Football Manager Handheld 2007 Review

By Lee Hall Published 6 December, 2006

Inspired substitution.

Version tested: PSP

You've got to run to stand still in the fast-moving world of football management. The same can be said for the virtual 'soccer' universe, where Football Manager has been setting the pace for years. The latest FM for PC (and Xbox 360) upped the series' canter once again with a locker room bursting with 100 gameplay additions...

But what of FM 2007's chirpy sidekick - the Keegan to the PC version's Toshack, the Beardsley to its Cole? Surely an improvement list as long as Lee Bowyer's rap sheet is beyond even our plucky PSP. Yup, of course it is. And, as for running just to stand still, FM 2007 handheld barely breaks a sweat.

You see, titles are always a lot harder to retain than they are to claim the first time round. The original FM for PSP was so welcome to those of us who dreamed of playing SI's unsurpassed masterpiece on the move - without lugging a glorified typewriter around - that we forgave its shortcomings. Heck, who could expect the glorious detail and unrivalled depth of a game that has taxed many a half-decent PC to port in fully-featured form to Sony's black beauty, anyway? Even stripping out the 2D match engine - which actually provided a welcome reminder that life before semi-decent visuals was little worse than what we have now - didn't bother us. Nor did the absence of detailed finance sheets and a bag full of subtle features.

This time round, the same tech limitation-driven process of slicing down the key features of FM 2007 means you feel you're not only getting a diet version of the latest game, but a cutdown 2007 grafted onto an already skinny 2006. The result? A game that looks decidedly antiquated next to the PC FMs. Which, ironically, isn't a wholly bad thing.

'Football Manager Handheld 2007' Screenshot 1

International management is new to FM PSP.

Not even the most demandingly bratty of football fans would expect the latest FM's interactivity options to make it into the handheld game in all their glory. Chatting with any player in the football universe to help prompt a move is hardly the most crucial aspect to miss either. But why haven't team talks been included? Surely such a basic interactive option would be a must-run feature?

The game's shortcomings certainly don't end there, with a few reminders of the previous FM handheld's irritations turning up like a nasty hangover the night after a cup win. Managerial tools experienced PC bosses take for granted are noticeable by their absence. There's still no 'offer to clubs' option to help you take a more proactive approach to chipping away at your wage budget, for instance. While the user interface has been improved in line with the advancement in SI's other version of the game, it's still galling to note that there's no player comparison tool, either. Weighting up players against your own is a case of crudely eyeing them in the player search list or relying on your memory.

Other minor gripes will not deter every budding boss. Scrolling a signing-on fee offer clause to £0 takes too long, for example, but that only matters if you're a tightwad with principles about such issues (like us). Similarly, not being able to skip loading screens will only get the goat of highly strung coaches who can't wait a few seconds for such intermissions. Those who haven't touched SI's games since the Championship Manager 2 era won't even notice them...

'Football Manager Handheld 2007' Screenshot 2

Play in 33 leagues and take charge of 580 teams. Not at once, obviously.

Strangely enough, those players will also find themselves surprisingly at ease with a game that 'pays homage' to earlier SI offerings - or so says development honcho Miles Jacobson in part 2 of our exclusive interview (hunt it out - it's definitely worth a view). In truth, the technical limitations FM is straining under means the series has regressed to an era in which the game was far simpler, more crude, but in some ways more 'pure' and fun.

Trinkets of later development faffing such as the 2D match engine and an almost ludicrous, exponential extension of the player database - which now tips the 300,000 mark (how long before my brother's five-a-side team's in there?) - are compromised. The former is removed in favour of retro text commentary and the latter is pared down to a manageable size that will still throw up some names that will be new to even the most nerdy of football geeks.

The truth is, underneath all the superfluous (and the many brilliant) advances in the game, FM's nigh-on slavish realism when it comes to depicting the challenges faced by a proper manager is knitted into the fabric of every release. That's something on which SI will never compromise, and a fact that means, for all this is nowhere near as complex or expansive as FM for PC and 360, you'll still lose yourself in the dark recesses of a addictive and compelling game.

