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Championship Manager 2 97/98 Walkthrough/FAQ v 0.4

By Penguin


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Table of contents

-What is this for?
-What do I need?
-Update history
-Walkthrough
-Transfers! Buy! Sell! (Free em too!)
-First match!!
-OWN GOAL!!! (Oops)
-More general stuff (and it's random)
-Tips & Cheats
-Strategies for certain teams (None so far)
-Q & A
-Legal Disclaimer
-Final Words
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What is this for?

This FAQ/Walkthrough is to use a certain team as an example to lead you
throughout the first (or so) seasons. After the first season, don't use this
FAQ/Walkthrough as a reference anymore, things would change DRAMATICALLY.
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What do I need?

You'll need the game CM 2 97/98, patched to the newest version (Version 2.93).
I also suggest that you go here to download the newest roster:
http://www.geocities.com/penguincm/
Actually it's my roster update (shameless self promotion). I've recently
updated it. I'm pretty sure it's the newest roster update out there (tell me
if you know a newer one).
OR you can go to http://www.sigames.com/ because they got some roster
updates as well.
**Note that you'll need to update to ver. 2.93 to use the update, else problems
arise and you'll be crying and all that.
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Update history

v 0.4: Added some team strategies and something for the general stuff as
well. Added 2 questions to Q&A. Moved update history's position.

V 0.3: Something made me write more for this FAQ. Minor changes around and
added some more general stuff.

V 0.2: Wrote down some team strategies as well as minor changes.

v 0.1: Wrote the FAQ
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Ready? Go!

Now I'm not gonna teach you how to install and stuff (including the update),
because I assume that you know all this.

**This is a walkthrough/scenario/example**
Start CM 97/98, and start a new game. Choose Italian League, then choose a
slot you'd like to use. Name it whatever you like, press [Enter] and let the
game load while you wait for the action to begin.
After the game loads, choose Juventus. I'm most familiar with Juve, and Juve
is easier.
Name yourself, then press [Enter] again. Wait for the game to load.
Since I've also edited the standings and promotion/relegation for last season
(99-00), Juventus will play these cups:
Champ League (need to play 1st round)
Coppa Italia
SuperCoppa Italia (vs Vicenza)

Now, I'd like to digress a bit. You don't really absolutely need to follow
what I write here, after all it's a sports sim, and every time you play
the game you get different results. So I guess straying a bit off from
this FAQ won't hurt.
Also, you don't need to use Juve, as I said, I'm most familiar with that
team, and would be a better help (for you and me). I guess it's just me.

Soccer fans may ask why is Juve facing Vicenza in SuperCoppa Italia? Well
too bad, but I can't edit that for the game. Please bear with it.

**NOTE: Rosters here aren't current**
Now, go to your team (Juve) and look around the roster. 1st problem in hand:
You need a backup goalie. Rampulla's getting old and all that (not that he's
bad), and Isaksson is not a good goalie (as of that season). Transfer list
Rampulla (and free Isaksson if you want to save roster space) and some team
would be interested, but they won't strike a deal so quickly. Think of 2
goalies that'll fit nicely. Van Der Sar is one of the best goalies in the
game, no need to change that. Starting goalie set.

On to the defense! Ferrara, Iuliano are good stuff, so don't touch em now.
You can also save Montero as well, but keep in mind that he loves getting
cards (as in real life). Pessotto isn't that bad, so you can save the DL space
for him as well. Maybe your defense line is set by: Pessotto, Iuliano, Montero
and Ferrara. But I usually look for a DR and oust Montero out of the starting
lineup.
What about Ivano Trotta, Marco Zanchi, Igor Tudor, Paramatti, Tacchinardi
and Birindelli? Trotta is crap in the game, release him for extra space that
you'll need (despite the reaction of the board). Loan Tudor and Zanchi to
other teams (save Tudor if he got REALLY nice stats), and Paramatti &
Birindelli can be 'made available.' It means that the player can be up for
negotiations. Tacchinardi is more of a backup player, because he can play
3 spots(SW/D/MC). So maybe buying a few backup defenders won't hurt much.
Find a backup DL and DR.

Next is the midfield. What do you do with this star-filled midfield? Well
for starters everybody know Zidane, Davids and Conte are pretty much
untouchable. Zambrotta, well, is definitely a starter in the game. So
basically the starting 4 for the midfield is set. However you may want an
extra (A/D)MR, so that when Zambrotta gets inconsistent or low, this guy can
take his place. Athirson (if he's in the roster, I forgot if he's in the team
in this update) and O'Neill can do a pretty well job with the ML backup. So
the placing is: Davids, Conte (MC), Zidane (AMC) and Zambrotta.

Ah, the forwards. Inzaghi, Del Piero and Trezeguet are untouchables.
Esinaider is a good backup. But what about Fonseca? You won't play much
Fonseca when the 4 forwards are around. Sadly, you'll have to put him on
Transfer List. As for Zalayeta, it's up to you but I usually boot him from
the club. Find a good prospect that doesn't take a lot of money. Oh yeah,
Del Piero and Inzaghi as starters please.

Now, all this is set, on to the transfer market.
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Transfers! Buy! Sell! (Free em too!)

