PLAYER MANAGER 2 ================ INSTRUCTION MANUAL TYPED BY SHARD - N&B BRING BACK THE GLORY DAYS Dear Customer You can play this game without even reading this manual, but it is unlikely that you will get to the top. This game is far far deeper than any game you have played. It punishes mistakes, tolerates occasional misnomers and rewards good judgements. Judgement is based on the information in the manual. How you use the information is half the fun. We hope you enjoy this product. Any constructive suggestions are most welcome. Anco software Ltd 1.0 INTRODUCTION ---------------- At the age of 28, you are at the peak of your career a capped player. You have been appointed the Player Manager of a 2nd division club. Your superior skills and experience on the pitch will be a great advantage for gaining promotion initially, but as you grow older and the competition gets tougher the only way to the top is by assembling the best squad, employing brilliant tactics and having enough money in the bank. 1.1 Player Manager 2 is a 1 - 4 player game. All four managers are appointed to neighbouring clubs. Even in a 1 player game, the other three computer managers will keep a close eye on you. 1.2 The manager's office is the nerve centre of the management part of the game. Here you can assess the squad, look at the individual player's attributes and skills, buy and sell players renew contracts, loan in and loan out players, in fact control all the most important aspects of club management. 1.3 Another important aspect is, of course, coaching. Not only must you continually strive to improve the skills of your whole squad, you must also ensure that young players develop and become an asset. They need playing experience yet must be used sparingly. You need to keep a very close eye on player fatigue and the fitness of the injured players. 1.4 For those who want to concentrate on management only there are Predict, Watch and Fast Scanner options. 1.5 For those who wish to play on the pitch, two playing options are available. Normal and Role Play. The NORMAL option is controlling the player nearest to the ball and ROLE PLAY is playing in a pre-selected position i.e. Midfield etc. 1.6 You also have four views of the pitch to play on. Each view has certain advantages. The views are Overhead, Up and Down, Overhead Side to Side, Perspective and Isometric. 1.7 There are four divisions in the league, PREMIER, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Three clubs are promoted and three clubs are relegated. There are two domestic and three European Cup Competitions. Like all simulations, the final outcome depends on a multitude of factors and their mix. We leave you to learn from your experience. 1.8 ASSISTANT MANAGER The Manager has to hang up his boots at the age of 36. You will be allowed to appoint an Assistant Manager after one year i e for a year you can not play on the pitch and must concentrate on management. Once the assistant manager has been appointed, he can play on the pitch i e you can play on the pitch. The assistant manager has a contract of 3 years. On the expiry of the contract, the manager will have to wait for one year before appointing another assistant manager. 2.0 MENU CONTROLS ----------------- 2.1 You will need a mouse or a joystick for controiling the menus, but to play on the pitch you will need a joystick. 2.2 Mouse : Use the LEFT mouse button to SELECT an item. Use the RIGHT mouse button to QUIT the menu. Some menus have a DONE icon in the bottom right corner. Select Done to quit the menu. 2.3 Joystick : Two button Joystick : Use as the mouse. One button Joystick : Use ESC instead of right mouse button. 2.4 Multiple Players : Each player takes his turn to complete his management. The number on the cursor corresponds with the player in control. Once a player has finished the management part, he clicks on the Boot Room to finish his turn. The number on the cursor will change and the next player takes control. When the last player has completed the management, the Boot Room will be displayed. The cursor will display the player number playing the first match. The name of the team controlled by the player will also be displayed on the wall. 3.0 OPENING MENUS ----------------- These menus set up the game environment before you assume the management responsibilities. 3.1 The opening menu gives you the three following choices. 3.1.1 NEW GAME : You start a totally new game. 3.1.2 CONTINUE GAME : This option is used to continue a previously saved game. A directory of the saved games is displayed. Select the file name of the game you wish to continue. 3.1.3 DEMO GAME : This is a tutorial mode to get you acquainted with the game. The season week 16 and at the end of the season the Demo Game returns to the main menu. This gives you an opportunity to explore the whole game. 3.2 GAME SET UP 3.2.1 No of Players : 1 to 4 players. Select the icon. 3.2.2 Game Set Up : There are 11 different set-ups A to K. A set up creates a game environment. It creates a different mix of numbers and quality of 11 categories of players i.e. keepers, strikers, midfield generals etc. for the whole league of 64 English and 64 European clubs. Since each player is a unique mixture of 15 physical attributes and skills, the players for a particuiar set up are very different. Each set up therefore gives a very different game play which gives you a variety of problems and solutions within the game. 3.3 SEASON : This is the starting date of the Player Manager career. Click on it to edit the year. 3.4 APPLICATION FORM 3.4.1 Manager Name. The default name is given. To edit the name, click on it, flashing cursor will appear. You can now change the name using the keyboard. To terminate the input press the Return key. 3.4.2 Style : To change the style, click on one of the four styles to select a replacement. 3.4.3 Position. You have a choice of ten positions. This choice is of great importance as it has significant influence on your performance on the pitch. To change a current position, select the required position. 3.4.4 Mode. You can select Normal or Role play (see 1.5 for details). You play in the position selected in 3.4.3 if you select the role play option. 3.5 The style selected will now be implemented. The players created under Set Up (3.2.2) will now be distributed to all the clubs in the league. Your team wiil get the players to suit your style i.e more defenders if you selected defensive style. 3.6 Appointment : You will be appointed manager of a club. In a multiple player game, select the small scrolls to see the appointments. 