Blog FM 2.0 Development Diary

Blog FM will shortly be moving to the excellent FootyGamer Network and in this behind-the-scenes article I’ll take you through the development of what I’m calling Blog FM 2.0.

QOTW: What Annoys You? UPDATED

We’re resurecting an old feature today with the return of ‘Question of the Week’. This week we want to know: what is it than annoys you in Football Manager?

Complete January Update

While I had planned to release a Blog FM data update to include the various transfers that were completed in January, I’m afraid to say this has now been dropped. However, for those of you wanting an up-to-date game with all the latest transfers, I can recommend you download the FMFormation update. You do have to register on the forums first, but in doing so you can manage your favourite team with all the current players!

http://www.fmformation.net/showthread.php?t=20734

The Own Goal Challenge: UPDATED

We’ve all witnessed some cracking goals in our time, but what of those strikes that the scorers would rather forget? Cast your mind back to the greatest own goals you’ve ever seen or know off, and with the aid of Youtube, share them.

The Rookies Guide to Clinching a Deal

In a new series of guides, Blog FM will offer assistance to those new, struggling and/or desperate managers who need a little help with some of Football Manager 2007’s various features and areas. While hardly revolutionary, the articles are part of the revamped Blog FM (2.0) and are aimed at the many visitors who find our website through search engines while looking for Football Manager related help. Part one, a guide to securing the signatures of your target players, is online now.

A snippet of news

Hello loyal browsers. Some time soon we are going to be moving and relaunching the site with what you technies might call ‘Blog FM 2.0′. The fantastic people at the FootyGamer Network have somehow decided that they would like us to join them, and so once the new site is all set up and running, we’ll be upping sticks and moving to the FGN. The new site will carry a brand new look and some new features, with the style of the website changing a little to a more helpful and productive website, as well as various scene and game articles. Lastly, we’ve been mentioned on the official SIGames Community Review thingy for the month of January, which is nice. The review seems more indepth this month than previously, although that may have something to do with the mysterious ‘XXX’ author from the FM Portal…(and no, that’s not me!) http://www.footballmanager.net/en/article/21/1433.html. If you have any ideas or thoughts about Blog FM 2.0, post them in the forums!

West Brom Nationalist Challenge: Part Two

The West Brom Nationalist Challenge documents my attempts to make Championship side West Bromwich Albion an English-only team while forcing our way into the Premiership and towards greater success. Part one examined the task ahead, and the second installment covers the pre-season friendlies and the first ten competitive games.

FM2007 Tutorial Videos

You may have already seen these, but for those of you who haven’t, take a look at some tutorial videos posted on Youtube by SIGames, which may give you a few hints and tips for Football Manager 2007.

Blog FM (heart) FootyGamer

For those of you in a debating mood, you may be happy to discover that Blog FM has shacked up with the always superb FootyGamer as both sites look to increase their affiliations. After asking my board for a parent club, FootyGamer duly delivered, and as such you can now find an official Blog FM forum right here. Sign up for the FootyGamer forums and start discussing the game, the scene and life, and pop into the Blog FM area to discuss this very website.

The Trouble with FM Blogs

After launching a website dedicated to Football Manager blogs, and running my own blog that talks about the game, writing about the negative aspects of these websites might seem rather foolish. But bare with me as I try to examine this recent phenomena. Why do we blog? Is to fill a basic, selfish need, or do we genuinely want to share our material? And why do so many people want to write about the limited topic that is Football Manager?

The End of Blog FM

For this week, anway. Ooh, did I get you worrying then? Sure I did. Blog FM will be back with you on Sunday, so I thought I’d bring a couple of old articles to your attention. They were written way back in December, but with the launch of the Football Manager WordPress Community, perhaps a few people might be interested in reading these.

Half a Chelsea

In an unprecedented move, the Football Association and Fifa have issued a global ban to the whole of the Chelsea team following financial irregularities. A press release this morning confirmed that Chelsea will not be allowed to field any of their current players in any competition until the 1st of January 2007. The ban, however, does not stop them from buying any new players.

