Football Manager 2008 FAQ - Includes hints and tips Part 1

Sources: PaulC, Cleon,wwfan, Mr Personality,Asmodeus,Abramovich,Dayle Wood, Amaroq, Jimbokav1971...
and the rest who're just as important.And none of those listed above are responsible if you get sacked from your job after following the tips
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List of contents

[*] Installation of Tactics
[*] Installation of Training
[*] Editing Presets
[*] Arrows - Meanings (*)
[*] No on Sliders (Can't see them)
[*] Taking screenshots
[*] Uploading of screenshots
[*] Can I use tactics from FM 2007 for FM2008(*)
[*] Can I import training schedules from FM2007 to FM2008(*)
[*] Can I import filters for player searches?(*)
[*] What's a pkm and how do you upload them.
[*] Uploading files,pkms and savegames

Game Financials

[*] Why do I need feeder clubs and which are the best countries to find one? (*)

Gameplay FAQ
Training
[*] How To Retrain Players
[*] My players don't seem to be doing well in training (*)
[*] What's a good way to develop your youth (*)
[*] 7 Star coaching(*)
[*] Attributes for positions(*)
[*] Explain work permits and how to get them(*)

Sliders

[*] What is mentality(*)
[*] What is closing down?(*)
[*] What is tempo(*)
[*] What does creative freedom do and how do I use it?(*)
[*] What is the defensive line and how do I use it(*)

Player Instructions

[*] Hold up Ball
[*] Swapping Positions
[*] Try Through Balls
[*] Offside Traps
[*] Cross ball and through ball, who uses it and how
[*] Avoiding conflicting instructions
[*] Opposition Instructions - Mr Personality

Managing Challenges

[*] How do I play slow probing football(*)
[*] My players get tired injured too fast(*)
[*] I keep getting beat down the flanks, I can't seem to stop them from crossing(*)
[*] Those balls are going over the top and reaching their strikers when I push my dline up, what can I do?(*)
[*] Playing to your opponents weaknesses and using your strengths
[*] Influence of pitch sizes and tips on handling them
[*] How do you get out of a slump
[*] What's a good corner strategy - Amaroq
[*] What kind of a player takes a good freekick
[*] What are good targetmen settings
[*] What are good team instructions for targetmen
[*] How do I set up playmakers
[*] What is ingame tweaking - Cleon

Understanding football formations
[*] 442
[*] 451
[*] 433
[*] Diamond 4312
[*] 532
[*] 4411
[*] 4321
[*} 343
[*] Detailed look at a 442 and attributes need for FM -Cleon



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Installing Tactics

When installing a tactic make sure you add it to
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\tactics

and not

C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\data\tactics

Installing Training

Training goes in the C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\training

and not

C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\data\training

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How to Edit Preset Templates

To edit the preset player instructions templates you need to edit the tactical_template.xml file. This can be located in the default directory C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\data\tactics

Then once you see the tactical_template.xml file right clikc on it and choose to open it with notepad. Then at the top it explains what the values range from and how to change them. then edit them to suit how you want them to be.

It make's it much easier to edit them because making subs is much easier then if your bringing a different sort of player on and want to mix things up. But find it too time consuming to change every single stat. Well by editing this it will be faster and a lot easier.

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Barrows, Farrows and Sarrows wtf?

It's a term often used across the boards, but one little people understand. So here is what they mean;

Barrows - Backward arrows on a player, the arrow points to where the player will be with ball, without ball is the opposite direction
Farrow - Forward arrows on a player, indicates withball and without ball positions
Sarrows - Sideway arrows on a player a hybrid of both


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Numbers on slider, but I can't see them?

The sliders are no longer numbered, however each slider is considered to be in the range of 1-20. 1 being the very far left of the slider and 20 the furthest the slider will move to the right.

So for example: Closing down 14 would mean 14 notches from the very end of the left side.

*NOTE - All sliders start at 10 when you start a game, until you change them

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How do I take an in game screenshot of FM?
First make sure you are in FM and then press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard, at first it will seem nothing has happened but..open up Paint and press " Ctrl and V" to paste in the image. Now go to File/Save As and save the image as a .JPG.

On a Mac
Apple + Shift + F4

This will save it as a PNG file.

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Uploading Screenshots

http://www.imageshack.us/ upload to this site, then just link the URL you are given
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Can I use tactics from FM 2007 for FM2008

Yes, go to edit tactics>import>My Documents>Sports Interactive>FM2007>Tactics>File

Can I import training schedules from FM2007 to FM2008

Yes, exactly as tactics, but in the training folder

Can I import filters for player searches?

Yes same principle as above


What's a pkm and how do you upload them

Pkms are highlights of games that have been played, depending on your settings you can save your own matches or those from other leagues in the game. Go to fixtures>To the Match>Highlights>Save

The game gives your file a default save game in the directory found in My Documents>Sports Interactive>Matches. The file is small in size and can easily be uploaded. A good upload side is savefiles.com or fmdownloads.net

Uploading files, pkms and savegames

The file needs to be hosted on a server that can be accessed by the public. Uploading can be via ftp or you can use an online upload site like FMdownloads.net or if you have larger files and you want to organise it yourselves then use savefiles.com.

Using any file, zip it, and then use the program to upload the file. At savefiles.com they will prompt you to choose it off your harddisk, and then they will provide you with a link. Copy the link and paste the URL into the forums when you start a discussion. It is much easier for people to help if you have pkms or saved games featuring your problem.

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+++FINANCIALS+++++++
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Why do I need feeder clubs
Feeder clubs allow one to send talented players on loan, though the parent club pays the players wages. Managers can also send players to feeder clubs in Poland and Belgium and let them play there for 3 years, with them re-extending the attachment every year so that the player can achieve a EU nationality. Some feeder clubs also provide an extra stream of revenue for merchandising. If you're a lower league club and you have a rich parent club, you also get injections of revenue from the relationship. Belgium is generally considered the best location to have a feeder club cos players get nationality in 3 yrs. Next is Poland. You can only accept/reject the board recommendations and cannot ask for a specific club from a specific country.