4.0 PRE-SEASON -------------- On your appointment, you have 6 weeks Pre-Season before the real season starts. The first week is spent on the beach then five weeks in the office. During this time you can buy and sell as many players as you like. The minimum squad size is 16 and the maximum is 24. You must also organise rigorous fitness training as your squad is semi fit. The tasks in the first week are as below. 4.1 Sponsorship (Entry : book) : You have three types of sponsorship. Straight cash, cash + gate receipts and cash + cup win bonus. Highlight the offer you wish to accept and then select Accept to confirm the choice. 4.2 Arrange Friendlies (Entry : telephone) : You have five friendlies to arrange. You can select any team in the league or teams in Europe. Click on PS. Wk2 ( pre-season week 2) to display the divisions, click of your choice and the teams in that division will be displayed. Select a team. Repeat for PS Wk 3, 4, 5 and 6. 4.3 Make Appointments (Entry : laptop) : The contracts of the scout, physio and coach are yearly so their contracts must be renewed each year. They all have a rating which is reflected in their salary. The ratings range from 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest rating . A five star coach will import a lot more skill in your squad in a shorter period than a one classed coach. You must select a coach, physio, scout and a specialist keeper coach before you can exit the pre-season. menu. 4.4 School Boy Contracts : From the 2nd season onwards, you can sign on schoolboys to :he squad. You can coach the young talented players and sell them in time to Premier division clubs. You can bid for up to eight players as long as you do not exceed the maximum squad strength of 24. PREMIER DIVISION CLUBS CAN NOT BID FOR SCHOOL BOYS. 4.4.1 Signing on School boys : Scan through the list of players and select which players you wish to buy. Once you have selected, your bid will be considered against other bids. If your bid succeeds, the young players will join your squad. 4.5 When all tasks have been completed, select Done to go to your office complex. 5.0 THE OFFICE COMPLEX ---------------------- The office complex consists of eight rooms- ARCHIVES : Information on the league, clubs, hot shots, club history etc. FINANCIAL DIRECTORS : Gives you an overall picture of the club's finances PRESS ROOM : All the gossip and all the information you will ever need BOARD ROOM : Habitat of your bosses. MANAGER'S OFFICE : The nerve centre of the club COACH'S ROOM: Coaching and training. PHYSIO ROOM : Takes care of all Injured players. BOOT ROOM : Final preparation before match day. The functions of each office will now be described in more detail. 6.0 MANAGERS OFFICE ------------------- As you move round the managers office, the functions of the various items will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Selecting the item will take you to the menu. The menus are self explanatory but a brief description is given below. 6.1 THE SQUAD (Entry : Picture on the wall) Your squad is the heart of your club. Take good care of it. 6.1.0 Team Rating : Your Team Rating is shown at the top. There are 64 teams in the league. The rating shows your position based on the ability and strength of your squad. It has nothing to do with the value of your squad or your position in the division. 6.1.1 Tactics : The current match tactics is shown at the top. You can change the tactics by clicking on it. It will cycle through 4 selected match tactics. To change Match Tactics, see 7.4. 6.1.2 The shirts colour in the 2nd column will change according to tactics indicating the type of player required for the selected tactics. Green Keeper Blue Defender Yellow Midfield Red Forward 6.1.3 Now you know the type of player required for the selected tactics, select the right type of player for the position. The 3rd column shows the natural playing positlon of the player. There are 10 types of specific players. The type is colour coded as above. To get the right type of player in the right position, match the two colours. 6.1.4 A shirt number for a given tactics defines the functions of the player wearing that shirt. We have broadly defined these functions as 10 positions. The positions are as follows: Centre Back (CBK) : A Central Defender Full Back (FBK) : Defender playing wide Player generally has better than average pace. Defender (DEF) : Utility defender Playmaker (PMK) : A midfielder used for distributing the ball Midfield (MID) : Good Passing ability. Midfield General (MGN) : Battling type of mldfielder Winger (WNG) : Playing wide. Has high pace. Centre Forward (CFW) : A forward playing in central position. Target Man (TMN) : Used in conjunction with wingers as receiver of crossed balls. Striker (STK) : A good goal scoring forward. Players playing in these positions have a unique mix of physical attributes and skills. See 16.0 for a detailed explanation. 6.1.5 AVAILABILITY : An unavailable player can not be used for a match. The reasons for availability are injury, sickness, suspension after 4 yellow cards, red carded or on International duty. 6.1.6 AGE : Age range is 16 - 35. A 16 year school boy is not really ready for a league game and if used, should be used sparingly. His stamina is also a bit suspect. On his 36th birthday a player is retired. 6.1.7 RATING : A player is rated from 1 to 5 in that division. A 5 star player in the 1st division may only rate 3 stars in the Premier division. The ratings give you a broad comparison of the abilities of the players in the squad. 6.1.8 RANKING : This is a league ranking. There are 20 ranked keepers from 1 to 20. These are the 20 best keepers in that order in the 64 clubs in the league. There are 20 ranked defenders, midfielders and forwards. 6.1.9 CARDS : It shows the number of yellow cards received by the player. A player receiving his 4th yellow card is suspended for the next 2 weeks and is unavailable for 2 matches. A red carded player is suspended for 3 weeks. 6.1.10 CONTRACT : A player displaying 0 in this column will leave at the end of the current year. You can renew his contract in the Player Data menu. 6.1.11 TRANSFER OR LOAN LIST : Following messages appear: Tr Listed : Player has been transfer listed Tr Request : Player is requesting a transfer Bid Recd : Bid has been received for the player Loan Lstd : Player is on loan list 6.2 PLAYER DATA 6.2.0 The player as an action menu data gives very comprehensive details of the player. It is an information as well as an action menu. ACCESS : Click on the Availability column of the required player in the squad. 