A Royal Affair: Game Sixteen

sA Royal Affair collates my attempts to take relegation-favourites Reading from the lower regions of the Premiership to higher heights. So far results have been encouraging, and the players are working well together as we strive to make our target of forty points by the end of the season.  

Football Manager 2008 – perhaps

We’ve only been playing ohseven for a few months, but people are already looking forward to the next installment of the game. So where can Football Manager 2008 enhance the series? What can SIGames bring to the game to ensure we don’t self-combust with disapointment?

Who are the most enjoyable team?

You’ve just lost your fifth game in a row. Your star striker, a 31 year old with a gammy leg, has been forced to work overtime this Saturday for Asda, and the fans – all two of them – have put together a petition to get you sacked. Sometimes managing isn’t always fun – but some are a lot more enjoyable to coach than others.

Data Update Available

You can now download the first Blog FM data update. The file will update your current game to include all the major transfers and loans that have occured during the January transfer window up until and including the 24th of January. This is the first update, with plans to make further files available after the transfer window has closed. The file is as accurate as it can be to our knowledge, but if you spot a mistake or an ommited transfer, please let us know. The game also adds the future transfer of David Beckham to Real Madrid.

How to Download and Install

Firstly, visit this link here and wait for the download to be confirmed ready

Once downloaded, you will need to unzip the files contents to the following directory:

c:/my documents/sports interactive/football manager 2007/db

(Your directory may differ depending on how you install the game. You should put the file in the db folder within the ‘my documents’ section of your computer.

Once extracted, load Football Manager and choose to load a new game. From the options that are available next, select ‘24 January 2007′ and the game should load.

Key Facts:

Data Update: 24th Januar 2007
Updated to: 24/1/07
Version: 1.00

The Football Manager WordPress Community

WordPress – the popular blogging tool that I’ve come to love since we opened back in November – is now becoming the popular choice for those budding Football Manager writers out there in the big old world of the web. So much so that I’ve decided, with the help of some of these websites, to set up ‘The Football Manager WordPress Community’.

A Royal Affair: Game Fifteen

A Royal Affair collates my attempts to take relegation-favourites Reading from the lower regions of the Premiership to higher heights. So far results have been encouraging, and the players are working well together as we strive to make our target of forty points by the end of the season.  

Spread the Love

I recently read an article that brought up an interesting point: we (as in the community) really don’t comment enough. Sure, we like to stick our noses into an arguement (as seen with the current Throw In debate) but we rarely even give praise to a well written and thoughtful piece of work that has obviously taken time to write. And I too am guilty of this sin. But not for much longer – and perhaps, with the help of some powerful mind persuasion from Derren Brown and Paul McKenna, so to will everyone else.

Throwing out Throw In

My gosh, I spend a week away from the site and when I come back I find that the resource site, Throw-In, has come under attack and protection from various websites and scene figures for one reason or another. As someone who spends less time than they should on the scene, I was somewhat unaware of what the story behind this was. So, with the aid of the daily updates provided by the Football Manager Portal, I attempt to examine what was said, who it affects and give my own views and thoughts in the following article.

The West Brom Nationalist Challenge

Fans of the popular article based sites Footygamer and First Eleven will be well aware of Mike’s Chelsea Nationalist Challenge. The basic premise is simple: succeed with players born in your clubs country. With Mike kicking off a brand new campaign with non-league Leigh RMI, BlogFM is pushing further up the leagues to the Championship giants, West Bromwich Albion.

Predictions for 2007

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what the hell will happen in the next year? It’s just a stupid mirror, so it won’t actually reply, but perhaps my crystal ball will.

WordPress Community Forum

You know me and my crazy ideas. I’ve tried (And, often, failed) to launch a few features on this website, and today see’s the arrival of another of my brainwaves: a forum based on the WordPress software!

