Matthew Le God

It is the under 16's and under 18's that have the fixtures against the same opponents on the same day. The under 16's, under 18's and under 21's are all in the same league structure as a category one academy. The age groups below under 16's aren't. Generally under 18/under 16 games are on Saturday morning/early afternoon. Saints under 21's play during the week so that players can be used from the first team more easily.

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The development squad and under 21's are the same thing. I think you might be confusing them with the under 18's who played Stoke on Saturday.

When Wilkins, Crosby and the guy in question have a kick-about whilst the players warm up it is clear to see he has far more footballing ability than you would expect from your average translator.

We only have to play Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Everton once more this season in the league (with only one of those games being away).

If Schneiderlin is injured it would make more sense to stick with the 4231 system they used in the last two games, then use the 433 which used Schneiderlin as the holding midfielder.

The demo will be one week before release.

The players current ability is based on last season, it doesn't take into account what they have done this season.

Release date information... http://www.sigames.com/news/14162/FM13+Release+Date++Pre-Order+Incentive If you pre-order you get to play it two weeks earlier.

You want them to take time out to improve features over a longer period than the 1 year development cycle, however as I've shown that is exactly what they are doing. The game is coded to be modular and the match AI has been taken out and put under a 2 year overhaul. The same happens for other areas and the game improves year on year. You have also overlooked the changes to... - training - scouting - the transfer system - media - international management - network games - inclusion of challenge mode - inclusion of versus mode - inclusion of FM Classic etc etc in FM13. All that makes it more than a mere "data update". You can buy FM13 for £19.99, is that expensive considering the game time you will get out of it?

You appear to be basing this solely on graphics, which is really the least important thing about the match. - FM11 and FM12 had the same match engine, physics and AI. - FM13's match AI and physics under the hood which have been completely re-written over the past two years. In any case, FM13 graphically has also improved with numerous changes and improvements to the animations, and stadiums etc.

I'm talking more about the match AI and physics than the graphics (although they have also improved). FM left the match AI as it was in FM11 for FM12. For the last two years they have been working on new match AI and a physic engine. Because the game is modular it means they can work on areas over a longer time and then put them in. For example they have thing in mind for FM14, FM15 and FM16 which will take more than the yearly cycle to make. Remember also that SI are working on a fraction of EA's production budget for FIFA. Plus EA also released their first 3D football game about 17 years ago, SI 's first was 4 years ago. That is quite a headstart. You can get it cheaper than £25, it is £19.99 here for example... http://www.simplygames.com/info/19718/Football-Manager-2013-PC Even if it were just a data update (which it isn't), is £19.99 expensive when you divide it by the hours you will play it? Play the free demo and decide rather than making your mind up now.

Phil Neville plays in central midfield for Everton.

I'm sorry but that couldn't be further from the truth, large parts of the game have completely changed, others have seen significant improvement to how they work. For a start it isn't a "slight graphical update" for the match engine, the match engine has been completely re-written behind the scenes over the past two years and is now seeing the light of day for the first time in FM13. There are over 900 new features this year, it is a long way from being a mere data "update".

They wouldn't be up against each other as they are both left backs.

To play Fonte as a holding midfielder when he hasn't played there before just isn't going to happen. Schneiderlin is a better holding midfielder than Fonte will ever be. I think we'll continue to use the 4231 system, with the only change from the starting line-up vs. Aston Villa being possibly Richardson for Fox. Everton aren't exactly Man City are they? The gap between the sides is closer and with Ramirez playing behind Lambert he won't be isolated and they can share the work load of closing people down.

This. I find it hard to understand why anyone would want anything other than the weakest team left in the competition at St Mary's. Saints have a reasonable chance of winning the League Cup this year, so the easiest route to the final please. Rather than another trip to the Emirates/Old Trafford etc, we could have a European tour next season for you all to enjoy.

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I don't know, but I would think they probably have a Saints fan/researcher doing the Saints data like I do for FM.

Is it bizarre? I've seen him play numerous games, his technique is poor, his awareness is poor, his positional sense is poor, he doesn't jump and attack the ball etc etc. Tonight his passing was dreadful, particularly in the first half, he simply isn't aware of situations around him and is far too casual. I wasn't overly confident with him when in League One, luckily we didn't need him in the Championship. We are now in the Premier League and if he ever were to play I fear he'd be completely out of his depth. He needs a move to a promotion chasing League One side like Bialkowski did.

Of that list I think most will leave relatively soon in next few transfer windows and I think only Tadanari Lee, Cork and Rodriguez will be here long term in a first team playing capacity.

Cheap way of meaning they didn't require ball assistants to fetch the ball from that stand!

To show how much of a reserve fixture it was, Adkins even let Crosby do the pre and post match interviews! So even the management was the reserve tonight!