6.2.1 The following information is displayed NAME of the player and his CLUB VALUATION Player's AGE, playing POSITION, RATING, RANKING, NATIONALITY and his LAST CLUB. 6.2.2 RANKING. While Rating is a divisional indicator of the players' ability, ranking is a league measure, See 6.1.8. As the player's ability changes all the time, ranking can change from week to week. A player may be ranked one week and not the next. 6.2.3 NATIONALITY The league contains players from 16 nations. If you have non-English players in the squad, it has two effects. 6.2.3.1 European Competitions : You are allowed to use only 4 overseas players in a European Competitions. Any player of other than an English nationality is a foreign player. 6.2.3.2 Internationals : The player may be called away to play for his country. 6.2.4 SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES A combination of skills and physical attributes uniquely defines a player. The bar graph displays each skill and attribute. A marker gives you the divisional average as a guide, so you can see how the player compares with the rest of the players in that division. 6.2.5 The bar colours are as follows: Red Below Average Orange Average Yellow Above Average The assessment of skills and attributes of each individual player is the most important aspect of a Manager's job. 6.2.6 ATTRIBUTES 6.2.6.1 PACE : Speed of the player. The pace decreases as the player gets tired. You know how useful it is to have that extra yard of pace. Pace is the main attribute of a winger and to some extent of a Full Back. 6.2.6.2 ACCELERATIDN : Determines how quickly a player gets to his maximum pace. 6.2.6.3 STAMINA Directly affects pace and skills. A tired player can't be that agile or accurate in shooting. See 7.2 for improving stamina. 6.2.6.4 RESILIENCE : A player with low resilience is liable to get injured more often. 6.2.6.5 AGILITY : Determines how quickly a player can get the ball under control. 6.2.6.6 VISION : Vision is about reading the game. A player with good vision will not automatically pass the ball to the nearest Playmaker player but see which player can utilise the ball best. An important requirement for a Playmaker. 6.2.6.7 ADAPTABILITY : A player with high adaptability will play competently out of his natural position. 6.2 6.8 AGGRESSION : A player with high aggression will go for the ball. He is also liable to fall foul of the referee unless he has good tackling and control skills and good temperament. 6.2.6.9 FLAIR : A player with high flair is greedy, an important requirement for a striker 6.2.7 TEMPERAMENT : A player with good temperament will keep cool under pressure and not get wound up by the opposition. 6.2.8 PLAYER SKILLS 6.2.8.1 PASSING : Passing skill is probably the most important skill for a player specially for midfielders. 6.2.8.2 SHOOTING : Shows the accuracy of player shooting, very important for a forward. 6.2.8.3 TACKLING : The ability to get the ball and not foul the player is the measure of tackling. The measure of tackling is an important skill for a defender or midfielder. 6.2.8.4 CONTROL . The skill in controlling the ball. 6.2.9 KEEPER SKILLS The Keeper has his own measure of skills. Special Keeper skills are as follows 6.2.9.1 THROWING : How far the keeper throws or rolls the ball 6.2.9.2 KICKING : How far the keeper kicks the ball. 6.2.9.3 KEEPING : This determines the keeper's diving and catching ability. 6.2.9.4 JUMPING : The height he can jump to tip the ball over the bar. 6.2.9.5 HANDLING : His anticipation to come off the line. 6.2.10 COMPARISDNS : If at any time you wish to see one particular attribute or skill for the whole squad together select that attribute or skill i e. select pace and the whole squad's pace will be displayed. The word pace will be displayed over the bars. Click on it to cycle through all the skills and attributes. 6.2.11 ACTION PANEL : This is displayed on the right. 6.2.11.1 AVAILABILITY : If a player is available for selection, a tick mark is displayed. If he is not available the duration and reason for his absence is displayed. 6.2.11.2 CARDS : Shows disciplinary cards. 6.2.11.3 INT. STATUS : Shows whether the player has been capped and whether he is Current International or Past International. 6.2.11.4 INT CAPS : Number of caps gained by the player. 6.2.11.5 WAGES. The player gets appearance money equivalent to his wages if he plays on the pitch. If he plays twice in a week, he gets two appearance fees plus the wages shown. 6.2.11.6 LOAN OUT : If you wish to loan out a player click on this option. you can loan out a player for 4 to 7 weeks. Select the number of weeks. The player will then become Loan Listed. 6.2.11.7 TRANSFER : If you wish to transfer a player select this option. The player will be transfer listed. You can only transfer list 2 players in 1 week. 6.2.11.8 CANCEL TRANSFER : You can cancel the transfer listing by selecting the transfer option. You can't cancel it in the same week in which the player was transfer listed. You can loan out a maximum of 4 players in a year. The transfer list is closed from week 25. All transfer listing is then closed. 6.2.11.9 SELLING PRICE : You can set a different selling price to the price shown for the player. If you want to sell a player quickly, reduce the price. You can also set it higher if you dont really want to sell a player requesting a transfer. 6.2.11.10 CONTRACT : You can renew a player's contract. Max. duration is 3 years. Select the duration. 6.2.11.11 SEASON APPEARANCES AND GOALS : Displays the number of times the player has played on the pitch and the number of goals he has scored in the present season. 6.2.11.12 CAREER APPEARANCES AND GOALS : Cumulative total of the above in his entire career. 6.3 FIXTURE LIST (Entry : Board on wall) : The fixture list gives you a list of all the known fixtures for the season. The cup fixtures, replays and postponed fixtures are added as they become known. 6.3.1 Attendance: The last column shows the attendance for each match, a very good indicator of your performance. 6.4 THE ACCOUNTS ( Entry: Laptop ) : The accounts in the managers office are weekly. The balance is carried forward to the next week. All the fixed expenses are calculated after Saturday's match. If there is a mid-week match, the gates and appearance money of the players are included in expenses immediately. The accounts are self explanatory. You must keep a close eye on the accounts, failure to do so may lead to your sacking. 