in Soccer even the small nuances of the game. It seems like such a daunting task to understand simple positioning. Baseball , because I grew up on it has such a natural flow for me. Do You think the manual would help someone with such an elementary understanding of these games?
Thanks.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by jtb

I would like to try SI's Demos of EHM& WWSM but I don't have much understanding of Hockey and even less of Soccer (Football). I am completely confused on how the leagues interact and in Soccer even the small nuances of the game. It seems like such a daunting task to understand simple positioning. Baseball , because I grew up on it has such a natural flow for me. Do You think the manual would help someone with such an elementary understanding of these games?
Thanks.

The manual helped me immensely for positioning and tactics. I do have a bit of an advantage in that I have grown up with hockey and in some small ways the hockey and soccer strategies are similiar. The WWSM manual really gave me an easy to understand explaination for my in game tactics and outlined the key attributes for each position.

I was somewhat lost on how all these leagues interact but some quick research on the internet has answered many questions. If you want any specifics just post here or PM me and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

If you love text based sports sims you owe it to yourself to really give WWSM a try. It really is the pinnacle. I still have much to learn about coaching my team properly but the detail of the game is incredible and more than makes up for the somewhat steep learning curve. I am so into this game I have even watched a couple of soccer games on the Fox Sports World channel.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Football Manager (WWSM) IS the daddy. Just imagine OOTP a few years down the road.......go on, imagine! Like TF says jtb, just post anything you have a question about and there be people who know the answer.

[jtb]

Thanks Guys!

[84CubsFan]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

The manual helped me immensely ...

You know, I can't tell you how excited I am that there's a good manual. I downloaded the FM demo when the game was first released last year, but since I only have a rudimentary understanding of the beautiful game I had trouble getting into it.

I think I may give it another shot. Question:

Is WWSM the exact same game as FM? Or is one a dumbed down/souped up version of the other? (That is, should I order FM from a British site or is it the exact same thing to order WWSM from Amazon?)

(Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread for a moment, Tiger Fan.)

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by 84CubsFan

Is WWSM the exact same game as FM? Or is one a dumbed down/souped up version of the other? (That is, should I order FM from a British site or is it the exact same thing to order WWSM from Amazon?)

(Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread for a moment, Tiger Fan.)

Yes, I believe they are identical games. WWSM is the North American release which is available in stores. I picked up my copy at an EBGames store in Ontario.

and feel free to hijack.

[Tiger Fan]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27
St Johnstone 2 St Mirren 1
Our unbeaten streak comes to an end at 3 as I suffer my first loss at the helm of St Mirren. We could get nothing going offensively against St Johnstone as they played their defenders much higher than any other team I had faced and we were unable to connect on our long passes as they either resulted in offsides against us or their goaltender was able to beat our forwards to the loose ball. I probably should have made some kind of tactical adjustment to counter this but I was unsure what would work.

St Johnstone struck first just 10 minutes into the game when midfielder Stephen Dobbie made a nifty pass that split our central defenders and sent Chris Hay in alone on our goalie Hinchcliffe. We evened things up at the 30 minute mark when Alan Muir's long shot deflected off a St Johnstone defender and into their net.

The winning goal was one that had me extremely furious with the official. First the ref booked my young defender Graham McWilliam on a very questionable call. McWilliam went over to the ref for his booking and before he could get back to his position Peter MacDonald, the man McWilliam should have been marking, one timed a quick pass behind our goaltender.

I may have made a mistake in starting Maxu Paatelainen as he was exhausted at the break and had to be replaced. My other forward, Stewart Kean, also grew weary and I replaced him minutes before St Johnstone took the lead. Nobody really played that well for us and we were outshot 15 to 5. Kevin McGowne had his second straight subpar effort and McWilliam, who replaced him at DRC, also struggled.

To make matters worse Hamilton, Falkirk and Airdrie United - the three clubs directly ahead of me in the standings - all won. Hamilton pulled off a stunning performance against Ross County, winning 6-4. Entering the game Hamilton had scored just 9 goals in 13 games. Falkirk got some bad news when 18 year old midfielder Ryan McStay broke his leg in the win over Queen of the South. McStay had a 7.00 average rating through 10 league games with Falkirk this season.

	SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION TABLE
TEAM		GP	W  T  L   GF  GA  PTS
Clyde		14	8  2  4   20  16   26
Ross County     14      7  4  3   25  17   25
Raith		14	7  4  3   17   9   25
Patrick		14	6  4  4   26  16   22
St Johnstone  	14	7  1  6   30  24   22
Falkirk		14	5  3  6   15  14   18
Airdrie Utd	14	5  3  6   16  21   18
Queen of South 	14	5  1  8	  17  23   16
Hamilton	14 	4  2  8	  15  23   14
ST MIRREN	14	3  2  9   10  28   11

SATURDAY'S RESULTS (home team listed first)
Airdrie United 2 Patrick 1
Clyde 0 Raith 2
Falkirk 1 Queen of the South 0
Hamilton 6 Ross County 4
ST MIRREN 1  St Johnstone 2

NEXT SATURDAY
Patrick at ST MIRREN
Ross County at Clyde
Airdrie United at Falkirk
Queen of the South at Hamilton
St Johnstone at Raith

       GOAL LEADERS
Stephen Dobbie St Johnstone    9
Gary McSwegan  Ross County     8
Chris Hay      St Johnstone    8
Derek Lyle     Queen of Sth    6
Darryl Duffy   Falkirk         6
Owen Coyle     Airdrie Utd     6
David Winters  Ross County     6
J.A. Escales   Patrick         6
Jamie Mitchell Patrick         5
Neil Janczyk   Patrick         5
Craig O'Reilly Raith           5
Patrick Clarke Raith           5

[Tiger Fan]

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28
Word out of Glasgow is that Rangers Manager Alex McLeish's job is in jeopardy. The perennial powerhouse in the Scottish Premier League has struggled this season and sit in 3rd place with a 7-3-4 (W-T-L) record. However they are 16 points back of arch rival Celtic. Rangers did pull out a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen today to perhaps buy McLeish a little more time.

While I would love to move up to such a prestigous club I know that it would be foolish of me to express interest in the job at this stage of my career. Instead when asked for a comment outside our club's training ground I simply tell the media that I think McLeish is an outstanding head coach and I wish him a long career with Rangers.

[AdmiralACF]

Interesting dynasty. I've been curious about these two games, and from what you have included here, it looks like they are extremely deep. Keep up the good work and hopefully we'll have some hockey action soon.

BTW, does the manual come with the game, or is it available on-line? Being a soccer noob myself, I'm interested in learning how this game simulates the sport.

I read one review of the game that complained that the user, as the manager, had too much influence on how individual games played out. What's your impression?

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by AdmiralACF

Interesting dynasty. I've been curious about these two games, and from what you have included here, it looks like they are extremely deep. Keep up the good work and hopefully we'll have some hockey action soon.

BTW, does the manual come with the game, or is it available on-line? Being a soccer noob myself, I'm interested in learning how this game simulates the sport.

I read one review of the game that complained that the user, as the manager, had too much influence on how individual games played out. What's your impression?

I thought we were ready for hockey last night when I downloaded the digital version of EHM. I was waiting for official news on the release before I installed it and it turned out with good reason since SI posted it was not the final version and had been uploaded by mistake. Hopefully the real one is out in the next couple of days.

The manual did indeed come with WWSM, which I purchased from a store. I believe the digital download of EHM should also come with a manual in pdf format probably.

As for the manager having too much influence on how games are played out I really cant say for sure. I used the same tactics for my last three games , 2 of them my team played well and won but in the last game I could get nothing going. So I as a manager with limited soccer knowledge do not seem to be having a huge impact.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY NOVEMBER 29
I get a little praise back from the Rangers boss. An email tells me that Alex McLeish told Soccernet.com that he thought I was doing a very good job at St Mirren and that Buddies fans were lucky to have me.

Meanwhile I listed 35 year old defensive midfielder Mark Reilly as available for transfer. He had played in 4 games this season prior to my joining club but I do not see a role for him on the team. So far no one seems interested in him though.


TUESDAY NOVEMBER 30
I finish third in the Manager of the Month Award voting for our league. Raith's Gordon Dalzeil won the award with John Connolly of St Johnstone finishing second.

Ross County striker David Winters was named the First Division player of the month. Darryl Duffy of Falkirk was second while Airdrie United's Owen Coyle finished third.

[rangers85]

Interesting, St. Mirran offered me their job 9 months into my current game after making Wycombe more than just fighting for relegation but rather a mid-pack team.

[jbmagic]

Tigerfan


EHM digital download officially is available now for download

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb...5/m/3292051931

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Tigerfan


EHM digital download officially is available now for download

http://community.sigames.com/eve/ubb...5/m/3292051931

downloading now. thanks.

Now to decide which major junior team to start off with since you can't begin the game unemployed...unless you want a real long wait for a job.