'Football Manager Handheld 2007' Screenshot 3

The media is more active, but not quite at brothel-exposé levels.

In fact, FM handheld is still more ambitious than your average management sim. And besides, for all our Scroogey gripes, some improvements have been made for this title defence - with two scouts, a better player search system and board requests as well as more news stories meaning there are some tweaks to acknowledge, if not celebrate... With a handful of nods to the PSPs own repertoire of silky skills - network challenges, data editing and downloadable team logos - this is a classy, if not world class addition to the FM family.

Even with the previous Football Manager for PSP it was clear SI had just about reached bursting point when it came to squeezing the most realistic boss sim on the planet onto a UMD. 2007's tactical reshuffle inches the series forward without threatening to revolutionise handheld management. Luckily, the heart and soul of this game is drenched with the spittle (metaphorical, mostly) of a dev team who are in love with the beautiful game. Such passion is gloriously infectious.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Lee.

About Lee Hall

Read more articles from Lee by visiting the Lee Hall archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (43) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Steroyd #1 5 years ago

    hmm... i may have to reconsider and get FM07 instead of next years one.

    oooohhh i hate christmas period if only i had won the lottery.

  • SeesThroughAll #2 5 years ago

    Jose Mourinho FTW.

    Arrogant, but he knows what he's doing... :)

  • Steroyd #3 5 years ago

    Oh yeah well... Benitez could get a cash injection from some Sheikah guy and that bastard could outbid the great Abramovich at anything. O_O

    Which is a very scary thought.

  • Kay #4 5 years ago

    Tried this last night and it's excellent. The match commentary is vastly improved from the first FMH, and the addition of international teams means it's on a par with CM3 on the PC. The new skins are nice, too.

    K

  • Perrythegreat #5 5 years ago

    Commentary was poor on the first one, that is a big point and thanks for that K

  • Muddtallica #6 5 years ago

    Steroyd: As a Liverpool fan, I have very mixed thoughts about the takeover business - on the one hand, it'll obviously benefit the club greatly (and I'd like to see just how "Special" Mourinho really is when faced with a top-notch manager who's got the same resources as he does), but to me just having some guy come along and give you an unlimited pot of money feels like cheating. It's an unfair advantage that we haven't earned, and that most other teams don't have, which is why I currently dislike Chelsea so very much. I know that it's a money oriented game now, but the Chelsea example seems to just show that it IS a soulless business, and you CAN just come out of nowhere and buy success. If Liverpool are to become one of those teams, I'm not really sure if I could still get behind them. Sure, we'd have success, but it would feel empty, especially compared to the likes of Istanbul 05 and Cardiff 06...

    Ahem. Anyway, yeah, back to the games. :p
    Edited by 2 at 06/12/06 @ 11:52

  • Steroyd #7 5 years ago

    That's exactly how i feel.

    I would love for our team as it is now to push for the premiership title, and would love the cash injection... but i wouldn't like Liverpool to be Chelsea Mark 2 (especially the controversy surrunding how they tap up players).

    But at the same time, Arsenal have the money to go and buy Wallcott an unproven talent for 12 million, Man U went and bought 18 million on Carrick, Chelsea go off and spend 100+ million per season (lord knows how they'd get that money back even if they win the treble). and Liverpool gets stretched on buying players like Daniel Alves where Sevilla ask for €12 million and had to go for second choice Pennant.

    If Liverpool become the next Chelsea i may half heartidly support them i've supported them for too long to turn my back.

    Has anyone been Chelsea on this, i want to know how much money the developers gave them.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/06 @ 11:46

  • marc_si #8 5 years ago

    "But why haven't team talks been included? Surely such a basic interactive option would be a must-run feature?"

    Just a quick comment to indicate that we could have put them into the PSP version but I felt it didn't 'fit' with the games "pick up and play" nature and they'd have felt overly repetitive on a product where you blast through a lot of games in a short space of time ...