According to my 'ingenious plan' up there, you'll need to find:
2 goalies
2 defenders (DL, DR)
1 midfielder (MR)
1 forward (if you want to store good prospects in your team for whatever
reasons)

Go to the Player Search & Transfers and choose Player Search.

What do you need for goalies? Well there is always the nifty little "Skills"
and "Search" buttons. Go to "Skills" and look around.
**What goalies need are: Rushing Out, Aerial Abilities, Shot Stopping,
Positioning**
That's pretty much easy to identify, because these abilities are only for
goalies, and the "Skills" function accommodates both goalies and non-goalies.
So for example Rushing Out is Pace/Rushing Out.
Now set the min for Rushing Out 20, and others around 16 or so. You may want
to limit injury proneness, so make the max 10 or so.
Click [Done] and press the "Search" button. Wow, a huge list of goalies came
up. Buffon, Toldo, Peruzzi and all that. But you may notice that aside from
adding them to your Shortlist (kinda like "I'm interested in this guy" thing),
you can't buy them. That's because they're unavailable for transfer.
So at the Player Search screen you go to the bottom of the screen, and click
on "Including Unavailable." And Viola! Changed to "Excluding Unavailable."
Press "Search" again.
Now the list has trimmed down, like into 1/10th of what it was. Wow. And all
the big names are gone.
Fear not! For thee has started thee longest search for quality goalies! Look
at the goalies, and see which ones are good and which isn't.
Now you may find some "Buffon type" of goalies (my friend named it). What's
a "Buffon type" goalie? Basically that goalie fits your requirements (and
pretty high for some stats), but all other stats are constant at low digits
like 6 or 7 or what have you. Don't buy those guys unless absolutely needed,
they usually aren't that good.
It's best that you choose cheaper goalies, and it won't cut down your transfer
budget as much as bigger names. And big names don't like being numba 2.

Now for DL and a DR. Press the "Reset" button, and click the "Including
Unavailable" button again. Since you need to find a DL and DR, more stuff
are required to do. Go to "Any position" and keep on clicking until you reach
"Defenders." Then go to "Left/Right or Center" and click until you found your
desired side, as for this example we're gonna have "Left sided."
Now go to "Skills."
**What defenders need are: Positioning, Heading, Stamina, Strength,
Tackling**
If you are really picky, the Passing and Pace skills are good too.
Now set Positioning and Heading to around 15, Stamina and Strength around
10, and Tackling around 17 as a min. If you're the picky type, make Passing
and Pace 10.
Now not a lot of people shows up in the list because you're so specific, so
maybe you can loosen some stat requirements like setting Tackling to 16 as
a min.
The same goes for DR, but of course you'll set the position to "Right."

For midfielders, reset the players search thingo. Then choose position and
side to "Midfielder" and "Right." (as in this example)
**What midfielders need are: Passing, Pace, Stamina**
If you're looking for the defensive type, you may want to consider: Tackling,
Strength, Heading and Positioning
If you're looking for the creative/passing type, you may want to consider:
Creativity, Dribbling, Set Pieces
So set Passing to 16, Pace and Stamina to around 12.
For the defensive type you may want to set the stats to something like a
defender. Lower passing as well, maybe around 12. Determination is optional.
For the creative/passing type you may want to set Creativity to 16, Dribbling
to 14, Set Pieces to 17, and maybe lower the Heading if you want him to kick
corners and stuff like that. But in this scenario, Del Piero will be our corner
kicker. So no need for that.

For forwards, you can't negotiate with them now. Why? It's because you reached
the 5 negotiation limit for every teams. So you'll have to Shortlist the
forward.
Anyway, there's a few types of forwards, but it's actually REALLY two types.
They are: 'Passers (Baggio type) and 'Receivers' (Vieri type).
**What the Passing type forwards need are: Creativity, Dribbling, Pace,
Stamina, Passing, Shooting, Set Pieces**
**What the Receiving type forwards need are: Pace, Stamina, Strength,
Shooting, Positioning**
For Passers, set Creativity, Passing, Shooting and Set Pieces to around 17
or so. Maybe you'd like to crank up Shooting a bit. Dribbling and Pace can
be around 13 or 14, and Stamina above 10. You may want to limit heading if
you want this guy to take corners, else you'll waste his heading ability.
For Receivers, set Shooting to around 18, Pace, Stamina and Strength to around
13, and Positioning to 15. You may want to set passing above 10 as well.

I personally recommend players that can play more than 1 positions. A good
player is Jiri Novotny, who got nice stats and his position is D/MRLC. Yup,
6 positions.
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First match!!

Okay, it's the first match, and you're playing some team for a spot in the
Champ League. Usually it's a random team from some other country, but if
you're facing a team that has more than 1 REAL players, they usually got some
reputation in Europe.
Now for the first match, you'll need to distribute positions. Unless you want
some crazy number distributions, usually the lineup (according to the number)
is (note this is in default 4-4-2 formation):
1-GK
2-DR
3-DL
4, 5-DC
6-MC
7-MR
8-MC
9-FC
10-FC
11-ML

12-16 Reserves

And the formation on the field will be like:

10 9


11 6 8 7


3 5 4 2

1

They have arrows, but I'm too lazy to draw it. Besides, I'm bad at drawing.