6.5 THE SCOUT ( Entry: Laptop ) : There are 5 grades of scouts. The quality determines the class of player he finds. You can instruct him to look for 3 players at any one time. Select the header Player 1. Now click on each sub header to display the choices available, for example click on Type and Keeper Defender Midfield and Forward are displayed. Make your choice. You can now give the scout detailed instructions. 6.5.1 When all the instructions have been given, the scout will give 1 of 4 responses: No Problem, Do my Best, Very Difficult or Impossible 6.5.2 The last two indicate that you may have to wait a long time to find a player. You can relax conditions sufficiently to get one of the first two responses. 6.5.3 You can cancel scout instructions at any time by clicking on Cancel Inst. 6.5.4 Bidding For a Scouted Player : When the Scout Report for a player turns from no to Yes, click on Yes to go to list of players he has found. Select the player you wish to bid for and you will go straight to the bid screen. Follow the procedure detailed in 6.10. 6.6 THE OPPOSITION ( Entry : Laptop ) : The opposition option gives you the following information. 6.6.1 The Squad : Shows the full opposition's squad. 6.6.2 Comparison : This compares your current selected squad against the opposition squad used in the last match. It compares the keepers, defence, midfield and forwards in the pertinent skills. If the bar is to the right, the opposition has the advantage and if the bar is to the left, you have the advantage. The length and colour of the bar displays the degree of the advantage. Light colours 0 to 50 %, Dark colours 51 to 100 %. 6.6.3 Form : The form shows the opposition results in the last 5 home or away games depending on whether they are playing home or away. 6.7 LEAGUE TABLES ( Entry : Filofax ) : A Handy reference to see the league tables, results and fixtures of your own division. 6.8 TACTICS DESIGNERS (Entry : Easel ) : Eight tactics are provided in the program. These are fairly standard tactics and may not accommodate the special needs of your squad. You can now fine tune any of these tactics or design any number from scratch. 6.8.1 The basis of the tactics design is that you move the ball from square to square and position the players on the pitch relative to the ball. You can design the tactics with your player in possession of the ball (Attack) or the opposition with the ball (Defence). 6.8.2 You can use the Ray Trace facility to ensure that the players' paths don't cross and that you do not ask them to move too far as they may not have enough pace to get to the new position. 6.8.3 There are various icons at the top and to the left of the pitch. The icons are as follows: 6.8.3.1 Attack : When you have the possession of the ball. 6.8.3.2 Defence : Tactics when the opponents have the ball. 6.8.3.3 Ray Trace : Traces the position of the players for up to 5 movements of the ball. 6.8.3.4 Copy : Copies the position of the players for one position of the ball to the next position of the ball. 6.8.3.5 Load and Save : You can load any existing tactic, modify it and save it on your disc. 6.8.3.6 Position : Specify the shirt numbers used in defence, midfield and forward areas. 6.8.3.7 View : Your team is on the pitch. 6.8.3.8 Opposition : Opposition team is on the pitch. You can view both teams simultaneously. 6.8.3.9 Top Corner Attack: Position of your players when you are taking a corner. Defence: Position of your players when the opponents take a corner. 6.8.3.10 Goal kick Attack: Position of your players when the opponent's keeper takes a goal kick. Defence: Position of your players when your keeper takes the goal kick. 6.8.3.11 KICK OFF Attack : You kick off. Defence : Opposition kicks off. 6.8.3.12 Bottom corner: As in 6.8.3.9 6.8.4 Making a start : When you go to tactics design, a default tactics is already loaded. You can modify and adapt this tactics or load another tactics to modity or form a basis of a new tactics. 6.8.5 Loading a Tactics : Select the Load icon. A directory of eight pre-designed tactics will be displayed. You can also load a previously designed tactics. Select the disc icon to load a saved tactics. 6.8.6 Saving a Tactics : Use the Save option. You CAN NOT save a tactics under the heading already used for pre-designed tactics. 6.8.6.1 You will need a formatted disc to save the tactics. Insert a formatted blank disc in the drive before selecting the Save option. The SAVE disc can store 10 tactics and 5 save games. 6.8.7 Moving the Ball : Move the cursor to the ball. Press left mouse button. Keep the button pressed and drag the ball to the new position. Release the button. 6.8.8 Moving a Player : Move the cursor to the player and move the player as you do the ball. 6.8.9 Attack and Defence tactics are different. Select one or the other say : Attack and move the ball to each square in turn. For each position of the ball, move the players to their new positions. You need to fix the position of the players for corners, kick off and goal kicks. 6.8.10 Use the Ray Trace facility to ensure that players do not cross each others paths. The movements of the players should be limited otherwise the players will not be in position. Of course you can design deep runs. 6.8.11 Copy : This facility allows you to copy the position of the players for the ball position to another square. For example if you wish to make the square 2 position the same as the square 5 position, select the Copy option. You then click on 5 then on 2. 6.8.12 Positions : Before going to the Save option, you must define the playing position of each player i e defence, midfield or forwards. When you option, the pitch will be divided into three sections - Forward, Midfield and Defence. Place your forwards in the forward section and so on. Placing them accurately in the position they will play is also important, ie. if 7 is a winger and midfielder and tactics is 4 2 4, place him wide in the midfield area but right on the boundary joining the forward area. The display you arrange will be used in Team Talk. Study one of the tactics for an example. 6.9 TRANSFERS ANO LOANS Transfers and loans options are a very important part of the management. 6.9.0.1 Transfers and loans are accessed in the Player Data for a player. To get Player Data of any player, simply click the availability column of the required player in the Squad in the Manager's office. Transfer and Loan List closes from week 25. Any players still on the Transfer or Load List are removed from the list. 6.9.0.2 Transfer and loan out options are displayed in the green column on the right. 6.9.1 Selling A Player : To sell a player, you put the player on the Transfer list. 6.9.11 Click on Transfer and 'Tr Listed' will appear against the option. 