    (if you feel otherwise and would like to see them in a future version then obviously please email me (marc.vaughan@sigames.com) and let me know - as always we take all feedback into consideration when planning future versions)

  • marc_si #9 5 years ago

    "Tried this last night and it's excellent. The match commentary is vastly improved from the first FMH, and the addition of international teams means it's on a par with CM3 on the PC. The new skins are nice, too. "

    Glad you're enjoying it - incidentally if anyone has a favourite line of commentary which isn't present and they'd like added pls email it to me and so long as it fits in with the general 'vibe' of the games commentary flow I'll consider adding it for a future version.

  • marc_si #10 5 years ago

    "There's still no 'offer to clubs' option to help you take a more proactive approach to chipping away at your wage budget, for instance"

    Err there is actually ... you can happily offer players to other clubs in this version.

    (for those too lazy to read the manual)
    Transfer list a player, the 'transfer list' option on his profile now disappears and is replaced by 'Offer Club'.

    Hit this and it takes you to a transfer offer screen where you can decide the price to offer him to clubs at.

  • Furbs #11 5 years ago

    "Those who haven't touched SI's games since the Championship Manager 2 era won't even notice them"

    Spot on...CM3 and later got too indepth for me so I lost the faith. FM06 (and now this) go back to simpler days where it was just about buying players and getting your formation right.

    Just a shame Dominic Matteo and Sol Campbell arent the ultimate defensive force they were in the Amiga days.

    Steroyd...I wouldnt touch Chelsea with Pennants left leg, but in the first three week of playing the game they had put in 3 £10m+ bids for players. I think its fair to say they are "minted" :)

    Marc, if you're still reading...whatever happened to Mark Collis? Is he still on the team (sorry I dont read the official forums n stuff). He was a legend for me on 92-93. Best Cambridge "player" ever.
    Edited by 2 at 06/12/06 @ 12:11

  • TakeTheVeil #12 5 years ago

    any idea whether its coming to the DS? the stylus would be a great little sub for the mouse.. i'd love if you could have the same saved game between different version. So you can continue your PC game on your DS or PSP on the bus or whatever..

    just read this off a eurogamer interview...

    Eurogamer: With the touch screen display of the DS lending itself towards FM's mouse driven control system, have you not considered bringing FM to the DS? Was it down to how much money you can expect to make out of a DS game or purely technical considerations?

    Miles Jacobson: I don't actually have full tech specs for the DS, but I would expect that if it was possible, one of the Ninty fanboys in the office would have smashed down my door by now, and no one has. So we'll stick to the PSP.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/06 @ 12:21

  • IAmBatman #13 5 years ago

    Any chance of putting a tutorial in any of these games? Something that would lead a new player through the billions of options and menu screens for the first half a season would be grand.

  • CaptainSpank #14 5 years ago

    indeed. I played a footie manager type game once and fell into a coma.

    true story.

    ...well, sort of.

  • Hive #15 5 years ago

    My wife is dragging me out on holiday over New Year, im putting all my hopes on this game to save me from boredom. If it sux I will hunt Si down :)

  • Arwin #16 5 years ago

    - PSP has 32MB of RAM, 2MB of video RAM, with 1.8Gb space on the UMD.
    - DS has 4MB of RAM, 0.67MB of video RAM, with 64MB space on the Cart (though it can be more).

    So, I reckon if a FM Handheld is ever done for the DS, it's going to have to be either considerably stripped down, or it's going to have to be one of those extra RAM on a cart solutions that the DS Browser also employes.

  • Rambaldi #17 5 years ago

    Image that: PSP shovelware that's actually good!

  • foxy2006 #18 5 years ago

    i wonder if jose is as non-plussed about this as he was with wright-philips wonder goal last night!

  • Feanor #19 5 years ago

    Helpful feedback direct from a developer ftw.

  • Monkey #20 5 years ago

    Is it euphemism day on EG, "handheld management"...

    :)

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #21 5 years ago

    No match view, eh? I love that the PSP isn't quite up to the technical demands that the Spectrum pulled off in 1982. Wouldn't it be a little more honest to call it "Blind Football Manager 2007"?

  • Furbs #22 5 years ago

    No

  • Kay #23 5 years ago

    The game doesn't need match view. I for one found it annoying on the PC versions.

