FM18: 5 Things To Signal You Need A New Save

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Remember when you first started your Career Save? You had your pad and pencil ready for notes, you researched the team and their history, you even named the save “Hadjuk” because you knew this was the one? How quickly the gloss can start to fade from a save even if it’s not going badly. Here are 5 signals that you need a new save.

1. Space Bar Pumping

How many minutes, hours, days went past before you hit Continue on your first save? In FM17 Benfica save, it took me three sessions before I pressed the button. Assess the squad, set up tactics, create the set pieces, set up staff, what about training? Then onto scouting. Bids! Contracts! A Football Manager’s work is never done.

Fast forward to now and its game played – hit space. Inbox. News about the game. Space. After game presser? Pfft Middle option. No Comment. Space. Training advice. Space. Tactical advice. Fuck off. Space.  Space.  Space.  Next Game. Team Selection. Woah let’s not be hasty.

2. Quick Pick

In the early days you used to spread your love around with starts given to those who deserved it after good performances on the pitch or on the training fields. Giving game time to young starlets to bring them into the fold with a tender touch. Suspensions or injuries – argh! Agonising over who is best to bring in.

Now? Quick Pick! Oh Ass-Man don’t be a fanny. I am not playing my 18year old 3rd choice goalie nor my  40year old left back who’s only here to tutor. It’s a play-off final man.

3. Change from Comprehensive to Extended to Key Highlights

In the beginning of your career, when you are tweaking that tactic I am sure you might even dabbled a bit with Full Match? It’s okay – there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Then you move onto Comprehensive for the first 10-15 – identify opponents strengths and weaknesses before going to Extended. You are confident now so you start on Extended – maybe dip back into Comp if things aren’t going well. Then you realise – I’m busy, time is precious – FM time even more so – so let’s skip straight to Key Highlights – they let me know the very important things I need to know anyway, right?

4. Getting Save Envy from other blogs

Who doesn’t like a save update blog? Inspiring tales from exotic lands. Glory and heartbreak. The FM Community is one of the game’s greatest strengths with hours of time being volunteered by folk who genuinely love the game and love to share their experience of FM. It was probably a blog or a book or a newspaper article or podcast that has influenced your choice of team for this career save, no? Problem is you start your game but you don’t stop reading these stories. And look who’s just won the Libertadores in his first season in Ecuador. Look who’s in season 2042/43 with £1,000,000,000 transfer budget and a stadium named after him. I can do that! No problem, if only I hadn’t started unemployed in Slovakia.

5. Starting a side save

Ah the Side Save – the gateway drug to a new save. Here’s the usual path to a better place – first Guido releases a new blog on his latest strikerless system and it’s only natural to want to experiment a little. Where’s the harm? So you download it, fire up a new career save with someone a bit different from your “real” save, someone a bit better perhaps? Maybe a bit more exotic? It’s not cheating – you are simply testing it out to see if you can take anything from it back to your team. Like Strachan when he watched all those good teams training in his gap year. And wow! It works! It feels really good. Look at us winning! Look at these wonderkids you’ve bought! Just one more game – that’s all  – just one more and then I’ll go back….