6.9.2 RULES. 6.9.2.1 You can only put 2 players on the Transfer List in one week. 6.9.2.2 You can not Transfer List an injured player or a player who has been loaned out to another club. 6.9.2.3 If a player gets injured after being Transfer Listed a red cross will appear against his name in the Transfer List. 6.9.2.4 Removing A Player From Transfer List : To remove a Tr Listed player from the Transfer List, simply click on the transfer. 6.9.2.5 Player must remain on the Transfer List for one week i.e. you can not change your mind immediately. 6.9 3 Loan Listing A Player Select Loan Out option. You can loan out a player for 4 to 7 weeks. Select the period. 6.9.3.1 Removing Player From Loan List : Click on Loan Out to cancel the instruction. 6.9.4 BID RECEIVED If your player is on a transfer list, keep a close eye on the Transfer / Loan column in the squad screen. If a club bids for your player, a message 'Bid Received' will appear. This message may appear even if your player is not transfer listed. Your player has been scouted by another club. 6.9.4.1 To sell this player, click on the Bid Received message and you will go straight to the Bid Screen. 6.9.5 BID SCREEN The bid screen is used for both buying and selling a player. 6.9.5.1 SELLING A PLAYER If you are selling a player, your selling price appears at the top. The price bidders are prepared to pay is displayed. A cursor will flash to give you the opportunity to change the price. The bidder may bid again with a higher price or go away. 6.9.5.2 If there is more than one bidder, the bidders may compete against each other until only one bidder is left. All you have to do is press the Return key to show you are not changing your price. 6.10 BUYING A PLAYER The selling price is displayed. You can enter your bid, Press the Return key to terminate the input. The seller will respond in one of three ways: a. Give a new price. b. A BLUE cross will appear against the bid to invite you to increase the bid. c. A RED cross will appear to terminate the transaction i e Go away. 6.10.1 You can, in the case of a or b, enter a new bid. The transaction is complete when two prices are equal. When a red cross appears, you have no option but to leave the bid screen as the seller has gone away. The sale might be blocked after the price has been agreed by your board if they feel it will imperil the club finances. 6.11 SAVING GAME ( Entry : Drawer in Manager's desk ) You can save a game so far at any time. Before you save a game for the first time, you must have a blank formatted disc ready (Amiga). For formatting a disc, refer to your Amiga manual. This disc can be used to save five games and ten tactics. This will be called SAVE disc. You can have as many Save discs as you like. 6.11.1 Click on the drawer. A menu with five slots will be displayed. Use the keyboard to insert the file name. 7.0 THE COACH ------------- After the manager, the coach probably plays the most important part in the development of the squad. There are five grades of coach. Higher the grade, the better the coaching. 7.1 THE COACH ( Entry : The Sofa ) The details of the coaching staff and their specialities is displayed. If an assistant manager has been appointed, he will be a part of the coaching staff. The keepers are trained by a specialist keeper coach. The specialist is appointed in the Pre-Season menu. 7.1.1 The coaching activities are divided into two parts : TEAM PRACTICE and GROUP COACHING. During the season, the number of hours assigned to the coach are 20. During the five weeks of pre-season, the number of hours are 40. 7.1.2 You must divide the available time between Team Practice and Group Coaching. Adjust the slider to allocate the hours. The Team Practice is taken by the whole staff together, while the Group Coaching is done by each member of the staff individually. You should vary the hours each week depending on the need. 7.2 TEAM PRACTICE ( Entry : Footballs ) There are seven items for the Team Practice. You can allocate time to each activity. The more you practice, the more familiar you get and the better the execution. 7.2.1 Four Match Tactics : Usually you use two of the four tactics, You should become familiar with these two. The other two need occasional refreshing. Corners need a lot of practice to make a real difference. Set Piece Free Kicks also need practice but they do not occur in the game very often. Five a Side improves the team's stamina. Tactics you use all the time do not need familiarising. High familiarity will be displayed. 7.2.2 Following our suggestions - Tactics 1 and 2 70 % minimum familiarity Tactics 3 and 4 40 % minimum familiarity Corners 70 % minimum familiarity Free Kicks 30 % minimum familiarity Tactics 3 and 4 are usually the replacement tactics for Tactics 1 and 2. When the familiarity gets better than 70 %, you can replace one of the top 2 tactics and use it in the match. 7.3 GROUP COACHING ( Entry : Cones ) Each member of the coaching staff can be allocated two activities. The activities are Shooting Passing, Tackling, Control and Fitness. 7.3.1 If you select any activity, the bar display shows their current status. The marker shows the skill at the start of the new season i.e. WK 1. If you coach the player, you will see his skill improving and the improvement in the skills is reflected in his price. 7.3.2 To give the player coaching, select the skill you wish to coach and then select one of the coaching staff. Select the players for the coaching before you select the players, bear the following in mind. 7.3.3 Suitability of the Coaching Staff : All the staff have a speciality and therefore will give better coaching in their particular speciality. Shooting Passing Tackling Control Defender Worse So - So Best OK Midfield O.K Best So - So OK Forward Best So - So Worst OK 7.3.4 The optimum number of players that one member of staff can handle for a skill is eight. Any more than eight players being coached at the same time will dilute the coaching. Each member of the staff can be allocated a maximum of two skills. Select the players to be coached carefully. Do not waste time e.g. by giving a defender shooting coaching. 7.3.5 Fitness : At the start of the pre-season, the players are semi-fit and you have 40 hours of coaching available. Use it to get the players fit and improve skills. The players recovering from injury are given fitness training until they are fit. They can not be given any skills coaching. 