Football Manager 2014 Tips: 10 Ways To Guarantee World Domination

2. Try Your Best To Go To Press Conferences

Football Manager Press Conference If you're an established FM player, you'd probably read that heading and responded with a mixture of rage and disgust. But please, I beg you, don't click next slide, don't ready alt-and-F4, and don't put on your best computer-punching gloves €“ there's honestly a point here, and I'll get right to it. Simply put, press conferences can affect player morale €“ that's the reason why they exist. Sure, they're samey, asking all the same questions and requesting all the same answers, but that's exactly what a real press conference is like. For those who can stomach the never-ending rigmarole, there's actually some decent benefits on offer €“ your compliments can turn a problematic player into a star performer and spread good cheer throughout the squad, and your caustic broadsides can unsettle a rival manager and his danger men. The good thing about the press conference system being so transparently cause-and-effect and repetitious in its structure is that it's easy to spot these opportunities and tilt the odds in your favour. You may have seen the word 'odds' there, and there's a reason for that. Make no mistake, despite all our romanticism and suit-wearing come the digital FA Cup final, FM remains a game of chance in which you twist the variables to better suit your predicament. Whether that's signing the best players, choosing the right tactics or even saying the right thing, it allows you to put a leash on the randomness of it all and make it work in your favour. The press conference is just one outlet of this, and it would be remiss not to use all the options available. Plus, there's also the chance your assistant might say the wrong thing or just have a meltdown mid-conference, and you don't want that interference.
Contributor
Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.