    K

  • yegon #24 5 years ago

    I get the feeling people slating the lack of 2d match can't quite grasp the complexities involved. It's not simply a case of making 22 dots run around the screen - it's making them run around the screen *convincingly*, reflecting formation and player attributes, with enough variety to avoid repetition/obvious scripting. The kind of processing/loading that takes would kill the game.

    See the out-of-its-depth CM:pSP 2d match view - buggy, repetitious, absolutely no sense that it reflects the players/formation, and movement quite unlike any footy match I've ever seen.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/06 @ 15:09

  • marc_si #25 5 years ago

    "Any chance of putting a tutorial in any of these games? Something that would lead a new player through the billions of options and menu screens for the first half a season would be grand. "

    The PC version has a tutorial built into it now (hit F1 at any point to full it up), the PSP hasn't at present, but its something we'll consider in the future.

    Any preference on how this could be incorporated into the PSP game? (NB> Video is expensive to film so thats unlikely to be an option).

    "No match view, eh? I love that the PSP isn't quite up to the technical demands that the Spectrum pulled off in 1982. Wouldn't it be a little more honest to call it "Blind Football Manager 2007"? "

    Personally I think most people these days would want a more advanced simulation with out the simplistic dice rolling and random 12 odd graphical goal/miss animations which the original Football Manager game had ;-)

    Text/Radio commentary is something people either like or hate, sounds like you're in the latter section.

    If you get the chance then I'd recommend trying the game anyway - you might find you enjoy it and find its the 'thought' of text based commentary you hate rather than the reality (our earlier CM3 series generally got bad press for using text commentary rather than flashy graphics - yet most people who played it seemed to enjoy it).
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/06 @ 15:15

  • hula hoops #26 5 years ago

    Is this game by anyway endorsed by Mourinho? Because this is the second time EG put his picture on FM review.

  • IAmBatman #27 5 years ago

    > Any preference on how this could be incorporated into the PSP game?

    For a game this complicated I wouldn't mind if it led me step by step through a handful of games (and the descisions in between). On each screen tell me exactly what button to press and why in a pop-up, and have that button flash or something. Tell me what all of the values are etc.

    It'd be completely intrusive, but if you had it as a totally seperate scenario then experienced players wouldn't be inconvenienced at all.

  • Earl_G #28 5 years ago

    Now if only I could tinker around with my formation rather than just having to use one of a boring list of presets....

  • kentmonkey #29 5 years ago

    marc is there any reason (as in hardware limitations) why you can't tinker with your own formations rather than having to select from a pre-determined set of formations? It does seem that without that customisation, you are kinda losing a lot of the control over exactly how you want your team to play.

    I'm also in favour of losing the halftime chit chats and having a much more streamlined experience, I've got bored with the recent PC offerings as they require far too much time to actually get any reward out of them and I just don't have the 3-4 hours per session they require to get the 3-4 matches played in them. I'm not entirely convinced that a lot of the 'features' in the newer PC versions actually achieve that much anyway, I never really get the impression that my half-time chat had any effect or not or whether my constant media interaction has had any benefit on the team or not so I'd rather it just wasn't there and thus saves me the time.

    Great to have the editor there this time, does that allow you to output the database to your PC by any chance to amend it there or do you have to amend it on the PSP?

  • Furbs #30 5 years ago

    Theres no half time chitchat.

    Theres enough options and flexibility there to not need any more tinkering with the formations anyway. I really doubt Ferguson brings up a blackboard and says to Ronaldo "Right, I want you to fall over as much as possible whilst playing exactly...HERE". You can control how your team plays by telling certain players to run with the ball, what sort of passing to do and loads more, so theres certainly enough customisation there.

    You can do things like assign players freeroles and so on, even that is getting into the realms of too much depth for a handheld arguably. Its weird on the one hand you want to simplify things to speed up the experience, but then want to make them more picky by having the option to move your striker a couple of feet backwards :)

  • kentmonkey #31 5 years ago

    Cheers Furbs

    I don't like things that are seen as "nice to haves" (such as half time chit chat and media interaction) but when it comes to formations I do like as much control as possible. Not to the anal extent of "just 2 feet to the left" but enough to be able to tell my wingbacks whether I want them really wide or tucked in slightly, same as my wingers, do I want them really wide, getting white on their feet, or do I want them tucked in slightly to help bolster the midfield.