7.3.6 Fatigue : As the season wears on, the players get tired especially if you have not rested them. Young players get tired easily and become prone to injuries. Look at the fatigue factor and rest good players for unimportant matches to give other players experience, and keep them away from requesting transfers. Be very careful how often players are used. Do not burn out a young player. You have the opportunity to select squad, in this menu based on the above considerations. 7.4 TACTICS ( Entry : Easel ) : You are allowed to take four tactics to a match. The top listed tactics is the START Tactics. You can exchange tactics i.e. make any of the four tactics a START tactics. 7.4.1 To load a new tactics discard one of the match tactics. Select the tactics to be discarded and then click on the trash can. 7.4.2 Select the tactics to be loaded from the directory and then click on the vacant slot. 7.4.3 Exchange the new tactics with the vacant slot in the match tactics tables. 7.4.4 Usually the top tactics is used. The second and the third tactics are reserve tactics, one for all out attack and the other for all out defence. The fourth tactics is a nursery tactics which is fine tuning of the first tactics. You train for this tactics and when the players are sufficiently familiar replace the start tactics with the New tactics. You can then fine tune the second tactics. 7.5 ASSESSMENT ( Entry : Wall Chart ) : The coach gives the assessment of the first team forwards, midfield, defence and keepers in the important skills for that position. 7.5.1 He also assesses the whole squad 7.6 COACH MESSAGES ( Entry : Paper on the Table ) The coach is your eyes and ears in the dressing room. Pay heed to his messages. 8.0 PHYSIO ---------- The physio looks after the injured and sick players. There are five grades of physio. The better the physio, the better is the treatment, hence the shorter the injury time of the player. 8.1 INJURY LIST . ( Entry : Chart at tHe end of Bed ) : All the injured players are listed. Against each name the duration of the recovery from injury is given. The diagnosis is also given. In the first week of injury, you have the option to select the treatment. 8.2 Recovery time is displayed if you use the club doctor. You have the option to use Private treatment or engage a specialist. These two options cost extra but they may reduce the recovery time. Player fitness deteriorates as the weeks pass. When he has recovered from injury or illness, the physio takes over. 8.3 Against each player is also listed 3 other periods which will be needed before the player is fully fit. 8.4 PHYSIO. This is the time the physio needs to get the player to a certain level of fitness. This time depends on the quality of the physio and deterioration in player fitness. 8.5 Physio and Coach work together to get the patient to 90 % fitness. 8.6 COACH. This specifies the time required to get fully fit provided the coach gives fitness training (See 7.3.5). 9.0 FINANCIAL DIRECTOR (F.D) ---------------------------- As you would expect, the Financial Director has overall responsibility for the clubs finances. Managers come and go, but the clubs are there forever. The books in the F.D. office are very useful for an overview of the club finances. 9.1 WAGES ( Entry : Books ) : This gives the up-to-date wages of each player. Against each player are recorded his basic wage to date, appearance money, bonuses and total amount paid to date. Each player gets a basic wage and appearance money equal to his basic wage every time he plays on the pitch. If there is a mid week fixture, he can get appearance money twice. 9.2 INCOME ( Entry : Safe ) : This totals all the income to date. 9.3 EXPENDITURE ( Entry , Cheque Book ) : This details all the expenditure to date. 9.4 BONUS (Entry : Cash Box ) : There are two types of bonus that can be given. WIN Bonus : This is an incentive bonus given to the players selected for the next match. They only get the bonus if they win. CASH Bonus : Unconditional bonus given to the whole squad as a morale booster. 9.5 To give a bonus, select the type and the amount. Use cancel to cancel the bonus. 9.6 Once you have quit the menu, you can not go back to cancel the bonus. 9.7 CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS ( Entry: Laptop ) : Shows consolidated accounts to date. 10.0 BOARD ROOM --------------- The board on the whole is very supportive of the manager. However it keeps a close eye on finances and will block your bid for a player if the bid will endanger the club's finances. It will also stop you from selling a player too cheaply. The board expects you to produce results with your team rating. 10.1 RATINGS ( Entry : Diary ) 10.1.1 Manager's Rating : Keep a close eye on this. It shows how the board rates your performance. Low ratings means impending sack. 10.1.2 Team Rating. This rating is based on the class of players in your squad. The rating is a percentage out of 100. Higher the team rating, the better the board expect you to perform. Rating has no connection with the value of the squad. You may have paid too much for players or been a shrewd buyer. 10.1.3 FINANCIAL RATING ( Entry : Book ) : This is based on how well you have managed the club finances. 10.2 BOARD MESSAGES : From time to time, the board sends you messages. It may be warnings or messages of encouragement or the dreaded termination of contract. 10.3 SUPPORTERS MESSAGES : The messages convey the views from the terraces. 10.4 TAKE A BREAK : This is a morale booster. There is a choice of location, activities and duration. When you have selected all three, the cost will be shown. You can cancel the choice and make new selections. 10.4.1 Before making a selection, check how many days are available and that you can afford it. 10.5 STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS You will need to improve the capacity of your stadium right from the start. You will require large gates to survive in the higher division. The improvements can be ordered at any time but take place after the current season is over and are finished before the start of the season. 10.5.1 The money for the improvements is deducted as soon as the improvements are ordered. It is best to order improvements as the season is closing. 11.0 PRESS OFFICE ----------------- 11.1 International Squad (Entry : Notice Board) The players selected for England are listed. The second list shows the foreign players in the league called for International duty by their countries. 11.2 ANCO TIMES (Entry : News Rack) : Factual match reports. One for each manager. 11.3 HOT NEWS (Entry : Paper On Table) : Gossips, scandals, sackings and much more. The news keeps you informed of what is Happening elsewhere and can be useful. 