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IT'S TIME TO DON your cloth cap and sheepskin coat. The football season is about to start and you're about to be offered the chance to manage a team into the championships.

Most sports games are all about action and dextrous use of the controls, but there's another side of sports games that as a huge following. Taking the challenge of sports to a higher plane, sports management is not so much about onfield games but more about making the right decisions off it. Whom to sign up, to let go and which training regime to adopt. Soccer has been one sport that has seen a few developers try their hand at developing a more strategic team management game and one of the more successful has been the Championship Manager series. With the up and coming release of Championship Manager 5, another season is about to kick off.

A key for games such as this is a the amount of information that players are given to manage their teams and the Championship series has a deserved reputation for including a up to date statistics from the league. This series goes from strength to strength, and this latest release is sure to deliver a new level realism for fans of the series.

Some of the features promised this time around include:

• NEED FOR SPEED - Sick of having to put the kettle on between matches? CM5 will provide a much faster gaming experience than before.

• TAT ATTACK - Previous versions of Champ Man have relied on the good will of fans to provide information on the players in the game. This time round the developers have taken a more specialized approach, employing the services of the Professional Football System, a long-standing agency who provide information to actual clubs and managers around the world. Established in 1999, the services of the PFS have been utilised by clubs from The Premiership, Serie A and La Liga, including no less than the mighty Real Madrid.

• IT'S TRAINING MEN - CM5 will offer a user-friendly training module, albeit still with a comparable amount of detail. Training schedules will be easier to implement, and BGS has been working closely with Charlton Athletic's First Team Coach, Mervyn Day, who has designed optimised regimes for certain areas.

• THE BIG MATCH - After years of following matches through text commentary, a brave new world was introduced in CM4 via the 2D overhead match engine. Generally a popular decision, CM5 will utilise a similar approach with a quicker, smoother experience.

• EARCH FOR A STAR - Unearthing undiscovered players is a huge part of football, and therefore of Champ Man. The scouting system in CM5 is being tweaked to enable more specific searches to be carried out.

• TACTICAL GENIUS - The tactics screen has always been a success in Champ Man but BGS is making subtle improvements. As well as adding arrows for players to make runs, managers will now be able to add further arrows instructing players where to play the ball, into the channels for instance.

• EAL THE DEAL - A fully realistic transfer model is being employed, encompassing an array of factors including finances, reputation and player personalities. Buying players will be more than a case of simply offering the cash, so attempting to lure Ronaldo and Zidane from Real Madrid to Chelsea will not be a formality. You will first have to establish yourself as a decent manager with the potential to win major trophies, and the loyalty of the players in question will also prove a key factor.

  Expect to see Championship Manager 5 instore before Christmas.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Show me the screenshots!