    Plus I always think with formations once you've done 2 or 3 different ones you want to use, that's it, very little tinkering required, so it's not too time consuming.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #32 5 years ago

    "If you get the chance then I'd recommend trying the game anyway"

    I've already tried it. I give FM a go every two or three years to see if it's improved, but the idea of playing a top manager who scouts players, negotiates transfers, directs training, picks the side, chooses tactics, and then LISTENS TO THE MATCH ON THE RADIO IN A CLOSED WINDOWLESS ROOM is just too ridiculous to get past. Football you can't see is worthless. Nobody calls it "the beautiful-sounding game".

  • kentmonkey #33 5 years ago

    Can you manage more than one team (ala the PC games).

    I always like managing Arsenal plus a conference side.

  • Furbs #34 5 years ago

    Afraid not monkey.

    Rev. out of interest, how many real life football managers spunk millions on a player without ever seeing him in the flesh? Souness and Wilkinson dont count. How many managers will pick a team based on their average rating in the Suns Dream Team?

    Its a game. The 2D game engine makes no difference to the game at all in this version. Hell, even in the PC version its only really useful for watching some nice goals. Unless I assume you play every game in real time? Would it be fair to assume you think the Amiga versions and CM2/3 were pointless due to the lack of this feature?

    Did you think to moan about Sensible Soccer because it let you control every single player on the pitch using a one button joystick? Realism? Pah!
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/06 @ 22:23

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #35 5 years ago

    Yes. People who aren't wannabe-accountant nerds. The highlights are the payoff for the work.

  • marc_si #36 5 years ago

    "Can you manage more than one team (ala the PC games). "

    I'm afraid you're limited to one team (plus international side if you've unlocked that - or are good enough to obtain such a position) at a time.

  • Furbs #37 5 years ago

    Well Rev, there seems to be a pretty big market for that segment. Bigger than the LMA/FIFA Manager crowd combined, so I guess you're SOL and its not the game for you.

    For me the reward is in building a team and winning things. I guess for real managers the reward is Match of the Day and Mark Lawrenson?

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #38 5 years ago

    There's a big market for a lot of things that are nevertheless shit.

  • Furbs #39 5 years ago

    Oh I see, you're properly trolling! :)

    Nevermind, carry on.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #40 5 years ago

    Oh shush, you muppet. It was a perfectly sensible discussion until some chump who shall remain nameless trotted out the lamest argument in the world - "If something's popular it must automatically be good". It doesn't explain the sales of Cliff Richard records, it doesn't explain FIFA outselling Pro Evo for the last 10 years, it doesn't explain why Gran Turismo games are bigger hits than Ridge Racer ones, and it doesn't mean everyone who buys football management games without graphics isn't a soulless anal-retentive nerd. The fact that there are a lot of them doesn't mean you'd want to meet one at a party. Football isn't about numbers.

  • Furbs #41 5 years ago

    No you're right, good sales figures are no indication of quality. Good sales figures and continued critical acclaim probably are though. Nice stereotyping though. Not to mention, to the hoards of "nerds" the game is undeniably good. Just because you've had a few things written in the past doesnt make your opinion any more valid than theirs, so I dont get your "its clearly objectively shit" line.

    You do realise you've made your living in the most nerdy industry in the world ever, and are arguing the toss over a game you dont like with some nerd you dont know on an internet gaming forum?

    Irony, thy name is Campbell.
    Edited by 2 at 07/12/06 @ 12:12

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #42 5 years ago

    I didn't actually say FM was shit.

  • Furbs #43 5 years ago

    "There's a big market for a lot of things that are nevertheless shit."

    Sorry, I took that as veiled innuendo towards it. If it doesnt fall into that category, I'm not sure why it was relevant to be honest.