Where is my skin?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but looking around the ’skinning’ community is somewhat like looking for a pair of size 15’s in a shoe shop – there’s not that many available!

A Royal Affair: Newsround 2

In continuing with our revamp Royal Affair story, we are now posting a regular ‘newsround’ column that should add some more background and interest to the Reading story.

Welcome to the official Reading F.C website

Newsround: 16th November 2006

Star keeper ‘out for rest of the year’

Reading’s hopes for a high Premiership place have been dealt a huge blow following the revelation that star goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann is unlikely to feature again this year for the Royals after straining his knee ligaments. The American shotstopper, who has kept seven clean sheets this season and has won praise for his outstanding appearances, is likely to be out of action for two months. The keepers injury came as a shock to the club just two days before the Royals return to action with a tough clash against Chelsea, and it is believed that young Graham Stack will fill in for Hahnemann until his return.

Reading’s manager admitted the club were devasted to lose the goalkeeper. “Marcus is a great player. He’s probably one of the best shot stoppers in the league, and we’re going to really miss him.”

As to how the club perform while he is away, the boss says he isn’t too worried. “We have a good team here, and I am sure Graham can fill Marcus’ gloves. But we will certainly miss him.”

The club hope Marcus will return to training in mid January, although it is unlikely that he will play again until February, which means the goalkeeper is likely to miss at least 15 games, including fixtures against Chelsea and Manchester United. The club have not confirmed or denied reports that they could bring in another goalkeeper in the January market, but it looks as though Graham Stack will be given the chance to impress in the remaining fixtures.

Hleb set to move

Reading have confirmed that Vyacheslav Hleb will join the club in January for £275,000. As we reported in the last update, Hleb had been linked to the club, and it has now emerged that the player has signed a contract which will see the attacking midfielder move to the club in the transfer market. Hleb, 23, has scored nine goals this season for his club, and his arrival will give the club more options in midfield.

Former Tottenham midfielder linked with club

Former Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghali has been linked with a move to Reading. Ghali, who last week left Tottenham ‘by mutual consent’, has been contacted by the club this week. The reasons for Ghali’s departure have not been revealed, but the defensive midfielder, 24, has admitted that he would love to get back into action as soon as possible. With the player available for free, it seems as though the Egyptian could be making a move to the Madejski Stadium quite soon.

Chelsea up next

Reading take on Premiership giants Chelsea in two days time, and the players say they can’t wait to test themselves against the big names of the Blues. Jose Mourinho is expected to field a full strength squad as Chelsea look to extend their winning run in the Premiership.

A Royal Affair: Game Fourteen

A Royal Affair collates my attempts to take relegation-favourites Reading from the lower regions of the Premiership to higher heights. So far results have been encouraging, and the players are working well together as we strive to make our target of forty points by the end of the season.  

A Royal Affair: Game Thirteen

A Royal Affair collates my attempts to take relegation-favourites Reading from the lower regions of the Premiership to higher heights. So far results have been encouraging, and the players are working well together as we strive to make our target of forty points by the end of the season.  

We’re going Pitchside

Awaiting the arrival of a new scene website can often prove to be rather fruitless. Sitting in your bedroom/office/living room/cell for hours at a time, staring blankly at the same old news and articles that haven’t been update for weeks, waiting in anticipation for something new to come along and shock your eyes into working again: we’ve all done it. And as I browsed the scene today, following my little post-Christmas lull, I was somewhat pleased to see the arrival of Pitchside, an article based addition to the community that warrants a mention today.

FGN launch Data Update

The FootyGamer Network has launched their own game update to accommodate the January transfer window, and from the sound of things the update is to be an on-going project, with updated released sporodically throughout the year. Pick up the file for just 40mb of your download time today over at Footygamer.

+ Continue to Footygamer

A Royal Affair: Game Twelve

A Royal Affair collates my attempts to take relegation-favourites Reading from the lower regions of the Premiership to higher heights. So far results have been encouraging, and the players are working well together as we strive to make our target of forty points by the end of the season.