11.4 RANKED PLAYERS (Entry : Printer) : The movement of ranked players is chronicled. 11.5 PROMOTIONS AND RELEGATIONS (Entry : Laptop) This lists last year's promotions and relegations. 11.6 VACANCIES AND APPOINTMENTS (Entry : Fax Machine) The league is notified of the new appointments and termination of contracts either by resignations or sackings. If you are interested in a vacancy, click on the vacancy to see the details. You will have the opportunity to apply for the vacancy. If the board agrees, you will be given an answer straight away. You will assume responsibilities at the new club immediately. 12.0 ARCHIVES ------------- This gives you full information on all the 64 clubs in the league and lots more. This information can be used to great advantage. 12.1 There are in total five racks labelled as: The League , Records, Clubs, Champions and Cups 12.2 THE LEAGUE The rack has four shelves, one for each division. Each shelf gives that division's Fixtures Results and Tables. 12.3 CLUBS This rack also has four shelves, one for each division. Select the division to display the names of the clubs in the division. 12.3.1 Select the club to view History, Background, fixtures and the Squad. 12.3.2 HISTORY This shows the club's position in the league, promotions, relegations and the number of times they won any of the domestic or European cups. 12.3.3 SQUAD : Gives a list of the players' names, ages, positions, ratings, rankings, nationalities and international caps. 12.3.4 BACKGROUND : A source of very useful information on the club. All you need to know about the club. 12.3.5 FIXTURES : The club fixture list. 12.4 RECORDS : This gives you information such as the highest gate, top scorer etc. 12.5 HOT SHOTS : Top scorers for each division are listed. 12.6 RANKED PLAYERS : Top 20 Keepers, Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards in the league are listed. 12.7 PAST TRANSFERS : Details of 50 past transfers are given, as the new transfers come in, the old transfers scroll off from the top. 13.0 BOOT ROOM -------------- This is the final room before you go to the match. Once you have selected the Boot Room, you can't go back to any other room in the office complex until that match has been played. 13.1 Multiple Players If more than one player is playing, each player goes to the Boot Room. When he has done all his tasks, he clicks on the window for Match day. 13.2 The cursor will change for the next player and he will complete his tasks and end his turn by clicking on the window. When all the players have taken their turn, clicking on the window will take you to the Match day of the first fixture which is independent of the player number. 13.3 SQUAD ( Entry : Shirts ) : Your match squad is shown giving you the opportunity to change it. Referee name is given. 13.4 PRE MATCH ASSESSMENT. There is a pre-match assessment by Alan Hansen. 13.5 TEAM TALK ( Entry : Easel ) : Your squad is shown on the pitch. You can give each player a maximum of two instructions. To give instructions, click on the instruction and then on the player to be instructed. The instructions are: 13.5.1 Play Wide : The instructed player will move towards the side line. 13.5.2 Push Forward : The instructed player will move forward. 13.5.3 Tuck In : The instructed player will move towards the centre. 13.5.4 Drop Back : The instructed player will drop back. 13.5.5 Run With THe Ball : The player will take the game to the opposition. 13.5.6 Get Stuck In : The instructed player will put himself about. 13.5.7 You can change the tactics by clicking on the current tactics. 13.6 END OF SEASON : When all your fixtures have been completed, the Boot Room will be closed to you. You can browse round the office complex and look at archives, accounts etc. The Boot Room will now change to a Beach Scene. Click on this to end the season. 14.0 MATCH DAY -------------- 14.1 The two opposing teams are shown along with the referee. You have four choices: 14.1.1 PLAY : You can play on the pitch provided you have selected yourself to play. If you get injured, sent off or substitute yourself, the game will revert to Watch mode. 14.1.2 WATCH : You watch the game. You can implement substitutions and change tactics. 14.1.3 PREDICT : The result is predicted. 14.1.4 FAST SCANNER : The game is played at high speed. Selecting one of the options will take you to the next screen. 14.2 This display shows the kit colour of both teams. You have the option to play in FOUR VIEWS Top Down - Up and Down, Top Down - Side to Side, Perspective, Isometric 14.2.1 Each view has advantages and disadvantages. 14.2.2 Isometric is the nicest looking. It gives you a good overall view of the game but is not menable for controlling a player. WARNING : As nearly all the players are visible a lot of the time, the game is likely to slow down from time to time. 14.2.3 Top Down Views - Excellent for playing but moves like volley etc are not so evident. Perspective: Is a good compromise between Top down and Isometric views. 14.2.4 TOSS : Click on the coin for it to flip. If you win the toss, you can select. Up or Down pitch for Isometric or Top Down - Up and Down pitches. Right to Left or vice versa for the other two pitches. Once the selection has been made, you will go to the match. If you have selected Predict, the result will be predicted. 14.3 This gives the headlines of the four match reports. Click on the headline to get the full match report. 15.0 GAME CONTROLS ------------------ Joystick Required Movements : Players move in the eight joystick directions. 15.1 SHOOTING : Press fire button to shoot the ball. 15.2 PASSING : You must trap the ball before you can pass. Press fire before you touch the ball. The ball is then trapped. Move the joystick in the direction you wish to pass and release the fire button. 15.3 CHIP THE BALL : Reverse the joystick quickly. 15.4 HEADER : If the ball is in the air, press fire button to jump. Move the joystick in the direction you wish to Head the ball. 15.5 CROSSING : If the ball is in the crossing area ( near the byline of the opposition goal) reverse the joystick to cross the ball into 18 yards box. 15.6 TACKLING : If the opposition has the ball, press F8 to do a sliding tackle. 15.7 THROW INS : Press the fire button and move the joystick in the direction you wish to throw and release the fire button. The longer you keep the FB pressed the longer the throw. 15.8 CORNERS AND SET PIECE FREE KICKS : These are computer controlled. THE MORE YOU PRACTICE IN TEAM COACHING, THE BETTER THEY ARE. The corners are lethal. If practiced a lot they can be real match winners. 15.9 SUBSTITUTION : 15.9.1 Substituting A Player. Press F1 if you want to bring on Player 1, 2 or F2 for player 14. The message "Substitute warming up" will be displayed when the ball goes out of play, one of the player names and his shirt no will appear. Use the up and down cursor keys to cycle through the squad. Press Enter key to implement the substitution. The player whose name is in the panel will go off and the substitute will run on to the pitch. Team 2 uses F9 and F10 keys. 15.9.2 Substituting an Injured Player Substitute 1 2 or 1 4 and the name will appear in the panel. Use up and down cursor keys to cycle through them. Press Enter key to implement the substitution. 15.10 CHANGING TACTICS You can change Tactics when you make a substitution. Use F4, F5, F6 and F7 to change tactics. 16.0 CUPS AND COMPETITIONS -------------------------- 16.1 LEAGUE : There is a four division league. Three teams are relegated from the Premier division. The 1st and 2nd divisions have three teams promoted and three teams relegated. The 3rd divisions has three teams promoted. 16.1.1 The win in a league game secures 3 points, a draw - one point and a loss - no points. If the points are equal, the difference in Goals For and Goals Against decides the position. 16.2 F.A CUP : This is a knock out competition. If there is a draw then a Replay is ordered. 16.2.1 If at the end of full time, the result is still a draw, extra time is played. If the result is still a draw then sudden death penalty shoot out takes place. 16.3 LEAGUE CUP : Rounds 1, 2, 3, quarter finals and finals are played according to the rules described in 16.2.1. 16.3.1 The Semi Final however is played as a two leg competition. The winner is decided on aggregate. However if the aggregate is the same, the result is decided by extra time and if still unresolved a penalty shoot out. 16.4 U.E.F.A CUP, CUP WINNERS CUP and EUROPEAN CUP If an English team is the holder, the team qualifies automatically, if not a preliminary round takes place. The preliminary round and the other rounds excluding the final consist of two legs one home and one away. Matches are decided on the aggregate score of the two legs. If the aggregate is the same it is then decided on away goals. Away goals count double. If both sides are still equal then extra time is played followed by a penalty shoot out if necessary. 17.0 UNDERSTANDING STATS ------------------------ 17.1 There are two types of stats 17.1.1 Personality Stats : These are the stats a player is born with and do not change very much. The stats are Aggression, Flair and Temperament. 17.1.2 Curving Stats : These stats change with age. The stats are Pace, Stamina, Resilience, Agility, Adaptability, Acceleration and Vision. 17.1.3 In PM2, there are 50 curves for each of these stats i.e. 50 curves for pace, 50 for stamina and so on. Each curve is of different shape. As a player ages he will be on one of these curves for each attribute. During the ageing period, he will move to different curves depending on the coaching, type of manager opportunities, experience etc. ie. the factors that shape a career With a few glaring exceptions, all 16 year olds joining a professional club as school boys are much the same. Some make it to the top while others either languish in the lower divisions or leave professional football. All depends on the managers, coaches and the breaks they get. Skills : A player is born with skills. There are 50 curves for each skill. These skills improve with coaching, experience and a player, can move dramatically from one curve to another. 17.1.4 After a steady rise, some of these curves flatten out as the player ages, for instance passing skill, Another curve may rise, flatten for a while then fall. On the other hand it can keep on rising as the player gets experience. 17.1.5 Once you can appreciate the significance of the changes, you will be able to get better players for your money - and use your staff more effectively. 17.1.6 When you are looking for a player, the information below may help you to access the player. The important stats for each type of player are listed. KEEPER Agility, vision, handling and keeping. FULL BACK Pace, aggression, acceleration and tackling - high CENTRE BACK Stamina and passing - so so. Aggression, tackling and heading - high DEFENDER Vision - so so Pace, stamina and aggression - high MIDFIELDER Vision -so so. High if using as a sweeper Stamina - high PLAYMAKER Aggression, shooting and vision - so so Vision, control and passing - very high Shooting and tackling - so so Pace and aggression - low MIDFIELD GENERAL Stamina and aggression - very high Passing and tackling - high Resilience, shooting and heading - so so WINGER Temperament - low Pace, passing and acceleration - high Agility, flair control and shooting - so so Heading - low. CENTRE FORWARD Shooting and Heading - high Pace, stamina, aggression and flair - so so TARGET MAN Control and Heading - high. Passing and shooting - average STRIKER Pace - low Agility, acceleration and shooting - very high Pace, agility and control - high Control and heading - average Flair, vision and tackling - low These are ideal stats and the correct mix will be expensive to buy SOME HlNTS AND TIPS ------------------- 1. You are advised not to save the game more than 6 times in one season. There is a penalty for doing so. 2. Employ the best staff you can afford, especially the coach. 3. Listen to the coach. 4. Keep a careful eye on the fatigue, rest players especially good ones, use school boys sparingly but do use them. 5. A squad full of Internationals can leave you vulnerable. 6. Decide your tactics in pre-season but stick to it. Refine it by all means. 7. Buy players of talent from lower divisions. 8. Improve your stadium year after year. 9. Leave room in your squad at the end of the season for school boys. There is a fortune to be made. 10. Above all do coaching seriously. It is an integral part of the game. DATA DISCS ---------- The first data disc will be released in August before the start of the season. The details are not yet fully finalised. Product information will be sent to all registered users by the end of July. There will be two versions Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200. Amiga 500 version will be suitable for 500, 500+ and 600 users. Amiga 1200 will have enhanced 256 colour graphics and a host of extra features. Amiga 1200 upgrade will be a 4 to 5 disc product. This product will only be available to registered users. ------------------------------------END--------------------------------